[troypiggo (Troy)]

Originally Posted by Moon

Sounds like it. To give yourself a reality check, get it all lined up, then give the focuser or secondary a little push and you'll see how sensitive it is.
I figure if it's that sensitive, gravity and other issues mean the eyepiece or camera is never going to be exactly 100% where the collimation tools were, so don't go overboard. Get it as good as you can, then move on.
James

Thanks mate.

Originally Posted by jeff65

I just received my Catseye tools and am learning how to use them. A couple of suggestions:

Have you tried slightly rotating the secondary itself while viewing to see if this brings the reflections closer together? You may have to back off the secondary screws to allow this. I inserted a large diameter M5 washer sandwiched between two milk jug washers atop the secondary holder to make this easier to do without loosening the secondary collimation screws.

Have you checked that the focuser is square to the tube axis? I haven't figured out the best way to do this. Jim's explanation in the instructions using is a little hard to follow without any diagrams.

I've gently twisted the secondary vanes to see the effect. The hot dots do come into align sometimes (depending on where they were). But if I back off the screws to manually rotate the secondary, it jumps too far and I have to start again.

I checked the focuser is square first of all. It's a Moonlite, so can collimate it as well. Pretty sure that's fine.

Originally Posted by Logieberra

Troy

Using the same scope as you, and same collimation gear.

You need to upgrade the secondary screws. Throw the grubs away, rubbish, and add bolts. Add wing nut heads to these bolts. Makes things MUCH easier.

Send me a PM to remind me, and I'll post a pic of the mod in this thread.

Logie.

Thanks mate, that's what I'm thinking. Will look into that down the track. I know Peter (peter_4059) swapped the springs around as well so that the screws are pulling rather than pushing or something, and he reckons it's much better/easier as well. Think that was either a Bird or Quark trick.