YACT (yet another collimation thread)

[ZEbbEDY]

Have i got this right? Had my first bash at this today

In a nutshell if the mirror clips are evenly round as seen through the focuser and the primary mirror mark is centred then thats it?

[david o]

I'm afraid I don't have a reflector, so I can only point you in the direction of Astro Baby's Collimation Guide.

That's if you haven't already come across it

HTH

[Jason D]

Have i got this right? Had my first bash at this today

In a nutshell if the mirror clips are evenly round as seen through the focuser and the primary mirror mark is centred then thats it?

What did you mean by "mirror clips are evenly round?"

If you can see the primary mirror reflection through an empty focuser, then it will always look round regardless of collimation.

What is your reference for centering the primary mirror mark?

[ZEbbEDY]

just like in your avatar really being able to see the clips around the eyepiece and then the primary mark in the middle of that, was just using a diy collimation cap

[Jason D]

Rack the collimation cap all the way out. If you can still see all clips then that is a good sign. Seeing few requires additional collimation adjustments.

If the collimation cap pupil reflection is aligned with the center mark, then that is also a good sign.

[star_chaser]

not sure if this is the correct thing to do but i moved the focus tube in and out a bit to see what clip went out of sight first .them made some fine adjustments so they all came into view together(when moving focus tube in out)

star

[brantuk]

That's so obvious Star - can't imagine why I never thought of it in all this time - brilliant tip thanks

[DOBBY]

You're a 'star' star...thanks for that tip

[Jason D]

You need to be careful with the "clips-eclipsing” technique using a collimation cap.

1- You can’t evaluate until the focuser axis is aligned with the primary mirror center.

2- You need to keep your eye axis coincident with the focuser axis.

If you do not conform to the above two guidelines then you end result will be off.

The first few pages of this link covers the technique and additional helpful information: Telescope Reviews: Useful info about secondary mirror alignment

End result should look similar to the attachment.

Jason

[Dob]

Have i got this right? Had my first bash at this today

In a nutshell if the mirror clips are evenly round as seen through the focuser and the primary mirror mark is centred then thats it?

Well, yes.

That is some basic collimation.Now you should do the star test.