Foo - any teloscope People here?

MIne has a German Equatorial mount .Why do i need to align it? cant i star gaze with out alining it.I am so confused all i want to do is check out saturn and venus

You need to align it so it will track what you are viewing. If it is not pointed north the scope won't track with the rotation of the earth.
Learn how to find the north star, point the font of the mount toward it and the arm with the weights in the opposite direction.

Cloudynights.com is a great resource for all things telescope, btw.

MIne has a German Equatorial mount .Why do i need to align it? cant i star gaze with out alining it.I am so confused all i want to do is check out saturn and venus

Not sure about that but the Equatorial mount is an excellent platform to launch a V-2 at England:)

With the equatorial mount properly aligned, if you had a motor mount, the telescope would track objects with no further adjustment. Without the motor, you would only need to manually adjust one axis, the right ascension.

ok thats makes it more clear. Sadly its cloudy tonight .last night it fianly cleared up and i saw the moon it looked so cool with the 20 mm eye peice the scope is 127 mm just a cheap celexon 127. But the part that sucked was i was waiting all night to see some bright stars or planets come over my house and when they did the sun started to come up lol

Also i read that the latitude adjustment only has to be made once is that true? that i set it to what it says for my area and it never has to be set again? also they say while aligning it i put it in the start postion.But then i dont see a way to make it go up in the horizon!!!

Also i read that the latitude adjustment only has to be made once is that true? that i set it to what it says for my area and it never has to be set again? also they say while aligning it i put it in the start postion.But then i dont see a way to make it go up in the horizon!!!
Yes you only have to set the latitude adjustment once.
The north star (the point in space which the sky appears to rotate) is different as one moves north or south.
http://www.astronomy.net/articles/4/polaralign.html
^^^
That is a good how-to.

The latitude of Gainsville is 34.3ºN

Yes you only have to set the latitude adjustment once.
The north star (the point in space which the sky appears to rotate) is different as one moves north or south.
http://www.astronomy.net/articles/4/polaralign.html
^^^
That is a good how-to.

The latitude of Gainsville is 34.3ºN
awesume that helps a lot thank you i cant wait for a clear night

We live on a cul-de-sac paved with asphalt. We set the telescope up, did the equatorial alignment, had the latitude adjustment set. Took three stainless steel washers and nails and drove those into the asphalt marking the tripod feet. If I can manage not to bash anything hauling the telescope through a doorway, I just set it up on the washers and we are off and running. There is a free program called Stellarium for finding all things in the night sky. The Google Sky Map application also is nice to have.

Even without at telescope, you can see the Space Station (ISS) when it passes overhead near sunset or sunrise. The sky is dark, and the ISS is very bright since it's still in sunlight high overhead. It moves about as fast as a jetliner across the sky, and is easy to see even in bright city lights. It can be over 1,000 miles away and still be easily visible.

go to heavens-above.com, enter your location, and it'll tell you about visible passes in the next 10 days:
For example, Chicago:

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&lat=41.85&lng=-87.65&loc=Chicago&alt=178&tz=CST

Look for passes that go high in the sky, maybe 50 degrees or higher. Negative numbers in the brightness magnitude are brighter. Jupiter is about -2, and Venus is about -4.

Click an entry in the list to see a sky map and more info.

Just heard the Perseid meteor showers have started... Man I wish I still lived down south or had a telescope.

http://www.examiner.com/article/2012-perseid-meteor-showers-have-begun-peak-expected-august-11-and-12

What do u all think of this scope?http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/zhumellz8deluxedobsonianreflectortelescope.cfm

I don't know anything about telescopes... but it sure looks like a nice one.

What do u all think of this scope?http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/zhumellz8deluxedobsonianreflectortelescope.cfm
Don't know the brand name.
Reflectors are pretty simple though. The quality of the mirror is about all you need to be concerned about.

On a Dobson mount telescope, you have to keep adjusting it to stay with whatever object you are viewing. They are less expensive then equatorial mount telescopes and good for a first one, but, if you are going to be following anything for very long, I'd get an equatorial mount. I have a little five inch Celestron reflector and I like to follow Jupiter when it is up, to watch the moons going around it. I need to get a better eye piece though.

What do u all think of this scope?http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/zhumellz8deluxedobsonianreflectortelescope.cfmIf you're looking for great light-gathering power for deep-space viewing, dobs are the best bang for the buck. Personally I like Maks the most. Best sharpness and contrast ratios without distortion points from a secondary.

LOl i have the cope messed up since it banged around a lot i tryied to adjust the mirror alignment.Well with the scope they say it is had because the mirror it has and the eye peace i have it messed up bad now lol>next scope wont be a reflecter id never be able to align the mirrors

LOl i have the cope messed up since it banged around a lot i tryied to adjust the mirror alignment.Well with the scope they say it is had because the mirror it has and the eye peace i have it messed up bad now lol>next scope wont be a reflecter id never be able to align the mirrors
No offense, but I have no idea what in the hell you are trying to say there.

The scope you asked about in post #12 is a reflector, by the way.

Check out the ones on this page: http://www.shopatron.com/products/category/ETX+Series/1323.0.1.1.28926.36859.0.0.0
I think those are going to be your best bets. Pretty much take them outside and enjoy the show.

No offense, but I have no idea what in the hell you are trying to say there.

The scope you asked about in post #12 is a reflector, by the way.

Check out the ones on this page: http://www.shopatron.com/products/category/ETX+Series/1323.0.1.1.28926.36859.0.0.0
I think those are going to be your best bets. Pretty much take them outside and enjoy the show.telescope collimation is what i mean my scope has a wierd kind of primary mirror .i tryied to collimnnate my scope and i made it worst

I read some more that its called a bird jones scope