Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Remove the dust cap from the telescope's focuser. Insert the collimation cap into the focuser. A collimation cap resembles a dust cover but has a tiny hole in the center for you to look through.
Remove the dust cover from the top of the telescope. Tilt the telescope at a 45-degree angle. Aim the telescope at a bright light in the room. Alternatively, ask a second person to shine a flashlight down the telescope's optical tube during the collimation process. Never point a telescope directly at the sun.
Look through the collimation cap. You should see the primary mirror reflected in the secondary mirror. Turn the focus knob toward you until the secondary mirror almost fills the collimation cap's field of view. If collimated properly, the secondary mirror will appear perfectly circular and centered in the field of view.
Collimate the secondary mirror if it appears oval in shape or off-center. Loosen the central screw holding the secondary mirror in place, and then tighten the three Allen screws surrounding it if you need to lower the secondary mirror to center it in the field of view. Alternatively, loosen the three Allen screws and tighten the central screw if you need to raise the secondary.
Loosen one of the three Allen screws and tighten the other two to adjust the tilt of the secondary mirror. Continue loosening one Allen screw, tightening the other two and checking the secondary mirror until it appears perfectly round in the collimation cap.
Look through the collimation cap at the primary mirror's reflection in the secondary mirror. Reflector manufacturers place a ring at the exact center of the primary mirror to aid in collimation. The reflection of the ring should be perfectly centered in the secondary mirror if collimated properly.
Turn the three thumbscrews on the bottom of the telescope if you need to adjust the primary mirror to center the marker ring in the secondary mirror. These thumbscrews control the tilt of the primary mirror in the telescope's optical tube. Continue adjusting one thumbscrew at a time and examining the reflected image until you have the ring perfectly centered in the secondary mirror's reflection.