How do you lock the telescope in place after finding object

1. Get Stellarium or another fine astronomy program
2. During the day, point the telescope at a part of the landscape about 100 yards away.
3. Use the lowest power eyepiece (highest number) in the focal tube.
4. Center the landscape object in the telescope.
5. Align the finder scope so that it points exactly where the main telescope is.
6. At night, leave the scope out to reach thermal equilibrium (about an hour for small reflectors and refractors)
7. If the scope is on a EQ mount, polar align.
8. Point the finder at the moon. The moon should be in the main scope also.
9. Practice finding the moon before you start on the planets
10. Once you are comfortable with the moon and planets, you can go for the deep sky objects

Equatorial mounts need to be polar aligned to work correctly. Once the scope is polar aligned (see manual or look online for polar alignment instructions), turn on the RA motor. Loosen your RA and DEC locks and find a object you want to view, The motor should keep the object in view for a while (depends on how good the motor tracks and how good your polar alignment is.) Spending 10 minutes polar alignment on my C8 keeps the object in view for about an hour without adjustment.

Once the scope is polar aligned move it to a named star that you can identify. Look up the RA and DEC for that NAMED star in any planetarium phone APP or a laptop running any planetarium software like the free software available at www.stellarium.org

Adjust the circles to MATCH the RA and DEC in the planetarium software, and lock them down.

Now you can use them to find other objects of known RA and DEC.

Put the eyepiece with the largest number written on it into the focuser, do not use the 2xbarlow if you have one.

On a reflector the end with the focuser is the UP end the mirror is on the bottom. During the daytime point the scope at a distant object with the above eyepiece in place and practice focusing. Also line up the finderscope with the main telescope tube.

The first step would be to start in the daylight and use the main telescope to scan your local landscape. Perhaps you have some objects like distant telephone poles that you can lock on to. After this, adjust the little spotting scope on the side of the main telescope body so that it is looking in the very same place. You are now setup for some night time viewing.

Note: Objects that you view in your local landscape are probably going to appear as being upside down. This is normal.

Most telescopes use a standard fitting eyepiece with a 1.25 inch outside diameter barrel. You can measure the mount where the eyepiece goes to make sure that yours is this size, then search on eBay or Amazon for "1.25 eyepiece" and you will find many available. Some of these will even be made by Meade, but any make will fit.

The other variable will be the focal length of the eyepiece, which is what determines it's power. The power of the scope will be the focal length of the main objective divided by the focal length of the eyepiece, so a 9mm eyepiece will give a higher magnification (and be dimmer and harder to focus and find objects) than a 20mm eyepiece. It is usual to have two or three different focal length eyepieces for viewing different objects.

You will find a large variation in prices, which is partly due to the difference in quality and type of construction of the eyepieces. Kellner eyepieces are simple and cheap, whereas Possl or orthoscopic ones are more complex and cost more. There are reasons why people will pay more for the better eyepieces.

Complicated issues yield to a step-by-step approach.

This kind of telescope uses a curved mirror rather than a lens. The light goes down the tube and is reflected from the magnifying mirror at the bottom, back up the tube and then is deflected to the side by another small mirror. It comes out at a right angle, through an eyepiece near the top of the tube, so you look into that eyepiece as if you were looking at something in the top of the tube.

There is probably a small telescope mounted near the eyepiece at the top of the tube. This is a low power viewer to help you line up the main telescope on an object you want to view, as it is very difficult to find objects at the higher magnification of the main scope. There is probably also a cap over the opening of the tube, to keep out dust and stop small objects falling in. You need to remove this to view, but keep it in place the rest of the time.

It is always best to start with an object that you can find easily, like the moon, or during daylight with a tree on the far horizon. Use your lowest magnification eyepiece at first. Until you find the right focus adjustment, all you will see will be a blur. It is easier to focus with the lower magnification eyepieces.

NEVER point any telescope anywhere near the sun.

I got a telescope like this when I was fourteen, and still remember seeing the moons of Jupiter and rings of Saturn.

Astronomical telescopes present images upsidedown, this is normal.

Insert the diagonal into the back of the focuser and use the thumb screws to lock it into place.  Then insert a low-power eyepiece into the diagonal and use the thumb screws to lock it into place.  Low power eyepieces have the higher numbers on them.  20mm is lower power than 10mm.  Point it at a target off in the distance (NEVER point it at the Sun, or you will burn your eyes and go blind!).  Then, using the thumb screws on the smaller finder telescope, adjust it so it is centered on whatever object you have in the main telescope.  At this point you can use the smaller finder scope to point the main telescope at object in the night sky, and they should then show up in the main telescope.

Put in an eyepiece that doesn't have cross hairs, those are for finding only.