Stacy
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/15/02
Posts: 2100
Loc: Seattle
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Here are some excellent sites for info about collimating a Newtonian Reflector. 
Nils Olof Carlin's Collimation Page
Vic Menard's Collimation Page
Collimation Myths (Nils Olof Carlin)
Bryan Greer's Adventures in Collimation
McCluney's "Treatise on Newtonian Collimation"
Thierry Legault - The Collimation
Collimating Newtonian Optics...by Mel Bartels With Spanish and Croation translations.
Sky & Telescope: How To Collimate Your Newtonian Reflector
Andy's Shot Glass - Collimating Movie
Edited by Stacy (12/06/04 05:01 PM)
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Nils Olaf Carlin is my guru (although he doesn't know it!)
The barlowed laser method of collimation proved to be my saviour. Great set of links Stacy.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Great post Stacy! I think I blame you for me getting the Orion LaserMate Deluxe  , which is soooo easy to use and then easier to test each time before using my scope. I haven't had to adjust anything since I spent the time getting it perfectly set. 
Tom
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Bird
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/07/03
Posts: 2760
Loc: Canberra, Australia
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Here's another link to read:
http://perso.club-internet.fr/legault/
Read all the stuff about "High resolution imaging", in particular the section on collimation.
I guarantee that it'll be useful :-)
cheers, Bird
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Deep Sky Optics 13.1" f/5.5 newtonian,
PGR Dragonfly Express, PGR Dragonfly 2
RedHat Linux + Coriander
http://www.acquerra.com.au/astro/
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Stacy
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/15/02
Posts: 2100
Loc: Seattle
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Ah yes, the mysteries of the ancient art of collimation, formerly shrouded in darkness, abstract theory and shame are revealed! Gone are the days when the “manual” forbid the turnings of the screws and when the slightest touch would elicit tiny beads of sweat upon ones forehead. 
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XT-8, 120ST, AEX-10X50
www.darksky.org
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
- HG Wells
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I'm hoping to try the barlowed laser method for the first time tonight.
I'm receiving my Howie Glatter laser collimator this evening, and already adapted a crummy moon filter to screw into the barlow with white cardboard and a hole in the centre. Bought a dental mirror too, so I can see the bottom of the barlow with the adapted filter!
My scope just spent a week and a half in the trunk of my girlfriends car...so, as you can guess, the collimation is way off.
Carlos.
BTW stacy, I think posting a number of good links on collimation was a great idea!
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Stacy
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/15/02
Posts: 2100
Loc: Seattle
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Carlos, the Telescope Gods must surely be displeased with you! Over a WEEK in the trunk of a car! I guess you will get some use out of that collimator if you carry on like that. 
Hard to go wrong with the Barlowed laser technique though. Let us know how it works out.
Regards,
Stacy
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XT-8, 120ST, AEX-10X50
www.darksky.org
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
- HG Wells
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hi,
I apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this, I am quite new here.
I have access to a Celestron 114 EQ scope (that is to be used for some device developementun related to astronomy), that shows blurred images (when looking at object a few hudred yards away), but only along one axis (horizontally).
Adjusting the primary mirror does not seem to change the blur. What could that be due to ? I tried to rotate the eyepiece too, with no effect. When looking at a billboard ~50m away, letters appear to be "shadowed" horizontally.
Any idea on what could be causing this ? I am particularly puzzled by the fact that manipulating the primary adjustment screws do not seem to have any influence.
Any help greatly appreciated !
Thank you
-B.
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Mike Hosea
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/24/03
Posts: 3560
Loc: "Metrowest" Boston
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The secondary mirror may be pinched in its cell.
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Mike
- 7" f/6.7 home-built planetary Newt on an Osypowski EQ platform
- 13mm Ethos (5.9mm w/2x TV Barlow, 4.2mm w/2.8x Klee Barlow)
- Canon 15x50IS and 10x30IS Binoculars
- Bogen 501HDV+028B Tripod
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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which would bend the mirror slightly I guess.
If it was some kind of bending in the mirror, rotating its attachment to the tube would then change the direction of the deformation, right ? Well I just removed the mirror attachment from the tube, rotated it 120 degrees and put it back (and centered). The picture is still 'shadowed' horizontally, so I conclude that it is not some kind of bending of the mirror. Am I right ? What else could it be ?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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well I found what the problem is:
go outside.
