2 replies to this topic

[fewayne]

Hey all,

 

I thought I well understood how to use InnovationsForesight's SkyWave but keep stumbling over newb questions. But it's a reasonably advanced tool so I thought the Q would be better suited here.

 

When collimating the primary, the angular position of the dot cues you as to which screw needs to be pulled. Easy-peasy.

 

But when doing the secondary, the goal is rough equality around the circumference, right? What does the angular position mean, if anything?

 

Edited to add: Aha! I reviewed Peter Cox's excellent video and question answered: It doesn't matter.

Edited by fewayne, 14 June 2025 - 11:11 AM.

[dx_ron]

I don't know, I guess I would tweak a secondary collimation screw at (or opposite) the angle and see if my tweak made things better or worse. But I understand 'tweaking' can take some effort to collect and stack all 8 photos. Have you tried asking in the Vendor Forum thread?

[Corsica]

Hey all,

 

I thought I well understood how to use InnovationsForesight's SkyWave but keep stumbling over newb questions. But it's a reasonably advanced tool so I thought the Q would be better suited here.

 

When collimating the primary, the angular position of the dot cues you as to which screw needs to be pulled. Easy-peasy.

 

But when doing the secondary, the goal is rough equality around the circumference, right? What does the angular position mean, if anything?

 

Edited to add: Aha! I reviewed Peter Cox's excellent video and question answered: It doesn't matter.

SKW provides feedback for adjusting the collimation screws based on the angular position of the cursor in the collimation tool target—for both mirrors (and the camera tilt as well).

 

This means that, whether you're measuring the aberration score or the balanced astigmatism, you can use either mirror and follow the guidance to improve the related scores.

 

However, when aligning an RCT telescope using only the mirror tip/tilt controls, you should use M1 to correct coma and M2 to correct balanced astigmatism, in order to ensure convergence of the procedure

Edited by Corsica, 16 June 2025 - 02:12 PM.