by Gary Manning
As you all no doubt have heard I received my new 16 inch Starmaster w/ GOTO last Monday. I was able to unpack, assemble, and get it out into the backyard that night for it's First Light. That night I wasn't able to try out the DSCs and GOTO electronics. Due to weather, scheduling and and various bits of stupidity on my part I wasn't able to get Second Light until last night.
Setup went well with no problems. Collation was fairly close and only required a little tweaking. After a couple false starts I got the Sky Commander aligned and was using the GOTO. First target, M57 dead center in the EP. Then some of the Messiers in Scorpius. After that it was kind of a blur. I didn't keep track but I must have hit 25 to 30 objects (all Messier except for Neptune and Mars) in about 90 minutes. What a thrill!!!
When I started observing three years ago I heard about the Three Golden Rules of Observing:
The GOTO on my Starmaster was really nice to use. The scope made very pleasant and soothing musical tones as it moved. I was very happy and at peace. I have been seduced by the Dark Side. :-)