In post no. 64, said my Mewlon was out of collimation when I checked it upon receipt. Well, I was looking through a diagonal and the star I was looking at wasn't centered.
Tonight, intending to fix the collimation, I hooked up my ASI294MC Pro to the visual back with NO diagonal, and put a little artificial star (a 99 cent flashlight covered with foil with a single pinprick) about 100 feet away in my back yard. Here is the result, a pic I took using NINA with the "star" defocused and centered. (The "star" is seen through a plate glass patio window--it's cold out there, and when I open the window, the currents resulting from the cold air meeting the warm are severe.) I think the collimation is better than I could ever "improve" it by fiddling with the collimation screws. I will check it against a real star later--but there aren't any to be seen tonight.
I take back what I said about the collimation having been adversely affected by shipping. Three cheers for Tak's double box packing! I must say, however, that this scope is famous for coma, and when my artificial star is not centered, the view isn't as close to perfect as this one. That isn't OPT's fault. And that's why I have a flattener/reducer on order.
Edited by Oyaji, 16 December 2020 - 10:50 PM.