Telescope Setup, Polar Alignment, and Use for Beginners

Just got a new telescope and have no idea how to set it up or get it polar aligned? Here's a complete walkthrough of getting an equatorial mount telescope set up, aligned, and ready for night's viewing for complete beginners.
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@astrotourguide
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[@astrotourguide]

Were you able to follow my directions and get polar aligned? Have something you're having trouble with? Let me know if you have problems or questions and I'll try to reply back to everyone.

[@Healitnow]

What size is your mirror. I have a Celestron Astroblaster 130, f650.

[@guitarist4485]

Thank you so much for this video. I was so frustrated last night when I first tried using it.lol

[@poggergen1937]

Do i have to wait for the north star to get high enough without touching the up/down control? can i lock on to it as soon as it crests the horizon?

[@astrotourguide]

@@poggergen1937 the North Star, or Polaris, doesn’t “crest”, it is fixed in the same position. This is why you align your mount to it. The rest of the sky revolves around it as the earth spins.

[@poggergen1937]

@@astrotourguide So at night, with everything aligned correctly, the up/down screw on my latitude, if i point at the north star it will be there? in my telescope’s home position?

[@UraniumEater]

Thank you so much for this video, it was the first video that I actually understood

[@astrotourguide]

Awesome! I'm glad it helped. Subscribe and stand by. I'll be uploading new content soon.

[@dansharayko7198]

Excellent video! It helps alot to get uncomplicated instructions to setup a telescope.

[@TheOlgamora]

Great video. We just got the Orion Observer 90 mm reflector telescope, and we use your video to guide us. Otherwise, we just gave up. The booklet instructions aren't very clear. Thanks again.

[@hdjmiller]

Thank you! Just got mine and it's great to have a tutorial to follow!

[@catpea33]

This is such a good video and thanks for explaining everything so clearly. I've had my telescope for a while so I've had to struggle through all these stages - if only this video had existed back then! I've never bothered polar aligning but I realised it's limiting my results so tonight is the night and your explanations will be in my head as I do it. Also, I never knew I could rotate the tube! I've always just thought, 'Ok, I can't look at this part of the sky because I'm too short to see through the eyepiece when it's sticking straight up like that.' Doh. :)

[@billbennett6398]

Fantastic, even though I am in Australia 🇦🇺. I have just bought a used scope and you have dispelled a lot of fear.

[@ll7115]

Now I have clarity, thank you!

[@user-sy1ts1vg8w]

So helpful. You're a star! Thank you!

[@humairsabir]

Great video!! Thanks so much. I wish the manufacturer had something like this that came with the telescope.

[@johanstruwig9915]

Thank you for this video. I'm just starting out (mainly because my son wants to become an astromaster), and i learned quite a few things from your video. I am in the south, but not Australia 😂

[@estebanchoy]

Finally I found a good Video that helps me understand that kind of telescope. I have a Celestron very similar to that one. Thanks!

[@stenisi]

Great video! We’re just getting started with the hobby and the explanations were great!

[@mikefisher5665]

I have been out of this hobby for over 40 years...to much time working and raising kids with my bride.Now in my 70's I have plenty of time unless my doctors start night shifts. So when I jumped back in I purchased a C electron 127 equally but not using an equal much before I needed to preschool myself. I did look at many KZbin clips before yours and I wish I watched yours first. I found your presentation easy to understand and follow by you. giving a hands on easy to follow viewing.. So in a few weeks my tube will arrive and it will be a restart of a place I want more info on as with my beliefs I will hopefully will be smiling down upon my family. One sky holds so many secrets and holds so many mysteries that would it not be so nice to solve at least one? So to end I thank you enough to have hit the like and subscribe buttons! Thanks again for your time and class! The Fish up in snow covered and cold NY State ( Orange County )

[@terryhurt9701]

Thank you! I just bought our first telescope and it has an equatorial mount and this by far has been the most helpful tutorial I have found to date.

