Welcome Rod and congrats on the new scope.
My second scope was an 8" dob and I learned loads from using it. (I'd recommend a Telrad to supplement that too. There are plenty of free telrad finder charts available on the net.
Anyway, enjoy and if you need any advice just ask. (Though don't ask me about the southern skies as I'm still in the Northern Hemisphere till next year
)
Cheers
Paul