delilahtwinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 ....Going to have a go tomorrow when I get an alan key that fits. Is it a case of turning the three screws that are in the middle of the X piece on the front of the tube. Slightly worried about doing it. Speak to you soon, Dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin66 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Do you have a Collimation Cap or Cheshire eyepiece to help you?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 The 3 screws on the X piece (the spider as it's known) adjust the tilt of the secondary mirror. Thats one part of the collimation process. There are also 6 screws / bolts on the bottom of the scope and these adjust the tilt of the primary mirror.Do get yourself a collimation cap as Merlin66 says before you do anything. These can be made from old 35mm film cannisters with a small (2mm) hole bored right in the centre - it's important that your eye is centrally positioned when adjusting the collimation so that you can see the effect of your adjustments.I would strongly recommend that you have a read of Astro Baby's excellent collimation guide here as well:Astro Babys Guide to CollimationGood luck !.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikea Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Is your scope quite new? I recently got my SW130P, but found that the collimation wasn't far out at all - straight from the box. All I needed to do was tweak the primary alignment slightly. I checked it by using the defocussed star test, checking for centralised concentric diffraction rings. I didn't fancy having to mess with the secondary!! Hopefully, you will only need to adjust the primary too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delilahtwinkle Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Thanks for the help folks, I have bought a collimation cap, does anyone know what size the Alan Key is?? Luckily it looks like it's only the primary mirror that needs collimated, Phewwww. Dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro_Baby Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 MOst collimation errors are down to the primary. From memory the 130 needs two different allen keys. One for the front spider and one for the rear ( primary ) set screws.Dont mess with the spider and the secondary unless you absolutely HAVE to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'd second that advice about the secondary mirror - in most cases some small adjustments to the tilt of the primary mirror are all that are needed.Also be aware that the amount you need to turn the adjustment screws / bolts is quite slight, particularly in the final stages of collimation. The general advice is to just use quarter turns, one screw / bolt at a time, then see what effect it has had before making the next adjustment.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillc Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Make sure you ready Astro Babys guide to collmination first. It is first rate and will help you through the process. And by reading right through FIRST you can check that it does need cllminating.All the bestphillc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delilahtwinkle Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hello folks, After reading astro baby's guide (which is fabulous by the way...three cheers for Astro Baby) I have figured out that I do not need to colimate. The reason I thought collimation was needed is that when I looked through my scope I could see the three clips and nearly everything was central but to the left was a black crescent shape, Thanks to the guide I now know this is how it should be.. Phewww.. One more reason was that most of the stars look the same which is a really small pin head with colours of blue,red and yellow. Not sure why this is the case. I should probably invest in some eyepieces.. Many Thanks for you help everyone. Dt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Warthog Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 What kind of eps do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delilahtwinkle Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 (edited) Hiya, I have a 10mm and a 25mm (both wide angle eye relief???) and a 2x barlow, all three came with the telescope. Heard from FLO that not all eyepieces that come with a scope are up to much. Dt Edited March 27, 2009 by delilahtwinkle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikea Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hi Delilah, I'm sure I will have the same eyepieces as you. I think they are ok, but I have nothing to compare them with. I'm not sure if the lack of pinpoint starryness that I have observed isn't down to atmospherics. But you have colour fringeing - that's odd. I would expect that with a cheap plastic lens, but I don't think you or I have those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro_Baby Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hmmm - I found the Sky-Watcher EPs while not the greatest thing were not as bad as its often suggested. Maybe I just got lucky but on the whole I found them ok.The color - its odd - it sounds more like atmospherics than anything else to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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