a few questions i need answered on polar allignment& jup

hi all. i used to spend a bit of time here but havnt got to do much observing over the last few months, but getting back to it now. im a total newbie to it all. at present i have found mars and saturn, but i cant find any other planets. i really want to find jupiter as i read somewhere thats its quite spectacular. any help. i live in roscommon, ireland. also, ive been reading tutorials on setting my scope up so that it is roughly in line with the pole so its easier to keep track of stars and other objects. the prob is that i think were at 53-54 degrees. when i set my scope to this, i cant see the north star( as i should be by reconing of a tutorial) and if i try to center the north star in my scope , my scope wont tilt up that far, the tripod wont allow it. im sure im doing something wrong but cant see what. so can anyone point me to a good tutorial on finding polar allignment. thanks all

ive been reading tutorials on setting my scope up so that it is roughly in line with the pole so its easier to keep track of stars and other objects. the prob is that i think were at 53-54 degrees. when i set my scope to this, i cant see the north star( as i should be by reconing of a tutorial) and if i try to center the north star in my scope , my scope wont tilt up that far, the tripod wont allow it. im sure im doing something wrong but cant see what. so can anyone point me to a good tutorial on finding polar allignment. thanks all

I can't quite figure out what you're doing but here's a few articles on polar alignment, which should help. If you post details of your scope and mount, we should be able to offer futher assistance.

pulsar.netfirms.com/Align.htm
www.astronomy.net/articles/4/polaralign.html
www.celestron.com/polar.htm

Skylord

really want to find jupiter as i read somewhere thats its quite spectacular. any help.

Hi, Jupiter is currently in the dawn sky at the moment, you'd have to be up pretty early to catch it, If you are, it's easily the brightest 'star' in the south, it won't be in evening skies this year until May...

Keith..

I cant quite tell what you are doing either, but have a look at the first section in the following link,
www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/I07/I0701/I0701.HTM
This will tell you what the mount should look like when its pointing at the pole star.