Quote:
Originally Posted by kljucd1
Hi,
Thanks for the quick responses guys, very much appreciated.
I had another go, keeping your advice in mind, and all of a sudden it works (I don't know, must have been a dizzy moment or something.) I have put the laser right in the centre of the little window thingymabob on the collimator (which of course means that the laser ain't coming out the front anymore).
So I will have to wait for a few more holes in the clouds to test it  .
But tell me, how come I was able to take some shots of the moon that are pretty good? If the collimation was that far out then shouldn't the image have been totally blurry or something?
Thanks again
Daniel... |
Hi Daniel, I'm a noob too and I had the exact same problem. Here's how I do mine if it helps.
I first take everything off the focuser and stick a white piece of paper in the tube so I can see the secondary against the white background. I then move the secondary with the spider and the various screws until I get it centered in the focuser (roughly a black circle [mirror] against a white circle [white paper in the background]).
Once I'm happy with the secondary it's 99% there. All you have to do is stick the laser collimator in the focuser and make sure the laser points directly in the center of the primary.
When this is done, tweak the primary until the laser goes back and center it in the focuser. That's all. Rotate the collimator in the eyepiece as well and check the laser still points in the center of the primary.
To check if your collimation is good point to a bright star and go out of focus slightly. You'll see a black hole in the star. If it's centered, you're all good. If it's offset then you're out.