SW200p problems!

[Daedalus]

Hi, not posted for a while as I have been hoping to work this out for myself as I thought I may be asking too many questions. But I cant figure this out and now Im not even able to use my scope due to the mirrors being way out...sioI thought id best post a question! :-)

I have a SW200p and recently bought a collimation tool, mainly in the hope of improving my viewing which i have been slightly dissapointed with. The Instructions with the scope took some figuring out, but im stuck at the very first stage. It says that once the tool is inserted into the focusing bit (sorry, forgot the technical terms) you need to make sure that you can see the 3 lugs of the primary mirror. I have tried moving the secondary mirror in all possible directions, and messed with the collimation/focusing but i cant get it to show the 3 lugs of the primary mirror. I can see them 1 at a time, but in comparison its like putting a toilet roll tube up to a car door and expecting to see the whole car. Obviously to see the whole car you could just back up till you can get it all in view, but with the scope, ive tried every possible adjustment to enable me to see all 3 lugs at once but i cant. Its like i am too close to the car so to speak.

Another problem I have, is thsat the SW200p is on an EQ5, and once set up, if i try and lower the scope to less than 15 degrees altitude, the weights of the mount catch on the leg facing north. Is this normal?

Hopefully this may make sense to somebody. Without this site its just almost impossible to find any information.

Thanks for reading, and hope you can help.

:-)

[Tinker1947]

When your look to see the 3 Lugs are you looking through dust cap with a small hole in the center this fits in the focuser, you then move the focuser in and out untill you see the lugs, this assumes you have lined up the secondary mirror with the paper circle on the primary mirror, this part you use the collimating tool for, just get the paper circle lined up disregard any thing els you can see..

[Daedalus]

I bought a collimator tool from FLO. I place it in the eyepiece holder but retract it slightly so that i dont see the collimator itself. The i look through the small hole in the middle. I see 1 lug but moving the focuser doesnt alter the size of what i am looking at, so i stll see only one lug. I try adjusting the small mirror at the top, but 3 lugs wouldn't actually fit into the viewing circle if that makes sense.

[zedds]

When i collimate my 200p, (and i`m no expert) i use a collimation cap made out of an old 35mm film cannister with a hole drilled in the centre of the cap. I think alot of people use this method, though i may be wrong. I used ASTROBABYS guide to collimate and found, as she states, i can`t see the lugs as well with the Cheshire collimating eyepiece.

HTH

EDIT. Don`t worry, you can`t ask too many questions here.

[Daedalus]

Having just had a look at Astrobabys guide it seems that just using a cap for the secondary mirror might be the better option, as it seems to be the same problem im having. Quite an impressive guide that actually. Thanks for taking the time to read the post, and cheers for the guide link.

Daedalus

[Karen]

Firstly you need to adjust the collimator /focuser so you can see all of the secondary mirror, ideally with a annular space around it. If the secondary does not look central in the collimating tool then you need to adjust the centering screw on the secondary holder. Then adjust the secondary mirror tilt to bring all primary mirror clips into view, they will only just be visible at the edge.

[malc-c]

Just buy a Hotech laser (or similar) collimator and save yourself a lot of fuffing about. - Takes no more than a minute or two tops and well worth the investment.

[Cornelius Varley]

"Another problem I have, is that the SW200p is on an EQ5, and once set up, if i try and lower the scope to less than 15 degrees altitude, the weights of the mount catch on the leg facing north. Is this normal?"

Yes it is normal, but stop doing it. The mount is not designed to be used in that way. The latitude scale should be set to about 51 - 53 degrees and left at that. The two axis that control the movement of the telescope are the right ascension (RA) and declination (DEC).

Peter

[DaveBolton]

Another problem I have, is thsat the SW200p is on an EQ5, and once set up, if i try and lower the scope to less than 15 degrees altitude, the weights of the mount catch on the leg facing north. Is this normal?

:-)

That's foxing me at the moment too. I've had the SW200p for almost a week of solid grey cloud now but have done much messing about in the comfort of my lounge ready for the big day. I seem to be stuck here too. I'm sure it's just a noob question but answer please, anyone?

**edit to add - just seen CV's answer above **

[perkil8r]

Don't panic, I had the same issue. I used the cheshire to get the secondary in the centre of the focuser using the paper trick. Then swapped to the dust cover with little hole in it to get the 3 clips in view. Then swapped back to the cheshire to set up the primary and fine tune the secondary. Sounds a bit of a faff but it worked really quite well.

[perkil8r]

On the Latitude issue....

Find your latitude, then set your mount to that measurement. Mine is 52.9something. I set mine to 53 degrees. Once outside, set the reticule in the polar scope to the correct position. Then making small adjustments with the latitude bolts (loosen one whilst you are tightening the opposite one) and small adjust ments with the Azmuth? bolts for side to side movements, line polaris up in the reticule. Nip all of those bolts up being carefull that it is still aligned and you don't over tighten them.

These bolts then do not need altering much if at all. You move the scope about for observing etc with the dec and RA clutches and slow motion knobs.

[malc-c]

Another problem I have, is thsat the SW200p is on an EQ5, and once set up, if i try and lower the scope to less than 15 degrees altitude, the weights of the mount catch on the leg facing north. Is this normal?

Hopefully this may make sense to somebody.

Unless you are on or near the Equator then you are not setting the mount up correctly. Have a look at the AstronomyShed videos, starting with this one astronomyshed's Channel - YouTube

[Daedalus]

Thanks everyone. Just waiting for some dry weather so i can take my scope outside to set it up properly. Wonder if they make water proof scopes!

[Catweazel]

Set the latitude to 52 degrees, polar align the scope, then undo the RA & Dec clutches, put the scope and counter weights so that the scope is horizontal with the weights, balance them by moving the weights up or down the rod, then balance the scope by moving the dovetail up and down so that the scope stays horizontal; the scope is now balanced. Now you can move the scope around on the mount to find objects, once you have found, tighten up the RA & Dec clutches and use the slow motion controls to track the object.