TS Optics 2" Concenter

[bomberbaz]

I wasn't sure if this is the right place but just thought I would give a quick overview of the Concenter.   I looked through the forums yesterday but couldn't find anything specific to it in recent times although it was frequently mentioned.

When mentioned in various threads it was largely given a thumbs up and I would just like to add to them.

It arrived from Teleskop Express extremely well wrapped, probably over the top but I like this in providers if I am honest, it shows there care about the service the provide.

The item is the size of a medium sized eyepiece but is very light and is protected by a bolt case. Attached pictures for scale.

The body is a black plastic type material with a clear plastic disk with rings on it inserted in the front of the viewing part, it is these that do the collimation. It is a little expensive for what it apparently is but does it work?

It does not come with printed instructions although these can be obtained directly from the TE website and will be simple to print off so not a major issue although a one page paper guide should have been included in my opinion. Instructions are here. LINK

Fitting this into the 2" focuser it is a nice and snug fit. Again this impresses me and it mean chances of collimation issues here are brought almost to zero. I don't know if this will be the same with all focusers but this is the basic one that came with the 10" Orion XTi.

Using it is a little tricky at first, the fact I wear glasses didn't help as I found my head drifting to the side ever so slightly as I checked the collimation rings but with practice I was managing to control my head movements and keep my eyeball central. I wouldn't read too much into this though, it is like anything new, it takes a little while to adjust. I also got used to the glasses after a bit of adjusting my fit.

I am not going to talk you through step by step the process. In basic Janet and John speak though, concentric rings in the clear plastic element  line up with a round secondary mirror and a round primary mirror, when all spaces are even, you are collimated. The link above has the full process.

I will tell you is that the results were a perfectly collimated scope. I checked it with a collimated hotech laser and a cheshire and it was spot on.

I have collimated with laser, cheshire and collimating cap in the past but straight away I feel this gives me more confidence that I have done the job right. 

If you have never been fully comfortable with a cheshire/cap combo or happy with the collimation of laser or just want to be extra sure your collimation is spot on, then this is worth every penny spent. 

Steve

[AstroNebulee]

Looks a great piece of kit, looks easy to use, though it's quite pricey 

Edited November 10, 2020 by LeeHore7

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Steve for an interesting write up and review. I always fancied getting one of these but the cost put me off. Its a pity that its not produced in the UK to possibly lower the cost.

[bomberbaz]

5 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks Steve for an interesting write up and review. I always fancied getting one of these but the cost put me off. Its a pity that its not produced in the UK to possibly lower the cost.

Well I am still considering selling the laser but find myself holding back because I can still use said laser at night.

However the concenter really is simplicity itself and still worth the money to me. 

If you wanted to try it out I am sure we could arrange something!

[Mark at Beaufort]

19 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

If you wanted to try it out I am sure we could arrange something!

Nice idea Steve. Well if we ever have a star party at Lucksall again, and you attend, we can possibly arranged something.

I hope you are safe and well in Burnley - not easy times.

[jetstream]

31 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

Well I am still considering selling the laser

Nice report Steve!

The handiest thing I've found to collimate my dobs primary is the TuBlug. I wont be without this now. The laser is also more accurate for the secondary than cross hairs so I use it for this as well. Just sayin'...

[Jiggy 67]

Has anyone tried the newer version 

http://apm-telescopes-englisch.shopgate.com/item/333634303538

I’ve ordered one because I had the TS Optics one but always struggled to get focus. New one not arrived yet

[CCD-Freak]

I want to get one of those but I have not found any dealers in the US.  I wonder what TS Optics would charge to send one here?

 

John Love
CCD-Freak
WD5IKX

[bomberbaz]

36 minutes ago, CCD-Freak said:

I want to get one of those but I have not found any dealers in the US.  I wonder what TS Optics would charge to send one here?

 

John Love
CCD-Freak
WD5IKX

They are not heavy so always worth asking.

[johninderby]

Just use their shipping calculaor. 35 Euro is about $41.00

Edited November 10, 2020 by johninderby

[Barry-W-Fenner]

OK, so my concenter arrived today. Its in the 200p but in all honesty I don't understand stage 1 of the TS instructions 😂😂

[johninderby]

Basicly you move the drawtube in or out until one of the rings matches the outline of the mirror more or less. Putting a sheet of white paper behind the secondary may help seeing things more clearly..

First job will be to move the secondary up or down (lengthwise along the tube) until the top and bottom of the mirror match the top and bottom of the ring in the Concenter.

Once that’s right then rotate the mirror until the outline is a perfect circle matching the ring in the Concenter. Adjust the drawtube if needed to make the ring match the mirrors edge exactly.

Edit:

While adjusting the secondary up or down loosen the colimation screws and adjust the central bolt. Best done with the tube level,in case you go to far and the secondary drops off. Dropping the secondary onto the primary will ruin your day. 🙀

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by johninderby

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Thanks John.

So basically just line the secondary up with the closest ring in the concenter.

Regarding the primary, do you then just line that up with a cheshire or laser?

 

[johninderby]

I leveled the primary by setting each of the collimation screws to the same height. With a perfectly adjusted seconday and a level primary you will be pretty close to being collimated and the  primary should only need a small tweek.

I used my Hotech laser for final colliation.

I realise now that a lot of the adjustments made to the primary were just compensating for a poorly set up secondary.

