Hello and a tip....

[TyWilliams]

Hi, I am Tyrone, 69 this year  and jumping in with an 8 inch SkyWatcher 200/1000, an EQ5 pro Synscan GoTo and am swotting up to hopefully take some images with DSLRs... I bought the scope second hand, and thought it a good idea to get a laser collimator, as the primary mirror locking nuts were loose.  It was indeed quite a way out. Such a heavy scope is awkward to adjust without risk of dropping the tiny Allen key onto the primary,  so I came up with a way to avoid this. Heatshrink tubing and a dab of superglue with a looped cord to drape round the neck. My shaky hands will probably drop it, but it won't fall in

[Marvin Jenkins]

Hi Ty

I have the very same mount. Great bit of kit. Give it a go anyway, but you may struggle on the odd occasion as the 200 is generally considered the limit for visual observing on this mount.

I use mine with a 150 pds and 60 mm guid scope for entry imaging and even a little amount of wind ruins the subs.

Newts are known for being like a sail in the wind. Good luck anyway and enjoy the night skies and your scope.

Marvin

[Marvin Jenkins]

16 minutes ago, TyWilliams said:

Hi, I am Tyrone, 69 this year  and jumping in with an 8 inch SkyWatcher 200/1000, an EQ5 pro Synscan GoTo and am swotting up to hopefully take some images with DSLRs... I bought the scope second hand, and thought it a good idea to get a laser collimator, as the primary mirror locking nuts were loose.  It was indeed quite a way out. Such a heavy scope is awkward to adjust without risk of dropping the tiny Allen key onto the primary,  so I came up with a way to avoid this. Heatshrink tubing and a dab of superglue with a looped cord to drape round the neck. My shaky hands will probably drop it, but it won't fall in

I just thought I would add that to avoid dropping anything onto the primary mirror whilst doing colimation you could turn the scope to the horizontal. That way anything dropped just falls in the tube.

[bosun21]

Welcome to the lounge 👋.  Better to just fit Bobs Knobs and then there’s no tools required and it’s so much quicker.

Edited January 12, 2023 by bosun21
Typo

[barbulo]

Hi and welcome to SGL

[Mandy D]

1 hour ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

I just thought I would add that to avoid dropping anything onto the primary mirror whilst doing colimation you could turn the scope to the horizontal. That way anything dropped just falls in the tube.

I was trying to work out how you could drop a hex key onto the primary mirror. It never crossed my mind to have the tube in any position but horizontal when collimating. Adjusting the primary, this can't happen anyway, so this must be the secondary?

[bosun21]

8 hours ago, Mandy D said:

I was trying to work out how you could drop a hex key onto the primary mirror. It never crossed my mind to have the tube in any position but horizontal when collimating. Adjusting the primary, this can't happen anyway, so this must be the secondary?

It is, The  OP was talking about adjusting the secondary Allen screws with the scope pointing up!

Edited January 13, 2023 by bosun21
Typo

[TyWilliams]

Ah, of course. Unlocking the scope as if balancing.. I  was trying to get it with the latitude adjustments. Can't you tell I haven't taken it out yet I  have practiced putting it together and balancing though.  I wouldn't want to risk it out in the wind...

[PeterCPC]

Hello and welcome.

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL, just be careful if you bought a cheaper laser collimator they themselves need collimating. 

[TyWilliams]

I got the Skywatcher collimator from a reputable telescope store, for that very same reason.

[wookie1965]

8 hours ago, TyWilliams said:

I got the Skywatcher collimator from a reputable telescope store, for that very same reason.

I got mine from a reputable dealer but it was out not saying yours is but better to check. If you do a search on here plenty of members will say the say thing. 

Just put it in the scope and turn it 360° and watch if the dot does not move. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by wookie1965

[Spile]

I recommend a cap for aligning the primary and a Cheshire eyepiece and sight tube combination tool for the secondary. You can replace the three Allen keys bolts on the secondary with m4 30mm thumb screws.

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Tyrone, welcome. 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