Quote:
|
Originally Posted by g__day
Yes I am having some WTF oments at present. My joy at having this as a next step up is phenominial. My realisation that I need to know key guide stars before I can validate them and really use capability was my first major learning point. My seeing the scope said it aligned quick and dirtly with Jupiter, then moving it off 5 degrees and executing GoTo and having it say Jupiter appears buried 6 feet under my shoes was dissapointing!
Another question - when you start the scope with both AXIS aligned to 0 degrees (the little triangles pointing at each other on both axes) does it matter which way the telescope is pointing on the Mount (up at the sky or or down at the ground)? Given this position should point directly to the Celestial South Pole you have a choice that your OTA is on this line either pointing up at the sky or down at the ground. I presumed it doesn’t matter but I always having mine pointing at the sky. Is this right / wrong or doesn’t it matter?
|
Yes, it does matter. Pointing at the sky is good!
Hmmm. You said "My realisation that I need to know key guide stars before I can validate them and really use capability was my first major learning point." How are you going with that? If you do pick the wrong star, it can throw things out significantly. I had that problem between Hadar and alpha centauri my first night out with the scope
but very quickly learned that Hadar is not a double! (I was pretty rusty after 15 years of no observing!) A good planisphere is a great aid to identifying the bright stars that the goto will use for alignment.
Hang in there, mate!