celestron powerseeker 127 colimating

[Chippy3476]

Hi all,
I was just wondering if anybody knows how to colimate a celestron powerseeker 127 telescope? I just got an old one and have no idea how to colimate because of the inbuilt Barlow in the focuser!
I have to take the primary mirror out and clean it as it is pretty grubby, but it looks like it is held in with nuts on the inside, which means I will have to remove the secondary mirror assembly so I can hold on to them, i hope im wrong. And maybe remove thos Barlow lens somehow, colimate and then put the Barlow back in without bumping the secondary mirror again.
Has anybody got this scope or ever collimated one like it? Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.
Thans
Dan

[raymo]

Most of that type of scope don't allow the removal of the inbuilt barlow
because they are crimped in place. The barlow doesn't stop you using
a conventional collimating tool, or a film canister.
raymo

[Chippy3476]

Thanks mate,
So I can colimate with a colimating cap and a cheshire? Exactly the same way you would a normal newt? It just looks different with the Barlow in place is all.
Thanks
Dan

[dannat]

yes youll prob just have to get it as close as you can

can you just leave the secondary & barlow in place -removing the screws at the bottom -the primary mirror should come out in its cell [mark the cell & tube holes so it goes back same way it came out] for cleaning

[sharkbite]

Matey - i had one of these -

not bad for a kiddies scope - espcecially at the price.

look up "Improvements for the celestron 127eq" on the interwebs
to find stacks of info on how to make it a better scope.

from my personal experience:

1.) took out the primary by removing the 6 screws om the back.
(no need to take out the secondary!)
replaced them with hex bolts and springs. Adjustment of primary is now really easy.

2.) the barlow is removable, but in practice i got better results by leaving it in and using a cheshire.

3.) focusser is a PoS and needs modifying to make it work smoothly.

there is also a lot of useful info here:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=27116&highlight=powerseeker+127

cheers,

[Regulus]

Daniel go to this link and scroll down the page. On the right you will see a 'bold' link to Support'. If you click on it you can download manuals on Use, set uip, maintenance etc.

http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/telescopes/powerseeker-127eq-telescope

A Youtube search on collimating the Celestron 127 Powerseeker :
yielded
Information on collimating a PowerSeeker 127eq
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svRmq5R04Zg
Setting Up Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te8a_YwyvLw


I didn't watch them so cannot say how useful they are.


Cheers
Trev

[Chippy3476]

Thanks all,
Sharkbite how do you rwmove the primary mirror with the 6 screws? As by the look of mine that will only release the mirror inside the tube but you cant get it out without removing the cell itself which is held in place by little nuts inside the tube and bolts from the outside! It seems such a crappy design becouse on my other saxon scopes they are just scewed in from the outside so you simply unscrew them and remove the mirror cell, but with this one you have to have a hand inside the tube to remove and then replace the cell as you have to hold the nuts:shrug:
Thanks
Dan

[sharkbite]

Chippy...
Here's a pic of the back end of mine.

You can see that where there used to be 6 Philips head screws there are now 3 hex bolts.
Just point the scope upwards and carefully remove them while holding the mirror assembly.
I put springs under the hex bolts to hold the mirror assembly in place instead of the locking screws. Dead easy to collimate or star test this way.

[Chippy3476]

Thanks mate, I got it now, once colimated are these scopes anygood? It seems they get mixed reviews. I just got this one dirt cheap of eBay so I had a compact little scope that was nice and easy to get outside instead of carting the bigger one out all the time.
But it seems alot of people say even once colimated they are still crap! I thought celestron was a alright brand too.
Thanks
Dan

[sharkbite]

Yeah they ain't exactly a hubble ;-)

i got mine brand new for around $180 - so i didn't expect much...

however - not bad for looking at the moon and other planets
visible to the naked eye...

definitely easier to move around than my Dob.

[Chippy3476]

Thanks mate, how did you modify the focuser? As it really is crappy. Very sloppy and hard to get proper focus unless you hold the draw tube up.
Thanks
Dan

[sharkbite]

Matey -

i took it apart and removed the órrible sticky grease, and
replaced it with some silicon grease.

i also put a few strips of magic tape on the outside of the draw
tube to get rid of the slop.
when putting it back together i just did up all the screws nice and tight.

I followed some step-by-step instructions i found by
working the google on the internet machine, but i'll be
jiggered if i can't find them any more. (sorry)
i think they might even have been on this very forum....

