OK, well done. Firstly I am glad it is an alt az mount, means that it is much easier to use.
I believe these come with a red dot finder rather than a finderscope? The first thig to do is align the finder with the main scope. The moon is a good starting point. Put in your lowest power eyepiece (probably a 25mm) and try to find the moon looking through the scope. Once you have it centre it in the field of view and then turn on the finder and tweak it until the red dot is on the moon. Then pick a bright star use the red dot to locate it and see if its in the centre of the field now through the scope. It its is off centre, move the scope until it is centred then tweak the red dot again and voila!. Make it a habit to tweak the alignment at the start of every session.
You will now be able to use the finder to find objects. A suggestion for a starting point is splitting Alpha Centauri. If you can find the pointers near the Southern cros, have a look at the brightest one. It should be easily split into 2 stars even with the low power eyepiece. Then find Beta Crucis (it is the star in the Southern cross closest to the Pointers) Just near there is an open cluster known as the Jewell Box which will make a fine sight in your scope.
By all means get Stellarium, just remember that bright screens and night vision do not usually mix. I personally would acquire a basic set of charts (
http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories...oductview.aspx or
http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories...oductview.aspx are good) and a red torch, or consider
http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories...oductview.aspx to get started.
Hope all this helps!
Malcolm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sashark
It's a Saxon 909AZ3 refractor, Focal length 900mm, Diameter 90mm
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