You can use CCD Inspector to verify collimation. But it’s only another tool. These are my observations only – nothing more.
First thing, get a reliable laser collimator. The Howie Glatter has worked best for me. I have had others, and in the end, they are no longer used, and I bought the Howie Glatter. The Hotech is consistently inconsistent. It would always show a different location every time I used it. And before you say it – Yes, I looked at every video on the web. Rotate it and it would draw circles. OK in V-Blocks, but those rubber O-Rings…. Enough of that… I might get yelled at
First: With your good laser collimator, collimate your scope as per known methods for your scope.
Second: Now it’s time to use your eyes. Stick your CCD software into focus mode if you have it. Then rack it out of focus a bit, and compare the stars in the corners with one another. I’d work off these first, get them all looking right. I know it is tempting to use the old defocused star in the center, but looking in the corners you can adjust it pretty close. Once you are satisfied that you are very close, it is time to dig out CCD Inspector
Third: Fire up CCD Inspector. You really have to have a good night of seeing to use CCD Inspector, turbulent air is not your friend. Take an image with a lot of stars evenly placed in its field. It does work better with an even field. Look at your results, and RECORD EVERYTHING. Write it down – don’t rely on your memory. Mine is broken I’m sure, but I can’t remember. After several iterations, things will get funky. Now tweak it if you have to – only a bit. Take another image, and note which way it has gone. Only one adjustment at a time, otherwise you can’t be sure which adjustment worked.
I have tried real time collimation, but you would have to have very good seeing for that to work. If you want to try that, I would average min the last three measurements, record, and then adjust. Here are the results for a Vixen R200SS. I am using a Televuee Paracorr Type 2, spider milled to a thickness of 1.7 mm vs the original 6.0 mm spider. This was collimated with the Howie Glatter laser, the tested with CCD Inspector to verify collimation on a 8 / 10 seeing night.
A high quality laser will give you a good starting position with a newt. You can also use a good laser on a Cass to get you into a good starting position for final tweaking as well. Wait till you have that terrific still moon light night for collimation. Don't rush it... and don't rely on that memory - make notes.
Terry