collimation - laser or cheshire?

[smoothound54]

hi folks,

please advise... does the Cheshire collimator offer any advantages over the laser one?

I am happy with the set-up of my scope and dont wish to fiddle for fiddling's sake .......

using a laser collimator - I followed the guide on youtube to get the red dot in the centre of the primary (by adjustng the secondary) and then the reflected dot into the centre of the laser (by adjusting the primary)

I understand that this will ensure the right relative angles for the mirrors - but I am not sure if this also ensures that the secondary is in the correct position both latterally and vertically in the tube - such that it lines up centrally with the focuser tube - and also that it is in the right position such that all of its surface is being used by the primary - and that the beam of reflected light is not offset over one edge

does a cheshire allow you to do this adjustment too?

cheers

alan

[Baffa]

I use both!

If you have your collimation checked out in daylight with cheshire you can do minor adjustments with laser collimator in the dark, works for me

[Jim-a]

I use both - the laser wont help you with centering the secondary under the focusser - the sight tube on the cheshire will let you do this, although you can use anything with a small central hole fitted into the focuser (even a film canister with a small hole drilled into it).

When using the laser, its worth using it in conjunction with a barlow lens for aligning the primary - if you just use the return dot then any errors in aligning the secondary will affect your primary alignment - with a barlow the secondary does not introduce the same errors

[smoothound54]

thanks guys - sounds logical to me - will suss out how to collimate using a film canister from previous threads