Sandy Stubblefield said:
The mount is gonna be tough. I'll probably require assistance.
Hi Sandy:
I think you mean that you are going to put the Jason on your new mount, right?
Here is the deal, don't worry about the concept of polar alignment yet. Rather, think of the new mount as the letter "T". The top of the "T" is the part of the mount that the weight bar screws into, and that the telescope mounts to on opposite ends. The leg of the "T" is the part that connects to the tripod.
Place the mount so that the leg of the "T" points up and North more or less. If you know where the North star is, point the leg of the "T" at it. I will try to post a picture in a minute. You will be good to go for observation if the leg of the T is rougly pointed North and about 40 degrees up from the ground.
The slow motion control gear on the leg of the "T" is used to counter the earth's rotation which makes the stars and whole sky appear to move in big concentric circles around the North star over time. The other slow motion gear (on the top of the "T") moves the telescope perpendicular to these big imaginary circles around the North star.
You will want to screw the weight bar in more, like Tim said. Also, you will want move the weight up quite a bit toward the smaller scope to balance it.
If you want the new telescope to show more than blobs, you will have to learn to collimate it. Collimation is the process of lining up the mirrors. It can be tricky, and it would be best if someone could show you how it's done.
Have fun. Jim
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