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Post by martinus on Aug 6, 2010 14:48:49 GMT
I had intended to build a laser collimator but given the reputation of the Hotech laser collimator I'm wondering if it would be worth buying one.
Does anyone have any experience with these collimators?
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Post by brianb on Aug 6, 2010 20:32:38 GMT
The basic issue with laser collimators is that they're a very fast, accurate method ... of miscollimating your scope, unless the device is itself properly collimated - and mounted exactly square and accurately centred in the focuser. This is not easy to achieve. IMHO (and I do have a fair bit of experience) it is much better to use a simple "peep hole" device to set up the secondary and get a rough alignment of the primary, then do the final fine tuning by observing a bright star whilst passing through focus on a night of good steady seeing. An artificial star works quite well too, and saves wasting valuable clear sky time in maintainance.
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Post by martinus on Aug 7, 2010 4:00:00 GMT
Hi brian, I'm familiar with the limitations of laser collimators. The Hotech is reported to be very well collimated and has compression rings which centre it in the focuser. Additionally, using the barlowed laser technique bypasses some of the shortcomings of the laser alone. I'm sure you're familiar with the technique but I add the link for completeness: web.telia.com/~u41105032/kolli/kolli2.htm#barlowlaser |
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