[doppler (Rick)]

Hi Andy, fun isn't it , or not when the fancy tech foils you. Most of this is simple but not well explained in the manual.

First to set the slewing rate press 2 then press any other number to select the desired speed ie 2 then 8 for 8x. The star part for aligning is harder because you have to learn a few star names and different ones for different times of the year. I think that the 3 star alignment program might limit the amount of available stars, but I only ever do a 2 star alignment so not sure.

My setup for field use is to level the mount and adjust the altitude then do a 1 star align on a star low in the east or west and then physically rotate the mount (not by loosening clutches) so that on a 1 star align the selected star is visible in the finder scope, then go onto the 2 star routine. With the two star alignment you get better results if you stick with 2 stars on the same side of the celestial equator. I have been using alpha centauri and acrux as my 2 stars of late.

Finally the GOTO has a guided tour of some brighter objects on the hand set menu to get you started, when the GOTO behaves. If the GOTO gets you close you can see the brighter objects in the finder scope and you can then slow slew to center it for the main scope. If you use an illuminated recticle eyepiece to center the stars you can get better alignment, but it's hard to get it perfect.

Rick