Hotech 1.25 laser collimator, with baader 1.25 to 2 click lock

[shedifice]

Hi, 

 

I have just got hold of a 12" Dob with a 2" focuser. I want to make it easy for my boy (and me) to collimate simply and to enhance the viewing experience. I was after a Hotech 2" collimator (comes with a hotech 2 to 1.25 adaptor) but FLO only have the 1.25 in stock.

For those that have them, I am thinking the a 1.25 hotech would solve my collimation and using it with a baader click lock reducer would solve fitting it to a 2" focuser. 

I want the hotech for its famed centralising, will the baader work just as well and also give me an improved 2 to 1.25 for eyepieces ( admittedly at a slightly higher cost)?

[Ricochet]

I owned a Hotech for a short time and unfortunately I found that the self centring mechanism did not work reliably, either with the laser in the adaptor or with the adapter in the focuser. I could tighten the mechanism and have the laser pointing at a certain point, but if I simply loosened and retightened the laser or adapter the laser would be pointing at a completely different point, making it impossible to collimate the telescope. Given that both the laser and the adapter had the exact same fault my conclusion was that the fault lies in the design of the mechanism.

The solution was to use the Hotech in a 1.25”-2” clicklock adapter in a 2” clicklock focuser and to use the clicklock clamps instead of the system built into the laser. However, there may also be an issue with using the 1.25”-2” clicklock in your existing 2” focuser. The adapter has an undercut and if your 2” focuser has a low profile eyepiece clamp then you may find that the clicklock (or any eyepiece with an undercut) can be tilted in the focuser, which again throws off the collimation.

My preferred tools for collimation are the FLO premium Cheshire for the secondary, and a collimation cap for the primary. If you want a laser so you can see the collimation change as you adjust the primary then using the barlowed laser method is a much more accurate (and cheaper) option.

[shedifice]

Never heard of the Barlowed laser method? will google and see.

L.

[bosun21]

I have found my Hotech laser to be repeatable when removing and replacing it into my 2” focuser. I have heard that there was a batch of them in which the expanding rubber centering rings weren’t expanding equally around the circumference of the 2” adapter. Fortunately mine is not one of those.