correct collimation

[Ally8446]

Can anyone confirm from this photo that my scope is reasonably well collimated. I can see 3 mirror clips in my collimation cap and this image is taken through a quality Cheshire tube. Clear skies folks

[Digz]

Im by no means an expert in this, but something looks off. I think you should find everything centred. Have you found Astro Babys guide on colimation? There are some images there on what you should expect to see. Or a simple google search should yield some images of what to expect.

[Moonshane]

hard to say but looks like the secondary needs to go up and left. then the whole thing will look more centred and what appears to be the primary donut (small black bit near the centre right) will be centred on the cross hairs.

unless an f4 scope, the collimation is not so far off as to be a major problem but could be improved upon.

[Naemeth]

It's off. The crosshairs of the cheshire need to be slightly to the right of the dot, not the left. See guide here: http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Always tough to tell from a photo. Looks like the camera wasnt straight so the whole tube looks wonky....

[umadog]

The cross-hairs need to be ON the dot. Not to either side.

Yes, the secondary probably isn't correctly framed in the sight-tube. Possibly that's because the camera is off-axis, but since you're photographing through a pin-hole it shouldn't be that. Having the secondary not centred will mean a little light loss but if the Cheshire and cross-hairs read correctly then you will still be axially aligned (which is more important).

[D_Mike]

I have never collimated anything (well, excepted a laser) but I would say that it is impossible for us to tell from your photo because it hasn't been taken centrally along the focuser tube. Each quarter of the photo, defined by the cross-hair type things, ought to be the same size if your photograph was taken centrally but we can clearly see from the image that they are not. So I think the answer to your question is: we can't tell from the photo you've given us.

[Ally8446]

All good info guys, thanks very much. Will have another go and try another photo.