Best collimator - if just one? Which 1?

[Aenima]

Another collimating question....

If you could only buy one collimating tool what one would it be, for the whole process of aligning a newtonian?

P.s. considering its a F/5 and I have no experience with offsetting secondary.

Best all round collimator, for noobs?

[hemihaggis]

a cap with hole drilled in

[RikM]

If you can't afford one of these : First Light Optics - Catseye TriplePack XLK & XLSK Kits

the next best thing is one of these: First Light Optics - Premium Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece

Edit: scratch that, the Catseye is a 2" fitting...get a Cheshire

[Aenima]

Nice1.

I do have a cap with centred hole but I spend too much time fiddling and retrying and worrying about the accuracy, expecially the secondary mirror, as its quite fiddley to adjust. I want to reasure myself that while adjusting the primary mirror that the effort is not wasted due to error in the small secondary mirror, especially when i dont trust my own eye's accuracy.

To be sure its the best it can be without over fiddling and too many differences between the varied collimators. Thats really what I'm after.

thanx ppl.

PS. I did order a FLO premium but unfortunately they are out of stock.

PPS. the cheshire does both mirrors to an accurate degree, am i right?

[Aenima]

Farpoint 1.25-inch Reflective Cheshire Collimator - Blue [Farpoint-FP260-1.25-Cheshire] - 26.56 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

does anyone know anything about the little Farpoint "cheshire" eyepeices? Never really seen one, or used anything like it....

[RikM]

Farpoint 1.25-inch Reflective Cheshire Collimator - Blue [Farpoint-FP260-1.25-Cheshire] - 26.56 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

does anyone know anything about the little Farpoint "cheshire" eyepeices? Never really seen one, or used anything like it....

Probably very good for the primary but can't really do secondary --> primary alignment. I think I might get one though, they look very nice.

[Damo636]

One of these will do exactly the same job as the Farpoint job

Astro Engineering Astro Engineering Posh 1.25" dust plugs (AC756)

Beneath the sticker is a perfectly centered 2-3mm hole. I recommend the silver one as its nice and reflective.

One of these is the more complete tool though and will align both primary and secondary mirrors accurately.

First Light Optics - Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece

[assasincz]

For me, it rather depends on the scope.

For my 4.5", I would say just a cap is sufficient for rough allignment, as you can perform star collimation by adjusting the collimating screws while actually looking at the eyepiece at the same time.

For my 12" I would say a laser collimator just for the ease of using it.

[Aenima]

ta guys, appreciate the feedback. Silly question time (soz) can u use two barlows on the same scope?

[RikM]

Yes, but it can give a dim image and usually makes it much more difficult to focus.

[John]

For aligning the secondary I use a simple cheshire eyepiece.

For the primary I use a low cost Revelation laser collimator, that I've re-collimated carefully myself, combined with a barlow lens. Here is some info on barlowed laser collimation:

Astromart Articles - Barlowed Laser Collimation Made Easy

I do fine tuning under the stars using Polaris for a star test.

[Damo636]

I do fine tuning under the stars using Polaris for a star test.

Out of curiosity John, do you ever make adjustments when star testing? I often double check my collimation by looking at Polaris but have never bothered fine tuning this way.

[John]

Out of curiosity John, do you ever make adjustments when star testing? I often double check my collimation by looking at Polaris but have never bothered fine tuning this way.

Sometimes I make fine adjustments to the primary mirror with the slightly defocussed polaris in a medium to high powered eyepiece. Most of the time I find that the barlowed laser approach gets things pretty much spot on though. The star test is a sort of "comfort blanket" mostly I suppose

[RikM]

Every time I have tried to use a star test to 'fine tune', I have botched it up. I find I can make huge adjustments to the primary knobs and it doesn't effect the star test image a jot. Now I just use a Cheshire (I have the cheapo one from FLO) and trust that it is right. I will check by a star test, but if it doesn't look right (very rare) I will go back to the Cheshire and double check.