[@1nachot1]

Thank you, finally a good video with a simple explanation for alignment

[@roryfirth76]

Thank you! My dad gave me this telescope and this is the best advice I could find on how to get it set up.

[@renegadebt1374]

Thank you sir for filling in the gaps.. Very informative..

[@stevenyoutsey8989]

Wow, this is the most complete video I’ve found on Newtonian Equatorials. Got a Celestron 114 for Christmas about eight years ago and am just now really learning how to use it. Thanks a-lot.

[@garygerard4290]

'Just back from getting a free reflector from a Craig's List ad. I'm a few minutes into your video and I've doubled my knowledge. thanks, 'thumbs up and I've subbed

[@bertietheboy]

Thank you so much. I've been playing along with your video in daylight, can't wait to get set up tonight! I'm really excited!!!

[@smoothste1]

Hey Chris what a great tutorial . I have had a telescope for many years but had to revisit some of the setup points you have gone through before i can show my grandchildren basic night sky objects , A super video thanks very much Steve in the UK,

[@jennhanley294]

Excellent video! You filled in all the gaps I had in my knowledge of how to use my equatorial mount telescope and get it polar aligned. Cannot wait to go out later this evening and play with it again :)

[@NicoTheBandito8325]

Such an amazing way to explain the basics. Really helped a lot. Thanks man!

[@janestradins2943]

Just got the Celestron 127EQ for Christmas and had no idea how to set it up after the initial build. This video was excellent and showed so much in just 20 minutes. I feel ready to try it out tonight now! Very many thanks for taking the time to make it :-)

[@DiegoBaroni]

Thanks for the video! I finally fully understand how my Celestron mount works and how to align it correctly! Congratulations on the very clear explanation!

[@astrotourguide]

I'm glad it helped. It makes it worth the effort to do the video! Thanks for letting me know. :-)

[@Robodie]

Very, very helpful! Am following your instructions to the letter, and in a couple of hours will see the results. Thanks for taking the time to walk us through it!

[@joarlujo1]

I am a beginner and I appreciated very much your guidance. Congratulations for the clarity!

[@alwaysfax1769]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I had been frustrated for a while using this equatorial mount and didn't quite get how to locate a star I can't see! This helped me a lott thank you sir!

[@billybaycroft8197]

Well I gotta thank you for making this video, after watching dozens yours has literally rang every bell I need to set up my Celestron Astromaster 130ed md. I bought the scope for fun but wasnt having much until now! again...thanks a lot!

[@astrotourguide]

Thanks for the feedback! That’s exactly what I was hoping to do!

[@saurabhmehrotra9013]

Thanks for posting such a great video. You covered all the minor details which a beginner is looking for. I particularly liked the way you explained , the sequence and context was very easy to follow .

[@naturewatcher7596]

Excellent tutorial! Thank you. It's definitely worth to learn how to use equatorial mounts.

[@vonlampard]

Amazing explanation, thank you! Please post more vids, you're a natural teacher.

[@utopiaharley]

I have watched 8 of these videos and learned more from yours....thank you for posting this!

[@amlgyfrwng]

Great vid dude. Very clear and useful.

[@markconnolly7743]

I have my first telescope and have a had a few struggles to set it up, thanks to your lesson I think I might just have worked it out.

[@ChrisTobinSingerGuitarist]

Many thanks! not used my telescope for years and that was the perfect revision course!

[@hank41652]

The best setup tutorial I have seen so far.

[@eottoe2001]

Thank you so much for this video. You anticipated all my questions and then answered them.

[@andrewt-jw5bs]

Brilliant video! I'm new to stargazing and you have made it sound so simple compared to a lot of other videos out there.

[@user-eq9kz8no3i]

Thats the best explained equatorial tutorial vid I've ever seen. Tomorrow my 130mm skywatcher Eq2 will arrive.... Thank you for your helpfull information.

