First try with goto gem mount, near disaster, advice please

Paul Murphy wrote:
inches from smashing into the tripod leg and I flip the power off.

Next time this happens, do not power off. Simply press a direction arrow
and the slew will stop.

That said, the mount is calibrated to move in RA only as far as is safe
for the telescope, and then stops before crashing into a tripod leg.
This is the "reason" for the index sticker on the RA axis. The sticker
marks the half-way position between the limits. If you do a quick align
with the RA index off too far to one side, your scope _will_ crash into
the tripod.

I don't use the index marks. I have my declination setting circle
calibrated and locked in. The intial alignment wants the declination
axis to be at 90 degrees, so I just move the setting circle to the
correct position. For the RA, I just point the counterweight shaft
straight down, and that's close enough. The alignment procedure takes
care of the rest.

Based on the other information you provided, I'd try the manual
direction controls and be sure that the scope is actually moving in
declination (the up/down arrows). If it is not, there are things for you
to try.

Join the "Celestron_AS" yahoo group for assistance.

Stephen Paul