CCDInspector and collimation

[joecoyle]

Hi

Seemingly my collimation may be slightly out. So I'm investigating various methods to collimate my SCT. I've come across this piece of software - CCDInspector which purports to measure collimation error and indicate the screw to change to reduce. 

 

Has anyone had experience with CCDinspector for this purpose?

 

Is it just as easy to collimate using my CCD camera and do it by eye? 

 

Thoughts?

Joe

[theastrodragon]

Its not bad, although I never found the hint as to what screw to adjust to have any connection with reality!

I believe it has a free trial offer, so give it a go. Best results for me were aligning as best as possible first, then using it for the final tweaks. It will also show you if you have any tilt on the CCD as well, which can be helpful (well, its helpful if you have any way of adjusting it...:P)

[joecoyle]

I noticed the tilt too. Apparently my tilt is +1 in X and -0.4 in Y! Is that good enough? The collimation viewer number flickered around 5-10. I have no idea what is acceptable. Obviously lower is better. 

 

Cheers

Joe

[theastrodragon]

IIRC, tilt is either in pixels or arc-seconds depending on how you set up. I must admit, I never pay much attention to it, the colour diagram always seems more useful

Collimation of 5 is probably OK, 10 is a bit large. I try and get the figures below 5, that seems good collimation