[@patrickmcnulty2666]

Thank you for the great video. You are right about a Equatorial mount being a hobby killer. But I am determined to get mine aligned and tracking probably. Your guide help me achieve that goal. Clear Skies,

[@johnerwindeleon2756]

Thanks for the advice.. Well Explained and easy to understand on how to set up newtonian telescope for all beginners . Nice!

[@redjambo]

This has been an amazing help for me, I purchased my first EQ scope today and I’m feeling pretty confident now! Just need to wait for some clear skys 🤞🏼

[@brentsummers8623]

Very helpful, I’m very new to this and have an Astro tech 130, so all of what you covered is helpful.

[@MensMentalHealthStation]

Excellent tutorial. Good job. Thank you

[@lancelubin727]

Thank you so much. VERY helpful and easy to follow.

[@eduardogaldino8510]

Lot information even to begin use the Polaris, professor! Not so easy! Thank you though!

[@stevendrake6831]

Excellently explained! Thank you!

[@devrajmuttur7268]

Thank you for brightening things up in my messy mind.. get a better understanding of how to get things started especially when you're begginner.. 2 👍👍

[@scunneen]

Thank you dude, very helpful and give me a giggle as well, keep it up!

[@Altair885]

Just bought the same Meade Polaris 130 eq as you used in the video. Seems to be a nicely made scope, obviously it's on the budget end of the scale as telescopes go but the optics look very sharp at that price. The only complaint I have is with the stand, the mount itself seems fine but the stand is quite wobbly. I found that the majority of the movement is in the plastic ends fitted to the legs where they join onto the mount, the metal leg is simply pushed into a plastic socket and secured with two little pop rivets, of course it's not a tight fit so there's lots of movement present in the assembly. However with mine I've been able to eliminate virtually of this movement by pouring epoxy resin into the joint, it now feels considerably more stable, even if there's a bit of a wind up the scope stays pretty much wobble free in the eyepiece. Hope this helps anyone else who's got the same scope. Cheers, good video BTW 👍😉

[@bobwilkinson6828]

Thanks for your very clear explanation of how to setup the mount. As I'm in Australia I'll need to align with the southern pole but I now have a much better knowledge of how to setup and use this type of mount.

[@sayalhamdulillah6880]

This video was amazing and so informative. Thank you.

[@jphillips8247]

Your video rocked I was about ready to give up thank you so much

[@apkrishna]

Excellent video - very clear. Thank you

[@Glen694u]

Thank you so much for this video !! Really helped me hugely !!

[@knightingalesaid]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@duanehillier4135]

Very helpful! Thank you 👍

[@PaulJohnson-ed4oc]

This is the first explanation iv actually understood 😂 fantastic tutorial sir. 🤜🤛

[@vojkotravner6413]

Thank you very, very much! Very useful and clear explanation.

[@andrewbunn775]

Excellent video, spent a long time finding one that made sense

[@rogerdiggler6598]

Excellent video man thank you!!

[@zonker2u808]

This was so much help to a Newbie. Thank you.

[@VtwinTim]

Brilliant! Thank you, that made it so much clearer! I can now align my scope, AND as a bonus, I now know that the ring in the middle isn't broken! 😂 Great vid, happy to subscribe!

[@theunseen010]

🤣🤣same, i thought it was broken for so long

[@bazzinator7477]

wow excellent video. you sir are a good teacher. thanks

[@luismuratallaify]

Great video, looking forward to giving it a shot, thanks

[@astrotourguide]

Thanks for watching. Good luck!

[@ramonrodriguez6849]

Thank you so much. Wonderful tips.

[@ojimenezcphoto]

What a great and informative video, thank you very much for this valuable informations. Greetings from Costa Rica!

[@JMPGX]

I found it really annoying to do and the manual I had was hard to undersand. You made it all very clear thank you so much

[@robertjenkins4886]

Excellent tutorial

[@guyfromthesky1]

Very helpful, thank you.

[@astrotourguide]

Glad it was helpful!

[@davidhaney1394]

BRILLIANT ! thank you !

[@angisaghi]

Very useful. Thanks!

