SVbony Laser Collimator First Look And How To Use

Svbony have kindly sent me there laser collimator (will the collimator be collimated?) to have a look at. So let's have a good look and show you how to use it also.
Thank you for watching don't forget to subscribe as I do regular uploads for the new astronomer.
SVbony Laser Collimator
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013SMDQS...
Facebook group: groups/22380...

[@wdavis6814]

I remember 5 years ago, I didn't give SVBONY a second thought. But the more products I get from them, the more impressed I am.

[@ajcutler3472]

The only thing you're missing Sir, is to inform your viewers that they have to center mark there primary mirror. Otherwise they will be looking for that mark until the cows come home, and get really frustrated 😂😆😂. I know. I was that person 😂😆😂. Great video, thank you. You have made it so i can learn and enjoy this hobby.

[@electroskates2434]

Wow this actually worked. I was so confused when my telescope wouldn't focus earlier but I did it again step by step and now finally it can focus

[@smalloptics753]

Great to hear my friend 👍

[@alexrichardson9125]

As usual, you fill in points many others leave out.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Really would have been good to show how to check/correct collimation of the collimator. I'm glad yours was collimated; mine definitely was not.

[@Fatal_Inertia]

I've been using this laser collimator for a couple months now and it's given me pretty solid results

[@leonardm6858]

Got my telescope collimated. Thank you!

[@arminulrich2319]

I have just done this procedure for the third time - thanks a lot Jason.

[@derm36]

Thanks for the solid information Jason, today I've succeeded in finding the centre of my primary mirror and I've used the badder laser collimator to align both secondary and primary mirrors. Looking forward to a clear night tonight in Dublin 😎👍

[@Boxxkarr]

After watching this video a year ago, I bought this collimator. After a year of use, it has worked fine, and i get beautiful clear images from my 10 inch Dob! I still use it, and so far I only forgot to turn it off, killing the batteries one time! It takes the same battery as my red dot finder, so i always keep extras in my filters/accessories kit. This is an excellent product, thank you for a great video!

[@ginger4368]

Perfect video! From the directions to the angle of your camera it was spot on! I have a Skywatcher Dob 10" and I've only used the plastic dot cover to collimate and was considering a laser one to stop the back and forth looking :) Thank you for doing an outstanding job on this video!🎯

[@seanmccaul3034]

Thanks for this review and demonstration. Your channel is wonderful for those like me who are new to astronomy. I decided to give the SVBONY laser collimator a try, given the reasonable price. Like yours, mine was properly collimated on arrival, and seems to work great with my telescope. I think that it helps that the receiver for my eyepieces has a compression ring, so I don’t get the wobble that happens with the more common 2-point thumbscrew system. Cheers!

[@lylehoff8933]

Thanks just got the SVBony and tried it. The scope needed it. Two years old never have done it. Thanks

[@jeremysaise]

Got a laser collimator today and followed your guide on center spotting the primary and then this guide…. Spot on many thanks

[@Jkenshi]

I purchased one... mine needed collimation right away. Glad I spent the hours taking care of that before I touched my telescope!

[@mazdamaniac4643]

Absolute must-have tool, seriously, it's an absolute god-send. If you have a telescope, get this tool. Right now. I've been using this to collimate my Celestron 114EQ and lining it up without this was an absolute pain in the...entire rearward region. Right out-of-the-box, the laser was perfectly collimated. Backing the focuser right out with the correction lens still in place, you can get a pretty decent sight picture with this laser, adjustment then becomes a breeze. I've found that the more I've done it like this, the less it's actually misaligned itself over time, like I'm slowly finding a 'sweet spot' if you will. I still check with a Cheshire, but so far, it's been spot on every single time.

[@tomalberts4416]

Great video and exactly what I was looking g for to help me and my son complete our first ever collimation. Thanks so much for your help.

[@smalloptics753]

Thank you my friend really pleased to hear that hope you and your son have many hours of enjoyment out of the night sky and your new "collimated" telescope.

[@chriscampbell1456]

My SVBONY laser collimator was perfectly collimated out of the box as well. SVBONY must have figured out how to collimate them well at the factory. Kudos to SVBONY for a great product.

