Getting the hang of it now

[Leegsi]

Had my Skywatcher for a few weeks now and was a bit scared I was out of my depth when I first got it as it had loads of dials and a motor and stuff

After asking questions on here and getting loads of help I have finaly got the hang of it (So far )

Spent about 4 hours today 'playing' and getting to know the scope and what everything did. Spent about an hour getting my head round how to polar align and what it was doing.

Then tonight I spent about half an hour trying to polar align and not being able to get the scope high enough on it. It struck me that maybe the mount wasn't flat (As I don't have a spirit level). It wasnt even by eye so levelled it up by eye which allowed me to polar align. What a great feeling that was just doing that. Felt like I was learning and understanding.

Next up was to swing it round and look at Orion and make sure it was tracking ok but it wasn't. So had a look at how the motor was attached and realised the previous owner had fitted it 180 degrees out so the motor wasn't even anywhere near the cog for it to turn . So sorted that out (But cant work out where the spring goes)

Turned it onto Saturn with a 25mm eye piece in and tracked that for a bit (Again to make sure all was well). So put in the X2 Barlow and 25mm e/p and wow, it was so bright and clear and stayed in the middle of the e/p for ages, I was over the moon

(Or should it be over Saturn ). Next test was to replace the 25mm with a 10mm and see how that was as before without it tracking I was having problems keeping it in the e/p and in focus. WOW it was even bigger and still in focus and I think I could even see 2 moons.

So a big thank you to everyone that has helped and answered my sometimes basic questions (Couldnt find a beer one )

[Doc]

Thats what this forum is all about.

Helping.

[gary1968]

Glad the guys on here could help you out mate, they helped, and actually still help, me out loads over the last couple of years.

You cant beat that 'finally got it' feeling when something else clicks into place. I'm sure you will crack it and it'll all make sense.

Gary