Has this telescope been damaged?

[LaurenceT]

I've been struggling with the collimation of my 130pds Newtonian so I sent it off for professional collimation. This is what I see looking down the drawer tube, to me it looks as though a vane has been bent, opinions please.

[Mr Spock]

Bent vanes can easily be straightened.

What's of more concern is you paid to have this collimated and the collimation is way out. I'd want a refund.

[Knighty2112]

Looks perhaps like it might have had a bad drop. Was this sent out via post for this collimation?

[Carbon Brush]

That looks awful.

Have you pursued this with the 'professional collimator? Has he responded? Is it shipping damage or creative collimation?

I hope you get it sorted soon and please leave a 'supplier review' on SGL.

Keep us posted, David.

.

[AstroNebulee]

Hopefully you get it sorted soon and the collimation company or delivery service pay you compensation for it and fix it for you Laurence. 

Cheers 

Lee 

[LaurenceT]

Thanks for the replies. The scope may well have been damaged in return transit although I am convinced it was inept collimation, the vane certainly wasn't bent before I sent it. It's unlikely ( but still possible) that I will be pursuing it any further with the "engineer" and because of that I am reluctant to name names in open forum., when I informed him that I was unable to focus on a star following his collimation he advised me to speak to the manufacturer and essentially washed his hands of the affair.

I have found this collimation process unusually stressful and I'm surprised at my apparent ineptitude, in the past as an amateur photographer I've assembled many complex rigs for macro and remote wildlife photography without breaking sweat, this collimation is alien to me, I feel it's the sort of thing that jugglers and helicopter pilots should be good at 🤣.

 I'm now faced with trying to carry on with this process and stress myself even more or simply junking the scope😢

 

 

[Stu]

Did it get shipped back to you? Likely to have been knocked in transit which defeats the point of getting it adjusted in the first place. Can you find someone local at a club to help you?

[ONIKKINEN]

Almost looks like someone has carried the telescope by holding the spider, although i doubt anyone who claims to be a professional would do this.

I guess its also possible its had the "UPS treatment" of throwing it off cliffs and driving through mountains with an unbound load for no apparent reason.

[Franklin]

24 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

this collimation is alien to me, I feel it's the sort of thing that jugglers and helicopter pilots should be good at 🤣.

Get yourself a nice ED refractor Laurence.

[AstroNebulee]

You maybe able to get a new vane and fit it, if they are replaceable on the 130 PDS, I think they are. Email flo or any other astronomy retailer and ask there advice where you can get a replacement. I'd still be chasing the collimator and delivery service. I remember collimation was tricky to start with but once you got it, you know it's easier next time. With the clouds around atm will give plenty of practice. You can do it Laurence 👍

Edited April 8, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[Cosmic Geoff]

As a former mechanical engineer I find it unlikely that the vane could have been bent by rough handling in transit without collateral damage to the tube and packaging. An extremely high acceleration would be required to bend a vane. It wasn't dropped from an Amazon drone, was it? 🙂

If you would prefer to tackle it yourself rather than pursuing the guilty party, note that what is bent can usually be un-bent.

[banjaxed]

When you sort out the bent vane why don’t you have a look at the Asronomy and Nature you tube video on collimation with a laser. I struggled at first but after following their video instructions I can now do the job in a few minutes.

47 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

 

I have found this collimation process unusually stressful and I'm surprised at my apparent ineptitude, in the past as an amateur photographer I've assembled many complex rigs for macro and remote wildlife photography without breaking sweat, this collimation is alien to me, I feel it's the sort of thing that jugglers and helicopter pilots should be good at 🤣.

 I'm now faced with trying to carry on with this process and stress myself even more or simply junking the scope😢

 

 

 

[Davesellars]

Could be wrong, but it looks a bit like the vanes have been "adjusted" such that the secondary mirror support is completely off centre...  that may explain the vane(s) looking bent (and perhaps a bit twisted?) going from south to north in that picture...  Obviously, easy to check this with a ruler (or by eye even) to see if this is the case...  Whatever, the collimation looks very out on many levels.

As Stu has mentioned before, collimation would always move in transit anyway defeating the point of professional collimation although the secondary if it's well done and tightened well should not move much.

Maybe ask around to see if someone could show you how to collimate yourself. It's something you need to do anyway but for sure easier if someone shows you that knows what they're doing...

[LaurenceT]

Thanks for the further comments, the orientation of the secondary mirror certainly looks distorted and I think it could be due to torsion in the mountings.

I will continue to attempt collimation myself but may also ask for help at the astro society I've recently joined.

[Carbon Brush]

My first real scope was an F4 8" reflector.
After a lesson from experienced members at a local club, it was sorted and I then looked after it myself.
In your case it looks like you need to straighten the spider vanes first, then centre them.
I think you have to assume that everything is out of line on your scope, as if the parts are being assembled for the first time,  and start from there.
Not assume that just the secondary needs sorting.
You can't make it worse. The good part is that a lot of initial work can be done in warm and daylight.
Good luck, David.
 

[faulksy]

shame you dont live closer to me. could be sorted in 30 mins. if you want to travel to me thats not a problem mate. soon sort it. FOC  of course.

moonshane showed me so just share the love

[faulksy]

On 08/04/2022 at 15:28, LaurenceT said:

I've been struggling with the collimation of my 130pds Newtonian so I sent it off for professional collimation. This is what I see looking down the drawer tube, to me it looks as though a vane has been bent, opinions please.

did you get this sorted ?

[LaurenceT]

6 hours ago, faulksy said:

did you get this sorted ?

No Mike, I abandoned the project after a few futile weeks. I found the vanes of the secondary holder to be very twisted and the mirror slightly chipped. I decided life was too short to continue attempting the repair/collimation so I got rid of it. I was very lucky to source an excellent used 130pds from a local member of this forum who been very helpful to me in the past, I'm very happy with it.

Thanks for asking.

[faulksy]

2 hours ago, LaurenceT said:

No Mike, I abandoned the project after a few futile weeks. I found the vanes of the secondary holder to be very twisted and the mirror slightly chipped. I decided life was too short to continue attempting the repair/collimation so I got rid of it. I was very lucky to source an excellent used 130pds from a local member of this forum who been very helpful to me in the past, I'm very happy with it.

Thanks for asking.

that is great news Laurence 👍

[Carbon Brush]

There is (or was) an opportunity here for someone in the south of England.
The sale section has a 130PDS with modifications causing focus problems. Located Plymouth.
Then your scope with the distorted spider is presumably somewhere.
Perhaps one could be made from the two......

Sorry. It is just me who can't bear to see potentially mendable things go unfixed.

[LaurenceT]

11 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

There is (or was) an opportunity here for someone in the south of England.
The sale section has a 130PDS with modifications causing focus problems. Located Plymouth.
Then your scope with the distorted spider is presumably somewhere.
Perhaps one could be made from the two......

Sorry. It is just me who can't bear to see potentially mendable things go unfixed.

My 130pds has been dismantled and parts already repurposed but your right, it would have been an interesting project.