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[jeremy]

It was difficult watching that my scope arrived in Chicago in the UPS warehouse on Friday, but would not be delivered until Monday with the clear skies we had on Friday and Saturday, but it did finally arrive!

I was able to put together my new Orion XT8i Intelliscope yesterday without any issues (that I'm aware of yet). I was able to collimate the scope, and line up the site with the Willis Tower. I then crossed my fingers for some break in clouds last night to see something, anything. Finally around 9:30pm there was a very slight break where Vega was.

I thought maybe I could see the ring, but the haze or thin clouds did not make that possible. I was able to see Vega and several surrounding stars. I was happy to see the spotter scope worked well and was pointing me right to what I lined up. The scope moved freely, and felt good.

I also tried to get the intelliscope computer working, but that isn't dialed in yet. I didn't verify I was level, as straight up is the first point to spot. Hitting Vega was easy, but finding another star was tricky. About the only other star I could see was Deneb, so I used that as my third point. I suspect the combination of not making sure I was level first, and selecting two close stars were most of my challenge. The computer gave me a warp factor of 12, so I was pretty far off.

No worries though, I'll get it there. Shortly after starting, the clouds took over the stars again. I feel good I got to see at least something. Looks like the weather will be good tomorrow, so I am starting preparations now. Once I get this last alignment part sorted out and build up my comfort with the scope a little tomorrow, I plan to bring it out to the next star party!

Thank you everyone for your feedback, and advise along the way. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Jeremy,

The start of telescopic explorations is always exciting. Even when I put away the scope for awhile and set up - I still get the thrill.

You'll start to use the scope as an extension of yourself and begin to locate objects quick and without thought. Perhaps you'll bring it soon to a Chicago Astronomer event (03 August), and we can take a good look at what you got.

The push to computer is very nice and will be used often, but don't forego the practice of star hopping to find your targets.

Very cool Jeremy.

[-=CROMAN=-]

Congrats on the Dob Jeremy! The Intelliscope feature is very cool, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it very soon. One piece of advice for you.... Telrad! On a four inch riser! (*Joe laughs in the background*) I've got one setup on mine and I find it indispensable. The 4 inch riser may look kind of awkward but sitting up high makes all the difference for your neck and back when aiming towards Zenith. There is also the Rigel viewer that is much, much smaller.

Have a read about it here

www.astrobargains.com/Articles/telrad_vs_quikfinder.htm

[patrickm]

Woo! Congrats on first light!

A good target right next to Vega is the Double Double. See if you can split the two binaries

Hope to get to check it out soon. If tomorrow's gathering is mysteriously clouded out, we know who to blame.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I like how Jeremy writes "1st Scope".

Indeed...it has begun.

[Paulie pchris00]

First light tonight??? (Monday's test doesn't really count as first light). Saturn, Luna, or something else?

[jeremy]

Wow, what a much better night for viewing! I started off tonight set on getting the COL to work properly. However try as I might, I kept getting these really high warp factors. I went so far as to pull the base apart and verify the sensor discs were on right. After putting back together, it still wasn't lining up right.

I decided to take a break as I was simply confused, and a little frustrated as I took so much care in putting together, as well as reading how the manual makes it sound so easy to do! I began some star hoping then. I found a couple of clusters, m31, but my mind was still on the COL. Don't get me wrong though, seeing my first fuzzy brought a big smile to my face.

Going through everything I had read about this scope in my head, the vertical position part was itching my brain. I went back through the web and found what I needed. When the COL was first booting up to set the points, it wasn't asking to set vertical and save position, once I arrowed to that option, bingo! Warp of 0.3. For fun I did it again and got a 0.2! This is the range I needed.

Onto testing it out, it was on the money. I called up m57, looked through the 25mm, and it was right there. Then I tried the "tour" option on the COL. It tried to take me to a few things too low on the horizon for the city, but it took me to a few good items like the Dumbbell Nebula, and some more clusters.

Now I felt like I had control over all parts of my scope. I decided now that I had it dialed in, to point it to a part of the sky where I knew a satellite would pass. That didn't really work out as I watched that part for 10 min with no activity, so I went back to M31 as it was higher in the sky. Then watching m31, a satellite passes right in front of it! Funny how that works out.

I spent the rest of the night watching Jupiter rise. I could see four of it's moons, but one eventually went behind it out of view. I probably watched it for an hour, I could not get enough.

What a great session tonight! Next star party I will be at, ready to go!

[atomant]

Excellent choice in getting the intelliscope with the dob.
There are a lot of treasures to be seen in these urban skies.

[patrickm]

Congrats man! What a great feeling! When GoTo works, it's a beautiful thing. When it doesn't, it can get really frustrating. Glad you got it working.

Jupiter's pretty amazing, no?