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I just finished getting the telescope ready.
I've cleaned the primary mirror and installed the anti-lateral movement springs.
I soaked the mirror for 5 minutes in warm water with a drop of dish washing liquid.
I gave it a rinse with demineralised water but there was still some dust on it.
I soaked it again and this time I used cotton wool balls
to dab on the mirror - NOT rubbing from side to side.
It still had some dust like spots but 99% of them had gone
so I didn't do any more to it.
I was too scared of damaging it - I can always return to that job
with new ideas bit it looks pretty good now.
I didn't adjust the laser through the exact center of the 45 degree window
so that I could take pictures of the red spot.
As can be seen from the 3rd picture there is still a little bit
of movement of the laser spot especially when moving
the telescope from horizontal LHS to RHS which simulates a meridian flip.
Therefore I can't consider my idea a 100% success.
I put more compression on the springs but it stayed about the same.
It is still much better than without the springs so I'll go with what I've got.
Remember - the Telescope is never horizontal in actual use -
it would go from say 45 degrees to 90 degrees vertical.
At least my laser is now orthogonal which helps.
Finally I collimated it using my Takahashi 2X Barlow
reflecting off the paper reinforcement at the center of the mirror - as per the pics.
The springs are nice as they don't interfere with
the 3 collimation knobs - it adjusts normally.
Now - I'm waiting for a clear night to do a full test of my system.
I will be especially interested in the performance of the NEQ6 pro mount.
Although it has hardly ever been used the grease in it is original
and might cause a problem?
cheers
Allan
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