I have a problem that perhaps some other amateur astronomers could solve. I've been cruising the sky for a few years with my trusty Minolta binculars and am pretty good finding things, at least with a star chart handy. I can find most of the constellations, planets, etc. So I decided to expand my hobby and I bought a Meade ETX-105EC with the Autostar controller.

The Autostar is supposed to be world famous for its ease and simplicity, but I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO SET THE !@$#%^ THING UP!!! I read the manual and here is what I have tried:
I set the ETX level.
I twist it all the way around manually until it stops, and then turn it back so the fork arm is over the control panel .
I point it north.

Now, what happens is the Autostar tries to push the telescope past its hardstops. I can use the scope without the Autostar, but it seems to have a lot of potential and I want to get the most out of it. Can anyone help?

I responded to your post here on this subject.

Hey BigJim,
Check out this site.
http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html
They have lots of advice on how to beat the ETX at it's own game.

Used to have one of these but moved on to a bigger scope and I don't rememver all the little tricks. It may be that you rotated the wrong way or put the wrong fork over the panel or put in the wrong city/location or have a bad hand controller. It is very easy to replace the controller if that's the problem.

Good luck,
jb