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omaroo
October 17th, 2007, 06:53 PM
A simply brilliant device. I was introduced to this laser collimator the other night when we were collimating Paul Shopiss' 12" binocular telescope.

I've never performed a full collimation so quickly and easily. It literally took 15 seconds per side once the collimator was inserted into the focuser. Paul has thumbscrew secondary adjuster screws as well as knobs on the primary adjusters, so there was no fiddling with screwdrivers or allen keys.

1) Firstly you insert the unit into the focuser. Remove the concave barlow attachment to expose the end of the laser and switch it on. A beam hits the secondary and bounces down to the primary. You adjust the secondary until the beam hits the centre mark on the primary.

2) Then place the barlow attachment back on the front of the unit. It acts as a projector screen and shows the return image from the centre dot on the primary. All you now do is adjust the primary's collimation knobs until the centre dots image hits the centre of the screen.

Done! It literally took seconds and gave great collimation. When you have two optics trains to set up each night it'll be a real bonus. Normal laser collimators don't do anywhere near as good a job I don't think - and certainly no where near as fast.

US$109 plus delivery ex Colorado USA.

http://www.astrosystems.biz/laser.htm

I'm in no way affiliated with this crew - just a really satisfied customer.

Cheers
Chris

http://www.astrosystems.biz/images/Blaser.JPG

http://www.astrosystems.biz/images/returnimage.jpg

Radar
October 17th, 2007, 08:52 PM
Interesting gadget. When you do the first part, and you put the laser onto the centre of the big mirror, do you look through the front end of the scope or does an eyepiece fit into the collimator? I've never really used the collimation tools I have, I always go by eye. I usually stick a high powered eyepiece in, find a star and fiddle until that star focuses to a perfectly round donut with coconut sprinkles (that last part got away from me :Chessy_Smile: )

I should probably start using the collimation tools I have.

Ray

omaroo
October 17th, 2007, 09:35 PM
Interesting gadget. When you do the first part, and you put the laser onto the centre of the big mirror, do you look through the front end of the scope or does an eyepiece fit into the collimator? I've never really used the collimation tools I have, I always go by eye. I usually stick a high powered eyepiece in, find a star and fiddle until that star focuses to a perfectly round donut with coconut sprinkles (that last part got away from me :Chessy_Smile: )

I should probably start using the collimation tools I have.

Ray

Yes Ray - you simply look down the throat of the scope - you can see quite clearly where the beam hits the primary. Being a laser, it's bright-as, and this even works in bright daylight. A good thing, because you can collimate your optics and align your finder well before it gets dark.

AstroTasmania
October 18th, 2007, 09:28 AM
Hi Omaroo,

I made one of these about 3 years ago and have never looked back. I have several different types of collimator's, Cheshire and laser types, but this one gives me the best results and quick.

Highly recommended.

Clear skies...
Shevill

RSW
October 25th, 2007, 12:43 AM
sounds like a handy little tool. thanks for the info Oomaroo :thumbsupmate:

Reg