Collimating your reflecting Telescope in just a few minutes

[@joshuastevens5874]

Five years it's taken to fix my Newtonian, and you guys helped me fix it in 8 minutes. Thanks a million!

[@SimonBell78]

Nice to read that my dad Ralph is still helping people out years after his passing. He would be really pleased to know this. Wishing you clear skies :)

[@riccardopolacchi]

@@SimonBell78 condolence

[@TheJohn48231]

@@SimonBell78 Sorry to hear that, it really helped me out too.

[@geoffreykeane4072]

@@SimonBell78 your Dad just helped me out today too 👍

[@aronziegler1814]

This video is 9 years old now, and it's still one of the best videos on the subject!

[@AstroDrabb]

This is one of the simplest examples I have seen in years. When I first started 12+ years ago, I wanted a larger dob for the Messier objects. However, My first 10" dob and a cheshire collimation tool by myself, left me wanting. I actually didn't go to a star party for over 5 years because I thought everyone would look through one of my reflectors and laugh. I am glad new comers to amateur astronomy have nice guys like you to take the mystery out of (what I now know) such simple things. If you are looking at the heavens alone, get a laser collimator, and go to a star party. The dumbest thing I did was to think these older more experienced geezers would be mean. It is the opposite. They love sharing knowledge, but they are still geezers!

[@lancer525]

Wow, your experience is far different than mine! I went to a locally-advertised (radio and newspaper) "Star Party" a couple of years ago, and the local astronomy club had a security guard there to prevent people from getting within 10 feet of any of the telescopes. Not one member of the general public who showed up got to even get within arm's length of a scope. And the people with the scopes were rude beyond belief.

[@mrsqueaksqueak8686]

Warning! Not mentioned, was the importance of not working on the secondary mirror adjustment unless the telescope is horizontal. As shown, with the telescope pointing upwards, any tools dropped, would likely hit the primary mirror. As the mirrior is fragile and made of glass, this could be an expensive mistake. So when adjusting the secondary of a Newtonian, ONLY do so when the telescope is horizontal.

[@RocketPlanet]

(Edited in October 2021: I note the original posting above has been edited into a more reasonable statement regarding the secondary mirror. However, I have not edited my original reply - RJD.). Hi there, we've answered this quite a few times below over the years. We appreciate the good intentions behind your post but your advice is not as sound as you may think. Lots of Newtonian's simply won't collimate well in anything near the horizontal position. Gravity needs to be pulling the primary mirror down on the mirror supports in a way that is as close to the use position as possible (say an elevation of 35 to 55 degrees at least) otherwise the collimation adjustments won't correlate well with the actual usage position. The dropped tool 'issue' is a bit of a red herring to be frank. Apart from the rare tightening or slackening of the secondary mirror's central retainer with a screwdriver - most adjustments to commercial Newtonians in this critical area are usually accomplished with a small 2 or 3mm hex key. And with the tube angled at about 45 degrees its not easy to see how this little key is going to imperil the mirror surface unless you stand back and hurl it at the mirror! Normally if dropped it will obediently head towards the center of the Earth, be arrested by the telescope tube and slide down, slowing all the while due to friction, to end up in the gap between the mirror and the tube. I don't see much to worry about here. And what about that rarely used wilful screwdriver mentioned above? Here's an idea - don't drop it. Thanks for posting. KR RJD A&N TV

[@davepastern]

but mistakes happen, and by having the tube horizontal, it's *very* hard even with an accident to screw your mirror up...I get what you're saying about flexure etc, but I suspect most mass made Newts aren't going to be that bad in this respect. ymmv.

[@adamshortnacy4595]

@@RocketPlanet I'm glad you brought this up because when collimating my new scope perfect at level is way off once pointed upward. I wondered what the hell was going on. Now I see why.

