Hey Squid(another fellow perth'ite)
Great choice Squid. That's the same Dob I picked up just past 12mths ago.
I assume you have a collimation tool? If not, get one. Bumps here and there will move the primary mirror and you'll need to collimate.
A slight learning curve, but once you understand how it all works and practice a little it will be as easy as setting up the dob.
Great thing about the dob for starters is that it allows you to learn the night sky to know where to point the thing. Grab some star atlas books. most popular book stores, Borders, Dymocks stock them.
Get used to identifying the constellations. Then see what delights can be seen in or around that constellation. Do some star hopping, and try find the faint ones.. galaxies, nebula, star clusters.
Check out the free planetarium software - Stellarium.
http://www.stellarium.org/
Many nights ahead of you that will bring great joy.
Full moon tonight unfortunately. Maybe check out the constellations, small clusters, practice some star hopping?
I'm also looking at applying for the Radio Astronomy/Physics course at Curtin after next year. Next year Im doing an enabling course in science and engineering to get the marks I need to be accepted. Maybe see you there 2010!
