Good laser collimation tool?

[ColHut (Colin)]

Does anybody know if there is anything to pick between the bintel/Andrews/orion laser collimtors - or is another brand altogether much better?

cheers

[White Rabbit]

I have this one http://www.astrosystems.biz/laser.htm I think I paid about $170au inc shipping from the states.

I'm no expert on the subject but it seems to the job pretty well. I also have an orion collimating eyepiece that I use to fine tune my set up. I have a 12" Light Bridge so being able to quickley collimate is a must and a laser is the quickest way that I've found to do, but it only gets you part way there.

Id did a bit of research on the subject a while back apparently these are about the best money can buy http://www.catseyecollimation.com/ but the price was just a bit much for me and I'm happy with my purchase.

Happy hunting.

[doug_parkes]

hi ColHut,

I bought a two-inch diameter Kendrick laser collimator <http://www.adorama.com/KDLC2.html> for about $150 Canadian (I was in Canada at the time). The Kendrick collimator has a removable conical/45° section that is very useful when collimating (returned laser beam may be viewed from the mirror box end of my 15 inch Dob when collimating and it has a removable ultra-thin Barlow lens built-in which allows the use of the Barlowed-laser technique when collimating a Newtonian design. Regarding the former (conical/45° section) I don't sit at the mirror box end and collimate by looking up through the truss tubes anymore. I have set up a small webcam (by clamping it onto the secondary spider vanes and aims at the inside of the Kendrick collimator to see where the returned beam is shining) which displays the returned laser beam on a laptop computer screen while I sit and fiddle with the collimation adjustment. Once initial collimation is done (ie, the returned laser beam is seen to disappear down the hole in the conical/45° section of the Kendrick laser, I then fit the Barlowed section to the collimator body and centre the reflected image of the hole-reinforcement which sits concentric with the exact centre of the primary mirror. The Barlowed-laser technique requires the image (a doughnut) to be concentric with the exit hole from the laser barrel itself. It is hard to explain but if you are interested, have a look at the Nils Olaf Carlin article in Sky and Telescope <http://gmpexpress.net/~tomhole/blaser.pdf>.

Have fun,

Doug

[Tandum (Robin)]

I got a baader one that does the trick.

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

I have a GSO collimator I bought through Andrews Com use it on my 10" Dob works a treat http://andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm 2/3 way down page $49.

Adrian

[BerrieK]

I too have a GSO laser collimator which was easy to use once intructions were found. Unfortunately I discovered that the laser collimator was not collimated properly itself, hence the results on scope are not very accurate. I found this out as after collimating using the laser, scope collimation appeared worse..so I repeated process to same effect. To check laser collimator you can mount it in an eyepiece holder and rotate / plot laser path...should just be a dot! Mine was a rather large circle and hence requires collimating itself!

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

While I am reluctant to use the term "best" as there are probably other good ones too...but, this is the gear that many top shelf astro-photographers use...http://www.catseyecollimation.com/

I am certain that there are other sets that will work but this stuff is high quality...as normal, you get what you pay for...and these are not in the same price category as the GSO...

You can do a search for catseye or search strongmanmike's past posts here on IIS...

Clear Skies!

[PeterO]

Hi all,

I,ve just ordered a CatsEye collimation combo system of Jim Fly and there is currently a two week waiting list at the moment, will be worth the short wait though.

Peter

[ColHut (Colin)]

Originally Posted by AdrianF

I have a GSO collimator I bought through Andrews Com use it on my 10" Dob works a treat http://andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm 2/3 way down page $49.

Adrian

Hi ADrian - Is the GSO laser collimator adjustable if it goes out of alignment?

cheers

[cookie8 (Vincent)]

I purchased a deluxe laser collimator from Andrews for less than $50 but it is only useful when the laser beam is coming out dead straight. So you need to collimate the collimator first. Follow this link to find out how:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=25321
I found an old film canister with a small hole in the centre in the EP holder is a good enough collimation tool.
Cheers

[jayscheuerle]

With an under $50 laser, you can get great results. You should align your laser with a v-block until the dot doesn't move when you rotate the laser. The laser should fit snugly in the focuser. If there's play, put a loop of wide packing tape around it to increase the diameter.

I wasn't fond of the bar-shaped dot of my laser and tried to stop it down, using a foil sticker and a pin. This did not give me a pure, tiny dot, but rather a smaller dot with a large diffraction glow around it. What started out as disappointment turned to joy as the glow returned the shadow of my Catseye triangle to the diagonal face in my laser, allowing me to accurately collimate the primary. Just like a barlowed laser, this shadow did not move around as I moved the laser in the focuser.

So, for $35 I have an aligned laser with a built-in barlow capability, yet with a center dot still readable enough to align the secondary. Pretty good in my book. - j

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

Yes the collimater is adjustable. I also used a V-Block and clamp from work and spent 5 mins adjusting it and it asnt required adjusting since, about 12 months.

Adrian

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

I have this one http://www.astrosystems.biz/laser.htm I think I paid about $170au inc shipping from the states.

Pete at SDM also carries these

[ColHut (Colin)]

Thanks all for these replies. It certainly helps to get some opinions

cheers

[White Rabbit]

Can someone tell me what a V-block is and where I can get one?

Thanks

[erick (Eric)]

See post #12 in this thread:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=17253

Easily made.

If you cannot cut the notch, work out a design to butt to 45deg cuts together to make up a "V".

[erick (Eric)]

Here is my home-made version.

[redsquash]

The Hotech laser collimator seems to do everything when you see there web page , but is it just a marketing hype or true.
It has a unique way of sitting in the focuser

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

A vote here for the Astro Systems barlowed collimator. The internal collimation setting screws are all locked in place at the factory in the USA and epoxied along with the barrel of the laser module itself. IT can't move - at all. They ask that if one ever does manage to lose collimation you send it back to the factory. They pay the return postage and provide the service for free otherwise. I'd say that's confidence in a product. I know a few people with one and no-one has lost that preset collimation yet.

Usage is very quick. Remove the barlow lens and insert into focuser. Turn on beam and adjust the secondary until the beam reflects off it and hits the center of your center mark on the primary. That's the secondary done. Then slip the barlow on and watch for the diffused image of the center mark come back off the primary and land on the white back of the barlow. Adjust the primary collimation screws until that mark is centred. All done either during the day or night.

I can't see the catseye being any better. All they seem to go on about in their literature is a triangular center dot.

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

I can't comment on the Cats Eye stuff, but the Astrosystems barlowed laser is very nice and really is as simple to use as descirbed by Chris above