[@RocketPlanet]

@@davepastern Thanks for posting, and I'm sure you mean well by it, but the critical reader (there are a few even here on YT) is going to see the open door in your argument left by that 'I suspect'. I speak from the perspective of rather a lot of other 'milage'. I first started using Newts when I was 14, selling them from age 19 and I'm now 60 - and your suspicions are simply incorrect. There is a big difference between perceived risk and actual risk. I have been involved in the servicing, repair, collimation, re-aluminising etc, of quite literally thousands of Newtonian telescopes and in over 40 years I've seen no more than 5 that were 'screwed up'. And not one of them was due to dropped tools - in fact, nesting mice caused most of the damage - and 'I suspect' you'll trawl the internet in vain to find someone urging you to guard against these little bewhiskered blighters of astronomical karma in their top five tips for Newt users! Again, thanks for posting and letting me reiterate the importance of having gravity acting in the same vector in collimation as for usage. KR RJD A&NTV

[@davepastern]

​@@RocketPlanet newts tend to hold their collimation better than most other types of scopes (cats/RCs), even with travelling. You'd have to be pretty damn rough with your newt to continuously be knocking it out of collimation. As to collimating your new horizontally or at an angle, I highly doubt that doing it horizontally will make as much of a difference as you claim. I simply disagree with your claim.

[@AdventuresandLifestyle]

Wow - 11 years ago and you are still priceless. I had forgotten how to set mine up after many years. Remembered you back then and here we are today once more 👍👍👍 I have an 8 inch Skywatcher. Thank you. Anyone reading this, please also not MrSqueak's comments below. It is so easy to drop something. Dont be overconfident with your skills here!!

[@themistermax]

Old video but was the only one I could find that fully and simply explained the process. Very helpful, thank you.

[@iamintaiwan]

This tutorial was truly amazing, and I'm talking from the point of view of a teacher with decades of teaching experience. My childhood dream was to be able to afford, someday, a decent telescope. This year, my 62nd birthday, I decided to reward the inner child in me, I bought a Celestron. Imagine my shock when I nervously assembled it and could not see anything, not even a bright moon! This was 2 days ago! This morning, I browzed youtube, trying to find the cause and stumbled upon your tutorial. My confidence and hope is back. You made it sound so easy as well as reassuring me that the new telescope yet to be enjoyed, is not broken, just needs fine tuning. Wish me luck. I hope I can fix the problem before the lunar eclipse on April 4th, days away. I don't have a lazer tool, not sure if I could buy one online before then. I live in a small town in Taiwan, no telescope store for hours of driving.

[@rikivip]

iamintaiwan hey, were you able to fix it?

[@keivanhamidi]

You ok now ?

[@FirstnameLastname-zm6ke]

I hope this guy got his scope to work, and saw everything he ever dreamed existed in the heavens.

[@iamtheman7018]

I recently completely disassembled my 45 year old neglected and abused 6" dynascope to repair a hole in the tube, and repaint everything. though I did remove the spider and the main mirror, I left the adjustments as they were. When I hastily reassembled it, the finder was only off by a few degrees, and it focused well enough to see craters on the moon, the moons of Jupiter, and Saturn's rings. Line up all the circles in the circles is all I ever did. This laser thing looks really awesome, I am sold.

[@deel-d4k]

I was searching for a video to collimate my telescope, I’ve watched several. Your video by far and large was the best one. Thank you!!!

[@annoymyhat]

Great video. My wife just bought me a Zhumell Z12. It arrived last night. Your video taught me to collimate it in less than 5 minutes. Thanks again.

[@festafreak]

I just re-collimated my dob properly for the first time this weekend. I just used the collimation cap that came with the scope to do it before. I also star tested and things looked ok to me. I bought a cheshire for $20 I believe and it was better than the cap for sure. My secondary was only out a little bit but i chose to make it perfect both as a learning exercise and, well to make it perfect. It took me about 20 minutes to finally get it. the secondary would always go out when tight.

[@benroutledge6126]

Man this video is so simple to follow and understand. My scope I bought second hand was out my a mile, didn't think it'd be this easy to sort thank you so much!

[@brianspencer6397]

For getting the main mirror into the ballpark - Laying a circular sheet of ordinary white paper on top of the spider, and observing the laser spot striking it from the adjusters with the aid of a mirror or 'selfie' mode phone will allow you to quickly move the reflected spot onto the secondary mirror, rather than indiscriminately fiddling the adjusters and hoping you see the spot pop onto the target at some time or other.

[@andygray9285]

Thanks for posting this. I Have just bought a new 150mm reflector, my first reflector telescope and couldn't collimate it with a centering eyepiece. Using the laser i found the primary was so far out I had to fit a longer adjusting screw. Now all is good thanks.