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by johninderby

[CCD-Freak]

3 hours ago, johninderby said:

Just use their shipping calculaor. 35 Euro is about $41.00

Ouch.....I may just have to crank up my lathe and make one.  It would not be difficult to do.

 

John
CCD-Freak
WD5IKX

[johninderby]

Sometimes I have been about to order something from the US and check the postage and think no way am I gping to pay that for posatage. 🤬

So it goes both ways I guess.😁

Edited November 10, 2020 by johninderby

[bomberbaz]

On 10/11/2020 at 21:08, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Thanks John.

So basically just line the secondary up with the closest ring in the concenter.

Regarding the primary, do you then just line that up with a cheshire or laser?

 

Baz, First off the first step is designed to get the secondary perfectly perfectly collimated (orientated) to the drawtube, once done it shouldn't need doing again. Also you need to block off the primary mirror completely to do the first step.

For the second and third step re collimating the secondary to the primary and then the primary to the secondary/drawtube you still use the concenter. You can check it after with your cheshire but if you do it correctly with the conceter it should be spot on.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

20 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

Baz, First off the first step is designed to get the secondary perfectly perfectly collimated (orientated) to the drawtube, once done it shouldn't need doing again. Also you need to block off the primary mirror completely to do the first step.

For the second and third step re collimating the secondary to the primary and then the primary to the secondary/drawtube you still use the concenter. You can check it after with your cheshire but if you do it correctly with the conceter it should be spot on.

Thanks Steve, advise appreciated as always.

Apologies for being a bit on the slow side here. But do you just need to see the draw tube as a rectangular shape in the concenter? If so is that my initial point of reference to start collimation from?

Here is a couple of pics of my current 200p collimation with the concenter. How does this look to you? I would like to perfect the process in the 200p before moving on to my 300p

 

Cheers steve

Baz 👍

[johninderby]

Not far off but you need to move the drawtube in or out so that a circle touches the edge of the mirror all round when collimation  is spot on.

Edited November 12, 2020 by johninderby

[Barry-W-Fenner]

26 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Not far off but you need to move the drawtube in or out so that a circle touches the edge of the mirror all round when collimation  is spot on.

Cool, thanks for the confirmation John.  I have peace of mind I am doing it correctly. The 2nd image doesn't show very well, the circular ring is around the perimeter of the secondary mirror as I adjusted the draw tube.

I will have a final collimation now I know its all correct.

Cheers

Edited November 12, 2020 by Barry-W-Fenner

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Hi all.

Back again on this thread. I finally had chance to check the 300p through the concenter today. None of the circles on the concenter line up with the secondary. This is encouraging as my collimation can get better. However it dawned on me that i am not totally sure what circle should be lining up with the mirror. Just to be sure, should the secondary mirror be perfectly circular in the small central spot of the concenter. Or should you be lining up the outside of the mirror with the closest ring.

Sorry to ask again, I just want to be sure. I have currently left the scope in a semi collimated state until I confirm. See attached pic, a country mile off. The primary isa total egg shape. 😁

[Jiggy 67]

Hi Barry, I used my concentre yesterday for the first time, a new 2 inch one. You rack the focuser in or out until you can line up with the edge of any circle and then work from that one, it doesn't matter which circle as they are all central. What I found was that I didn't have enough travel to line up with any circle really, I even tried pulling the concentre out slightly but I still found I was able to use the nearest circle pretty well just by looking at the relationship between the secondary and the nearest circle. It looks to me from your image that the secondary is aligned with one edge of the circle so altering the tilt of the secondary may bring the other side in line, the egg shape is caused by the tilt of the mirror, that centre spot should stay where it is

Don't know about you but I don't find these as easy as the manufacturer makes out........the circles are always a bit out of focus, I can't get them sharp at all, how are you making them sharp and lighting them up....or is that camera flash?  but I can see how they would make for super accurate collimation, far more so than a Cheshire or cap.........I think they take a bit of practise

Edited November 18, 2020 by Jiggy 67

[Mark at Beaufort]

2 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Hi all.

Back again on this thread. I finally had chance to check the 300p through the concenter today. None of the circles on the concenter line up with the secondary. This is encouraging as my collimation can get better. However it dawned on me that i am not totally sure what circle should be lining up with the mirror. Just to be sure, should the secondary mirror be perfectly circular in the small central spot of the concenter. Or should you be lining up the outside of the mirror with the closest ring.

Sorry to ask again, I just want to be sure. I have currently left the scope in a semi collimated state until I confirm. See attached pic, a country mile off. The primary isa total egg shape. 😁

Barry I am not an expert on the Concenter but looking at the third circle its touching the side of the secondary. However, on the other side its not. To me your secondary is not totally under the focuser and needs to come down.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Still having a bit of a mare with this chaps. I can't seem to get any circle to line up with the mirror. I can get a half circular line up on one edge but not the full ring.  I am also struggling to get the full primary mirror in the focus tube. I am always getting the egg shape above.

Typically it's a fairly clear sky here now for the 1st time in ages and I have a scope that's out of collimation..

[jetstream]

14 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Still having a bit of a mare with this chaps. I can't seem to get any circle to line up with the mirror. I can get a half circular line up on one edge but not the full ring.  I am also struggling to get the full primary mirror in the focus tube. I am always getting the egg shape above.

Typically it's a fairly clear sky here now for the 1st time in ages and I have a scope that's out of collimation..

If you look straight thru the focuser does the secondary look round Barry?