How to center the QHY dovetail flange?

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a QHY268C (my first QHY camera), & I'd have to say I'm a little bewildered with the whole dovetail flange setup .
Being used to a threaded interface, the dovetail/flange with the three thumbscrews seems to be a system prone to issues with centering & tilt.
Is there a trick to setting this up or is just purely trial & error. My first light images are clearly off centre with significant image tilt.
Any guidance from QHY veterans would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Tony

[gb44 (Glenn)]

I suppose the screws could all be set at the same depth...check the height of each with a micrometer. Maybe one or two have been wound in further than the remaining screw and that could cause tilt and off centre.

GlennB

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

Originally Posted by gb44

I suppose the screws could all be set at the same depth...check the height of each with a micrometer. Maybe one or two have been wound in further than the remaining screw and that could cause tilt and off centre.

GlennB

Thanks for the reply Glenn, I'll give that a go. I notice you have the 410C & being full frame I imagine the dovetail interface would be more problematic. What has your experience been like with regards to image tilt?

Cheers,
Tony

[gb44 (Glenn)]

Yes, theres definately something there. Occurs with both scopes but mostly just in one corner. Not much of an issue with the Meade ACF which has a good size flat image circle.

I suppose the error could creep in additively when changing out filters, so thanks for raising the issue.

I cant find many bad examples, luckily!

GlennB