[Chippy3476]

Did you just put a few layers of magic tape in a couple of places on the draw tube itself? The silver part that comes out?
Sorry for stupid questions but its been frustrating me.
Dan

[sharkbite]

Correct-a-mundo, chippy...

Well....one "layer" along the length in 3 places on the outside of the draw tube.

I have read on the internets that some people used
ice-cream container plastic, but mine
had nowhere near that kind of slop.

[Chippy3476]

Thanks mate,
I had to put 3 layers on in 3 places and it is good now. But im having so much trouble colimating it. Im not sure if its becouse of the Barlow or not but I cant get the crosshair on the cheshire to centre, i have the 3 primary mirror clips in view and the centre dot from the eyepiece is in the middle of the donut on the primary so im hoping it is now colimated. Does this sound about right to you?
Thanks Dan:shrug:

[sharkbite]

Matey - i think this as good as it will get.

the focuser is quite flimsy - so trying to line up the crosshairs might be a waste of time.

(Mine does line up, but even slight lateral presssure on the tube stuffs this up)

If you have done the mirror cell mod with springs,
it is quite easy to then do a "star" test.

[Chippy3476]

Thanks mate,
One last question is where did you get the springs and hex bolts? and is the thread just normal thread?
Thanks
Dan

[sharkbite]

Matey i got the bits and pieces from a box of bits i keep in my shed...
(don't know the sizes)

If you google "127eq improvements" one of the first items to come up will be a thread on another forum with all the information you need.

cheers,

[Chippy3476]

Thanks mate, :thanx:

[Visionary]

For many years I had wanted to own a "proper" scope. I have a beautiful easy to use spotting scope that I have taken to Hawaii and on a cruise through the islands of the South Pacific... I was ready for a relationship with a "proper" scope. As fate would have it my chosen object of my affections resolved itself into a Celestron 130 Power Seeker.
As with many I have all my Ebay "gold" delivered to work. I was called down stairs and I signed the package. The large package turned slightly as I took it out of the Delivery Dude's arms, betraying the presence of formed metals within the box, "still my beating heart". This was it, this was my first real scope!
I found some reason to leave exactly on time from work. On arriving home I carried my delivery down stairs and into the Den that was reserved as its new home.
It seemed like a normal unboxing, I had watched similar unboxing scenes many, many times on Youtube and everything appeared to be normal but.... something was seriously wrong! I had thought it odd that the mount resisted my best attempts at getting it to move. Surely, I thought it was some strange "telescope magic" the mount would not move untill all its elements had been brought together, a little like Captain Planet... "when my elements combine" well sadly there was no metamorphosis my long awaited and much anticipated baby turned out to be a piece of crap! The mount and all of its components were frozen solid. The Latitude screw was the wrong size for the Latitude thread everything conceivable piece of wrongness had come together in my baby! Like any new parent I had just wanted my scope to look like all the other scopes.
At this point I realised that the mount was so f&%ked up that even the scopes own mother would deign knowledge of the wretched thing. I didn't need my 18 year old son's helpful observation "Dad, have you bought another piece of cr&p off Ebay"? Clear I had, my vainful boasting "It only cost $315" was still ringing in my ears. How in the hell could I return this piece of cr&p? It was just too wrong, no one believe the appalling mess could have arisen from the box. It would have required unholy interference from a maniacal hater of all things astronomic to produce such a horrid combination of gross mechanical failure.
So it was that I returned to the purveyor of my disappointment. The only thing I did wisely in the entire transaction had been to ensure that the distributor of the scope was based in Aust and thereby cover via: Aust consumer legislation. So it was that I phoned the distributor. After a couple of wrings the phone was answered by a lovely calm female voice. I knew my story would not be believed so I started by explaining that I didn't expect to be believed, as it was just way too wrong. I can't say I was believed, as my story really was unbelievable however, she was prepared to receive the scope back for a techie evaluation. Fast forwarding..... the scope was replaced with a new one. This time the mount worked perfectly. The joints carried lube and all was good however...... The blood sweat and tears the whole business had cost me had sucked the life out of any pleasure I may have derived from the scope. The Celestron 130 sits under a dust cover in a darkened corner of the garage. My once much anticipated baby sits forlorn, deserted and alone in the garage the trauma of its birth is still too great. Maybe some day I will have the strength of purpose to strip back the dust cover and point the scope upwards into a darkened sky, but not tonight, tomorrow.

[Skexis]

Am I correct in guessing from this that both the 127EQ and the 130EQ are to be avoided?