Shall I collimate or shall I not?

[Astro-Nova]

Used my scope a few times now and last time I used it I had good views (well it seems normal to me)

I know eventually I end up collimating the scope anyway and I would like to know if im doing it right so best thing is just to do it so when my scope is proper out of alignment I at least know how to do it. Im going to use a 35mm canister.

Shall I just try and do it even though my views are alright? Or is the advise best not to unless necessary?

*real reason is probably cause its a boring sunday and got nothing better to do*

[Starlight 1]

Do a Star test on your scope and if it look normal leave it alone.

[Astro-Nova]

true i might do that

whenever the clouds are vanished that is

[Viv]

Agreed - if it's not broke, don't fix it !

[umadog]

It's true that if it star tests well you don't need to do anything. However, if you don't know how to colimate then I'd say there's nothing wrong in fiddling with it if you're so inclined. You'll have to do it some time, after all, and if you're motivated now then go for it! However, I'd suggest you first get yourself a Cheshire/sight-tube combo tool. It's much more accurate that the film canister.

Eventually you will be checking you collimation each time you observe and probably tweaking it each time also.

[RikM]

There is no point doing a star test unless you know what you are looking for. A star test is NOT "put it out of focus and if a star look like a Polo mint it's okay". The seeing is seldom steady enough for a proper star test, which uses a very high magnification to assess the concentricity of the series of diffraction rings of a just out of focus star.

The best thing is to get the proper tool for the job (a Cheshire / sight tube combo), learn how to use it, and then trust it. Precise collimation is more of an advantage for viewing planetary detail, and you shouldn't obsess over it but it is worth checking regularly, especially if you move your scope about a lot.

[Ronny]

I thought my 12" Dob didn't need collimated until I went out with my Society and one of the guys collimated it and the difference was tremendous. My point is it will not make your images worse by collimating it and it's unlikely it is right by chance.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk.

"Go out, look up!"

[Scott]

I'd use a cap to check it as best you can but unless its seriously out i'd be inclined not to fiddle with it until you've got a collimation tool, thats my opinion for what it's worth:)

Scott

[Dazzyd]

Had my scope a week now and decided to do the 35mm canister method and a quick and cheap way of doing it (until I order a cheshire). Mainly, to be honest, to get used to doing it, what to expect etc and it was SO easy! I was expecting all manner of problems, tweaks etc but a small adjustment of the primary and it was there. It was only slightly out too which was nice. At least now the mystery has gone from it.

Yet another thing I've learned about the scope, it's a good news day