Collimation on a Star
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
- After some requests to show a collimation video applicable to SCT and Maksutov scopes (and newtonians too, if the secondary is already set) - I decided to record this session and talk people through what I'm doing and why, in a 'live' manner - hope it's helpful to someone out there struggling to collimate their scope!! :-)
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Honestly, it’s so good to finally have a descriptive video showing EXACTLY what needs to be done for this method. Written tutorials and figuring it out for yourself is not the one. Thank you!
That's awesome of you to say mate, thank you!! 👍👍
Thank you, been in the game with an 8"SCT for several years, however this is a great illustration on how to collimate. Thank you.
Thank you for watching mate!! 👍👍
So much easier to do if you can see your computer screen while at the telescope! If not then having a helper to tell you which screws to turn is almost a must. I'd be tripping over everything trying to do it your way by myself! lol
Agreed haha, it would have been easier with a laptop out there!! 😂
That Luke, was a quite awesome video. Spot on with getting all the info in of how you actually do it, no shortcuts, no frustrating how did he go from here to there? Good close ups on the screen. Great tips and tricks. Keep them coming - your processing videos are the best on the internet atm. Clear, all buttons pressed mentioned. All explained without getting too slow. Not as funny as Dylan though.....but Dylan is the one and only astro stand up comedian.
Excellent stuff and thank you.
Ever so glad to hear that Phil!! Thanks for such a great message mate :-)
Clear skies to you!! 👍👍
Great video. Something to note for newbies: If your collimation screws/knobs are already snug don't tighten before loosing the others. You don't want any of the screws/knobs to over tightened. You'll get a feel for it after a while. Always do tiny turns. At the start no more than a 1/8th loosen to the other knobs, 1/8th tighten on the one you're adjusting. Less as you get close. The EdgeHDs especially, the only pressure on the mirror comes from the center, you're basically balancing it on that tiny center pointed bit of the holder. I would expect you could get some pinches optics due to this as well if you over tighten.
Thanks mate!! - I'd recommend 'Bob's knobs' to anyone watching this, they really help limit the amount of pressure you apply by reducing your mechanical advantage on the adjuster, - plus with tool-less adjustment, there's almost no chance of damage to your optics in the dark! 👍
Thank you! I've read about this method, but seeing someone do it is so much clearer.
Thanks for watching!! :-D
Excellent video Luke. I'm going to be doing this very soon on my SCT as I am getting it ready for lunar/planetary imaging (it hasn't been used for the best part of 10 years). I'm no stranger to collimation but this is still a nice refresher.
Hey Pete mate!
Ah that's brilliant to hear, thank you!! It's exciting that you'll be getting your own sct back in action soon too!! I'm majorly looking forward to it all this year :-)
Nice collimation video of that C11 beast! Thanks Luke!
Glad you liked it bud!! :-D
Excellent and very informative video, nice to see it done live….thank you for this 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it my friend!! Thanks so much for watching! :-D
I've been enjoying your channel for a while now and this video pushed me over the edge to become a member. And I'm a refractor guy... 😅
That is awesome! Thank you so much for your support mate! :-D Clear skies!
Luke, thank you very much for creating this video. It has special relevanceto me because I really got my Celestron C6 far out of collimation about two weeks ago. I was using the C6 on my AM5 controlled with an ASIAIR+ to photograph M51, and I noticed the stars in the images weren’t round. So I decided to devote an evening to adjusting the collimation. Unfortunately, I had tested positive for Covid a little more than two weeks before that, and in retrospect I realize that one of my symptoms was the “foggy brain” one (I.e., you don’t think well or clearly). Well, after 90 minutes I had taken an airy disk that more or less looked like yours as you began collimating and made it much worse, so bad that the edge of the inner disk (the hole in the doughnut) now touched the outer edge of the larger set of concentric rings. At this point I was about ready to abandon SCTs. But I regained my equilibrium over the next couple of days, and I’m going to try to save the C6. Your video will be a great help, and I hope to give it another try in about a week when we are supposed to get some clear skies. I’m in day 33 of Covid now and about 85-90 percent recovered, so hopefully I can succeed in this rescue attempt! If I do, I’ll let you know in these comments.
Hey there mate!! I'm glad to hear you're recovering well, that's good news 👍👍
I hope the video helps you get the scope back into collimation, I'm sure you'll be fine now you're getting better - I have definitely experienced the brain fog from being unwell, and it can last a long time!
Clear skies and swift recovery!
