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Mire de collimation

bottletopburly

By bottletopburly
in The Astro Lounge

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Steve Ward

Steve Ward

Posted
Posted

I use it in conjunction with a webcam to adjust the secondary , so much easier to watch things on the screen than all the back and forth to the EP.

I also use it when I'm Solar Imaging to keep an eye on drifting. I size the circle to match the disc size in the QuickPreview window and make any small adjustments frame by frame to keep the disc centralised in the frame , as I use an EQ3-2 with no Solar Tracking facility I find it very helpful , much easier than guesswork.

I'm shooting the Sun at 1.8 x Barlow to get as big an image as is feasible and tend to leave little room for error above and below the disc.

Steve.

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Black Knight

Black Knight

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Tried earlier with my phillips webcam in a barlow and i couldnt see nothing am i doing anything wrong

If you normally use your webcam for imaging then the problem due to the camera having no lens. To be able to view the secondary as in Dions video, you need to webcam still with its lens fitted. I bought a stack of cheapo Asda webcams a while back, and glued a 35mm film canister to it - still with the lens fitted. Its not perfect, certainly not as good as the camera Dion uses in his video, but it'll do! :)

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Black Knight

Black Knight

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Film canister... that's a great idea.

Mine's wrapped in tape to get it to the right width, but I have to jiggle it about until its square with the focuser.

By way of public service announcement ..... :D

If you go to the photo counter in Boots and ask for some, they will give them away. Just to be aware though, some varieties are slightly too large to fit in 1.25" focuser, so take a handfull of different looking canisters - hopefully you'll get a couple that fit! :)

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malc-c

malc-c

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By way of public service announcement ..... :D

If you go to the photo counter in Boots and ask for some, they will give them away. Just to be aware though, some varieties are slightly too large to fit in 1.25" focuser, so take a handfull of different looking canisters - hopefully you'll get a couple that fit! :)

LOL - when I did that the assistant looked at me as if to say "what's film !"

To be honest, given the fine adjustments required for decent collimation, cutting a hole in a film canister or using tape to try and centralise the webcam would not be the best way to go about this. Dion used an MS Lifecam in a commercially available adapter which itself was held in place by a n Orion precision self centering adapter.

If you have to jiggle / squeeze or manually move it around in the eyepiece holder then you have no idea if it's centred on the same centre axis as the focuser draw tube.

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Black Knight

Black Knight

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LOL - when I did that the assistant looked at me as if to say "what's film !"

To be honest, given the fine adjustments required for decent collimation, cutting a hole in a film canister or using tape to try and centralise the webcam would not be the best way to go about this. Dion used an MS Lifecam in a commercially available adapter which itself was held in place by a n Orion precision self centering adapter.

If you have to jiggle / squeeze or manually move it around in the eyepiece holder then you have no idea if it's centred on the same centre axis as the focuser draw tube.

This is all true, of course. My webcam is as ropey as a big, fat ropey thing, but it cost a grand total of £1.43. Given a choice, I'd prefer an MS Lifecam with a sleek BilletParts adapter :D

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Dipper

Dipper

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I have several programs similar to Mire de Collimation:

Al's Reticle

Al's Collimation Aid

Al's Focus Aid

AMB Reticle

Can't say which one is best as all can do the job but some have more adjustable options if you have a collimation OCD. :grin: My favourite perhaps is AMB Reticle.

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Black Knight

Black Knight

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I have several programs similar to Mire de Collimation:

Al's Reticle

Al's Collimation Aid

Al's Focus Aid

AMB Reticle

Can't say which one is best as all can do the job but some have more adjustable options if you have a collimation OCD. :grin: My favourite perhaps is AMB Reticle.

I know of the others, but I can't find AMB Reticle at all. Do you have a link?

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