"Sky pretty bright in Melbourne"? We could have told you that
I have four words for you:-
Snake Valley Astronomical Association
Collimation - which "eyepiece thing" - a collimation cap? - a small item that fits into the 1.25" eyepiece holder and has a small hole through the middle?
Unless you are doing a "star test" collimation, it can be more convenient to perform your collimation while there is still some light in the sky. However your primary mirror will be cooling, so if you collimate before or around sunset, best to check it again (say with a cheshire tool) at the time you want to start using it. Sometimes the primary mirror "sags" on the springs (many people replace the springs in these Chinese scopes with stiffer ones), so you may wish to collimate at about the elevation you will most be using - ie. don't collimate with the OTA horizontal.
Eric
