100% vs 95% collimation....

[emadmoussa]

For my eyes I don't see any difference in the views...do you??

[ChrisLX200]

Yes. Noticeable on planetary details in particular. Not so much on DSOs because it's generally fuzzy grey stuff anyway...

ChrisH

[emadmoussa]

I don't spend much time on planetary observation, probably why I didn't notice it.

[Daniel-K]

its OCD madness i tell you MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[emadmoussa]

Tell me about...I never settle until the collimation is 110% accurate and yet keep checking....

[crashtestdummy]

Do you collimate at different angles of tube lean?I usually have an observing plan for the night and collimate mine at the angle to scope will spend most of its time at

[emadmoussa]

I usually collimate before I go out at several angles, then again some tweaks once the scope has cooled down - mostly between 70-90 degrees.

[Moonshane]

how do you quantify a 95% collimation? (let alone 110%??!!). if all looks aligned it probably is. why leave the primary a bit less than aligned? this makes the most difference.

[emadmoussa]

LOL - you took the110% seriously!! It's just an expression...

I'm just giving rough estimates.

[Moonshane]

I know - should have added a smiley I think

seriously though, just get it about rght and don't worry. get the primary as close as you can as this matters.

[emadmoussa]

My laser collimator is not dead accurate, on one angle it's dead centered, and you turn it around and it's off on the border the of the primary central circle. I tend to adjust the difference on the stars...I really need a good collimator...

[estwing]

can't remember the last time I did this!

[emadmoussa]

can't remember the last time I did this!

Collimation?

[cotterless45]

Time to collimate your laser, somewhere between 90 and 110% !

Nick.

[emadmoussa]

Time to collimate your laser, somewhere between 90 and 110% !

Nick.

I can see my laser flying over the hedge soon...it'll be 110% accurately in the bin.

[Moonshane]

My laser collimator is not dead accurate, on one angle it's dead centered, and you turn it around and it's off on the border the of the primary central circle. I tend to adjust the difference on the stars...I really need a good collimator...

if you have a barlow then using the barlowed laser method is generally accurate no matter how badly off your laser is.

[emadmoussa]

if you have a barlow then using the barlowed laser method is generally accurate no matter how badly off you

I'll give it a shot before I go out tonight!! Thank you!

[Bart]

God bless the old barlowed laser technique, saved many a lost observing minute. If you're twitchy, then a little tweak with the Cheshire, and no planetary detail is safe.

Barry

[ChrisLX200]

I went to a lot of effort to make a laser collimator years ago but even though it was accurate (intrinsically, I machined it in a collet in the lathe and set the laser up that way with it projecting through the headstock onto the workshop wall), I never found it particularly useful for collimating the scope. I could always see some slight mis-collimation in the star image which I would then correct on the fly, and after a while that's all I ever did. It sits in a drawer un-used.

ChrisH

[Mr Spock]

As an SCT user I always star test. It's the only way of getting the fine planetary detail which appears to elude so many

[Scott]

can't remember the last time I did this!

Collimation?

or stargaze

[John]

The "sweet spot" for collimation gets smaller as focal ratio gets faster. An F/8 newt is somewhat more tolerant of collimation error than an F/5. 

[ChrisLX200]

The "sweet spot" for collimation gets smaller as focal ratio gets faster. An F/8 newt is somewhat more tolerant of collimation error than an F/5. 

...and an f/4 or shorter is a right PITA requiring constant tinkering every time it's used! I suppose some scopes are better built than others and more resistant to the optics shifting about, but this one needed it all the time. After a while it's something you get used to and can immediately go to the right screw and turn it just the right amount to get it spot on with only a couple of iterations. (Remember, you have to move away from the eyepiece to the back of the scope, make your adjustment, then return to look at the effect of what you did). For a beginner it would be a nightmare I would think.

ChrisH

[estwing]

If you want to no the truth...I've yet to collimate the Moonshane... I have no center spot!

[StarryEyed]

thats it in a nut shell for planetary it matters otherwise if you cant see its badly aligned then if makes no difference because you cant see it.