New scope ordered - what's this collimation thing?

[pjmaciw]

I have just ordered a SW 250 Quattro. Suppose I had better find out what this collimation thing involves. Any good guides that you can recommend would be appreciated.

I have ordered Chesshire and laser collimators so expect they will have basic instructions.

[Digz]

Hi Pete,

Check this out:

Astro Babys Guide to Collimation

Hopefully it will give you an insight.

[John]

The Quattro's are F/4 so maintaining accurate collimation is going to be very important to their performance. You may need to fine tune it each time you use the scope so you will need to develop a reasonable knowledge of the procedure.

[spaceboy]

so expect they will have basic instructions.

:)

[Kwizxi]

How often (on average) do you need to collimate?

[JoLo]

I at least check it each time I pull my Dob out. Most nights it is minor adjustments, but once you learn it well, you can finish it in about two minutes. I just worked it into my usual setup routine.

[pjmaciw]

Thanks guys, good guide. That will get me started.

I know the F4 needs to be spot on with collimation but with all these cloudy nights I will have more time for collimating than viewing.

My thinking was that for a hobby it's fun tinkering to find out how it all works so a performance bit of kit will give me plenty to play with and get up to speed.

[John]

The best test for collimation is to use a slightly defocussed star at high power, so some gaps in the cloud will be handy !.