[@ScoutCrafter]

I just washed my primary Mirror after putting it off for too long... Now I'm about to collimate it and was so glad to take your refresher tutorial... Thankyou so much! Cheers!

[@TheStevecas9860]

Excellent simple tutorial thanks Guys! I always link people to your tutorial!

[@Piggy991]

Thank you guys i was worried about collimation, but im not anymore! Gonna buy the Newtonian i´ve been dreaming of :-) Greetings from Slovakia

[@carlosdiazjr]

First off, I’m in no way an expert astronomer. Probably the exact opposite. But, I am very interested in astronomy. I’ve had a consumer 130mm newtonian telescope for several years. For some time I’ve suspected it was very much out of alignment. I’ve heard of collimating, and laser collimators. So, I finally decided to purchase one. I found your video on how to use it. All I can say is you guys were super helpful. I Would have had a much harder time figuring it out without your instruction. Thank you so much! :-)

[@GeekTranslation]

thanks for this... you made it so simple... the difference it makes with my telescope is astronomical...

[@trumbettier9252]

Thank you for explaining how to collimate the primary and secondary mirrors from an almost worst case scenario. Often people explaining things don't realise even the simplest things can be a mystery to those who have never been anywhere near them. Now, thanks to you, I see how simple collimation is.

[@ClulssCrs3310]

Bought a 10in Newtonian, thank YOU for making me lose my fear of messing up!

[@redtagman1000]

Just one thought, firstly I love the video ...shared it to my Facebook page, but remember when using a laser to check and see if he laser is missing the secondary and coming out the open end. Couldn't actually tell you what a laser is capable of doing to a human eye, but guessing it isn't good?,. I just got my 12 inch Sky Watcher 12 inch collapsible dobsonian reflector and this video made collimation actually easy. Thanks for the video guys.

[@THEWEEZYEFFECT1]

As an absolute beginner ( bought my first telescope this morning ) thank you so much , it made the whole process of setting up my dobsonian so much easier . 😉👍

[@garysimpson7326]

Thanks. Seeing it done makes it easier to understand the written instructions.

[@551lonewolf]

Absolutly brilliant video. Have just bought a 5" Celestron reflector and after centre spotting and washing the primary followed your video. Spot on is all I can say, easy to follow really took the "scariness" out of collomating thanks to both of you. Would even feel confident in trying it out on a larger instrument :)

[@francisa4169]

Best example by far. Thank you for the straight forward directions!

[@3334alfieslater]

To sum up..... Easy to follow video. Please keep the vids coming... 10/10

[@r0de0]

Much better instructions than the manual that came with the Laser Collimator II thank you!

[@mikebachmann6982]

Thank you, Thankyou, Thank You, I just bought a meade lightbridge and you two gentlemen have saved me man hours of arguing with the wife. Nice and simple!

[@raipier]

WOW, a video on youtube with no dislikes....that is amazing. That is great because there is nothing to dislike about the video. They made it look so easy I want to get my own colimater...if I had the money.

[@pablotwa]

Excellent Video. I haven't used my Orion XX-12 in over a year and had to clean the main mirror. This video will help me get it back in shape. Thanks!

[@karar1913]

Thanks, guys - way clearer than the instructions that came with the collimator!

[@elkscout1]

At 6:15, what are you suppose to see when you look into the eyepiece holder w/o an eyepiece or the collimator installed after you've made all the necessary adjustments?

[@ShevillMathers]

The first thing to do is check that the focuser is at 90 degrees to the tube. Many overlook this first step. There is a big difference between alignment and collimation. A laser alone is not the best method. Check out a few more techniques from more advanced users.

[@RocketPlanet]

You make a valid point - as far as it goes - but it’s not as helpful to first-time Newtonian telescope users as you seem to think - and that’s the audience we’re catering for here. And besides, there are plenty of other mechanical considerations that you can pile on; the focus unit is just one of the more obvious weak links. Why trust any of the critical components? Cheap rolled tubes with Dutch fold seams are rarely ‘gun-barrel’ straight - so 90 degrees to what, a banana? The good news is; the user attempting collimation for the first time doesn't need to be concerned with these issues - not yet anyway. There are plenty of places to encounter advanced and comprehensive collimation techniques later on. Most first time collimators are looking for easy to follow advice that will de-mystify the process and help them restore the telescope to a collimation standard that, typically, they have already enjoyed and not risk making it any worse. Others wish to take the first steps towards getting the best out of their new instrument. It’s this group we are speaking to. You've probably forgotten what that feels like but - I assure you - we were all there once. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to clarify this. KR A&NTV

