Sct collimation software metaguide astronomy software. Orient the laser collimator to align with above premarked position. Background after an absence from amateur astronomy of almost 30 years, last fall i purchased a celestron nexstar11 gps. The farther you put the target away, the more accurate it will be as you are increasing the f ratio of the collimation beam. Ccdinspector works with your camera acquisition software to allow realtime evaluation of images to determine collimation, camera tilt and focus. Includes cr123, 3v battery to power the laser for more than 65 hours of. Typically, a well collimated sct will return a laser beam. Laser collimation for schmidt cassegrain telescope. I dont want to try to explain how it all works, as franks guide does that well.
Kitchen table collimation of a cassegraintype reflector british. The easiest way to check a telescopes collimation is to wait until the optics have cooled, pick a bright star, place it in the center of the eyepieces field of view, and defocus slightly. And, by god, is it critical for good cat performance. Working all over the world has interfered with hobbies for most of my adult life. If you look to the link above, youll find the software to download, and franks guide pdf on how to use his software. These bobs knobs collimation knobs fit all versions of the celestron 6 f10 sct. Unfortunately, many new cat owners seem intimidated by this simple process. For both sct and rc designs, viewing the hall of mirrors effect of. The tilt of the mirror is tested by viewing an outoffocus star image through the telescope. I have a new meade sct thats out of collimation, i have never had the need to collimate my previous telescopes before is this difficult to do, here are some photos of the refocused star images. Consequently, collimation is at least 4 to 5 times more accurate.
Binoviewer shootout in the arizona desert binoviewers. Collimating an sct is simply a matter of adjusting the three screws on the secondary mirror. The advantages of this process is that you are collimating at least 5 times the focal length normally used when collimating using the single star method. Please read beforehand your telescope instruction manual. Easily hone the laser during final collimation with hotechs proprietary laser crosshair with center dot. Each collimation knob in this set measures 12 mm or 12 in diameter. They are taken with my 10 sct meade lx200 and show vega. Cleaning and collimating your telescope eyepieces in their. Batch analyze your images for sharpness and resolution. How do i collimate my schmidtcassegrain telescope sct.
Collimation getting started equipment help and advice. Faceplate viewer w laser engraved targeting grid the faceplate viewer helps to display the returning laser with a clear visual reference during collimation adjustment. This changes the tilt of the mirror and aligns it with the fixed primary mirror. Make collimation adjustments with your ccd camera to an accuracy not available with eyepieces or manual collimation aids.
Collimation of a sct is critical to getting the sharpest images possible, especially when viewing planets at high magnification. There are three stages to a really good collimation using the stars or a starlike source such as a solar reflection off a distant ball bearing or christmas tree ornament. Laser collimators for easy telescope optics alignment. Within his manual, you can jump straight to the collimation section to get going this is what i did. Slide the collimator into the focuser and feel if the adapter is tight during the insertion. Collimating your sct rod mollise basically, its a twopart process stage 1 rough collimation setup the scope and put a medium bright star in the field of an eyepiece.