Telescope Reviews: My first experiences as a newbie

Hi, after almost 2 months with my scope I want to share some points of my experience with other newbies. I know I have a very short time with my telescope, but precisely because of that maybe this recent experiences can help another people:

Don't be frustrated if you can't see a lot of objects at the beginning. As time passes, you'll begin to see a lot more and more easily. Just enjoy each night and what you can see that particular night.
Always let the scope, EP, finder, and used gear to dry after a night of observation. One night I left on the covers I use to transport it to prevent dust inside the scope, and the next morning it was soaking and a little 'dew' print is still on my primary.
Use warmer clothes that you think you'll need, remaining seated and still doesn't generate to much heat at all.
If you don't have heaters, keep the EPs inside a pocket of your jacket (covered with the caps), inside the car, or another warm place. Letting them in the EPs holders of the telescope base, make them a nice dew prize.
As a practice, every night I rediscover objects I've previously seen. Two reasons for that: 1) I see more detail from time to time 2) It helps me to feel comfortable moving around the sky and learning constellation positions, names and shapes.
Even having the Intelliscope, I actually use it very little. I prefer to find the objects using star hopping with charts, planispheres and computer generated prints; I found more rewarding this way to search the skies and I've learned pretty much this way.
Start with easy to find/view objects, it'll help your night vision (except if you start with the moon of course ) and makes you more confident with what you're doing. In time I find myself moving faster and easier between objects.
My personal list of 'almost indispensable accesories' is, in this order: Chair, planisphere, Telrad (and home made dew shield for Telrad), Binos, red flashlight, sky Atlas, notebook and pencil.
My personal list of 'very useful accesories' is, in this order: carring case, intelliscope, laser collimator, Turn Left at Orion, Balrow (Personally I'm partially frustrated with the Balrow, maybe because it's not of high quality optics, don't know )
My personal list of 'almost not used accesories' is: color filters.
I purchased one set of EP that isn't of very high quality but neither of very high price. It has been great because now I know which EP I use and like the most, so now I have in mind what kind of EP to search for.
Try, I know it's very hard, to use your actual gear before purchasing a lot of stuff. There's a lot to see with limited equipment and your future purchases become more selected and useful.
Be careful, but don't be afraid with your scope. Collimation of both mirrors, dismounting the focuser, etc is not as hard as it seems. (Of course there are some things I'll don't do yet... or I never will ). And it helps to understand how the scope works and feel more comfortable with it.
Check your scope collimation before every night of observation.
Personally, the more I go out, the more I use my binos before starting with the scope. I've found many things with them and is nice just to look around for a while.
Make a list of objects to search for each night you go out. But be prepared for improvisation, sometimes those are the best nights.
I keep a written log of each night of observation. I still doesn't know a lot about technical terminology so I write it in simple language, but it forces me to describe what I'm seeing, look for more detail and even draw a little (I'm terrible drawing ).
Use the CN groups a lot . Don't be afraid to ask, there are a lot of people that will help you here.

Clear skies to all of you.

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Guillermo Castaño (SIRIO)
Orion XT8i / Intelliscope
Bushnell 10x50
Green eyes -0.25 Astigmatism