[@ShevillMathers]

Astronomy and Nature TV Yes, good point, having moved on a long way since then, I tend to forget the audience you are targeting. As folks get better scopes with well built focuser units which have leveling adjustments, they will be able to experience additional collimation refinements, which is out of the range of standard off the shelf Dobsonian mounted Newtonian scopes. Kind Regards from Down Under. www.shevillmathers.id.au

[@luisjoseve]

Astronomy and Nature TV thats right, thank you very much.

[@Homeboy_TheArtist]

+Astronomy and Nature TV What telescope is that?

[@ShevillMathers]

Many good references t Newtonian and other mixed mirror-lens telescope systems, with diagrams - demonstration on a Google search. Folks can pick what suits their needs at all levels from beginner to advanced. However, some basic fundamentals apply at all levels. Good info also on Alignment & Collimation.

[@MladenMijatov]

Thanks. I missed the big screw on secondary mirror in other videos. Good thing I didn't force it too much. :)

[@hakunamatata324]

12 years later and these guys are still proving how Gen Z is so cooked. Simple, practical, no bs, just beautiful.

[@damianbutterworth2434]

Of course I`ve knocked my scope over so looking forward to the laser arriving. It was well out and I`ve just set it by a hand held laser. I`m new to it all so thanks for showing me how to sort it out.

[@damianbutterworth2434]

YES. Got it lined up with the laser. It was out by a lot and the focus is so much better now. Hopefully have a break in the clouds tonight.

[@donnamckinnon4927]

I bought an Orion Deluxe laser collimator to make it easy for a total newbie :-). It doesn't have graded settings of brightness -just on and off. However with this collimator -make sure that the red light isn't visible on a white wall etc - before I look to check the collimation - I move my hand around, twiddling one or two of the secondary mirror screws a bit until I can't see the dot hitting my hand. Then I think its safe to look inside the tube and do the fine tuning. Maybe not necessary with the laser collimator used in demo..

[@davidhunter2824]

I would like see a part 2 of this video on how to collimate a bird jones type reflector/dobsonian telescope such as the celestron powerseeker 127eq. Collimating bird jones style reflector telescopes requires a little bit more work, and some of these telescopes do not have a center dot mark.

[@3334alfieslater]

I recently bought a meade 10 inch dobs' I was so looking forward to the views.i had quality eyepieces a good barlow and above average viewing conditions. First light I was very dissapointed.and felt like I wasted my hard earnt ££££££. In the back of my mind I knew collimation was the suspect. Collimation to an absolute novice (me) is very daunting. So many questions...I was even considering hiring someone. Then I came across this vid. Really easy to do.my kid could do it I think

[@steveh88]

I'm VERY new to the hobby. I'm just trying to figure out what type of telescope will be best for me. I've shied away scopes that require collimation b/c I thought it would be very difficult. This video makes it far less intimidating.

[@cavazzolig]

Thank you to share it, It was the first time I did the colimation and resulted easy. Good Sky from Argentina! Gustavo C.

[@SylvesterFritz]

Thanx for the upload, very helpfull, Ive just got into Astronomy and i hear its something ill have to do soon, just got my SkyWatcher Explorer 200p today, but ill wait for a lazer collimater to it

[@evelynmoriarty4181]

Thank you :) Just got me sorted with my new 10" Skywatcher!

[@Wildduckcluster]

Thanks for taking the time to make/post this, & all your videos!

[@RustyGunn7]

Thank you guys very much. You've taken a ton of worries off my mind.

[@choda42]

Thank-you. Took me quite a bit longer but got it in the end!

[@ManishFrenchStudio]

Superb informational video 🙏💖 thank you for sharing 💖💖💖🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@naturewatcher7596]

It will work only if your laser collimator is collimated. Otherwise you'll screw up the collimation of your scope using this tool. But assuming that your collimator is fine, then the video is very helpful. Thank you.

