Fantastic overview of this crucially important mirror calibration process. This (much easier) method should hopefully prevent as many folks giving up on these superb fast telescopes - it's a massive plus being able to do this in your own home under fixed conditions. As long as the primary and secondary mirrors are properly locked down after calibration you should only need to do this every few months, though that always depends on the telescope. This method is certainly the way to go, but always, always be patient and follow the steps exactly. Do that and you'll keep on enjoying your hard earned cash investment to its max.
Thank you. The paper instructions included with the Hotech laser collimator for hyperstar could have been clearer. I would be happy to offer some suggestions to the manufacturer if they are interested. Since the manufacturer didn't have a video tutorial, I decided to make my own to save others some time. The final result still took a bit of final tweaking through trial and error under the stars but it worked better than anything else I had tried.
I hope to acquire a smaller SCT at some point and I will make a video collimating that (without hyperstar). I spent too much time perfecting the C11 Hyperstar collimation and don't want to risk disassembling it :)
I have been waiting for this video 3 years ! I can dust off my Hotech collimator and get my seagull shaped stars on my 2 hyper stars fixed finally. Thanks !
Really glad I could help. The paper instructions included with the Hotech laser collimator for hyperstar weren't the easiest to follow. The final result still took a bit of final tweaking through trial and error under the stars. Good luck! :)
Very useful video. I have an EdgeHD8 and v4 hyperstar and had been trying to get things collomated and it just never seemed right. I have a hotech on the way and hope it'll finally be an easier process not involving me on a step stool in the freezing dark out side.
Good luck friend. I hope you are able to get it collimated. I tweaked my collimation a tiny bit more under the stars since using the Hotech and it is pretty much perfect now. Looking forward to doing some more imaging with it soon :)
I agree. Unfortunately F2 is extremely demanding and despite the Hotech being a great tool, some finetuning under the stars is often required if you are as picky as I am.
Oh no. Sorry to hear that. On some equipment they use removable loctite which dislodges with a little bit of pressure. Hopefully Celestron didn't use permanent loctite on that one.
If you have a camera with a large sensor and your camera sensor has any tilt, I would recommend adjusting the sensor tilt. I am working on a video on how to remove sensor tilt as well :)
@@quantumspace7937 I'll work on finishing that video soon then. Thanks for the motivation. It's hard to stay motivated and keep making videos sometimes when nobody watches them :)
I am trying to use this for my SCT - non Hyperstar. Curious - how far apart is the end of the telescope and the Collumator? The instructions state something like 1 optical tube distant but I could not find the correct placement of this.
Hi. I collimated my C11 without the hyperstar as well and I think the outer tips of the laser were around 6.5 on the target (near the outer edge). I will have to double check when I get a chance next week though.
@@AbdurAstro thanks - I am having an issue getting the lines to properly appear - and it is not an easy feat to get them lined up close to parallel - then move the panel in and out - having a good idea of how far apart the should be from each other would put me in a better place to start with. the guy who worked on my scope said that the main mirror is good but I need a little work on the secondary reflector. I wish he would have finished it before returning it.
@@allenbaylus3378 According to the manual (V9) for collimating without a hyperstar: "Move the collimator to the distance where the crosshair is its smallest. This point is at the Back Focal Length (BFL) of the telescope primary mirror. Now, to position the collimator at a distance with good pattern resolution, move the target away from the telescope until the inner tips of the reflected crosshair are positioned between the target plate’s ring 1 and 2". If you have the same version I have, then they mean the inner tips should be between line 1 and 2 on the inner blue circles. The blue circles are visible in my video at 1:42 here th-cam.com/video/cc6taiEDjZA/w-d-xo.html
Fantastic overview of this crucially important mirror calibration process.
This (much easier) method should hopefully prevent as many folks giving up on these superb fast telescopes - it's a massive plus being able to do this in your own home under fixed conditions. As long as the primary and secondary mirrors are properly locked down after calibration you should only need to do this every few months, though that always depends on the telescope. This method is certainly the way to go, but always, always be patient and follow the steps exactly. Do that and you'll keep on enjoying your hard earned cash investment to its max.
Thank you. The paper instructions included with the Hotech laser collimator for hyperstar could have been clearer. I would be happy to offer some suggestions to the manufacturer if they are interested. Since the manufacturer didn't have a video tutorial, I decided to make my own to save others some time. The final result still took a bit of final tweaking through trial and error under the stars but it worked better than anything else I had tried.
