Can I get some help

When a telescope is advertised as having a "fully computerised Altazimuth mount" what does that mean,does that mean you can put in the directions or somethin and it finds the planets etc. itself,would it been complicated? And would it take for ever to get it set up? I'm thinking about buying one online this evening when I get back from work, I don't want to buy one and then not be able to use it until I get some help.The ones that have those computer controls excuse my ignorance are they easy to use or do they take awhile to set up. Thanks guys

Hi Ciaran,

to start, telescopes normally came in a simply up-down, left-right mount, called an altaz (altitude and azimuth). Later, people got wise to creating equatorial based mounts designed upon the location on the planet (once latitude and longitude were established) of an observer, allowing the motion of the scope to follow an object all night, for photography for example.

The problem with custom equatorial mounts is that they cater for the area they are in. Although, contrary to this, many equatorial mounts have a latitude adjustment feature, so it can work almost anywhere on the globe.

The equatorial altaz mount, commonly used in the Meade LX and ETX series of scopes, is what set the trend in the early 1990's. The idea was for easy storgae, then easy set up when dragged out, and the ability to be used anywhere on Earth.

The semantics are simple: bring out your altaz mounted equatorially driven scope on to as stable and level ground as possible. Point it due north (for northern hemisphere observers, simply aim in the direction of Polaris) whilst making sure the tube is level). When ready, turn on the hand controller and follow the screen instructions, taking into account the local date and time it will request from you (if not stored from the previous use). It then uses 2 or 3 star "polar allignment", whereby, once you have it manually alligned and level as described, it will drive itself to where it thinks the first picked brightest star in the sky is. You then use the keypad to centre the star and enter it. This is its first set of coordinates, and then using that it calculates where it thinks a second bright star is in the sky. Upon stopping, you use the keypad again to manually centre that star. Once you hit enter, the calculations cease, and the scope is now in equatorial mode. Some controllers will use a third star to increase it accuracy in calculations.

Then simply pick an object you want to look at from the database and watch the scope move to that object with relative accuracy. A total beginner might spend around 10 to 15 minutes to get started, an experienced user - less than 5.

Hope this helps some.

Seanie.