Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 09:49:17 GMT, Phil Hawkins wrote:

I won't repeat what others have said. However, being in Australia means you
don't have as obvious a point in the southern sky to use as a reference for your
mount as we do up north. That isn't a very big deal once you have an idea how
the mount works (I rarely use Polaris for alignment), but it is helpful when
starting out. I believe Perth has a rather large astronomy club. I'd suggest you
try and hook up with them and get some help from folks who've been at this
longer than you. I've never seen an astronomy club that didn't welcome newbies
to the hobby.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
Many thanks to all who have responded. I now understand the numbers and
therefore the 'strength' of the scope
I will play around with the mount to get to understand and use it
properly. (I have been trying but it hasn't yet worked the way it's
supposed to - there was no manual with it so I had to use trial and error)
I have been given the internet address of the astronomy club here in
Perth so will follow that up.

2. Once I've worked it all out is it advisable to just stick to one area
of the sky to start off with (using this type of scope) or keep moving
around to see everything?
I have been using a small (8x30) pair of binoculars up till now to get
the 'whole picture'
Thanks again to everyone for their assistance
Regards
Phil