Yesterday I played around with the focuser hoping to improve the collimation. This was unsuccessful (but this method worked with my ED80). I played with the lens cell, but that didn't help. I thought maybe I could play with the placement of the focuser & lens cell since there's no real collimation method on this scope. Finally I gave up.
Earlier today I unscrewed the ring that holds the lens in its cell. I shook the tube a bit to make sure the lens was settled flat. Then I tightened the ring again. I just checked collimation with my collimation eyepiece, but it's still off.
However, I got some really nice, sharp views of Mars & Saturn a little while ago! I cranked the power to nearly 300x on Mars, and it was still fairly sharp. The chromatic aberration I saw a couple of nights ago wasn't nearly as bad tonight; in fact, slapping on my V-block filter pretty much eliminated the purple. I don't know what's going on, but I may have to reconsider getting rid of this scope. And that brings me to a few quesions for you AR-5 owners!
First of all, could any of my tinkering have improved the optics?
Is there anything else I can do to adjust the collimation? When I focused the scope on a bright star, the diffraction rings weren't centered around the Airy disk. The stars were still sharp, though.
Also, I'm using my SkyView Pro mount with this AR-5 (since it's the only mount I have). What kinds of mounts are you using with this scope (LXD55s & CG-5s?)? And how high from the ground is the eyepiece when the scope is pointed at the zenith? I'm just curious because the tube seems to be almost more than my mount can handle. Focusing is very tedious since the image jumps around so much. I don't think it's the focuser itself, since I tightened it up a bit. However, everything was not balanced since the single counterweight can't balance the weight of the tube. I ordered another counterweight from Orion. Will that extra weight (and therefore good balance) help reduce all the jiggling that goes on when trying to focus?
I'd really like to keep this telescope, but I want it to perform at its best. Thanks for any information!