As promised, I gave it a go last night and got the scope back into either perfect or near-perfect collimation! The entire process took over an hour, but the effort was worth it. When I focused on the stars at the beginning, the best I could do were stars that looked like comets with two tails. After getting the airy disk to look very good, I could focus on the stars and to my eye they looked perfect. Your video helped in many ways, among them using a camera and software to do this rather than doing it visually. I use the AM5 mount and the ASIAIR+ to control the rig from my iPad, and this worked better than doing it visually (my camera is the ASI533MC). I also have Bob’s Knobs installed on my Celestron C6, and I see now how that really facilitates making the adjustments rather than using a screwdriver with the screws that come with the scope. And your point to keep the airy disk image (i.e., the out-of-focus star) centered was key, because without you emphasizing this,I might have waited until after two or three adjustments to roughly recenter. Last night I recentered after each round of adjustments (loosen two knobs and tighten a third), and I suspect this produced a better result in the end. I had known parts of the collimation process before, but your video put the entire process together. And I should say that I can’t image doing this on camera! That must have been stressful. In my earlier comment I mentioned Covid, and I’m happy to report that I am roughly 90% recovered. It’s day 39, but everything is moving in the right direction, and I can do everything I normally do now. Thanks again for this video and all you do for the astrophotography community.
@@ABCMO-bl5pi ah mate that's made my day to read, thank you so much for following up and sharing your success story!! 👍👍 I'm very glad indeed to hear everything's going in the right direction again, fantastic!
All the best and clear skies!
Luke
Somehow my support got canceled. Didn't know until I saw my name was gone from the supporters list. So sorry. I have since rejoined. Your videos are awesome and very helpful, insightful. Keep up the good work.
Hey Mike!! ah mate that's really awesome of you to do, thank you for giving your support once again!! that's really kind of you :-) Clear skies!
The "hand shadow trick" is very useful.
Very good instructions! I like the hand shadow trick. Since the camera might be at any angle its a nice trick to help you figure out where you are. Thanks! 👍👍
Thanks mate!! it works well! :-D
I don't own an SCT but found this an interesting video none the less, I find most things related to astronomy interesting including how telescope set ups work and how to use them..
Really glad to hear that mate!!
Good tutorial Luke. I did a rough collimation last night (EdgeHD 11") but did not know about those two inner rings to watch for. I will go out again tonight and finish the job.
For planetary recording, it is absolutely imperative to have the scope collimated. Also, trying to focus on the planet(s) when the seeing is like with what you just had ... augh!
Hey Pat!!
So glad to hear this one was of some use to you mate, and oh man do I ever hear you regarding focus on planets when the atmosphere is practically swimming like this, it's a nightmare!
Good luck on some beautiful captures my friend!
All the best and thank you for your support!
Luke
Great informative video Luke, always interesting to see others do this
Glad you enjoyed it my friend!!
It's great to see the whole process! Even though I don't have a SCT I found it enjoyable and informative
Glad you enjoyed it mate!! Clear skies! :-)
hi, my friend, great explanation. Just my 2 cents here: When you tighten 1, release the other 2 by the same amount, or vice-versa. This is because this secondary adjustment uses a pivot plate, so you need to keep the plate turning instead of putting tension in a specific direction.
Thanks for sharing mate!! If you're starting doing this from miles out of collimation then I totally agree yeah 👍👍 if going from 'pretty close' to fully collimated then I'd always say try to do it with tightens only to ensure enough pressure on the adjusters to give collimation stability :-)
@@lukomatico hahaha yeah I know that feeling, just one more tiny twist hahahaha
Hi luke thanks for a great tutorial mate
Wow, Fantastic video Luke! and uncannily timely. I myself "oopsed" a Edge HD 11" back in December and got everything set up this January. Immediately I was unhappy with my collimation. So far to date I have tried the star method, Tri-Bahtinov mask, installed and tried running Metaguide collimation software, bought a Hotech advanced laser SCT collimator I even bought an 6um artificial star to attempt to star collimate without all the seeing interference. Problem with those last two methods are that they require your scope to be horizontal (or close) and as soon as you point it up it seems to lose collimation again. At least after using the artificial star and then trying a natural star it's off again. All that said maybe my expectations are unrealistic. or maybe I don't understand something else about my image train. I have a native focal ratio Edge HD 11", a Moonlite Litecrawler 2.5 inch inline focuser/rotator (LR25), Moonlite sidewinder camera plane adjuster, 20mm of spacers, a M68 plate ZWO OAG-L with an QHY 5iii-174M mini guide cam, ZWO 7 X 2" EFW with Astronmik SHO(6nm)LRGB and a ZWO ASI2600MM. The thing driving me crazy, is despite seemingly having my collimation locked down my HFR continues to be 6 at best according to NINA. what I have heard from other folks with the Edge HD 11 is that they can get in the 2 to 3 HFR range. Maybe I'm turning the wrong knob trying to get my HFR smaller but I did notice before my initial collimation the best I could get was 10 HFR and the better my collimation the lower my HFR got. I would love to know if you have tried the free Metaguide collimation software by Frank Freestar8n. The developer Frank is a Doctor (PhD) of optical sciences and also has produced several other pieces of freeware. People that have successfully used Metaguide say it is like the star method on steroids. I would love to know if you have tried it or possibly see you do a video on it! Currently there is one youtube video of him giving a lecture on "The Astro Imaging Channel" but it is a short demo and lacks the critical guidance on setting the software up. Thanks and keep on doing what you do. I came for the processing videos and stayed for the equipment/observatory videos! (Sorry for the wall of text)
Hey there mate!! I've tried metaguide, it's really good! I used it to help me collimate the RC10 which was on review a while back 👍👍
Thanks ever so much for sharing your story and watching the channel!
