I need professional help

[jakey]

No I am not barking mad but I really do need professional help. I have had a collimating disaster that I cannot repair.

Does anyone know a reputable Company in the east Midlands/ Lincolnshire area that can help?

I was fiddling with my scope and the secondary mirror came off in my hand

I set it back on but I must have got the angle wrong and ( not realising this) I then fiddled with the primary mirror. I now cannot even focus my scope properly the collimation is so bad. I have managed to get a laser collimator but that is not helping. Nothing I try is sorting out the issue so I guess I need that professional help.

Not a good day

[refractions]

Hi,

You could try Beacon Hill Telecopes in Cleethorpes. The guy basically designs, builds and repairs scopes.

Beacon Hill Telecopes,

112 Mill Road, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, DN35 8JD.

Tel: 01472 692959.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

If you can hang on until tomorrow I'll write up a "from scratch" collimation routine. This has become normal for me with the Skelescope so it's no biggy.

Captain Chaos

[jakey]

Thanks

[blinky]

I did exactly the same the same thing. Leave it alone for an hour or so and calm down, you aint broke anything do dont worry!

I got the secondry more or less where it should be then did the same with the primary. I could then see the primary in the secondry and just went about collumation as normal.

[fmeireso]

Yeah, one can really fiddle with it....hours....

I did that with my OO, but somehow i got i right, the focusser, the sec, the prim , sometimes all of them have to be tuned to get it right....

Cool down, start over tomorrow,

[jakey]

I tried telephoning Beacon Hill but the number is dead.

[geoff_k]

I had my secondary re-glued. It was removed, re-glued, sent back to me and I was able to put everything back together relatively easily. It does help having a centre spot on the mirror so I don't know if you have one or not.

What I did was position the secondary mirror with the centre spot on the primary using the laser collimator. I then used a Cheshire eyepiece to do the remainder of the collimation from the eyepiece end.

I recommend the following website where the guy has done an excellent video which is really worth looking at.

http://andysshotglass.com/Collimating.html

Otherwise, nil desperandum. It's not as much a disaster as it seems and can be put right. I know it may not seem that way now.

Another piece of advice is to contact a local astro society. Someone there will no doubt be more than happy to help you out. I think I tried to contact Beacon Hill a while back, and I got a dead line as well.

Geoff

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

First thing to do is work out if you have moved the three secondary mirror collimation screws, or just unscrewed the centre screw. If you haven't moved the three screws you can fit the secondary using the centre screw until it's almost done up, then rotate the secondary around the centre holding screw to get the laser dot roughly in the centre of the primary.

If you moved the secondary adjustment screws, move them all to line up with the one that is adjusted shortest to ensure that you get plenty of engagement with the centre screw. As above, mount the secondary using the centre screw and turn it to get the dot near the centre of the primary.

Next job is to inspect the secondary by looking through the focuser. It should look round and centred. If it's not round, you need to rotate the secondary around the central screw until it looks round, then use the collimation screws to line up the red dot. If it's too far in you need to loosen all three collimation screws the same amount and then tighten the centre screw. The reverse is true for the other direction, undo the centre screw then tighten the three screws equally.

Once you have the secondary in position you can align the primary. It helps to do this in dim lighting.

Being careful not to look at the laser, look down the front of the 'scope at the primary mirror. You should be able to see the secondary reflected in the primary And it ought to have two red dots on it. One is the laser on the way to the primary mirror and the other is on the way back. You need to move the primary to get these two dots to line up, and by that stage you should get the red dot into the collimator.

If the primary is miles out, stick the laser into a Barlow lens and use that. The beam of light coming out of the 'scope should have a shadow of the secondary mirror in the centre of the cone of light. This way you can shine it at a wall and twiddle from behind whilst being able to see what is happening.

Best of luck mate.

