Collimation (Reflector Telescopes) - My Telescope Series

http://bit.ly/2J4GdhW My Telescope Series: Collimation Directed and Produced by Tommy DeJosia When you purchase your reflector telescope, the optics comes properly aligned or collimated. After rough handling, your telescope can sometimes become misaligned and you’ll have to re-collimate it. To figure out if your telescope needs collimation, do the following check: Remove the eyepiece and turn the focusing knob until the draw tube is all the way in. Point the telescope at a plain background and look through the empty focuser. The image should look like a series of concentric circles. The outermost circle is a reflection of the primary mirror and all three clips. The inner circle is the diagonal mirror, which should be in the dead center of the primary mirror. It should show a reflection of your eye. Now that you have determined if your telescope is not properly collimated, you can easily fix the issue. If you have to adjust the Diagonal Mirror: Loosen the diagonal mirror so you can move the diagonal holder with your hand. Tilt the diagonal holder until the primary mirror is visible. Re-tighten the screws to lock it into place. If you need to make slight adjustments, you can turn the three diagonal mirror tilt screws. If you have to adjust the Primary Mirror: The primary mirror is located on the bottom end of the main tube. Loosen the primary mirror locking screws, which are flush against the surface of the telescope. The Primary Mirror Tilt screws are the screws located next to the locking screws, but not flush along the surface. Alternately loosen and tighten these tilt screws until the primary mirror is centered. Retighten the locking screws. Now you can test the accuracy of the collimation. Place the higher focal length eyepiece into your telescope. Focus on a moderately bright star. Center the star in the field of view and slowly turn the focus knob until the star is out of focus. If the telescope is properly collimated, you should see a series of concentric circles around a black dot. If the circles are not concentric and the black dot is not centered, similar to [figure], then you must adjust the primary mirror. Loosen the primary mirror locking screws. Use the mount adjustments to move the circles to the edge of the telescope filed of view. Turn the primary mirror tilt screws until the black dot moves to the center of the image with concentric circles radiating from it. Tighten down the locking screws. Collimation is crucial in making sure your telescope works properly. However, this should come as a warning that attempting to collimate your telescope without experience could cause more damage to your telescope than good. Always be aware that your telescope comes already aligned. Collimation is only necessary when all other routes have been exhausted. http://bit.ly/2w7GhF3 CarsonOptical May 19, 2019 at 10:43AM