Telescope Reviews: First time with my #497 on my ETX125

Ok, so I am a beginner, but I'm anal enough to pay attention and try to do things right. I have been using my ETX125 up until now in Polar mode since I didn't have an autostar. It tracked fine but I had to find things on my own (not a real biggie). I installed my #497 and played with it a while and struggled to get it running. Finally I realized that I am not in daylight savings at the moment (default was yes). I assumed the "yes" meant that I wanted the Autostar to automatically determine (from my zip code) whether I was in DST or not. That said, I went through the following procedure and it worked well:

First, I used a bubble level to level the tripod. Then I pointed the scope straight up and used a bubble level to get the OTA perfectly vertical. I set the gauge on the left side so I had a future reference. Once I did that, I did the "set to home" procedure and locked the scope in place. I then rotated the tripod until I had Polaris in the center of my EP. I lowered the tube with the controller to perfectly level -- both with the angle indicator and with a level. I then hit "enter" and the scope chose Sirius. I centered it carefully and used up and right as my last movements. It then slewed to Capella and was already just about centered. I got it perfect -- again with up and right as my last movements.

Following that I asked it to slew to a few items. First the Andromeda Galaxy. It was near the center of my Hyperion zoom at 20mm. A double cluster -- forgot the name -- it centered right between the two and each cluster was cut off because of the lack of TFOV. Next up -- Mars. Check. In the FOV -- same zoom. I tried a couple of very dim nebulae. Nothing there but I couldn't see them with 5" and light pollution. Just trying to confuse it, lol. Finally I tried the Orion Nebula and again, in the field of view. I ended the test on Mars and again, it was in the FOV in the lower center. I stared at mars for about 20 minutes, looking for details, and all of a sudden, it started to fade from focus. I played with the focuser and couldn't get it. It was getting worse... I then realized I was dewing up. Night over...

Frankly, I was impressed. After reading all the horror stories, I expected it to fail miserably but it worked like a champ.

I still have a lot to learn, but I'm climbing up the curve as fast as I can...

*** Edit ***

I should note two things... Though I was doing Polar before my 497, I did this in Alt/Az...

Also, I built a cheap 12vdc power cable and ran the scope from a black and decker car battery charger. The motors were MUCH smoother and quite a bit more "snappy" in this fashion rather than trying to make the 8AA batteries do the trick...

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Ken
CPC 925
Hyperion 13, 17 and 24mm
Seibert 36MM Observatory
Burgess 9MM
TeleVue 11MM Plossl
SPC900NC Web Cam Imaging Setup
... And still trying to figure it all out.

Edited by kenn (01/03/08 02:07 AM)