I don't think I have to collimate my 200p dob

[muttley]

I think I could possibly collimate my Skywatcher 200p if I really had to (I have seen a few good guides on this forum), but I wonder if it is really necessary?

It is a few weeks old, and has never been collimated. I know this causes instant intakes of breath from experienced members, but is it possible that it simply might not need it? Everything seems to be in perfect focus, and I can see the trapezium in M42 without a hint of blur. Have I just missed the point of collimation completely, or is it possible that some scopes require this much less frequently than others?

I assume that a trip in the car to a nearby dark(er)-sky site will probably nudge something out of alignment, but for the moment 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' holds true for me.

Simon

[Peter Drew]

If it works to your satisfaction then best left alone at this stage. It would still be worth star testing it by defocusing a star and checking whether the "black dot" is in the middle. If way out, the performance would improve significantly once collimated.

[muttley]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have tried de-focussing it, and the black hole is centred nicely. I am quite nervous about collimation, and prefer to avoid it until it is very obviously necessary.

[richbyers]

if it aint broke dont fix it

[Cypher]

I recently purchased an Explorer 200P and my first nights viewing was pretty disappointing and I struggled to focus especially when using the 10mm eyepiece and barlowed.

I decided to have a play with the collimation and the difference it made was huge. I made a collimation tool out of an old 35mm film canister and followed some of the online guides. It turned out my secondary mirror was quite a bit out and I did struggle with the adjustments on that, but it came in in the end. Thankfully the primary adjustments were much easier.

If your happy with what your seeing then leave it alone, but I think its definitely worth at least checking to make sure your getting the best out of your scope.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Do you own a cheshire? If so, just get stuck in on the next cloudy night. You aren't going to break anything, at worst it'l be maladjusted for a short while.

When i recieved mine, the collimation was WAY out of whack, and the focuser wasn't square. I had glanced at a few guides, most notably astrobaby's guide, but hadn't had any hands on experience.

The thought of all the reflections of reflections reflecting reflections really put me off the idea, but fortunately, i had to do it.

I'm really glad i had to, granted, the first time took about 45minutes, mainly because i was back and forth to the computer to read the guide, and being super slow and making sure everything was right (i also had the problem of the focuser being wonky).

After that first hands on experience, i knew the scope well enough to completely dismantle it and put it back together in less than 30-40minutes, and that includes collimation.

It's daunting, but takes only one session to really get it, after that, it's a 5 minute task, and certainly not a worrying one.