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How do i Collimate my Hotech Colimator?


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I have just done a collimation test on me Hotech Laser Collimator and it appears to be out by about 1/2 and inch over a distance of 18ft

Ive searched SGL and the net and i cant seem to find any instructions on how to collimate it, does anyone have a link to any or could help please?

Also, ive just collimated my 250 Skywatcher pds newt with a home made collimation cap and i have everything lined up perfectly but when i swap if for my Hoteck, the laser crosshair shining back onto the cross hairs on the hotech itself are well off the lasers crosshairs never mind the central hole!

Now whatlike to know is, would the hotech been 1/2 inch out of collimation be enough to make the scope so far out of collimation ?

after i used the hotch to collimate the scope after id collimated it with the collimation cap, i again tried the collimation cap and everything was WAY out of collimation!

Its bugging the hell out of me now as the sky is couded over and likely to stay this way for sometime so i cant do a star test to try it out for myself, so while im in the mood for fiddling can someone please explain how i collimate my Hotech..Thanks:)

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Right, quick update, if found out how to adjust the laser.

For anyone wanting to adjust theirs, heres what you do, just behind where the cross hairs are on your hotec towards the battery end, theres a tapered cover that unscrews, once you unscrew that, it reveals 3 allen screws that enable you to adjust the laser.:D

i would still like an answer to my other questions if any could please:p:D

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My understanding was that they are factory collimated and cannot ever be user collimated ? That was their selling point - at least when I had mine !

That is right Karlo, if they need recollimating you should send it back to the factory and they do it free of charge.

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Thanks for that Glen, but to be honest, using the Hotech cuts out the wobble due t its unique compression rings design.

Mick, the hole is bang on to be honest, as i say, after using the Collicap then inseting the Hotect, it was well off.

Ive been trying to re-collimate the Hotec in a collimation jig from what was about 1/2 -1" out but now its about 2ft out! arghhh!

It doesnt metter which of the collimation screws i adjust, the thing just does not want to go back into the center and ive been trying to re-center it for an hour now!

Is there a special method to doing this because its truly baffling me at the moment as common sense tells me it should'nt be a difficult job at all.:D

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Just read your thread Karlo, i hadnt realised that you could send them back.

To whom do i send it back to? i bought it from FLO so would i be best sending it back to steve or does it have to go direct to the factory?

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Thanks again guys, i wont give up:D

Heres a write up i found on another website, it seemed all so simple to do, ive managed to get the laser dot "circle of dots" back down to about 8inches diameter but its a right old PITA trying to adjust it any better than that!:D

"The HOTECH Self Centering Adapter (SCA) 2 inch Laser Collimator does work as advertised on my Orion XT10i Dobsonian telescope. I’ve had this scope for a couple of months and noticed one evening that defocusing on stars left a slightly oblong image – my scope was failing the star test. HOTECH claims their rubber washer based pressure insert always puts the laser in the proper position and since the hold-down screw in the focuser isn’t used, the laser consistently and accurately gets located in the center of the focuser every time it’s inserted. I found this to be true. But, I also found that my laser came with the laser beam off center. A simple rotation test of the HOTECH (mounted in a makeshift holder off the scope) showed the beam wobbled in about a 1 inch circle on a scotch-taped target 16 feet away on the wall. The instructions left me wondering how to adjust the laser. A cosmetic ring just back from the viewing window unscrews revealing 3 small Allen head alignment screws. A few minutes spent adjusting these screws got it lined up perfectly. Now that the laser itself is centered, I consistently get excellent results collimating the XT10i. Star test are now right on"

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