Early this year Teleskop-Express put up on their website a new 2" LED Collimator designed specifically for the needs of RCs, CCs, etc. This Collimator was being produced in Italy for them and it was expected to be available in April. Well, the pandemic intervened and production fell into a hole. I have been communicating with them about it and now I can advise that these collimators are in stock at last. The device is labelled as:
Now what makes this collimator different to the other solutions, well for one thing it cost less than that Hotech system. When I owned my RC I refused to buy a Hotech system, but did buy the TAK Collimation Scope (which I found very difficult to use as it is so dim).
Since buying a CC I have been using the laser imbedded in a box wall target technique and that worked ok, but this new device looks very compact and well thought out.
So I have bought one, it has shipped, and UPS says I will have it next Friday. I will do a test/review on my CC when I get it, and compare its accuracy with my old DIY laser box target and star test collimation. I will report back.
PS, cost was 108 Euro, and via UPS add 50 Euro. I think the net charge was about $270 AUD. The Hotech Advanced CT Collimation system is listed as $455 USD ($645 AUD), add shipping, GST and inbound charges.
Note that Bintel's price for a TAK Collimation Scope is $369 AUD, but you may find them on the used market for less.
My new RC, CC, collimator from TS arrived this morning, which is pretty amazing service from UPS, as it left Germany last Wednesday evening.
I will get some photos up soon along with a review of it in use, and outcomes, accuracy, etc.
I got mine last week. I've been battling with my CC for several weeks, using a Cheshire and Autocollimator. They seem good at getting it mechanically aligned, but my (well collimated) Baader laser always disagreed. Of course, I haven't seen the sky for 6 weeks, so a star test wasn't possible.
When collimating with the R.E.E.E.G.O 2, the laser agreed. I was gobsmacked. Star test tonight, hopefully.
OK I have tried out the new TS collimator on my 8" CC, here are my findings:
1. It works Ok, especially good on the secondary centering. It immeadiately showed my present setup was slightly out. Love the brighness of the Red LED display inside the scope, showing everything you need to line up. My old bad eyes appreciated not fighting for visability like when using a Cheshire, and my old LED target system. A couple of quick tweaks and the secondary was perfect, subject to star test verification of course. Note that the A,B,C marks are used to correspond to the adjustment screws, initially for the secondary setup using the internal ones, but then I rotated the device to have the exterior designations point to the primary adjusters.
2. Moving onto the primary, it was pretty much spot on, as I had previously set the scope up with a star test. With these CCs if you see Coma then it is likely that you need a tweak to the primary. There is a good thread on Cloudy Nights about how to do that (Star Test that is).
3. There were no instructions with the TS Collimator, abit disappointing, but they do explain how to use it on their webpage. That said, the four small white LEDs that can be turned on, arranged in a square are not explained at all anywhere that I could find, i suspect they are an artifical star constellation. Looking at them after setup, they were perfect with no visible coma indication. Outside Star test will confirm.
4. So according to the new collimator the CC is perfect, but it was pretty darn good as it was before (thanks to my star test work). So next step is to take it out to the observatory and do some more star testing. That will need to wait a few days I think.
I have attached some photos for you, external views only sadly.
Just a quick update, I have emailed Riccardo at TS ( the product specialist for the collimator) about the purpose and use of the white LEDs in the collimator, as they are not mentioned in the instructions. He replied with this:
"...the white leds are only leds to see if the telescope is out of collimation or not (led aligned). their reflections is only a geometrical one, to check how much out of collimation is the telescope or not. ".
So as I surmised earlier, seem to be a constellation of artificial stars. With CC scopes, they could be useful for coma correction (via the Primary), but when I checked them on my CC they were perfect. However, they should probably be checked in conjunction with an EP. As always the ultimate test is the actual star test.
I would like to get one of these, so, I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions.
1: What is a CC telescope? Classical cassegrain?
2: Do you think this would actually be useful for a Schmidt-Cassegrain? I ask as there is no adjustment for the primary mirror.
Enjoy your new toy.
Philip
Phillip, yes, CC is Classical Cassegrain. And if you read through the TS web page on the Collimator is says "
We especially recomend the collimator for all Cassegrain-like telescopes like Schmidt-Cassegrain, RC, Dall-Kirkham and similar telescope types". So no reason it should not work on an SCT, but there might be cheaper local options.
I believe it is of most value to RC and CC owners.
