[Alasdair]

About a year or so I bought a Saxon Hyperion 1201EQ3 scope second hand, mainly as a sort of easier-to-carry alternative to my 10" dobsonian. And in fact I've become very fond of it. But I also haven't used it much, because up until a few months ago I wasn't living in a place which made viewing easy.

Now I've moved to a place with a nice north-facing balcony, and I've enjoyed some fine nights admiring the lunar limb, and of course last night's lunar eclipse. But I've never got used to properly setting or using the equatorial mount: I've sort of basically set the scope up to roughly point in the direction of what I want (mainly the moon; but also Saturn and Jupiter), and used the controls like an inconvenient alt-az mount.

More recently I have learned how set the mount up so that it faces properly south and at the correct angle for Melbourne, but in fact most of my viewing is to the north. What is the best way to manage viewing in the "opposite" direction? Do I just swivel the OTA about on the mount so that it faces north (in which case it sort of juts out to the side, balanced by the counterweights), or would it be as reasonable to set the entire mount up so it faces north to start with?

If somebody could point me in the direction of simple instructions for a clear idiot like me, I'd be very grateful!

Thanks heaps,
Alasdair