Captain Chaos

[jakey]

First thing to do is work out if you have moved the three secondary mirror collimation screws, or just unscrewed the centre screw. If you haven't moved the three screws you can fit the secondary using the centre screw until it's almost done up, then rotate the secondary around the centre holding screw to get the laser dot roughly in the centre of the primary.

If you moved the secondary adjustment screws, move them all to line up with the one that is adjusted shortest to ensure that you get plenty of engagement with the centre screw. As above, mount the secondary using the centre screw and turn it to get the dot near the centre of the primary.

Next job is to inspect the secondary by looking through the focuser. It should look round and centred. If it's not round, you need to rotate the secondary around the central screw until it looks round, then use the collimation screws to line up the red dot. If it's too far in you need to loosen all three collimation screws the same amount and then tighten the centre screw. The reverse is true for the other direction, undo the centre screw then tighten the three screws equally.

Once you have the secondary in position you can align the primary. It helps to do this in dim lighting.

Being careful not to look at the laser, look down the front of the 'scope at the primary mirror. You should be able to see the secondary reflected in the primary And it ought to have two red dots on it. One is the laser on the way to the primary mirror and the other is on the way back. You need to move the primary to get these two dots to line up, and by that stage you should get the red dot into the collimator.

If the primary is miles out, stick the laser into a Barlow lens and use that. The beam of light coming out of the 'scope should have a shadow of the secondary mirror in the centre of the cone of light. This way you can shine it at a wall and twiddle from behind whilst being able to see what is happening.

Best of luck mate.

Captain Chaos

I so wish you lived near me, my sanity would be spared.

[jakey]

I rang up OO about my issue and I spoke to a man called son of OO, also known as the unhelpful one.

I like OO scopes but this mans attitude has veered me away to another.

it was like having a conversation with a character out of Little Britain, you know the one who keeps on saying, I am sorry I don't understand." its your fault you bought it, buy bigger screws, try harder, its your fault, buy bigger screws.

Now I know I really do need professional help.

I just spent £800 on new eyepieces and I now believe in Karma.

" its my fault, buy bigger screws, its my fault, buy bigger screws :D

Thanks a bunch OO, I thought I was a loyal customer.

[tom.yates]

Beacon hill new no is 01507363381

[fmeireso]

I rang up OO about my issue and I spoke to a man called son of OO, also known as the unhelpful one.

I like OO scopes but this mans attitude has veered me away to another.

it was like having a conversation with a character out of Little Britain, you know the one who keeps on saying, I am sorry I don't understand." its your fault you bought it, buy bigger screws, try harder, its your fault, buy bigger screws.

Now I know I really do need professional help.

I just spent £800 on new eyepieces and I now believe in Karma.

" its my fault, buy bigger screws, its my fault, buy bigger screws :D

Thanks a bunch OO, I thought I was a loyal customer.

Well, it is very difficult to collimate over the phone i guess, even a written manual i always found difficult to understand even with the pictures. It just takes practice. The best thing to do i finding someone who can show it to you so that you understand what you are seeing in the focusser.

BTW i use allways a cheshire with sighting tube, works good for me, allthough i took me some time to figure it out, believe me...

[geoff_k]

Sorry to hear about your experience with OO. They can be 'difficult' at times, but I have usually found Barry and John (the son) to be fairly helpful.

Trouble is, when things go wrong you find yourself at a disadvantage.

I really think you need to find a helpful local to guide you out of your slough of despond.

Chin up

Geoff

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

So where in the world are you Jakey? Surely somebody is within a drive of you?

Captain Chaos

[jakey]

Beacon hill new no is 01507363381

Thanks very much i rang the number and i got that realy helpful chap. I am taking my scope to him and he said (for a very nominal fee) he will sort it out.

Slightly Off topic but I had a good conversation with him why his web site was down etc. he informed me that he is still in busines and the web site is being re vamped.

Hopefully by tonight my scope will be back to its good old self. :sunny:

[jakey]

or maybe not the scope just will not fit into my car, so I am going to have to hire a van.

