Does my telescope needs acounter weight to keep it still even when the motor is off?

First the good news. Personally I believe a computer GOTO scope or a Dobsonian telescope with PUSHTO makes a great telescope for a beginner.

Why? Because you can use the hand controller to help you find those dim sky objects that are almost invisible from a typical suburban observing site with lots of light pollution.

Also if you pay attention you will learn many of the brighter stars in the sky, the Constellations, and the location of many of the brighter sky objects.

Now for the bad news. There are many cheap goto telescope systems being sold that do not work as advertised, and you still need APERTURE to see many of the dimmer sky objects. So a goto with a little 70mm refractor mounted on it will frustrate you!

Right off the bat let me list a few links to the better goto and pushto telescopes. See these web sites:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=intelliscopedobs/~pcategory=dobsonians/~product_id=27183

http://www.meade.com/lx90/index.html

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=9&ProdID=33

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0023RRD9Y/ref=asc_df_B0023RRD9Y994674?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=googlecom09c9-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B0023RRD9Y
This is just the mount, you need to also buy the telescope tube. I would suggest a 6 inch Celestron SCT Optical Tube Assembly (OTA), and also what is called a "dovetail" metal bar to mount the scope tube onto the side of this goto mount.

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=8&ProdID=31

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=11&ProdID=392 This is a computerized equitorial mount. It works differently than the scopes listed above.

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=13&ProdID=415

That should be enough to get you thinking! All of the ones listed above will have good goto performance IF:

You read the manual TWICE!

Test the scope out INSIDE in the light before you take it out at night and learn how to operate the hand controller.

Follow all the instructions in the manual about training the drives and or calibrating motors.

Accurately center BOTH alignment stars. Yes you will need to learn the names of a few stars in the sky.

AND NEVER plug or unplug the hand controller while the scope is turned on! This can burn out the circuits in the scope!

I would suggest that your first goto telescope be like the very first link above; a Dobsonian with a PUSHTO hand controller. This is the cheapest and best entry point to own a computer telescope. Yes, the prices are a little higher and old timers will tell you you do not need the computer goto to find objects in the sky.

I disagree! Beginners get very frustrated with the hobby when they cannot find anything other than the moon or several bright planets; or search for several hours to find one other dim sky object. Also most of us live in light polluted cities, and hopping around from star to star to find something is not really possible.

Add eye problems like cataracts and you will only see 6 or 7 stars in the sky, not enough to use to find other sky objects.

If you decide to buy a GOTO scope, please attend several star parties at your local Astronomy club. Many of the members will have this kind of telescope. You can ask questions, and they may even let you DRIVE the telescope!

Remember, READ the manual, train the drives, and do all the other initial setup that the manual recommends. Yes, you will need to know the names of a few bright stars in the sky! Your new computer telescope is not as smart as 3CPO in Star Wars!

Clear Skies!
Joe Lalumia

Even though we warned you not to do this, you bought one anyway! Beginners should never buy an EQ telescope mount as their first telescope. It's too late now; so I guess we will need to teach you how to use it!

Equatorial mounts move in a way that seems not to very intuitive. Unlike the easy Alt AZ mount which moves up and down and left and right, the EQ mounted telescope seems to move in TWO dissimilar directions at the same time.

Additionally you must first polar align the mount on the North star Polaris before you can use it. SEE! we told you not to buy it!

Here are the steps to roughly polar align the telescope so you can use it. If it is motorized the single Right Ascension motor will keep the sky object inside the eyepiece for long periods of time. If you do not have a Right Ascension motor, the slow motion RA knob can be slowly turned to keep the sky object centered in the eyepiece.

Begin by leveling the mount and tripod. Move the entire mount and tripod so it is pointing roughly to North, as close as possible using the steps below or a compass. Don't forget to adjust for your magnetic deviation. My location's compass reading is about 5 degrees away from true North. This is called magnetic deviation. You can find your location's deviation on the internet. Then proceed with the steps below.

First, adjust the Declination to the latitude for your observing site. Declination is the angle that the scope is pointing UP, and it's the same as your latitude. For example Dallas, Texas is about 32 degrees North latitude, adjust the scope so the small indicator reads 32 degrees. By the way, the North star in Dallas, TX is about 32 degrees above the horizon. Your latitude matches the elevation of Polaris (the North star) above the horizon.

Second, either look through the polar alignment scope buried in the axis of the telescope mount, or look along side the axis, and get the star Polaris lined up in the cross-hair of the polar alignment scope, or as best you can by looking along the side of the mount axis, or lining it up using your compass.. This will put the scope to within about 3/4 of 1 degree of the TRUE North celestial sphere. This is good enough for VISUAL observation, but NOT good enough to do astro-photography..

Adjust the DECLINATION up or down, and move the entire mount left or right until you can see Polaris as indicated above, or it is lined up as close as possible.

Now you are roughly polar aligned. Now you can move the tube around by loosening the Right Ascension lock, and or the Declination lock until your sky object appears in the small finder scope mounted on top of the main telescope tube.(DO NOT MOVE THE MOUNT, and the counter weight should never be higher than the telescope tube) Lock down the scope in both axis and use the fine adjustment RA and DEC knobs to center the target. Again, DO NOT move the mount or tripod. The mount should still be pointing at Polaris.

This web site illustrates this procedure:
http://www.astronomy.net/articles/4/polaralign.html

also this web site

http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/polaralignmentarticle.cfm

You should be able to keep an object within the field of view of the eyepiece by slowing turning the Right Ascension slow motion control knob-------- IF you are actually accurately polar aligned. Small adjustments may also be needed with the DEC slow motion knob since you are not exactly polar aligned using this rough alignment technique.

However it can be used successfully for visual observation. Your scope will now track the motion of the stars as they move across the sky.

Hope that helps you!

Clear Skies!
TelescopeMan

www.telescopeman.tumblr.com