Hi Guys and Gals
I bought my first telescope last week. It is a Celestron Nexstar 6se and it has a motorised drive system with automatic alignment. Great! Problem is that I'm too dumb to use it. Let me qualify that: it appears that I am getting it lined up correctly because the LCD tells me "...match confirmed..." or something. So, I ask it to let me look at Mars (for example) and sure enough, it slews and spews to where it thinks Mars should be. So, I look through the eyepiece and...kazam...no Mars. In fact, I appear to be looking at the only section of space with absolutely nothing in it!
So, I call the lady at Australian Geographic and she sends me a whole suitcase full of lenses and eyepieces. I am happy for that becuase now I'm good to go; right?
No way Jose. Now I'm even more lost. I don't know which way to turn the focus knob and, where I previously saw some nice light, I can see NOTHING, nada, zip.
So: my wife smiles and nods her head knowingly at her clever husband and proclaims her undying faith that I will resolve the problem. Yet, deep down inside I know that I'm a fifty cent astronomer with a two thousand dollar plus headache. I have considered moving to New Zealand to hide my shame from my co-workers but all flights are fully booked and, besides, my wife does not want to go.
Can someone please help me to rescue some of my pride?
