I finally got to get an alignment and the moon was the first of my sights as it was so bright and beautiful. I couldn't see anything but a bright light but it was not all that bright to look at and there were some patterns on the moon which I thought I might be able to view.
Do I need a filter to see through this or am I doing something wrong?
I also saw some of the stars before they moved behind the clouds but all I could see in my viewer was a bright light around the outside of a black blob in the middle. Is that black blob the end of my scope or is it the star? I also saw a moving haize around the outside of the bright light. Is this the light waves coming off the star or is it just the outside air moving in on my scope?
I am not sure what to expect when viewing as when I put in the hand control "moon" it didn't go to the moon but rather half way down from it so I manually directed it. I had a successful alignment and also put in all the right info when first stated like time, date, city, location, and even had the scope completely level so what am I doing wrong.
I had to stop looking after about 1 1/2 hours as I was getting nausious from looking. All in all the view I got was exciting but expected more.
Sandra, I can't help with the GOTO problem but it sounds like the images you are seeing are not focused correctly.
What happens to the image when you turn the focus knob?
Which eyepiece were you using?
Was there a Barlow in the eyepiece holder as well as an eyepiece?
It is just that your eyepiece is not quite focused.
With the alignment, if you pick a star that you know, like say Betelgeuse, the red star in Orion, does it "goto" that accurately? If not, the scope is still not aligned properly.
With these goto systems, if you align, and it is only just OK, you can still sometimes get an appreciable error when viewing in opposite directions. Here is some more information for that model.
The black blob you see in the middle is the little mirror at the front yes the end of you telescope and that will not be seen when the focus is correct.
That will sort out your problem
Thank you for the links Geoff. I had a look at the unfocus images but my one seems to look a little like that except the blob in the middle is just a dark blob and then the light is around it. Maybe I am looking at the star but don't realise it?
I don't know exacty where any of the stars are located but just know them by name and the hand piece says you don't have to know where they are as it finds them for you. I just pick on the 3 brightest stars and align. I think I should not have picked on the moon for one of them.
When I did get aligned it said I had a successful alignment so thought it was all going to be good. The goto didn't accurately go to the moon when I wanted to see it, it went half way down from it.
Thnk I will have another go. Maybe I should go to one of the outings and see what others are getting then I will have more of an understanding.
Thank you Ken. The black blob did confuse me as I thought it was the star with no light. My focus knob dosen't really take it away either way I turn it so maybe it is my eye peice but it came with the scope so thought it was OK.
Check that the eyepiece pushes *all* the way in, that can be a common problem with not achieving focus.
Can you take a photo of the focuser end of the scope with an eyepiece in it?
How much travel does the focuses have (how many cm approximately does the focuser move the eyepiece in and out of the scope)?
Also, for alignment, point the scope roughly south, and choose 1 star align and choose sirius, and point it at sirius, which is a very easy to find star. But get the focusing sorted out first.
Michael, not all that much happens when I turn the focus knob. It either makes it more clear or smudgy. It dosen't take the blob away.
What is a Barlow? I have a 25mm Plossl. Thats what is written on the eye piece. Do I need a bigger one?
Hi Peter
The eye piece is screwed into a star diagonal 1/4" and the eye piece its self is pushed right into the star diagonal with two screws each side to keep it tight. It goes in by 2cm.
I can take a photo of the focuser end of the scope with an eyepiece in it but why?
Hi Peter
The eye piece is screwed into a star diagonal 1/4" and the eye piece its self is pushed right into the star diagonal with two screws each side to keep it tight. It goes in by 2cm.
I can take a photo of the focuser end of the scope with an eyepiece in it but why?
If we could see a photo of the scope all set up, we could see if anything obvious is wrong.
You can try removing the star diagonal and popping the eyepiece straight into the back of the scope, and see if you can achieve focus.
The focuser does go around a *lot* of times, so keep winding until it stops or comes into focus
the other thing to consider with the GOTO is that you may have entered the date as DD/MM/YY when the scope is American and is expecting the date as MM/DD/YY which is why the goto is so far out. The scope treats 12/03/12 as the 3rd of DECEMBER 2012, not 12th of March 2012.....
I have done this a number of times on my scope, easy to get wrong.
Here are the pictures of my telescope Poita (Peter) and I did have something wrong until another member here mentioned the date may be backwards and it was so that is corrected now. Looks like I am getting there slowly but surely.
Confused
I finally got to get an alignment and the moon was the first of my sights as it was so bright and beautiful. I couldn't see anything but a bright light but it was not all that bright to look at and there were some patterns on the moon which I thought I might be able to view. 
Perfidious Yank dates 
