Should Colimators be Included with a Dobsonian/Newtonian telescope?

[sabana]

They sell by the bucket load. But they ALWAYS need collimating out of the box. Do you think manufacturers therefore should include a collimator without having to separately purchase one? I know the cheshires at FLO are £30 with the 200P but why don't they include the collimator as standard practice? Even if its a basic Chinese one.

[Caldwell 14]

Of course they should, its like buy a kid a toy for Christmas and not putting any batteries in! They put put poor quality eyepieces in, even screwdrivers and spanners, you would think it would be standard practice wouldn't you?

[Damo636]

I think they should.

[DOBBY]

If they supplied a laser.. you can bet it would be a cheap one & probably not straight....&...would need batteries lol

[JonnyP]

If a collimator was included then the price would incease to reflect that. It would make no difference to buying it separately other than the fact you'd end up with the cheapest collimator possible and pay for the privilege.

Also, add in that you are thinking in terms of a first scope, I'd guess. Would you want a collimator with every telescope you bought, building up a collection of cheap collimators? And probably at some point buying a laser collimator as well.....

[Cornelius Varley]

You can actually make a colli-cap. Drill a small hole in the centre of the focuser end cap. You could end up with a lot of collimators that you have no use for and it would push up the price of the telescope.

Peter

[Parus major]

I think they would be a good idea with package telescopes with mounts but I think if you're buying an OTA then the chances are that you really don't need one.

That said, I can see it makes sense not to, it's push the price up which may be just on the wrong side of affordable and the fact is new people won't know they need one until they own the telescope.

Also, which one of us bought a telescope, found they needed one then ordered loads of other things when they ordered one?

[Tribal-Wolf]

Possibly the first dealer to include a half decent collimator in with the price will be highly praised by the astronomy media and therefore will have more sales. The lower profit margin will therefore be offset by the increase in sales.

Little wink in FLOs direction lol

(if they could sort this deal before I order my 200p it would be appreciated)

[scogyrd]

It would make no difference to buying it separately other than the fact you'd end up with the cheapest collimator possible and pay for the privilege.

Over time you'd end up with a dozen of them that you wouldn't be able to give away either.

Personally speaking I'd much sooner own one decent one that I bought myself.

[acey]

I have a load of unused finders from telescopes I've bought over the years, and I wouldn't want a load of cheshires too - the one I've got is sufficient.

Collimation mania is a product of the age of internet forums. Back in

the dark ages you'd buy a newt and there'd be an instruction manual suggesting you might want to use a punctured film cannister now and again to check alignment. Nowadays, people are agonizing about collimation before they've even ordered the scope. Some are even put off buying Newtonians altogether. A great pity, I think.

William Herschel had no collimation tool whatsoever and his 18" must have been way out of collimation most of the time. But he still managed to discover more than 2000 DSOs with it.

[Thirdway]

Just offer a half hours collimation training, would be a great incentive. I do virtually all my shopping on t'internet, but I'm beginning to think that there is room for a high street style astronomy shop. The amount of questions about EPs, collimation, Astro photography etc is astounding. I would be quite prepared to pay a bit more to have that support. It's so specialist.

[JonnyP]

William Herschel had no collimation tool whatsoever and his 18" must have been way out of collimation most of the time. But he still managed to discover more than 2000 DSOs with it.

I'll bet he didn't trip over bikes, and walk into two doors while carrying his 20footer out into the yard though....

[Chris H]

My XT10i came with a colli cap, basic but reasonably effective.

[Parus major]

I bought an AE cheshire off a chappy on ebay and it came with an AE aluminium dust cap. Being lathed it has a hole through the middle so if you remove the plastic logo disk you can use it as a colli cap. It is a little easier to get the secondary right using it.

[welshrob87]

Don't think a full collimator would be needed with every scope as people have said over time you could end up with a lot of them and would increase the cost of the scope too much.

But I think a collimation cap would be a good idea. And wouldn't cost too much extra to provide. Especially as most people these days don't have film canisters lying around.

[George]

I think if new buyers started reading "Laser collimator included" that would scare most off a purchase anyway, a simple Cheshire or something along those lines should be included tho IMHO.

[sabana]

Fascinating responses. Thanks. I'm a great believer that things should work out of the box. These don't. You only need one true, but not many people get through Dobs/Newts like no tomorrow so a spare one wouldn't hurt anyways.

[Tribal-Wolf]

Well I'm waiting for a PM from FLO saying they will throw in a cheshire if I order today lol.......first company to pm with the deal gets the order, 'shy bairns get nowt' as they say in Newcastle.

[Kai]

Well I'm waiting for a PM from FLO saying they will throw in a cheshire if I order today lol.......first company to pm with the deal gets the order, 'shy bairns get nowt' as they say in Newcastle.

What if all the companies call your bluff ?

[John]

Refractors and SCT's require collimation too. SCT's need dew prevention equipment to be usable in the UK. Stock eyepieces are generally of low quality and don't let the scope perform to it's full potential. Dew shields fitted as standard to refractors are about half the length that is really needed to be effective. Straight through finders give you back and neck ache and a red dot finder is found by many to be more effective. Truss tube scopes need a light shroud to stop light glare and body heat entering the light path.

Where do you stop with this ?.

[sabana]

Hi John. Yes, there are ways to improve. But the items you mentioned ARE included. The Dew shield could be seen as a necessity but isn't always a problem. So the scope works(albeit not to its max performance). Whilst without a collimator it won't work at all. So you can stop at just the collimator.

[Kit-Fox]

I've never come across a Dob or a Newt that needed collimating 'out of the box' as you put it.

In fact i've found that most scopes usually arrive well collimated.

I would also rather have the choice over what collimation device I have, be it a collicap/cheshire or laser device, which can really only be done if you buy one separately (this also allows you the chance of buying a peice of kit that will probably last your lifetime, instead of having 'the cheapest possible' provided by force)

[John]

It's perfectly possible to collimate a newtonian just using your eye and star testing. You don't need a tool. They are helpful, but not essential, in my view.

[Damo636]

I've never come across a Dob or a Newt that needed collimating 'out of the box' as you put it.

In fact i've found that most scopes usually arrive well collimated.

I would also rather have the choice over what collimation device I have, be it a collicap/cheshire or laser device, which can really only be done if you buy one separately (this also allows you the chance of buying a peice of kit that will probably last your lifetime, instead of having 'the cheapest possible' provided by force)

You should have seen how far out my 12" dob was on delivery

[Tribal-Wolf]

What if all the companies call your bluff ?

I am gonna buy something so if the deal was right I'd do it of course