I timed it the other night - took 12min (the 15-20min was over estimated. my bad). The 12 min is the time that I placed it on the patio and turned on the switch - recall the scope does several functions: establish GPS (varies depending on obstacles and clear view of the satellites), finds level, finds north, then proceeds to perform an accurate 2-star alignment via ccd images (taking multiple images). During this entire time I am sitting on my chair smoking a good cigar and studying my notes to determine what objects to look at in the evening. I had it out the other night - moon crescent looked very good, as well as several open clusters and m51. The goto's remain accurate within my 22MM TV over entire sky. One can do better - but for me, it is more than good enough. I hope to get some DSLR images soon - working on some adapter issues with my camera

Jason