[@kenh733]

How can you tell if your collimator is collimated? can you explain, I hear people say sometimes the collimator needs to be collimated

[@curiosity2314]

Perfect video on the topic, purchased one Amazon seems to have the best price currently 25.00 U.S. I will follow up with your rants video.

[@jasonvictor9542]

Great review Jason, I wondered how to collimate my Newtonian reflector, the price seems decent. I think I will order one of these!

[@arminulrich2319]

Today, I have collimated my telescope for the first time with this SVbony laser collimator. It was easy to do and I think I have got a better view (Jupiter) tonight. Thanks a lot.

[@andysPARK]

Thanks, very helpful

[@sunpointstudio4472]

I recommend loosening the cradle and rotating the scope so the focuser is pointing straight up. This helps ensure the laser is being directed straight down the focuser tube. BTW after collimating with the laser, i always check the result with a simple collimation cap and then later with a defocused star. I find using the laser simplifies the collimation process especially with a larger telescope so you don't have to keep moving to the rear and then back to the focuser over and over.

[@avt_astro206]

Great Review Jason!

[@smalloptics753]

Hello Avanteesh, thank you my friend hope you are well, stay safe clear skies 🙂

[@arminulrich2319]

Thanks a lot. I think I have to collimate my telescope for the first time soon. I think, I am going to buy this tool.

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

I'm not British but when you said it has a nice "clicky" feeling I knew exactly what you meant 😁

[@bushcraftandastronomer.3775]

Hey Jason very nice review and you made it look it's a quality one and it didn't take you long. You get what you pay for and cheaper ones not good. This one does look better than cheap ones. Found this interesting even though I prefer refractor telescopes. Thanks for the video Jason and stay safe my friend plus clear skies too!

[@smalloptics753]

Hey Bushcraft. You certainly do. With the cheap one's not only do they need to be collimated out of the box they also have a lot of play in the focuser unlike the svbony which just seems to fit better ticks all the boxes for me.. Take care buddy, clear skies 🙂

[@frackcenturion]

i still have this collimator even though i don't have the dob anymore, it worked very well and has the adjustment screws to collimate itself

[@smalloptics753]

Hey Frack, well you could always use it to tease cats 😃

[@Ydrakar]

If you want an easy way to test your laser out of box, just put it up against the bathroom mirror, if the laser goes back into the hole its good to go. Otherwise adjust accordingly.

[@jons2447]

Thank you, Jason! Similar to you, I've never needed a "laser collimator". My 6" Orion is easy to collimate w/ the supplied collimation cap. I saw your lovely video on making my own. It works very well. I used stick-on 'mirror' material to improve my stock collimation cap. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!

[@kubaduch1]

Thanks Jason 👍

[@smalloptics753]

Hey Mariusz, I've just realised I've not put our facebook link in the description.. On it now :D

[@thomasw4422]

Oh hey, this looks like the same one I have. Works fine enough for me for casual use, but I did have to colimate it. The 2 inch adapter on mine wasn't as good as the one I had already.

[@edgarin34]

Uff es mas fácil de lo que pensé ! Thanks

[@oldavicha1575]

Hi, this was a great video but I have to ask you. I have the same telescope as you have but when I want to collimate it, there isnt marked the center of the primary mirror. I dont know what to do with it and I will try to collimate it "by the eye". But thanks for this video.

[@donaldbrent6547]

I have the SVBony and now that I've done it a few times on my Orion XT10, it takes about 5 min to get it collimated.

[@bazzinator7477]

does the laser have adjusting screws on it so if it is out of alignment you can put it back?

[@antonytheolddog8626]

Great video, super clear advice for myself as a beginner, I don't have a laser collimator as my scope actually only arrived this morning 😁. But once I get my noggin around it, I'm sure it's a must have. I may just try a regular Cheshire first. Thanks mate.

[@smalloptics753]

Your more than welcome my friend enjoy your new telescope.

[@kenh733]

Do you have a video explaining how to collimate your collimator? I just bought this one and how can you tell if its accurate?

