Secondary mirror vein very loose

[Diddydo75]

Hi,

I've just received my Heritage 130 and the single vein holding the secondary mirror was very loose. As i moved the scope the mirror moved about which alarmed me, will this mean that the collimation will be shot or do I just straighten the mirror until i get a clear view through the eye piece.

Regards

Dale

[Jack123456]

Hi,

i only have a limited knowledge of this, but i would say that you would need to tighten the arm holding the secondry mirror, then re-collimate it (or at least check the collimation).

i don't know your scope.. but which end is loose, where it connects to the mirror, or the tube?

[Diddydo75]

It was loose where it connects to the tube not the mirror. Anyway I have tightened it up and will have see how it performs this evening if the skies are clear, I hope its not to serious an issue

[John]

That does not sound good to me - the position and angle of the secondary mirror is crucial to the performance of the scope - once set it should not move around at all.

See how it looks when you use it on a star but it would not surprise me if the collimation was way off I'm afraid.

[acey]

I don't know exactly what the tightening arrangement of the single strut on the Heritage 130 is, but as long as the secondary holder looks properly aligned to the tube, and not at an angle to it, you should be OK. (From what you say, the secondary mirror itself hasn't been moving around in the holder, so by making sure the holder is straight you're putting things back into the original factory state). If things have moved around unduly, they can always be put right. But as it's a new scope, if you're worried about it then contact the dealer.

[Diddydo75]

thank you for the replies, I'll have a look this evening and see how it performs. The vein screws into the tube and then there is a nut to secure it, who ever put it in just screwed it in and did not tighten the nut to lock in in place. I purchased it from FLO so I'll give them a ring

[Diddydo75]

Martin from FLO has been in touch and he said the collimation will be way out so it has to go back, im gutted but it was good to get a quick response from FLO.

[tms48]

Mine also was loose but I lined up the secondary by holding it carefully and not touching the mirror surface. I centred it using a cheshire and tightened the locknut. The single arm was almost fully screwed in when the mirror was centred, it was fiddly but doeable and I ended up with good collimation.

[Diddydo75]

I really do not know enough about collimation to do this, I'm seriously thinking of getting a refractor scope instead so that collimation isn't an issue. My viewing time is limited so I really need a scope that I can quickly set up and use. Also looking at the vein on the scope It didn't look that well made and had clearly be hurriedly put together. I was thinking of a sky watcher star travel 102 EQ-1.

[rowan46]

I really do not know enough about collimation to do this, I'm seriously thinking of getting a refractor scope instead so that collimation isn't an issue. My viewing time is limited so I really need a scope that I can quickly set up and use. Also looking at the vein on the scope It didn't look that well made and had clearly be hurriedly put together. I was thinking of a sky watcher star travel 102 EQ-1.

if you want grab and go I would have it on an alt az mount,no point spending the time aligning it north if you are not doing photography and you can't on an eq1 they are not steady enough

[Diddydo75]

rowan46, many thanks for that info. I'm trawling around looking into the differences between the mounts but you've been a great help. FLO have one with the AZ-3 mount but it has a 45 degree angle on the eye piece as opposed to a 90 degree one, would this be a big issue?

sorry for all the questions but the more I look the harder it is getting to choose, although I feel that the star travel is the one I'm going to get.

[acey]

A 45-degree diagonal is useable for astronomy but you're much better with 90-degree. (I have a spotting scope with 45-degree angle which I use as a travel scope and I only use it for low elevation objects - anything high up will give you neck ache).

The Star Travel is a short focal-length instrument, therefore not so good for planets which require high magnification. (I have the 80mm version, also used as a travel scope, which is very nice for deep sky but gives tiny views of planets).

The single strut of the Heritage, I agree, does not look ideal. An alternative would be the Skywatcher 150 dobsonian which has a more conventional spider.

Collimation of Newtonians is really not a big deal. I used an 8" dob for about 10 years and didn't collimate at all for the first year or so, thereafter only once every few months, despite making many trips with it, and the views were fine. I collimated it using a home-made colli-cap (a film cannister with a hole in it). A 6" that doesn't go on too many bumpy car journeys will need less collimating than my heavier 8" did.

[Diddydo75]

Acey, thanks for the post I'm going to stick with the star travel if FLO let me do a swap (I hope they will) and perhaps consider a larger dob as I mature into this hobby. I would like to actually observe collimation being done as I'm one of those people who benefits from actually seeing and then doing.

Many thanks

Dale