greenery

Thanks guys. I've been googling cargo nets.

Hi guys. I have a Transit panel van, ie a very large space in back with a few attachment points, and a 3 at a squeeze bench style seat up front. Suspension isn't great when lightly loaded. It doesn't seem ideal for transporting my scope. The one journey I've been on it was in original packaging and wedged securely in the back with lots of other luggage. Any good ideas for journeys with much less luggage? Do folk routinely remove finder scopes and realign each time?

OP here. I finally got round to tweaking collimation. First just did the primary. Should have stopped there. Then decided to try to improve the already pretty good concentricity. Slightly loosened the 3 secondary screws, slightly tightened the centre screw. Only 1/4 turn on former. Result: massively worse. An hour of fiddling and it's now maybe similar to how it was. A bit off-putting but hopefully on path to knowing what I'm doing.

OP here 😀. Haven't got round to adjusting collimation yet but unexpected first light opportunity last night. The moon and Jupiter were looking great. Orion nebula and andromeda v faint. Managed with just my RACI as not fitted Rigel Quickfinder yet. Quite pleased w how it all went. I think dew was maybe a bigger issue than anything else. Cue googling hairdryers and batteries. Was surprised by how fast objects moved out of view at 130x but quickly got used to nudging the scope.

I appreciate all the input guys. I stayed clear of laser as folk suggested more to potentially adjust. It would be good if somebody could give me definitive advice on how to align crosshairs, primary doughnut and reflection of dark centre dot of Cheshire. When everything else seems fine ie circular and concentric. Possibly I just need to get in there and see what works but there's so many variables it might get worse before better.

Sorry, don't know why that's highlighted in white or how to undo.

Thanks Spile. As far as I can tell, the earlier steps seem fine already and the mirrors appear circular and concentric. Beyond that, I'm now confused. Your guide says the cross hairs and primary centre should be aligned by adjusting secondary tilt, with primary adjustment only used to align primary centre and reflected Cheshire centre. The astrobaby guide (which I gather is well regarded) says only use Cheshire for primary adjustment, which will align all 3: "It may be that that the pattern is offset and will show the cross hairs as being adrift from the central circle created by the Primary Mirrors centre spot and that the centre spots are adrift. If this is so then you will need to adjust the primary mirror". Idid think that aligning all 3 with one adjustment sounded challenging. Which guide is right? Or am I misunderstanding one of them?

Hi guys I won't get a chance to use my new scope for at least a few days. In meantime, I've checked the collimation per astrobaby's guide here https://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/. The only issue seems to be that the crosshairs of my Cheshire collimator, the centre of the primary and the centre of the secondary are all in slightly different places. Before I do anything, this can be solved by only adjusting the primary, right? And I'm aiming for all 3 to align? TIA

Thanks guys. Not used the scope yet as not building base till I've travelled for Xmas. Have got a replacement collimator.

Hi guys Just took delivery of this item for my just acquired 8 inch StellaLyra dob. Not tried to use yet. One of the 2 wires forming the crosshairs is bowed so they presumably don't intersect in the centre of the tube. How much of an issue is this? Should I try to fix it or return or use as is? I'm hoping for an acceptable solution soon as aiming to use the scope at Christmas. I'll be using the astrobaby collimation guide. TIA