[@TheAnetmusik]

Just started watching video and I love you guys right away! Thank you. ☺

[@g00glian0]

awesome straight forward, no bullshit video! Thank you

[@jack002tuber]

This is the best collimation video I've seen. I guess you have to have a laser tool to do this then? I can't imagine how its done without one

[@salsaproductions6286]

jack002tuber there are ones that aren't lazers but you might prefer those over a lazer collimator.

[@ravithejakandalam449]

You both are legends.!❤️

[@zytigon]

What about a safety warning about lasers at the start of your video ? See,"How to Collimate a Telescope - Orion Telescopes and Binoculars" on KZbin channel, "Orion Telescopes and Binoculars" . At 9:30 the lecturer says to point the telescope at a white wall first of all to make sure the mirrors are not so far off that the laser is exiting the tube; otherwise it could enter your eye & cause damage. Well how far out would the spot need to be on the primary mirror to actually miss the secondary mirror and exit the tube ?

[@RocketPlanet]

Hi Zytigon, I'll answer your query on the basis that you seem genuinely concerned about risk and hazard. The reason we did not include a safety warning is simply that we do not see the need for one. The risk of eye injury when using a properly made laser collimator of the type we show in the video (made by Sky Watcher) would be so low as to render a warning alarmist and unhelpful. The documentation supplied with collimators is quite sufficient to alert the user to the nominal risk inherent in using these devices. Some years ago now, we contacted Moorfields Eye Hospital in London (one of the worlds biggest and most respected) and asked them about eye injuries resulting from the use of a range of astronomical and other optical equipment, and in particular, injury caused by red lasers employed as collimation aids. They were unaware of a single instance of such a mishap in the United Kingdom, and a subsequent review of the field literature was unable to find an example anywhere in the world. Actual hazard and possible risk are not the same thing. The actual risk of eye injury while collimating a telescope is so low as to render it not worthwhile to warn people about - anymore than you would feel compelled to warn a friend about the general risks of food poisoning whilst recommending a favorite restaurant. Maybe at some point in the future real data on eye injury due to the use of laser telescope collimators will be forthcoming - when it does, we might of course reconsider. I hope this helps clarify our position. KR RJD A&NTV

[@scottwilkins6966]

I had wondered that as well! Being a total newbie, I expected that it WOULD come out the front somewhere. I was petrified to try, thinking I had to stick my face quite near to the beam.

[@Tarheel13]

zytigon I use a piece of paper.

[@techno_mesh]

Hi, maybe it would be wise to attach some kind of restrain to the wrench and the screwdriver, so that if they slip from your fingers you do not damage the primary or any black internal surface.

[@RocketPlanet]

Hi Thomas thanks for your comment. I'm not sure of the value of tethered tools as we have never found it necessary to follow such advice ourselves. I suppose if it was extended to cover every instance where someone uses anything at all that is held in the hand and something of value was underneath it, what with gravity being able and willing to assert itself the instant our grip loosens, the world would look very different. Almost everything would have a strap attached! Although I'd probably exclude very small reflectors from the following rule, it is certainly advisable with 6" aperture up to the very largest instruments - and that is the rubric to always collimate the instrument in the typical use attitude - say 40 degrees but not much higher. In this position the mirror is likely to be in a properly adjustable position as virtually all instruments rely on gravity to pull the mirror down onto the pressure pads and then on to the adjustment screws. If you follow the oft repeated advice of collimating your instrument when in the horizontal position, to avoid tools impacting on the primary mirror surface, you risk applying a collimation adjustment that won't apply when the instrument is employed at higher altitudes - because of the effect of gravity on the mirror position. So your tethered tools are a preferable alternative to collimating in the horizontal attitude in my view. At a tilt angle of around 40 degrees there is very little risk of small hex keys impacting the mirror surface (unless you throw them at it of course) and if dropped they will fall to the side of the tude and slide down at low velocity and come to rest in the gap between the mirror and the tube - there always is one. If a small screwdriver escapes your clutches, and even allowing that it might be large enough to strike the mirror edge, it's velocity when sliding down the tube is sufficiently slow that it is an easy matter to pull the tube down quickly and reduce the velocity still further if not stop it altogether. The real risk to the mirror surface by such mishaps is very slight in reality. Whereas the risk to the quality of the views produced by a telescope that is not adequately collimated is very great. As to the damage to the black internal surface - I think this is sufficiently forensic in character that it is well below even the theoretical contrast reduction effects of dust, skin debris, accumulated insect parts and their ejecta. I tend to think of well used telescopes with open tubes as having signs of life on the internal paintwork as standard and tend not to mark them down for it - although this may be a more personal attitude to equipment condition than I am inclined to admit normally. The tethered tools and the stricture to only collimate with the instrument near horizontal crops up from time to time in posts to this video and I'm probably not going to respond to any more of them. I have my benighted opinion others have theirs - the tethered tools could be made to work if you are worried by butter fingers. But like reveresing a car into a parking space, some folk follow elaborate rules and place matchsticks in the rear window rubbers to follow curbs etc. I just try to avoid bashing into the car in front of and behind me. So I just try to avoid dropping the tools but keep the scope at 40 degrees in case Universal gravitation feels it just has to prove itself once again. Thanks again for this comment and the opportunity to clarify. KR RJD A&NC

