Saturday night was the "shakedown cruise" for the CGEM at SPOC. I've been studying the user manual all week, got my gear packed reasonably well. For this first night, I selected the Orion 100mm ED. A modest telescope, astronomically speaking, but of very high optical quality. My intent was to get to know the mount, rather than seriously tour the night sky, although I did have some excellent views, including the crescent moon, Venus, Saturn (satisfyingly crisp, 4 moons visible in the 100mm), several galaxies, some double stars, and a globular cluster (small, spherical satellite galaxy of the Milky Way). Of course I forgot to bring the manual so I was navigating the control menu from memory. The week's worth of basement dry-runs paid off and I was able to actually use the scope/mount with some degree of confidence. A high, persistant cirrus softened the DS objects. Before it got truly dark, there was a terrific overflight of the ISS, followed a few minutes later by the Shuttle, steadily overtaking it in orbit. Here is Ann and Alpine relaxing before the fall of darkness: http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/May15014.jpg Part of the lineup of personal scopes: http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/May15013.jpg Here is my friend Brad (left) and his buddy, who have recently taken the Bogdan class. Brad has built his own 6" and 10" Newtonians and came out to check out my CGEM. http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/May15015.jpg And here is the refractor on the mount, waiting for darkness: http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/May15016.jpg The GoTo actions were extremely precise, after I performed a 5-star alignment/sync. Initially I just did a "quick align" after using the polar scope, which is simply an alignment using the GPS data only. Even that was good enough to place objects somewhere in the field of a low-power eyepiece. Once I did the 5-star alignment, slews were dead-on, even if they involved a meridian swap. Incredible. Other observers noted the lack of backlash when using the hand control to pan around. Very tight, precise slo-mo. My only gripes on the night are minor. Besides forgetting the manual, which I will keep a copy of in the storage case from now on, the battery died in my reflex sight halfway through the night and I forgot to bring a spare. And I actually removed the 50mm finder from the telescope after a while since I wasn't even using it with the GoTo, and it was in the way of the main eyepiece in some tube orientations. When I upgrade the focuser, I will move the finder to a different location. Probably mount it on a tube ring, like the reflex sight. Another thing to remember with a heavy mount is pads for the tripod feet, to keep them from sinking into spongy turf and losing alignment. Bruce had me set-up on the ADA pad since it wasn't a public night and he didn't bring the Celestron out, so I had concrete for last night. Erik, thanks for the idea to turn the storage case into a table by adding some short tubular leg sections! I'm tossing some ideas around to see how I can pull it off without adding any protruberances to the case when the legs are not installed. And BTW, Don's Takahashi Cassegrain displayed an incredible view of Saturn. Don't pass up the chance to look through his scope the next time he brings it out. I am very happy with this mount. All I need is more time with it, to become familiar with it. Thanks to Don and Bruce who had several helpful suggestions and observations.