You'll get there Henry, keep going.
Yes, align the finderscope at day time on as distant a terrestrial object as you can.
Is it a right angle or straight-through finderscope?
Do you have to wear glasses at the eyepiece? Experiment and see how a focussed star looks without glasses. Much easier if you can observe without glasses.
But then, if your eyes are like mine, if you look up at the sky, it is all a blur! So you need to wear glasses to look at the sky and, I recommend, through the finderscope. So take some time to adjust the finderscope focus so that it is set for you wearing your glasses. Ask if you need some instructions on how to do this. If you have a straight-through finderscope, you can learn the trick of keeping both eyes open which helps getting a bright star/planet into the field of view of the finderscope. I can describe this for you as well, if you want.
Yes, wait for the Moon to come back to the evening sky (unless you are impatient - it's in the sky early morning now). It is the easiest object in the sky to try and find. Usually because, when you get close, you can see the glow off to one side of the view and can chase it down.
If you get the finderscope aligned during the day, then you are probably OK on stars. Sometimes, if you are setting it on a close terrestrial object, parallax means the distant sky is at a slightly different alignment, so a tweak is needed.
Occasionally, the finderscope dove-tail mount may not be pointing correctly and you may find that you cannot get the finderscope aligned, even at maximum adjustment. Then it is a matter of screwdriver and spanner/pliers to loosen and move the mount. Don't do this unless the tube is horizontal. Falling pliers and primary mirror don't mix!
Now, I'm just down the road (well 3 hrs!) so can help sometime if we can plan ahead. You might like to bring it to Snake Valley one evening so we can really try it out in dark skies.
Let us know how you go.
Eric