@@lukomatico Hey Luke, thanks for the reply to my super long post. Very quick follow-up.. What kind of HFR does your EHD11 get? And any chance you might do an in-depth tutorial on Metaguide? I went back and watched your StellaLyra review again and can't believe I missed it. To be fair that that video cam out about 4 months before I tried Metaguide myself. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, I just can't get it set up correctly.
Great video mate I had to collimate the RASA last year but maybe I should have took a bit more time although the stars look even when defocused. That said I'll be retiring the RASA for a while & hopefully setting up a dual rig so I can do some solar work as I haven't done any in ages so I best pull my finger out & pimp my Newt lol.
Clear skies!!
Enjoy that newt, haha!! :-D
Hi Luke, good to see someone spending time with cassegrains as well and not just the typical refractor setups. You seem to do a good research as well so that these scopes perform to their best. Did you or are you planning to insulate your 11inch SCT?
Thank you my friend!! - regarding insulation, I'd considered it! What made me decide against it for now was that my edge has 'tempEST' fans installed, they do seem to be quite effective! :-)
Clear skies mate!
Hi luk, I have to collimate my SCT 8" 😓 nice job mate💪🏻
Hey mate!! Hopefully this one was of some use to you :-D
Clear skies!
Thanks for this video and such perfect timing! I recently added a Meade 8" sct to my toolbelt and started learning collimation. One question, do you have/use a tri-bahtinov mask for collimating on a sct? That would be a great video too!
Hey there mate! I don't actually have a tri-bahtinov mask, but it's perhaps something I could do a video on eventually! 👍👍
Thank you for doing this. I learned this the hard way last year and would have loved to see a live collimation session like this one.
Now a question: I bought a used vintage C8, and I think my corrective plate is not in place, no matter how well I collimate on the in side, when I check the out side of the focuser I get an slightly in collimated pattern, If I fix that side the other side gets uncollimated… thoughts?
Thanks so much!!
That 100% sounds like either a decentred secondary mirror holder, or a decentred corrector plate, personally I'd say take measurements, determine which is at fault and then correct it 👍
The good news is however, if you choose to not do that, you'll still be able to achieve accurate collimation as long as you finish on an in-focus star, using the diffraction rings that are visible on a good night 👍
Good luck!
Hi mate, firstly thank you for this channel and sharing your knowledge. I'm struggling with using the gradient tool to manage the vignetting due to light pollution in one of my data captures. I'd love for you to have a go. I've followed the pixnsight tutorials - their MARS project looking interesting but it's a while away. I'm happy to supply a calibtrated master :D
Hey mate!! thanks so much for watching and leaving a kind message!! - I'll have to decline on the troublesome data test though, I'm struggling for time to edit my own data lately, haha!!
@@lukomatico no problem, understand and appreciate the reply.
Thx! For. Newtonian it would all be main mirror adjustments after laser centering the secondary?
That's spot on mate, yep! 👍 I'd get the whole thing close with a laser then finish the primary fully on a star (or a Cheshire can do a great job too)
@@lukomatico thanks!
Quite bad seeing; tougher to collimate. Interesting, I never loosen bolts during collimation. If failed, then lose all three bolts and start again. Did you use tri-batinov mask for collimating?
Hey Ana!
I don't use a tri-mask myself, it feels like observing the pattern and adjusting is an intuitive process for me so I've never really worried about it 👍
I'd have loved some better seeing for sure haha!
Okay.
is that ya 14?
Hahaha 😂 I wish!
@dumpydalekobservatory I already adapted a webcam for just that purpose!
When you will go into starparty?
I really want to do that sometime, 100%!
Doing this with my 200/1000 Newt on an EQ-5 is a hair pulling experience (overweight for the mount). Looks easy when you do it.
Each time I touch the collimation screws I lose the target star completely, whereas it only moves a miniscule amount on yours.
Envious? Yes! Even my focuser moving loses the star.
Hey mate!! - Sorry to hear it's been such a git to do, I'm very lucky to have a hefty mount which does make stuff like this a little simpler for sure!! 👍
Clear skies!!
Hi Nugsy I'm sure on one of the old astronomy shed videos Dion found a tool that works a bit like the ocal collimator but you use your camera instead, I'm not sure if it will work with a DSLR but might still work using your guide camera so could be worth a look.
@@dumpydalekobservatory As it happens, I just made my own version of the Ocal - Just needs more testing before making a video on it.
Also, I had better luck the next time out as I discovered my Dec axis needed adjusting.
@@dumpydalekobservatory I just adapted a webcam to use as an alternative Ocal. So far so good!
My dec axis needed adjusting so I had far better luck star testing the next time.
@@dumpydalekobservatory These replies keep getting deleted. I've adapted a webcam for just that purpose already!
Hi luke thanks for a great tutorial mate
My pleasure Tony mate, thank you for your support as always!! 👍👍