[@ManishFrenchStudio]

Wow dear, knowledge video 💖💖💖,🙏 thank you 😊❤️ for sharing 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎉🎉🎉

[@indyalex42]

Nice explanations. Thanks heaps.

[@salahsana3481]

Good job

[@williamwesley5078]

I really appreciate the video u made, great teaching, I hope you get more subs because your worth watching...thanks.

[@astrotourguide]

Thanks so much! Stand by, I'll be uploading new videos again soon.

[@pranavpatil267]

Thank you so much for great video.

[@70jimartinez]

Thanks for the video!

[@akashpatel70239]

This is really helpful thanks

[@neilblack6356]

Easy to understand first class job

[@stevo050]

Subscribed, great explanation, best one I've found 👍

[@astrotourguide]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful.

[@jaylenedorris861]

Thank you!

[@MuhammadBesharat7]

Good helpfull video ❤

[@soldtobediers]

Helpful! Blessings from the FW Texas Cultural District.

[@kurt6867]

Very nice video. Thanks.

[@bazerk856]

Great video very helpful to me . Thank you.

[@astrotourguide]

Glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know. :-)

[@Randy-qq8lr]

such a good video thank you.

[@ryszardjacekrusniak7993]

Perfect!

[@neilblack6356]

Great video bud

[@MemoriesRR]

Thank you.

[@cryptojim6953]

Thank you thank you thank you.

[@ronmac1832]

Very helpful! Question: If my mount is level, set to true north and altitude adjustment is properly set - would that be good enough for visual observations? I'll try both methods as soon as the clouds clear up!

[@astrotourguide]

Yes. If you’re just doing visual, just getting it level pointed to true north with the proper elevation set will be pretty good. You might occasionally have to adjust the declination knob as something drifts if it’s a little off. Whereas if it’s spot on you only have to turn the RA slow motion knob. But for most of the time, it’ll be fine. Once you do a full alignment on the North Star the first time, you’ll have the exact elevation set. From then on you can just set up and point to true north and you’re in business.

[@michaelvincent4518]

Thanks from France for your very clear explanations ! Very helpful to help me set up my equatorial mount. Cheers

[@shaikhfh1]

It was really good and simple explanation. I have a question that once I polar aligned, then what should I do to my RA DIAL and DEC DIAL, I mean does I neet set it to both these dials to zero when Polaris is visible?

[@astrotourguide]

Honestly, I never set them as I don’t use them when I’m stargazing. I just use charts to find my way. But, if you want to use them, after you polar align, then center a star that you know in your eyepiece that is somewhere near the equator or ecliptic, and then set the dials to match its known coordinates. For instance, center up Betelgeuse in Orion and then look up its coordinates in your charts or app and set the dials to match and they’re set.

[@shaikhfh1]

@@astrotourguide thanks for your prompt reply. OK will try soon the way you guided Thanks.

[@camillechimier8832]

Thank you so much for the video! It’s very clear with so many useful tips!

[@southphillylilly]

Please make more videos!!

[@astrotourguide]

Careful what you wish for! 😬 Planning more videos to shoot right now!

[@southphillylilly]

@@astrotourguide awesome! I just got my first telescope for my 40 birthday, which was on December 26 A solomark eq3....(not sure that's how you write the model number or whatever but your video was head and shoulders above the rest as far as getting acquainted with the basics. Such as alignment. So grateful happy new year

[@monicab7441]

Thank you.. I am very new at this and was using only my camera, but I am struggling to balance the telescope when I attach the camera!!! any advice on this? I have a Nikon 850d.. which I guess is very heavy for the telescope.. or maybe it’s just me who can’t figure it out. Help!!!!

[@astrotourguide]

If you’re using this exact telescope then, yes, it’s too heavy for this rig. This beginner’s telescope isn’t good for photography. The mount doesn’t track automatically and is way to shaky.

[@logiticalresponse9574]

@ 1:50 i generally use the house at the end of my street . Their bathroom window is the bes......... nevermind 😅

[@astrotourguide]

Lol