[@TheBigZee357]

Just received the laser collimator by SVBony. I have noticed that the primary mirror didn’t have the center marked, I followed your instructions on how to mark the center of the mirror. After I remounted the primary mirror and turned on the new device, I noticed the laser light was way off center. As instructed, I moved the secondary mirror ever so slightly to the center which is the notebook reinforcement eyelet on the primary mirror. Then I went to the primary mirror, following your instructions, moved the red dot to the center of the laser unit target until it doesn’t show. But I went back to check the alignment of the secondary mirror, and it was off again. I re-adjust again. Then I went back to the primary mirror, it was off again and made the adjustment. I did this all until both are in agreement. Is this the proper way of doing this or did I over did it!

[@nekite1]

I might just get one of these, as my Skywatcher 150/750 has a weird setup for the mirror - a backplate which you have to unscrew to reveal the adjustment screws, which makes it fiddly to adjust with a cheshire collimator. This collimator will make the process much easier for me! Great video as always. Clear skies!

[@Astronurd]

What skywatcher do you have?

[@nekite1]

@@Astronurd It's the standard 6" reflector (blue tube) from a few years ago - I picked it up secondhand from Ebay with an EQ3-2 mount for the princely sum of £105 a couple of months ago.

[@DirkDirk1983]

Please be aware that collimating the main mirror with a laser isn't accurate at all. A chesire will do the job far far better. Please only use a collimated laser for your secondary only.

[@Astronurd]

@@DirkDirk1983 You can use a laser if you employ the Barlowed laser method.

[@Astronurd]

@@nekite1 You got yourself a bargain there 👍

[@richardrojas6306]

So, being a novice, my assumption is on the secondary mirror first, I do see a perfect red dot centered, I can just go to the primary mirror to align or collimate if necessary. Is this correct?

[@garryfreemyer7187]

Ordered two Alstar laser coliuminators and they both arrived with a dead battery. I don’t know why but it was extremely frustrating. Finally I ordered a cheshire cap but the videos on how to use one was missing steps. Finally in disgust I ordered a sybony laser colliminator too. Unfortunately my interest is waning fast. I didn’t get a telescope to be frustrated to death! 😢 update, finally got it collimated. Only took me 30 hours! My scope got way off because I was turning the locking screws instead of the adjustment screws!! 😅😮

[@fangsidian]

I recently bought this thing too, but I suddenly realized how we can ensure that the laser is emitting parallel light. It looks like this laser pen doesn't have the ability to adjust the direction of the laser beam, which means that the laser itself needs to be calibrated to determine that the light being emitted is parallel to the eyepiece.

[@bhastro9959]

Finding it very difficult to do the first step, centering the red spot on the primary. No combination of the settings of the 3 screws seems to work, the red spot is always quite far from the center doughnut. And even if I try to loosen/tighten the 4th, central screw I still cannot get the red spot centered on the primary. The only way I can get the spot centered is to greatly loosen the center screw and manually move the secondary mirror. But then when I retighten the center screw it moves off again, presumably because the 3 outer screws are not correctly set. I can see how adjusting the 3 outer screws could exactly center the spot if it already starts close to the center of the donut as shown in the video, but not if it's far off. By the way I believe the laser collimator is itself collimated because when I rotate the collimator the position of the red spot doesn't change. UPDATE: This video, and others, omits a key first step. You must look through the focuser (no laser inserted yet) and check that the secondary mirror is centered in the field of view. If it isn't then no amount of fiddling with the 3 adjustment screws on the secondary will center the red dot. if the secondary isn't centered, then loosen the center screw and manually adjust the secondary until it's centered. Then re-tighten the center screw. You will now find, after inserting the laser collimator, that the red dot is fairly close to the central donut on the primary. Now it should be possible, by small tweaks to the 3 adjustment screws, as described in. the video, to gradually center the red dot in the donut. Of course if you are lucky, the secondary might already be correctly centered, so only small tweaks to its direction, not its position, will be needed.

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

Do you not have Walmart or a Walmart equivalent in England?