Just for your info, the main issue I have is that however you adjust things the primary mirror will not show in the secondary mirror.

[geppetto]

Where do you live Jakey?

[jakey]

Where do you live Jakey?

I live in a village just outside Lincoln.

[nitram100]

I had a smililair problem the other day, i couldn't get the secondary under the focuser tube and when i did, i couldnt get the primary in the secondary (a good indication is that you can see the 3 mirror clips in the secondary).

After alot of effing and blinding and nearly headbutting the OTA in frustration i realised that on the secondary holder, the 3 screws that control the tilt, you had to loosen one to be able to tighten the other etc so what i did was loosen all the 3 tilt screws and loosened the middle screw also, then while looking into the focuser tube, i just moved the secondary into position manually with my hand until i saw the reflection of the primary, then tightened all the screws. If you do try that, make sure your OTA is horizontal, you don't want the secondary falling on your primary mirror! just as a note, i used a cheshire combination tool.

It is intimidating, but im a collimation newbie and i worked it out in the end, just took ages, but i now feel confident that i can fix most collimation problems, now that i've gotten my hands dirty. It is worth doing it yourself, because if something goes wrong again you know you can fix it.

[jakey]

This is the problem I have, no matter how much I adjust the secondary, at any angle it will not show an image of any part of the primary. I am at a total loss on what has gone wrong.

[nitram100]

I loosened the middle screw which pushes the secondary mirror back and forth, until it was pretty much hanging there in my hand, another turn of the screw and the secondary would have dropped off completely, did you try this? make sure to keep your tube horizontal and when your looking for the reflection of the primary in the secondary mirror, concentrate on looking for the 3 mirror clips.

[fmeireso]

I had a smililair problem the other day, i couldn't get the secondary under the focuser tube and when i did, i couldnt get the primary in the secondary (a good indication is that you can see the 3 mirror clips in the secondary).

After alot of effing and blinding and nearly headbutting the OTA in frustration i realised that on the secondary holder, the 3 screws that control the tilt, you had to loosen one to be able to tighten the other etc so what i did was loosen all the 3 tilt screws and loosened the middle screw also, then while looking into the focuser tube, i just moved the secondary into position manually with my hand until i saw the reflection of the primary, then tightened all the screws. If you do try that, make sure your OTA is horizontal, you don't want the secondary falling on your primary mirror! just as a note, i used a cheshire combination tool.

It is intimidating, but im a collimation newbie and i worked it out in the end, just took ages, but i now feel confident that i can fix most collimation problems, now that i've gotten my hands dirty. It is worth doing it yourself, because if something goes wrong again you know you can fix it.

Yes, you can do that, if you have to move the sec on say the tube axis you have to loosen all those 4 screws.(so you can move the sec towards the prim or further from it) That's the way to put the sec right under the drawtube(sometimes the focusser is collimatable too and could help in achieving that)...then you have to tilt it so that it is a perfect circle . That a bit difficult because you have to look throught the drawtube while adjusting and tightening...

Warning : put the scope horizontally. If you loosen the middle screw to much the sec can come lose and could fall onto the prim if the scope is too high up.

Once that is ok use the 3 screws to get the litte circle centered.( i use a cheshire with crosshairs to center it)looking through the focusser

Finally adjust the prim, put the dot in the little circle.(that's done with the screw at the back of the scope)

Done...cost only a couple of hours...evenings in my case....(it was the first time i had to run the collimation procedure completaly from the sec on and further,in my earlier cases i had only to adjust the prim wich is the most easy part)

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

So where does the laser dot go after it hits the secondary? You definitely should be able to see it if you peer into the end of the 'scope in a dimly lit room. That should help tell you which way its out. BTW the secondary does still look shiny doesn't it?

Captain Chaos

[geppetto]

Any chance you have the secondary pointing away from the focuser (180 degrees wrong way round)?