Debbie, I still prefer my Weightless mount to my CGEM, for the small refractors. Kudos to you for giving it a shot manually. Takes me back to 1968, in the alley behind my dad's garage, with my 4.25" Edmund Newtonian. On 9/28/10, Debbie <astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
We finally got Dave's new Celestron Goto mount to work last night. He used a different cord and the thing finally worked. Another thing we found out is when you get near the zenith, the scope can bump up against the tripod and it threw the alignment off. He realigned on Jupiter after I found it using the hand paddle. After we viewed Jupiter, we looked at Uranus and Neptune. There is a learning curve to these Goto mounts. I explained to him that it would ge easier as he got to know the mount and computer. It was a fun night even though the moon was pretty bright later in the evening.
Debbie
On Tue Sep 28 15:08 , Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> sent:
Nice report, Debbie. I've done it both with and without go-to, and I know that go- to is a lot easier for me. Thanks, Joe
--- On Tue, 9/28/10, Debbie astrodeb@beyondbb.com> wrote:
From: Debbie astrodeb@beyondbb.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Starhopping is fun To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 1:06 PM
I set up my 4" TeleVue refractor last night but forgot the battery pack. I called Dave and had him pick it up at my house since we decided to meet at the Anasazi trailhead just west of Ivins. In the meantime I got the scope set up and started viewing without power,except for my Starbeam red dot finder.
I found the Owl Cluster, NGC 457, NGC 7789, M103, and NGC 663 in Cassiopea. Then viewed the Double Cluster in Perseus and M31 in Andromeda. I pointed the scope south and found M7 and M6, then headed north to M8, the Lagoon Nebula. Then north to M24 and M17. Then found M11, the Wild Duck Cluster. Then looked at a couple of double stars in Ophuicus, 36 Oph and Omicron Oph. Then viewed alpha Herculis and Epsilon Lyrae.
By this time, Dave showed up by this time with the battery pack so I plugged it in and had power. Power is nice to have but not essential for visual observing. I think beginners to this hobby should learn the sky first before buying fancy computers and Goto mounts. The sky becomes a familiar place and in the process I learn the names of stars in the different constellations. I never bothered to plug in the computer because by 10:10 the moon was rising and we were looking at Jupiter. I then looked at Almach and then compared the view with Albeiro. Both are gold and blue double stars. Seeing was average for the desert so I'm looking forward to some cooler nights in October and November.
Debbie
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