Recommended Colmination tool???

[sn00p]

So im getting ready to pick up my 1st real Dob (8")and wanted your opinions on a good colmination tool??? preferably not too expensive but simple and easy to use :-) the hotech is out of my league

[John]

Personally I find a simple cheshire eyepiece simpler and more reliable to use than a laser. They can be picked up for around £25 at First Light Optics:

Collimation - Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece

[paulbeer]

i was recommended this buy a fellow SGL member, Revelation Deluxe Laser Collimator 1.25"

mine is due today so will let you know what its like.

[Llamanaut]

hotech for me.... expensive but so accurate and easy to use

[Chris H]

Cheap and accurate it has got to be the cheshire eyepiece. I have a Hotech and a cheshire and they give near identical results.

[wulfrunian]

If you decide on the Cheshire, I'm selling mine - PM for you.

[kidlands]

I'm looking to get my first collimator soon too, but am going round in circles. I'm told a cheshire works just fine but watching the Hotech collimator on youtube I can see the installation design advantages but it looks so easy and accurate, but 3x the price!

[earth titan]

I stressed and agonised about this choice for ages and as a total newbie was petrified about fiddling with the collimation.

Eventually the choice was made for me on the basis of price. I eventually took the view that before lasers, people must have had to collimate newts and what did they use?

The cheshire was easy and simple but I can't compare it with a laser as I have never used one. I can only report my findings.

Star test proved it worked a treat.

[Rusty Strings]

Cheshire and collimation cap. The problem with a cheshire, that I've found, is that the field of view isn't enough to include the primary mirror clips. So buy or make a collimation cap to adjust the secondary and a cheshire for the primary. I've tried a Hotech laser jobby and it was very good, but I can get as good with a colli cap and cheshire (to my eyes anyway).

[Hypernova]

I use a collimation cap for aligning the secondary and such and a cheshire for aligning the primary. I find that bringing the focus in a little with cheshire brings the clips back into view.

This method gives me good results and is simple as it gets after you get used to it, I was a bag of nerves doing it first time but I got I done thanks to AstroBaby's excellent collimation guide

[eyespy]

Im doing the same too just got my cheshire from flo and using a cap for the secondary.Astrobaby has a great step by step guide but i can imagine a laser would become part of my kit at a later date as i get good at collimation..if you go for a cheshire its only 25 quid and does the same job:D