24 hour clock

[Anonymous]

Hi there my husband has bought himself a telescope but is unsure how to set up the 24 hour clock part of it. We need the 0h point. Can you offer any advice. We live in Edenbridge

[Ian]

Hi,

not entirely sure how to answer that. If the telescope is computerised then the manual is the best help you can get. However, I suspect that what you're really asking is how to use the "setting circles" on a manual mount. If so, don't worry. I personally have found setting circles next to impossible to use, mostly because they're too small, and paperwork with the telescope usually really bad.
The method I used for finding things is known as star hopping. Start pointing the scope at a known star (a very bright one usually) and using a chart hop from star to star until your target is in sight. You might like to take a look at a book called "Turn Left at Orion" ISBN 0521781906. It discusses what to look at and how to find them and is particularly aimed at small telescope users.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Many Thanks - I was trying to find a start point to set the RA ring and then plot the star coordinates,but as i am new to this I then realised that the 24hr ra is also turning with the stars so i was quite baffled in not being able to find a starting point to set the ring.Many thanks again for saying its almost impossible (i thought i was going mad).