Staying in the lab and trying the scope by pointing it out at a shallow angle through a dirty, double pane window is _not_ a good idea...
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Mike Hosea
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/24/03
Posts: 3560
Loc: "Metrowest" Boston
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Giving help over the internet is a real challenge sometimes. I kid thee not, the last thing I would have thought to ask is whether you were outside.
--------------------
Mike
- 7" f/6.7 home-built planetary Newt on an Osypowski EQ platform
- 13mm Ethos (5.9mm w/2x TV Barlow, 4.2mm w/2.8x Klee Barlow)
- Canon 15x50IS and 10x30IS Binoculars
- Bogen 501HDV+028B Tripod
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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NuroSlam
sage
Reged: 10/02/03
Posts: 241
Loc: Carrollton, TX
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thats a keeper!
Slam
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Ralph
Telestar 60mm, 395 EQ Mount, WeeCam
You fear me now don't you?
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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A few more links
http://www.efn.org/~mbartels/tm/collimat.html
http://www.oarval.org/collimatC.htm (Spanish translation)
http://www.pondi.hr/~beri/collimat.html (Croation translation)
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F.Meiresonne
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 3228
Loc: Eeklo,Belgium
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Quote:
Here are some excellent sites for info about collimating a Newtonian Reflector.
Nils Olaf Carlin's collimation page http://w1.411.telia.com/~u41105032/kolli/kolli.html
Vic Menard's collimation page http://homepage.mac.com/vicmenard/telescopes/NPaddend.html
Collimation myths http://w1.411.telia.com/~u41105032/myths/myths.htm
Bryan Greer's Adventures in Collimation http://www.fpi-protostar.com/collim.htm
McCluney's collimation page http://home.earthlink.net/~flyj/mccluneytext.html
Thierry Legault - The collimation http://perso.club-internet.fr/legault/collim.html
Stacy
Thanks Stacy, I bought a cheshire eyepiece a week ago and those sites helped me a lot in understanding more about  the collimtion techniques.
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Freddy Meiresonne
Obsession 18 inch #1638
Orion Optics 8 inch F/4.5 -1/8 wave optics -Vixen GP-E
20x80 Helios Stellar Binos
10x60 Helios Quantum 4(= Obie Mariner)
10x50 Helios Nature sport plus
8x40 Helios Nature sport plus
Eyepieces in use :Pan 35,24,19, N13T6, Pentax 10 XW, N9T6, Ultrascopic 7.5, TV2, baader ortho 12.5 and 9 mm
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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here's another one,
collimating a newtonian (skywatcher)
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mikes1212
super member
Reged: 01/17/04
Posts: 195
Loc: Virginia
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Thanks everyone for all the links on collimating! I am a newbie and have tried to collimate my scope with an Orion Lasermate Deluxe. It did not work very well at all! I have a cheshire on the way.
Has anyone used an Orion Lasermate Deluxe with success? Maybe I was doing something wrong 
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Michael
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Todd
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/23/04
Posts: 1548
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There is a PDF file on this page from the website of The Backyard Astronomer's Guide that may help you too.
http://www.backyardastronomy.com/pages/newintro.html
I find that a laser really simplifies collimation.
Todd
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Rammysherriff
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/26/04
Posts: 1967
Loc: Lancs, UK.
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Sorry if I repeat what I have written elsewhere, but I wish to thank everyone who has contributed to collimation threads on CloudyNights. 
I did the big thing yesterday and took my mirror out to centremark it. In the course of collimating found the secondary was not centred.This may have been the first reason why I couldn't get best collimation.
I then collimated my LaserColli which was initially describing a circle 1" in diameter at 3 metres when rotated around its axis. This was probably the second reason I wasn't getting good collimation
I now have a laserdot that stays in the centre of the mirror when I rotate the LaserColli through 360 deg in the focuser; my estimate of centre was rubbish compared to where the centre mark turned out to be - the third reason for my previously poor collimation.The return laserdot now stays nicely in the same centrepoint on the colli too.
This subject (like mirror cleaning) seems to fill us novices with dread - thankyou to you for helping me face my fears. It's mirror cleaning next.....
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Simon.
One man and his shed: http://s211.photobucket.com/albums/bb288/Astroshed/
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