Thanks everyone for all the great feedback :thumbup:
The scope has certainly given me a taste of its potential despite the ugly stars. Of course, I’d like to nail it eventually but it’s certainly feels like hitting a wall
Today I’ve been looking at a couple of points raised and listed here...
I’ve been collimating in a horizontal position in its rings, before transferring to the mount (NEQ6). I added 13” Losmandy dovetails (top and bottom) to improve rigidity of the ring structure themselves, and to separate the rings farther than the included single Vixen dovetail.
I removed the mirror cell to check the holder clips. These were really tight and I had to use some force with a couple of the screws. I loosened them enough to be able to slide a piece of paper underneath and out, before reinstalling the primary cell in the tube. I forgot to measure the primary spot was centred on the mirror, but it’s a simple enough operation to remove it and check tomorrow.
I have removed the secondary mirror and the adjustment screws had been digging into the secondary holder. I picked up a stainless steel washer of the perfect size from a local hardware store and have installed this between the adjustment screws and the holder surface. This has improved the manoeuvrability of the secondary substantially. Such a simple fix, I can’t see why SW don’t do this from the factory.
While I’m the area, I measured the spider vanes. The vane in the axis of the focuser was dialled out 5mm more than the others (measured to the centre screw), so I’ve adjusted this to match the others. It appeared to be distorting the shape of the open end of the scope - when I noticed it, I was looking squarely at it from the front and it was quite obvious. The same vane was also not straight...it looks a bit warped. I’m a bit puzzled by this as I’d not touched them before, the closest I got was adjusting the secondary screws.
I don’t fully understand the significance of the offset. I understand why it needs to be so, and SW state in the manual that it has been offset at the factory. Since I have removed the secondary and refitted it, have I destroyed that and need to reset it? I don’t yet grasp whether I need to factor this in.
Looking down the focuser tube, I tried my best to centre the secondary under the focuser. However, when I insert the collimation cap in the focuser, the clamps on the outer edge of the mirror are not then all visible without adjusting the secondary some more. Does this indicate that I haven’t accommodated the offset, or that the focuser is not aligned with the secondary?
With the secondary adjusted (I’m not going to say collimated!), I then centred the dark dot from the collimation cap into the centre circle on the primary mirror relatively easily. I then racked the focuser in and out and the spot stays put.
The mirror is stuck to the stalk with a sticky pad, although it seems pretty secure.
It appears that my laser has lost collimation, as the rotation trick is no longer working. Rotating it in the focuser traced out a circle about 5cm in diameter. It has adjustment screws, so I’ll just have to learn how to do it. This could have been off the previous night, but I had worked previously.