Best tutorial I have seen on this in the 4+ years of owning my 2 Hyperstar telescopes and a Hotech. Bravo! I'm a master that Hotech yet.
Thank you so much. I am glad you found it useful :)
Can you do one video for normal SCT? Not for hyperstar. Thanks.
I hope to acquire a smaller SCT at some point and I will make a video collimating that (without hyperstar). I spent too much time perfecting the C11 Hyperstar collimation and don't want to risk disassembling it :)
I have been waiting for this video 3 years ! I can dust off my Hotech collimator and get my seagull shaped stars on my 2 hyper stars fixed finally. Thanks !
Really glad I could help. The paper instructions included with the Hotech laser collimator for hyperstar weren't the easiest to follow. The final result still took a bit of final tweaking through trial and error under the stars. Good luck! :)
Very useful video. I have an EdgeHD8 and v4 hyperstar and had been trying to get things collomated and it just never seemed right. I have a hotech on the way and hope it'll finally be an easier process not involving me on a step stool in the freezing dark out side.
Good luck friend. I hope you are able to get it collimated. I tweaked my collimation a tiny bit more under the stars since using the Hotech and it is pretty much perfect now. Looking forward to doing some more imaging with it soon :)
I have a Hyperstar C6 and given the cost of the HOTECH Advanced CT Laser Collimator system a star test should not be required. Great video.
I agree. Unfortunately F2 is extremely demanding and despite the Hotech being a great tool, some finetuning under the stars is often required if you are as picky as I am.
My C9.25 has the adjuster screws on the sides, but they are caked with so much loctite that they're welded in place. It makes collimation impossible.
Oh no. Sorry to hear that. On some equipment they use removable loctite which dislodges with a little bit of pressure. Hopefully Celestron didn't use permanent loctite on that one.
mine was the same, if you use a heat gun and warm up the Allen Key it melts the Loctite
@@SimonT65 Thanks for the tip! I’ll give it a shot.
Great video! Everything is very clear. Thank you!
Thank you
piece of art!. after the collimation if you have a full sensor still need to work on your camera tilt?
If you have a camera with a large sensor and your camera sensor has any tilt, I would recommend adjusting the sensor tilt. I am working on a video on how to remove sensor tilt as well :)
Perfect, I'll waiting for that video @@AbdurAstro
@@quantumspace7937 I'll work on finishing that video soon then. Thanks for the motivation. It's hard to stay motivated and keep making videos sometimes when nobody watches them :)
I am trying to use this for my SCT - non Hyperstar.
Curious - how far apart is the end of the telescope and the Collumator?
The instructions state something like 1 optical tube distant but I could not find the correct placement of this.
Hi. I collimated my C11 without the hyperstar as well and I think the outer tips of the laser were around 6.5 on the target (near the outer edge). I will have to double check when I get a chance next week though.
@@AbdurAstro thanks - I am having an issue getting the lines to properly appear - and it is not an easy feat to get them lined up close to parallel - then move the panel in and out - having a good idea of how far apart the should be from each other would put me in a better place to start with.
the guy who worked on my scope said that the main mirror is good but I need a little work on the secondary reflector. I wish he would have finished it before returning it.
@@allenbaylus3378 According to the manual (V9) for collimating without a hyperstar:
"Move the collimator to the distance where the crosshair is its smallest. This
point is at the Back Focal Length (BFL) of the telescope primary mirror. Now, to
position the collimator at a distance with good pattern resolution, move the
target away from the telescope until the inner tips of the reflected crosshair are
positioned between the target plate’s ring 1 and 2".
If you have the same version I have, then they mean the inner tips should be between line 1 and 2 on the inner blue circles. The blue circles are visible in my video at 1:42 here th-cam.com/video/cc6taiEDjZA/w-d-xo.html
Hey! This was brilliant. You have got me as a scriber. I thank you very much sir. Guy…..
Much appreciated. Subscribing helps my channel grow so I can make more videos and tutorials. Clear skies :)
Great video. How much is this collimator?
It's quite expensive (too expensive for my budget) at $560 USD but it came up on the used market for a lot cheaper so I thought I would try it out.