Frustrated newbie trying to locate objects

[Erla]

I too started with bird-jones (114 mm) on equatorial. And I still think it is better start than binoculars. Far from putting of from astronomy it got me really hooked, and after a couple of nights the mount was easy to use, especially if I took time to polar align it. On the other hand my wife preferred binoculars when viewing, for example, Pleiades. So it is rather subjective. Sometimes I think I would like a dob, when setting up, as EQ6 is rather heavy to lug around, but once it is set I am glad it's equatorial. Then I want a dob base when packing it all back