Do I really need to use the collimator?

[Nyx]

Hi, here begins my list of silly newbe questions.

With hindsight I should have ordered the collimator with my Skywalker 200p - but alas I didn't and ordered it afterwards from a local supplier. But its not here yet and I am in with a chance of my first clear skies tonight!

So can anyone please tell me if I do go out with my shiny new scope will I be wasting my time?

Thanks.

[BernieD]

No you won't, but order it if you want to get the best out of your scope.

[rory]

sometimes it will arrive collimated,depends on how its been knocked about in transit.

but no,you wont be wasting your time, as you wont know if its well collimated or not untill you use it i guess. good luck with it .

[CGolder]

When I got my 200p it is fairly well collimated, looked down the focuser with a cross hair and did a star test and looks good. I have also only just ordered a collimator but a star test will show u if the pretty is well out

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk

[paul schofield]

Me too when I received my 200p the collimation was pretty close to perfect, must be one of the lucky ones. As other posts mention, collimation will become necessary over time to truly get the best out of your scope.

[SteveA]

I've had two Skywatcher newtonians...in both cases they arrived fairly well collimated...so unless you are really unlucky yours will likely be OK to use "out of the box".

[Bluey]

I've had my newt for about 3 weeks now, and am still waiting for the collimator I ordered at the same time, but the scope has been fine and I have used it a few times with no probs at all, so you may be fine, like somebody else said, I think it depends how banged about it gets in transit.

Good luck and clear skies.

[RikM]

For visual use I think too much gets made of collimation. Yes the views are better when the collimation is good, but a scope is quite usable with even a rough lining up by eye. I have had three SKywatcher Newtonians and they have all been fine to use as delivered. It's only really high power stuff where you lose a bit of sharpness if the alignment is off. If you've never looked through a scope before, you won't be able to tell the difference unless something is very wrong.

[assasincz]

Don't worry about it for now and just enjoy the views! A rough allignment is often sufficient.

Worrying about extra precise collimation is really of any use when you intend to squeeze out a last bit of optical performance from your scope, but the differences can be indeed negligible. In the end, as they say, sky is the limit (or seeing conditions)

[spaceboy]

If the 200P is your first scope then I'm guessing even if the collimation is miles out your jaw will drop at the views. You will need a collimator to get the best views from the scope but as you have purchased a new scope they often come free with several weeks of thick cloud cover You can get a cheshire ordered and in the mean time read this Astro Babys Guide to Collimation

[acey]

I used an 8 inch dob for about 9 years and the only collimator I had was a film cannister with a hole in it (i.e. "colli-cap"). I didn't collimate at all until many months after I started using the scope. When I finally did, it made a little difference but not much.

Just enjoy the views. If you want to be picky, try looking at a star at high power, when the air is sufficiently stable. Put the star in the centre of field and go out of focus, so that the star becomes a disc of concentric rings with a dark hole in the centre. Move the focuser inside and outside the focal point. If the dark hole stays centred and the rings stay circular then you're collimated.

[Gomtuu]

new scope they often come free with several weeks of thick cloud cover

How very true

[narrowbandpaul]

excellent article on the effect of mis-collimation.

Thierry Legault - The collimation

the hotech laser works quite well, but cannot fully collimate a newtonian. I have used the catseye system, and although confusing initially it was quite easy to get the hang of.

very good discussion on cloudy nights as well regarding various collimation errors and techniques.

a laser collimator is fine for visual I imagine, but imaging is more demanding of precise collimation.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=2677

paul

[scogyrd]

I bought my 200p dob second hand about 18 months ago and I still haven't collimated it, and when I took it to my astro club the other week, to see if it needed collimating or not, I was told (after a star test) that it wasn't bad and that only one screw needed less than a 1/4 of a turn.

I've just left it as is until I get round to buying a collimator.

[Tinker1947]

Treat the OTA gently, mine appears to hold collimation very well, a star test shows a nicely formed spiders web, that last time it was collimated must be 2 moths back when i flocked it, i do check it with a Cheshire but it looks good...

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Mine lives in my car. Been in there for over a month and has needed tweaking once after i did a full collimation on delivery. They hold pretty well.

[Mr Q]

As Paul stated above, that collimation site is an excellent one, showing a star test and mis-collimation effects on planet observing.

If you do want to check out and tweek the collimation, see the video in the below link. Meanwhile enjoy the scope as it is and have fun with it.Collimating a Newtonian

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

excellent article on the effect of mis-collimation.

Thierry Legault - The collimation

paul

Is it me, or are the 2 images after the following paragraph identical (well, not identical, but they both look central to me)? If not, then i really don't have the eye needed for this type of collimation...

First step

The first step consists in observing a bright star (magnitude 0 or 1) at a magnification of about the diameter of the telescope in millimeters (ex.: 200x for a 200 mm). When the star is strongly defocused (figures below), it appears as a donut, the central hole being the shadow of the secondary mirror. This shadow must be perfectly centred (left figure). If it is shifted (right figure), it is necessary to have an effect on the collimation screw(s) situated in the direction of the shift (it may be useful to think with clock hours). If a star diagonal is in place, do not forget to take the up-down reversal of the image into account. if your arm is long enough, you can also put a finger in front of the aperture of the telescope and see the position where it corresponds to the shift.

[RikM]

The right hand image, the central shadow is closer to the right hand edge.

I couldn't spot that at night though. Use the right tool for the job and then trust it. Star testing is not for me.

[Nyx]

Thank you everyone. So great to get so many answers so quickly - and all agreeing. I shall enjoy the skies tonight (clear at the moment so fingers crossed) without worrying. I have saved the links for when my collimator arrives so I won't need to trouble everyone about that.

So with that one done time for a new thread with my next question.