Hi Greg and Jeff,
Ahhh, this may be the problem that is getting me confused to the point of zero confidence namely that I set the RA circle at the beginning of the session and then it gradually gets whackier and whackier as the night goes on, usually I only start to reference the RA circle again about 2-3 hours in after I have checked out the usual bright objects such as Eta Carinae and M42 etc.
I also checked out a forum thread somewhere that suggests that you set RA circle off a close star where you need to be, and then RA / DEC hop to the DSO by adding or subtracting the targets coordinates from the reference point, this way, the margin for error is reduced and my brain spasms can leave me alone once and for all.
That said, I will have to work out the difference in coords to hop to the target, but at least I think I have found out where the problem is, finally, its in my perception of the truth, or what is actual, based on my scrambled idea of reality. Mulder? are you there Mulder?
Thanks guys..
Chris