Collimator...recommendations

[madtuna]

For a 10" dob are there type or brands to stay away from and what would you recommend?

many thanks

[Starkler]

I found the synta made cheshire to be undersized and therefore a poor fit in the focuser. The Orion one I think is better.

[davidpretorius]

A question i have been toying with for a long time......I have an orion one, which gets me some of the way there, but it is also sloppy in the focusser........I hence do lots and lots of star testing

TO be brutally honest, i would go the cat eye collimators and be done with it. I consider it to be the next purchase for me BEFORE any expensinve eyepiece.

http://www.catseyecollimation.com/

[Omaroo]

Steve - there is another. Both DJVege and I have the AstroSydtem Barlowed Laser Collimator and would not be without it. There are a couple of threads on these, and after the hissing and spitting going back and forth I'm surprised no-one remembered them in answer to you question. :lol:
Simply brilliant - and a 2" machined barrel that is tight as a drum in your focuser. The laser is locked in place and is guaranteed not to go out of collimation itself.

Thread 1) http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=24955&highlight=astrosystems

Thread 2) http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=27310&highlight=astrosystems

[DJVege]

I'd have to agree. At $140 - $150, it's awesome! Makes collimation so easy. Very happy with it.

[davidpretorius]

I have watched the meticulous planetary guys Bird and Rumples at work and the feeling I got was that the laser was final check after the cateyes.

Is this what most guys feel....sometimes i get the feeling that guys dont trust lasers.

I am speaking from no experience with either tool and face the eventual choice of cateyes, bloody good guarenteed laser as mentioned above or both??

[madtuna]

many thanks fpr the replies.. that takes most of the confusion out of it, gives me a head start, saving a lot of wear and tear on my google finger :)

[circumpolar]

Many people seem to love the Astrosystem unit barlowed. I can't say that I've heard any complaints.

I use the CatsEye 2" telecat and the 2" XL autocollimator. Simply fantastic!
They are costly though.
Not as easy to use when dark but as you can see a bright red torch will work to illuminate the triangle catseye.

Ignore my dusty primary. :P

[astro_nutt]

I brought a Saxon 10" Dob a few years ago and after assembling the base (smear some silicone on the bare edges, allow to dry, then put it together!) I checked the Primary and Secondary Mirror cells...the Primary mirror clips needed to be loosened off and retightened until they just touch the mirrors edge..the secondary was fine..next came the focuser which was squared in nicely but the rack and pinion had the taffy grease cleaned out and replaced with a quality waterproof type..an adjustment of the tension via the 4 screws underneath made for a smoother action.
The Secondary mirror has the offset configured in it's cell so once the spider is centred all that's needed is to check that the tube is straight and squared at each end...(you could use an old 1200mm fluro tube for this)
I know it's a lot to check but the careful mechanical alignment of the optical tube helps sort out any errors caused by rough handling during transport etc..
For collimation I use a longtube Chershire followed by a laser..which needs a pocket mirror to see the return beam hit it's source..after that it only needs a slight tweek after setting up..
Cheers!

[AstroJunk]

from Oz: http://www.sdmtelescopes.com.au/shop/index.php?cPath=47&osCsid=bddca23da558abd7b75e10b723ec 8af3

I unfortunately bought a much more expensive kendrik. Does the same thing, and does it beautifully, but for 400+ bucks!!!

[DJVege]

Oh, I got it from the U.S. from here:http://www.astrosystems.biz/laser.htm

and it costs about $150 I think, delivered.

I'd recommend a the orion/skywatcher collimation tool or the like mainly for squaring the secondary under the focuser. For adjusting the tilt of the secondary and the primary, I'd highly recommed the barlowed laser. However, very good collimation can be achieved using just a cheshire or the collimation tool from orion or skywatcher. (I know, cause I used to use them!) :) The barlowed laser just makes it much easier, is all.

[davidpretorius]

it does look good!:thumbsup:

[ausastronomer]

You should read some of my posts and comments in this thread.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=27758

FWIW I have a 2" Astrosystems barlowed laser and the Tectron Tool set, which are the equal of the Catseye. The Astrosystems barlowed laser, the Tectron and Catseye tools are all excellent. I can also collimate any newtonian by eye without tools, it just takes a little longer.

Don't short circuit the collimation learning curve.

Cheers,
John B