Whew...when it's this hot it almost seems like work, if you don't know what you are doing...I have a couple of questions. I seem to be having trouble balancing my tube, especially when I try to change an eyepiece, everything starts rolling over. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?
Also, I can see Saturn very clear, with rings very focused and the moons beside it, but it does seem to be very large in my eyepiece, is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?
I might have looked at too many pictures.....Jimmy
Hey Jimmy,
First thing ... relax. The sky is eternal, the summer heat only seems that way. 
OK, I have the predecessor to your telescope, the CR150-HD, basically the same telescope only I added the CG5-GT mount, same as what you have. I know what a beast it can be!!
Balance should not be a big problem on this mount. First, balance it in declination (the lower pivot), then in right ascension (the upper pivot). IMPORTANT: do this with a medium weight eyepiece installed, as well as the dew shield and the finder scope. Get the telescope balanced so that it is as likely to roll one way as the other, in both axes. Once you have it right, make some Magic Marker marks (or apply some semi-permanent tape) on the weight shaft and on the telescope dovetail to mark where the weights go and where the telescope should be, so that you can quickly get things close the next time.
To achieve polar alignment, I like to rubber-band a foot-long section of small (3/8") aluminum pipe to the mount, where the scope will attach. I sight through that (with the mount zeroed out in both axes) to get Polaris centered. That's generally good enough. Make sure the clutches are locked when you begin your star alignment; don't muscle them down,
just nicely snug. Once this is done, you're set for the night; don't
loosen up either clutch.
I also made ground-markers out of three big spikes and three red-painted fender washers. One night after I had everything just right, I drove the spikes into the ground (with the washers on them) to mark the position of the tripod feet. Next time out, I'm halfway there toward polar alignment, providing I don't readjust the tripod leg lengths.
Now, on to observing. Those coffee-table books show Saturn and Jupiter as huge, stunning, highly detailed sights. However, they are just planets, and they are a loooong ways away. So you may have to readjust your expectations here. Jupiter, the largest planet of all, is still pretty small at its distance from us. Saturn, a slightly smaller planet, is twice as far away as Jupiter. And Mars, heaven help us, is only half the size of Earth. At its distance, it is never more than a miniscule disc, even in the biggest telescope. And though a 6" refractor like yours and mine seems big, it ain't big enough to cook up a picture-window view of Mars. With a 5mm eyepiece, Jupiter will look mighty impressive at 240x, but it will still cover only 4% of the field of view at opposition (closest to us). If you include the rings, Saturn will cover a whopping 5% of the field of view. Poor old Mars will cover only 2% of the field of view.
This is not to discourage you. The planets are notoriously small targets, so don't worry if they seem dinky; THEY ARE! The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is rising at this time of year, and it's several times bigger than the Moon. In fact, many of the interesting deep sky objects are nearly as big as the Moon, a little bigger or smaller, but really quite sizable.
I suggest you try the "Tour" feature on your handset. Some of the things in there are not really appropriate, either too big to fit in the eyepiece, or way too dim for a beginner, but many of them are very interesting. It lets you just muck around in the sky and see a number of interesting sights, without having to do a lot of in-depth study. Also, pick up a book like "Star Watch" or "Turn Left at Orion". These will give you directions to, and good information about, a hundred or more interesting targets. Eventually, you'll want a sky atlas, a roadmap to the sky; I highly recommend the "Pocket Sky Atlas" by Roger Sinnot.
It's great to know you're out there trying. You have a spectacular instrument there, one that would have blown the socks off amateurs just a couple of generations ago. Mr. Messier, who gave us the Messier catalog of deep sky objects, never had it so good. From your dark site, it will show you the most amazing sights of the cosmos, and give you tantalizing whispers of even more.
Keep at it, my friend. We're all in this together, and with the support of your family and friends like this, you'll one day find yourself gazing at a galaxy whose light began its journey here eons before even our most remote ancestors duked it out with tigers and mammoths. Be glad they largely won, because you're here to stand in awe at what they could not have conceived.
-- Tim
Colorado
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