Collimating my C8

[Matty P]

Hi all,

I have recently checked my C8's collimation and it seems to be off. This will be the first time I collimate my scope so I am a bit unsure of the right procedure. I have read the instruction manual but the information about collimation is a bit vague so any tips or advice will be greatly apreciated.

I just put an order through for some Bob knobs so they shoud be arriving soon.

:help:

[Outbackmanyep]

Try here:
http://www.ngc1514.com/Celestron/collimate.htm

Or here:
http://legault.club.fr/collim.html

Cheers!

[Matty P]

Thanks for the links, I will have a read.

[Matty P]

I recieved the Bob's knobs today and have installed them without any problems.

Let's hope collimation will be the same. :)

[OneOfOne]

Another interesting article I found a couple of months ago about collimating an SCT is this one:
http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=548

At the moment I have been too busy to give it a try, but his article is different to all the others I have found. He actually tells you a way to determine not only which screw to turn, but also which WAY to turn it.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has tried his technique. Most of the articles I have found have shown a way to identify the screw but the direction is just "turn one way, if it makes it worse, turn the other way".

[Matty P]

Thanks for the link,

Collimation is still quite new to me so every little bit of information will help.

[wayunderated]

So hey Matty...I just recently purchased a used C8 and had the same question you did. How's it working out so far? You figure out how to get it collimated correctly? Did it make a big difference? How do you like those "Bob's knobs"? I was thinking of ordering some myself.

[h0ughy]

you could try this http://www.hotechusa.com/collimator.html the methodology behind it seem sound

[g__day]

You could also download the 1 month trial of CCD Inspector V2.06 from CCDware and this is pretty darn fine when it comes to perfecting collimation!

http://www.ccdware.com/downloads/

[Matty P]

Hi Denver,

I now collimate my C8 as often as possible. Bob's knobs are necessary IMO as they make turning the collimating screws really easy. Using a screwdriver in the dark was just not an option for me.

Collimation is necessary to get the possible performance from your optics and it does make a huge difference in image quality.

Good luck. :thumbsup:

P.S. Welcome to IIS. :welcome:

[rider]

Hi, all

I have an 8 inch mak, and have always believed that I can't use a laser collimator on it.

My reasoning is that the laser beam would hit the center of the (fixed) secondary mirror and return directly (hopefully) back to the laser collimator - ie: it would never touch the adjustable primary mirror.

is my reasoning correct? - I hope that I'm wrong, because I hate wasting prime viewing conditions to do star based collimation.

rider