Collimation problems

[laurieshields]

Hi, I confess straight away that I'm not good with the equipment side of astronomy!

I bought a second hand Helios 114mm fl 1000 Newtonian to bring on holiday with me to Western Australia.  After the trip here I though that it would need collimating and am using a couple of websites to help.  I don't have any of the handy gadgets suggested with me so it will all be by eye.

The first problem I see (is it a problem?) is that when I look through the eyepiece drawtube the exit isn't circular, as though the draw tube isn't sitting square on the optical tube.  Is this something that i need to fix and would i be able to do so with my limited skills?  I'm also in a very small remote town out here and mine is the only telescope in town - so no help from any local society.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

best wishes

Laurieshields

[IckleImp]

I have used quite a good guide here http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/238 For collimation without tools.

Hope it helps

[Grotemobile]

I have used quite a good guide here http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/238 For collimation without tools.

Hope it helps

That is a very good article.

Steve.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

If you can at a minimum you should get a small collimation cap. You can easily make one using a dust cap,cover to fit your focus tube. Just drill a very small hole in the centre. It really will make a big difference when collimating. Best wishes and if you havnt already check out the forums on here for the subject. Lots of good info and links to How Too,s Astro Babe instructions is the first one to come to mind Best wishes and good luck

[martin_veasey]

If you can at a minimum you should get a small collimation cap. You can easily make one using a dust cap,cover to fit your focus tube. Just drill a very small hole in the centre. It really will make a big difference when collimating. Best wishes and if you havnt already check out the forums on here for the subject. Lots of good info and links to How Too,s Astro Babe instructions is the first one to come to mind Best wishes and good luck

Completely agree with Sirius on the need for some form of collimation cap - one thing you need to do when collimating is to ensure that you're looking consistently and centrally down the tube. The small aperture hole ensures this. Without this, I'm not sure you could be certain whether the drawtube is slewed to one side.

Astro-Baby's guide ( http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm ) and Gary Seronik's guide ( http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/169 ) are my two GoTo's on this.

Cheers