[@hakman239]

I have a next gen laser is it same as svbony? Svbony one claims to have multiple lenses

[@tedmiller9004]

Thanks Jason, not much of a laser person myself but use svbony products and the quality for the price is high. Have you seen the new deepsky camera they are developing?

[@smalloptics753]

Hello Ted. Your welcome my friend. To be honest no I haven't, sounds interesting, fingers crossed they'll send me one so we can have a look 😉😃

[@woody5109]

That’s a class 3 laser, it won’t damage your eyes. Class 2 will be like a welder flash (green), class 1 will blind you instantly.

[@douglasthompson9482]

Can you use it for a SCT…..

[@R2D2inAustralia]

It appears that my ebay purchase is a knock off copy and I’m guessing it was a genuine one that was out of spec and left unbranded , or just a copy. Also , my question, centering the secondary mirror first , then the secondary…. Wouldn’t that put the laser dot out of the primary target again ?

[@paullewis321]

Thank you for a very informative review Jason, Just a question. As a beginner ive not yet got to grips with this whole collimation thingy, therefore, I think I'm over complicating things. I have a newtonian in which the Primary mirror is fixed, so I only need to collimate the secondary mirror, therefore. The telescope has been out for many years and only seem great reviews. My question is Jason, in your opinion, do I just need to make sure the dot from my Cheshire Collimator is in the centre of the doughnut (centre dot of the primary mirror) and except that my scope is collimated, and not worry about anything else that I cannot adjust anyhow. This would make sense to me ??

[@smalloptics753]

Hello Paul. With your telescope being a fixed mirror, yes that's all you need to do (I wish all scopes had fixed mirrors, I'm all for them) secondary mirrors usually hold there collimation pretty well and need adjusting rarely but it's always worth checking them once in a while either with a Cheshire, cap or laser. It sounds like your doing the right thing though, if you're veiws are sharp and crisp and your happy with what you're seeing I wouldn't worry about it to much. Perfect collimation is only important for astrophotography if your telescope is a little bit out of collimation for visual work you won't even notice. But like I say just keep doing what you're doing and all will be fine. All the best 🙂

[@paullewis321]

@@smalloptics753 Thank you for the reply Jason

[@glenb1356]

I have ordered one, but, now, I wonder if it has collimnating adjustment screws??? If not I will return it for one that does. I have quality V blocks so I can align it before putting it in the scope...

[@glenb1356]

The unit arrived, so I will answer my own question. Two screws are adjustable, one is covered. The label is over one of the adjustment screws. Collimated using the tool. Took the telescope and put it on the mount. It was so far out of focus, the stars presented as large circles with perfect black centers where the secondary reflection was. Got tiny little stars when focused. Very pleased with the unit.

[@Astro_carlos14]

Como carrega ele tenho um igual

[@joeshmoe7899]

I have this laser collimator. It's sloppy in the focuser of my sky watcher 200p. Moving it changes the beam path, even after the laser is collimated. Not just rotation, but side to side also.

[@tuunaes]

Don't use 1.25"-2" adapters of cheap lasers. And anyway for primary mirror alignment you need to Barlow laser.

[@AD_SPACE_2024_...Aditya...]

1:09 as always here we go again 😂😂

[@smalloptics753]

😂🤣 A least it wasn't the laser.

[@Martinko_Pcik]

It would be interesting to verify the collimation with cheshire at the end. Mine never matches. I am still trying to learn what I am doing wrong

[@TayTayVideoGaming]

Because of slop in the focused tube there will usually be a little bit of a difference. These methods are to get you close and than you can use a star to do the final test. It’s less likely to happen if your collimators both have “shoulders” IE a raised ridge where it can go up against the focuser and you can make sure it’s not rocking in one direction.

[@brianlucas8034]

Question...after adjusting the primary then going to the secondary would you then have to check primary again?

[@tuunaes]

Yes, because aligning primary is the last step.

[@astrolad747]

Hi! Had a doubt… I bought my reflector telescope (Celestron power seeker 127 eq) around a year ago and I haven’t collimated it even once since I bought because of the fear of how complex and delicate the process was…. So do I have to collimate my telescope or only collimate it when it gets shaken violently( which did not happen to my telescope)….

