New 130P Heritage, secondary mirror loose

[False Dawn]

Hey, I received the Heritage 130p yesterday, but I was too busy all day so I thought I would get up early and spend this morning unboxing it and setting it up,

Well, I the unboxing was going well until I noticed the secondary mirror was not only loose but practically swinging back and forth as I moved the telescope. 

I have no idea why, I can only guess it got a knock during delivery? Either way, the telescope is unusable obviously. I'm sure the mirror could be tightened but then after I'm going to have to collimate it and I have no idea how to do that, plus the mirror could be broken? Should I buy some collimation tools in the week or shall i exchange it? I don't have any of these tools at hand as I read these scopes had decent enough collimation from the start but I did plan on buying a laser in due time. 

[DRT]

I think you should contact the seller and ask them to exchange it.

That said, you will need to buy collimation kit and learn how to use it. I have the same scope and didn't know anything about collimation until just recently. I was surprised at just how badly off it was when I finally got round to learning how to do it. There is lots of info on this site about how to do it. I bought a relatively cheap laser collimator and it took me about 15 minutes to masdter it and have the scope set-up properly. That included making the mistake of unscrewing the holding screw on the secondary too much and causing it to fall off`! Now that it is set-up properly it has made a big fifference to what I am seeing.

Best of luck.

Derek

[False Dawn]

Hey thanks for the quick reply. Which laser collimator did you use if you don't mind me asking?  I may as well get one. 

I got the scope from Amazon btw, I was getting it from scopesnskies, but they were out of stock. 

[Kirscovitch]

Laser collimators are nice but you have to make sure the laser is collimated as well. If the laser is off you may just make things worse.

[DRT]

I bought the Seben Laser Collimator for £23 from Amazon.

Returning your scope to Amazon might be more hassle than it is worth so try this first.

Unscrew the central screw behind the secondary mirror. Be careful when unscrewing it as it is spring-loaded so have the scope horizontal and unscrew it slowly. If anything falls off in this position it won't fall onto your primary mirror! Have the scope sitting on the carpet so that the secondary has a soft landing if it does fall.

Once it is off, use a small allen key to adjust the three adjusting screws on the mount so that they are all at the same level, protruding about 1mm from the mounting plate.

Now hold the secondary in place with one hand and replace the central locking screw (and spring) using the other hand. Don't tighten it!

Now place a piece of coloured paper in front of the primary mirror so that you can see the secondary clearly through the focuser (no eyepiece).

Gently adjust the position of the secondary whilst looking directly through the focuser until the secondary looks like a perfect circle in the centre of the focuser.

Tighten the locking screw, but not too tight.

Now order the collimator

[DRT]

Laser collimators are nice but you have to make sure the laser is collimated as well. If the laser is off you may just make things worse.

The one I have was properly collimated when it arrived. You can check it by turning on the laser, placing it in the right-angle between a window frame and sill and turning it slowly. If it is set-up correctly the red dot onthe side of the window frame shouldn't move when you turn it.

[False Dawn]

Hey the Seben laser is the one I was just looking at. Thank you ever so much for that post, I should be able to follow that. What Im going to do is pop into town right now to get some allen keys, it looks like I need 2mm?  I don't have that size in hand. When I get back I will follow your guide word for word, thanks. 

[DRT]

Sorry, I don't know what size it is. I was just lucky enough to have one in "the drawer" that fitted. It is fairly inexpensive to buy a set but it is certaily one of the smaller ones you need.

[knobby]

Which end is loose... The bit that holds the mirror to the arm or the arm to the tube...? Post a pic?

[cussine]

My Heritage was delivered with the secondary mirror also loose. Alls well now, although after my attempt of collimating, the local astro group found it was .5" out, have since bought a laser. The supplier (flo) did offer to exchange which I declined.

JimW

[False Dawn]

Hey everyone. It was the arm that was loose. I had a good look at it after finding the right allen key while rooting around and noticed the top of the arm that is held by the tube is bent and the nut just won't tighten properly. It doesn't look right at all to me, even with "noob" eyes. 

I spoke to amazon on the phone and they actually provided me with good customer service - they are sending me another wednesday by courier, and will pick this one up by courier too, but they haven't decided on a date yet (has to be within 30 days)

I would gladly have kept it and followed DRT's advice, because I want to learn how to properly collimate anyway. I really want to get into this hobby. I wanted to years ago but was disappointed when I realized what you really see from a scope (the same old story...) but that doesn't bother me now, actually I think that will be half the fun, I think it will be challenging. And I've been slowly learning the constellations lately.

I looked at a few videos of the Heritage being set up while deciding on this scope so I was all ready to go when I unboxed it, then I saw the secondary mirror... but everything else looks fine. The dove tail and tension knob both felt very smooth, the dobsonian mount is great. It looks like it's going to be a great first scope. I didn't look at the finderscope though. It's all boxed up now. 

Well anyway, thank you for all your help and information! I have ordered the seben laser which will probably be here in time and I can spend a few days further reading about collimation. I will try and post about my first light when I get the chance. 

 

[DRT]

Which end is loose... The bit that holds the mirror to the arm or the arm to the tube...? Post a pic?

I'm glad someone asked the obvious question that failed to think of!!

Good to know Amazon are doing the right thing.

[knobby]

Alls well that ends well :-). Let us know when it arrives

[LukeSkywatcher]

My secondary arm was also loose when i bought mine. A few other people report the same thing. Its nothing to worry about. Just tighten it up and then collimate the scope. 

Good to see the retailer has acted admirably and replaced the scope even if it wasnt really needed to be done.