[@techno_mesh]

I am 54 and an engineer and this is the first time it ever ocured to me to tether a screwdriver. If I happen to be colimating my telescope and I screw the mirror by droping something on it (things can bounce) I would feel very stupid and would have asked myself what could I have done better. That simple, and it is very unusual that something flies out my hands against my will. Even if I would be a rich person I would think this way. Guys that clean windows in skyscrapers do it, concerned about the people at the street. Of course tethering your mug and expect others to do it would certainly change the world, I give you that.

[@malvinacarabas5768]

@AstronomyNature TV . What happened to your wonderful channel ? What is going on ? The last vid was some 8 months age . Are you going to post any more vids or not ? Thank you .

[@denispol79]

Yesterday got a gift from a friend - an 8'/f4 chipped mirror. Someone made same mistake and dropped a tool into the telescope. The area of a missing chip was insignificant ( about 2% of the mirror). I've blacked the chipped area and the mirror now works perfectly :)

[@MrFlyingPanda]

lol i was wondering about that. i plan to buy a dobson and i ll surely tethere my tools, i m also an aeronautics engineer, and so (dumb) safety first. i like how your answer is so british :) you re the best. thank you for the videos!

[@orestosgarage]

Thanks guys more help then the place I bought my 8 inch sky watcher from

[@keeplookingup911]

I miss your videos

[@SuperJoSouthgate]

Great video. Thanks for taking the time to make it

[@chrissame]

Wow! This makes collimation quite easy to understand, this is very helpful. Thank you. Is that the 10"/1200mm?

[@bobbypungov1877]

This is the 12" judging by the base. Same as mine, but my tube is the Flextube version. :)

[@blockhead9746]

Can I just add. I use a laser collimator for my Newtonian but when the collimator was new, after getting poor results, I found that the collimator itself was not collimated. The instruction manual did not help but I found 3 tiny adjustments screws on the collimator. These were hidden by caps which I had to dig out. I made a rig so that I could rotate the collimator while pointing at a distant wall. Then you have to adjust the screws so that when you rotate the collimator the laser spot does not move. It's tricky but you can do it with a little patience.

[@spamcan9208]

"Do your worst" says the guy who did his worst. 😂 Poor guy, you even shooed him away! I'm new to astronomy and initially wanted to stick with a refractor for simplicity's sake. But it seems like collimation isn't as scary as I initially thought. Another great video.

[@waltschoenly3326]

Very informative video. Thanks for your efforts.

[@lainewaddell2561]

Thank you thank you I'm really new to this and bought a cheaper telescope it's hard to get support from a lot of the shops here unless you buy a whole setup from them in making this ol hunk of junk into a usable piece

[@Xserey]

I want to know how to align the focuser to the secondary mirror, any tips? I have a 10inch dob and feel I should be getting better images of Saturn w 6mm and 2x barlow. Any tips would be appreciated.

[@Wildduckcluster]

Great, helpful (as always) video. Thanks for taking the time to make this video! A BIG 'thumbs up'.