[@smalloptics753]

Hello Basman. I would strongly recommend that you check the collimation, telescopes don't have to necessarily be "knocked" to take them out of collimation, fluctuations of temperature will effect collimation as metal expands and contracts its just the nature of the beast. If the collimation is out a little it's not going to effect your views but if its out a lot it will. A quick test with a collimation cap is the cheapest way to check the collimation.

[@astrolad747]

Oh thanks a lot!!!

[@astrolad747]

Will check my telescope now…

[@truffzillazootopius6935]

I got this SvBONY COLLIMATOR. Thanks for the good review @smalloptics🙏🙂

[@smalloptics753]

Your more than welcome friend :)

[@sasquatchhadarock968]

How *DO* you collimate a laser collimator?

[@skumfidusen1233]

What if i don't have that center thing on on my Mirror. It's the same telescope as yours

[@hakman239]

You can add one

[@varunmehta1821]

Do all telescopes have the center marked with a circle?

[@MM0IMC]

No, as I've an old Meade 114-900 that doesn't.

[@Astronurd]

No but they should

[@marcosherculano5944]

Jason can we collimate the collimator Svbony as well ?

[@hakman239]

Yes

[@Astronurd]

This is not a SVbony product but it’s been available for years as the next generation

[@smalloptics753]

Hello Bosun, it's like a lot of things I should imagine multiple companies use the same manufacturers and put there liable on it, a bit like skywatcher and celestron they are they are both made in the same factory.

[@Astronurd]

@@smalloptics753 Yes Jason, this is very true in today’s world market. I actually like a lot of SVbony products and own quite a few. Keep them videos coming Jason 👍

[@hakman239]

@@Astronurd I have a next gen laser is it same as svbony? Svbony one claims to have multiple lenses

[@entropytango5348]

A 20 year old collimator with a new name, some old dodgy technology. Get a decent collimator instead. I recommend the Ocal. Try getting a Takahashi Mewlon collimated with this unit ???

[@hakman239]

Cheap ones look identical to the sv

[@leboch65]

Can it be used to collimate my 8 in sct?

[@smalloptics753]

Hello leboch65. Yes should be fine 🙂

[@giovannig.624]

What if my mirror dont have this donut?

[@TayTayVideoGaming]

You can add one yourself, it’s pretty easy to do and a great opportunity to clean your primary while it’s out.

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

Got the same one from eBay for 22 pounds!

[@hakman239]

Svbony ? Cos I got one for £22 but now svbony

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

@@hakman239 just checked it was 23 pounds and svbony from eBay!

[@americanmaker8608]

But Jason. You don’t like laser Collimator. You say they need collimating.

[@smalloptics753]

Hello American Maker, quite true but its not so much the collimator themselves my grind is more to do with using them with a cheap focuser.

[@americanmaker8608]

@@smalloptics753 to be honest. I was just busting balls. You saved my ass with you diy collimator or Cheshire lens cap thing. I don’t remember what you called it. But man did it work. Love that video.

[@mnamnam6061]

Rule N°1: You just never do that, even for YT with your barrell upwords. Move your back and go horizontal Rule N°2: Every single one moaning now does understand when the srew fell, refer to N°1 😂😂

[@bobparquet]

Parole, parole, parole soltanto parole, parole tra voi......

[@deeboweb]

hahahah i said it was a laser collimator! lmao

[@kyzercube]

In response to the title of this video... DON'T. I had the misfortune of buying one of these epic pieces of absolute garbage. 1: It came out the box HORRIBLE out of collimation. 2: You have to go through unnecessary trouble to even dig into the resin covered collimation screws AND you don't even get ANY information about what type of tool you need or even have the tool included. I immediately sent it back for a full refund and spent the extra $10 for a collimator that not only didn't restrict access to the collimation screws but even provided the Allan wrench tool with the collimator. Don't get me wrong about SVbony. I've bought many different SVbony telescope accessories but this product of theirs is 100% JUNK BUYERS REMORSE!