Never give up

Basic Tips for begginers with a mobile mount.

• Buy the best mount you can afford.  Equal if not more money should be spent on the mount as the optical assembly.
• Buy secondhand where you can after testing.
• It can get cold imaging on a Winter's night. Stay warm with layers of clothes.  A beanie and gloves are mandatory.
• Join an Internet Yahoo Astro Imaging Group. Many have been where you are going.
• Join a local Astronomy Club.
• With portable mounts, mark the ground permanently so that the position is repeatable.
• Level the mount with a long spirit level in all directions.
• With the German type equatorial mount, balance is especially crytical in all planes for accurate tracking. Hours and images can be wasted if not observed.
• Mains power is preferable to batteries.
• Tie cables together preferably under a cover and under the tripod.  Walking through wires in the dark by you or your guests can be an expensive disaster.
• Allow at least an hour for the optics to reach outside temperature. This will improve images dramatically. 
• Take as much time as needed to align the scope and test for accuracy via the various methods. After balancing, this would be the next most important aspect to successful imaging.
• Nothing would appear to beat "The Drift Alignment Method" for accurate alignment on the Celestail Pole with a portable mount. 
• Fit your scope with an inexpensive "Red Dot" finder. This gadget speeds up alignment and "GOTO" capability.
• Fit your scope with a heater strap to obviate dew and save dissapointment.  Once a scopes objective is "fogged", it is difficult to recommence imaging for that night.
• An auto focus device such as "RoboFocus" has been the best addition to my system and should be contemplated as one progresses.

Finally take the time to allow family and friends to experience the universe at night through your eyepiece.  I still remember and will never forget my first inspiring sight of the planet Saturn and it's magnificent surreal rings.