[@Pipe-organ-recordings]

Hi hope you can help. I have a skywatcher 10 inch collapsible and a hotech laser collimator. I first adjusted the secondary so the laser disappears inside the donut in the center of the primary. Then center the primary so the laser dot is centered in the grid on the collimator. BUT when I then go back the laser dot reflecting on the primary mirror is no longer in the center of the dounut, it is on the edge of the donut. When I observed my airys disc seemed centered, but the scope stars just did not focus cleanly. Is there something I am doing wrong? Thx

[@bjnacidhead]

very helpfull.i was putting off collimating but scope really needs it doing.so here goes.........thanks

[@sineadwoods5159]

Thanks for making it so easy. Question: Don't you need to loosen the tightening screws before adjusting the other screws? It just seems strange to me that you would only ever tighten them. Or is it that they would always become loose for you to have to do this?

[@editorrbr2107]

This is absolutely perfect. Thank you. My wife just bought me a 10 inch sky watcher, it’s my first telescope, and I am trying to figure out how to use this damn thing 😂

[@crazytrain7114]

Align the site with the scope, in the daytime on a far away fixed object

[@Grannyhauenstein]

Thanks for the video. I am new to this. I have just purchased an 8" dob. 2 questions that I have. First, what is the center screw for on the secondary mirror? If you adjust it with the other 3 screws, I don't understand what he screw in the middle is for. Second, I have the laser collimator, and every time I move the scope from the garage to outdoors, and then check it, it is way out of collimation. Is it normal to go out of collimation with any movement, or am I doing something wrong?

[@grindinglicks]

Cool demo but, what do you do if your telescope doesn't have a centering dot on the big mirror?

[@jockey1304]

Hi Ralph / Rob. Great video. I am new to all of this and have a start up skywatcher 130 which does not have a centre spot on the primary mirror. I have seen a comment / instruction from a year ago regarding adding this to the primary mirror. I have tried several marker pens and sharpie seems to work on a cormer of one of the wife's make up mirrors!!! (ha ha ) so I will use this when follwing your instructions. Looking down the tube at the primary mirror I can see there is a lot of dust on the mirror. Question? As I need to add a small mark, the area for this should be clean I presume. Is it worth cleaning the primary mirror at the same time? Have yoyu guys any videos or instructions for doing this? Any help would be appreciated. PS. I am confident taking things apart and re-assembling them so would be happy to give this a go.

[@giftedandblack494]

Ralph is cute. Now I will not worry so much about adjusting my scope. I have a nice size scope but plan on spending a bit more to see into deep space. I hope I can one day make one from scratch which would be awesome.i need to use my filters more so I can see colors better until I get a larger scope. Don't mind cause the one I have is already heavy and large.

[@farrjarr]

That was perfect. I'm off to buy a little lazar thingy.. as my telescope can now see the dark side of the moon. Gr8 vid. Many thanks gents.

[@HaikuAutomation]

great simple easy to understand stuff, TY!

[@BBQLord.]

Great! Thx! Where can I buy that spider mount?

[@KalashKat]

Great video, best i've seen on this topic.

[@Apoman13]

Wonderful video helped me a lot! Thanx! Let me ask a qustion though. Collimating my telescope will reduce/eliminate coma abberation?

[@davidmorris7000]

Hi my scope does not have a center dot like yours what do I do. My teloscop brand is MAKSUTOV

[@tillsy23]

I no longer fear that word...collimating! I had images in my mind of rendering my telescope useless if I adjusted anything

[@chrissame]

Its almost like fearing to say.....Voldemort...isn't it!

[@videoki]

this rocked our world

[@jamesbondaygee]

The next thing is I got an Antares laser collimator, and of course it wasn't in line itself. Pointing at the wall about 13 ft away, after 2 hours the closest I can get the dots was like a centimeter circumference. Do you think that is good enough?

[@jamesbondaygee]

So what you're allowed to use physical strength to actually just go twisting the secondary mirror?

[@TravelPhotographer]

Makes the whole process seem so much less daunting :D

[@discolynx]

That was very helpful for my Meade Lightbridge. Thank you a lot!

[@zayerkimo]

Thanks for the information can I use this laser collimination on the Celestron 14 HD ?

[@Dennis-tf2cs]

How do you get the secondary properly aligned with the focuser if it has been slightly rotated and is not square with the focuser?

[@TheStevecas9860]

Loosen the Phillips screw rotate it to the finder scope then adjust the 3 screws to align it to the finder!

