Collimation advice please

[ADR]

I am looking to get my first telescope, I know that reflectors need collimating, but I am not really sure how complicated this is for a newcomer. Does this need doing every time you use the scope as I have been led to believe, and is it very time consuming?

Sorry having to ask what I am sure is a very basic question.

[steelfixer]

Don't appolagies it is a question we all ask at the begining.

Collimating a newt is simple and straight foward.

There are many good guides to explain it to you.

It is advisable to check the collimation before you start but once you have done it a few times it only takes minutes to do.

graham

[Doc]

Depends on the many factors, such as the size of the scope, how far do you travel to your observing site etc.

My 16" dob needed collimating every session, but once you have done it a few times, it's easy to do and takes only a few minutes.

[nicnac]

Astro Babys Guide to Collimation

this is a good one

[hemihaggis]

yes it will need doing lots , ....buy a mak .. almost never needs done

[Moonshane]

compare it to tuning a guitar. sometimes you check the tune and it's fine, no changes needed. after the guitar acclimatises then you might need to weak one string a little. sometimes all the strings need tuning and sometimes you need to tune between songs or after a practice session. if you were into playing guitars would you not buy one as it 'always' needs tuning? no. I check collimation on my two newts every time and they usually just need a small tweak. takes a couple of minutes and is a non-issue.

you do need a couple of cheap tools, again not an issue.

with newts you get more aperture which for visual observing is king. for photography something else may be better but just try visual first. buying used can save a fair bit of cash.

[ADR]

Thanks for the information. I am only looking at about a 6" scope and traveling 10 miles or so. I am not going to let it put me off, I know I will get more aperture for my money, and am not ready to think about imaging yet.

[assasincz]

Basically, all the questions you have asked have already been answered. There are many ways and tools how collimating could be done. For a small newtonian at least, I find all the fancy collimators n' stuff to be redundant.

I myself have a 4.5" newtonian and all I need is:

1) Collimation cap (drill a 2mm hole in your current focuser dust cap) to allign the secondary mirror properly. Once that is done, you might never have to fiddle with it again for years.

2) Bright star on a viewing session to do the star collimation. I describe my idea of it here (http://stargazerslounge.com/discussions-scopes-whole-setups/156446-celestron-collimation-114-eq.html)

The bottom line on why you might find star collimation convenient is that:

1) You might have no centre mark on your primary mirror, so it is tough to use collimators properly

2) Optical centre of your primary might be a bit offset from the geometrical centre, so collimators might not be accurate enough

3) It is surprisingly quick and easy procedure

4) After mastering it, you might never feel a need to buy any fancy collimating tools, quality and usefulness of whose might go hand in hand with their price

As for the repetition of the process, you might want to check the collimation of your scope every session with a star test. I myself drive approx. 6-7 miles to my spot (fairly bumpy roads) and my 4.5" newtonian hardly ever needs collimating. And if it does, it takes no more than couple of minutes to get it right again by star collimating - the changes you need to apply are often fairly subtle. Keep in mind however, that the larger the aperture, the more prone it is to regular collimating.

I should add that all of the above is just my own way to look at things. Different people = different opinions

So, how's that for a tip

[Nova]

Its daunting at first but dont be afraid to practice and imo 100% perfect collimation is not nessercery as long as its fairly good and your happy with what your seeing dont worry. It is very easy to hung up worrying that your not getting the best from your scope and this can mean spending ages collimating every time trying for perfection. When you have practiced it a few times you will understand what it is your doing and how it is effecting your view and will be able to check and align in a few minuites if not faster.