[@TheAdithya1991]

You never mentioned anything about the needed accuracy of secondary mirror. IMO, we can get the red dot to align with the primary centre for many secondary positions, and in each case the secondary needs to be tilted at a different angle. Only in one of the cases in which the secondary mirror plane lies on the intersection of central primary axis and central focuser axis does this technique lead to good collimation.

[@RocketPlanet]

Hi Adithya. You make a true and good point. But do bear in mind the purpose of this video is not a comprehensive treatment of Newtonian optical component alignment procedures (there are many other fine details absent from the video and not just a commentary on the absolute secondary position). This is a video about encouraging folk, typically new and inexperienced users, to have the confidence to restore their commercial Newt to at least the factory collimation standard that they enjoyed when the telescope was new - and perhaps with care, a little better than this standard. Most users of commercial instruments will find their instrument only slightly out of 'good' or factory collimation. For better or worse, 99% of the time, the glassware will still be in the gross positions dictated by the factory jigs and test sets. Thanks for posting. KR RJD A&NTV

[@TheAdithya1991]

@@RocketPlanet Wow, thank you for the quick reply! In my case mine was totally out of alignment and was looking deeper into why it wasn't working for me - because I thought a good laser meant perfect collimation. I learnt a lot of things by reading through www.cloudynights.com/topic/214339-useful-info-about-secondary-mirror-alignment/. Anyway, you are right that this doesn't concern most of the users but something to be aware of exists when using lasers :)

[@RocketPlanet]

Hi again Adithya. We can don't normally pass comments with links in them, but as my late friend Nils Olof Carlin is one of the contributors we'll allow it. It's a good thread to be reminded of, thanks for your post. KR RJD A&NTV

[@ophirdog]

A nice series of videos.

[@rungavagairun]

This is super helpful and made the process less intimidating. I'm getting the hang of collimation now (I think haha).

[@patindaytona]

Adjustment of focuser is factory set and i shouldn't have messed with it but the secondary and primary appear to be optically aligned. Might be just my eyes going bad past year but seems like the sharpness isn't quite as good as it used to be. Does adjustment of the focuser (it tilts with set screws) throw off alignment somehow even though the primary/secondary mirrors both seem to line up visually?

[@hishama.h2178]

Thanks for the video, I have a mismatch between the collimation cap and the laser settings, which is more reliable please?

[@frankbraker]

I think at least, after having collimated it, rotating the collimator verify that it is still on target, will make it clear whether there are problems with the collimator itself too - mine doesn't seem to be radially collimated, and there are no adjustment screws accessible (the holes have been glued over it looks like).

[@aserbiangirl]

Could someone help me? I don't know where I can buy the thing with the target (already forgot how it's called..)

[@RocketPlanet]

Hi there, and thanks for posting. The device is called a laser collimator. And you can find a source for one in the partner links below the video. Just click on the text under the video, and you'll see the links to Amazon - we've picked a good one identical to the model used in the video, only a different brand (same manufacturer, though). Any competent dealer in astronomical telescopes should have something like this, so depending on your location you should be able to find one easily enough. I hope this helps. KR A&NTV

[@RickMcQuay]

The cool thing about video is you can watch it again.

[@Gondolin1983]

What if during the process you somehow (I'm very clumsy) - manage to get dust or a finger print or something on one of the mirrors? Is there a tutorial for how to clean these? The main one seems very hard to reach.

[@superlinux]

hello. Do I have to collimate telescope while the telescope tube is at an angle with the horizontal? should it be inclined? and btw i studied in 2008 in Cairns Australia.

[@LearnToFlyWithPilotGuy]

When making the adjustment from the rear of the telescope, I get a laser light but it appears as a wide elipse and not a central dot?

[@MenapakPulang]

Nice video, I have a question. Once I done the collimation and move the focusser (with laser still attached), it's moving out the hole again. It's OK?

[@RocketPlanet]

@bicnarok The only tools you really need are your eyes and a star! And you can get a Newtonian in rough collimation with just your eye (though to be sure, its easier / better to use a collimating tool). We'll be showing you how to rough collimate or 'eye-up' a Newt and then collimate it fully using a star in a video we will be uploading soon. Just subscribe so you don't miss it! Clear skies A&NC

[@NeilConafray]

Brilliant, simple and easy to follow collimating directions. I’ve got a laser collimator on the way but........found that my primary mirror has no center-point dot. Help ? Please ? Anyone ?