Great guide on collimating a Newtonian telescope! The step-by-step instructions and clear use of tools like the laser collimator and Cheshire eyepiece make the process easy to follow. Regular collimation is key for optimal performance, and this video really highlights that importance!
You can also use paper to determine where the laser is reflected from the primary mirror or just the palm of your hand, then you can look at it with your eyes from the safe side.when the secondary mirror is adjusting ~
True after Im using laser collimator, my calibration to my newton is much faster and no hassle much anyways the SECOND version of SVONY laser collimator has a DOT laser beam compared to their first one which is kinda OVAL in shape. . no too friendly hehe
We decided to look down tge barrel of ours from a few meters away and have someone look down the eyepiece with enough distance for the light to get through. When you could look through and see the eye clearly and centered, it gave us a fairly good ballpark to start from.
I'm really curious if your SVBony Laser Collimator came collimated? I just got the exact one you show in your tutorial and it was way off. Laser beam drew 1/2" circles on the floor. And yet they plug up the holes that allow you to adjust the laser to bring it into collimation. It wasn't all that difficult to do. I'm sure I voided my warranty by removing the rubber glue they use to plug the holes. But it was worthless to me as it was out of the box. Luckily, I watched enough TH-cam videos to understand how you collimate a laser collimator. And once I had the collimator collimated, everything worked like it should. And when you rotate the collimator, the red laser dot stays put. And the Star Test was amazingly good. So I'm happy with my purchase. Just disappointed that SVBony plugs up the holes.
Oh no! That's annoying! 😐 Glad you could solve the problem. My laser was A-OK when taken out of the box. Can you provide us with a link for a good tutorial? Cheers!
Exactly mine wasn't. And after 2 hours playing with it I can only get it to about a centimeter circle at a distance of about 13 ft. I don't know if that is considered acceptable, but I used it on my 12-inch dobsonian and for some reason I can see the donut in the viewfinder, and I'm pretty underwhelmed with the picture.
Good tutorial. I would add one thing that is inevitable - equipment screwed on the focuser will cause sagging and loss of collimation. Therefore it is a good thing to gently sag the focuser with a similar amount of force while collimating the secondary to primary and primary to focuser. It will never be perfect, but additional level of precision can be reached that way.
Sorry, but that sounds like a terrible idea since the direction of sag will be different depending on the direction of the target. Best to get everything aligned in the neutral position.
FYI, I wrapped the tip of the collimator with blue painter’s tape going all around by not overlapping, this will make the collimator straight and there is no need to use the thumbscrew so no misalignment.
You don't point to the adjustment Laser screws, only talk about it. Also this Svbony is pre adjusted and it double glued so adjusting will be hard. FIRST check to see if when you rotate it if the laser does not stay in the center FIRST before using or adjusting the laser screws! To confirm if the Svbony or any laser, take a 2"x4" x 6" piece of wood and used 4 round head screws 2 for the front and 2 for the back of the laser laser and place the screws so they are placing the Svbony laser in the center if the laser and then when turned on point to a wall 25 feet away and see while rotating the laser that it stays in the center, maybe be take a white sheet of paper and put a circle about 1/4" and place laser wood towards the wall and turn on and tape the sheet of paper putting it in the center of the laser and then go and rotate the Svbony laser and see if the laser stays in the center. If not adjust or if you just got from Amazon return it and get another as newer generation lasers are pre adjusted? P.S I don't like how large that center hole on the laser angled scale is. Also if you find the 2" Svbony adapter or the 1.25" is a bit loose just take that scotch tape and wrap a bit fully around the metal part that goes into the EP holder and if 1 layer of tape makes it snug your done, if it's still wobbly then 1 or 2 more wrappings of tape should make it snug.
I got the Svbony laser collimator. It has two problems. First, the movement of the screws is not enough to collimate the collimator itself. Thus the laser is always pointing at an angle no matter what I do. Second, the electrical switch is defective: I turn it into position, knock on it, and sometimes it turns on.
I got the secondary mirror nice and circular, adjusted primary mirror and put donut in centre. Then put in a cheshire piece and it's crosshairs were off by a 1 cm to left. Confusing stuff.
@@catchingphotons Hi thanks my friend for responding. So I got it looking fairly concentric and collimated, but when I throw in a Cheshire eyepiece, the superimposed Cheshire crosshairs look to be about a centimeter off to the left. They aren't lining up with my telescope's 12 inch dobsonian cross hairs. What does this imply? Looking with our 33mm lens it looks pretty good, but things start to get not very clear trying to focus with smaller lenses at greater distances. I worry it's not perfectly set up. I'd really appreciate some help since I tried to set this up for my Elementary school.
Mine was garbage too. what a pain in the butt.. I'm trying to show this stuff to the students at my school.... I spent 2 hours trying to get the laser collimator lined up perfectly and I can only get it within a 1 cm
❤you said this video would be about using a laser collimator but instead you instructed how to use a collimation cap which is DON’T have!!!!!!! How frustrating!!!!!!!!!
I will tell you something I used to collimator cap on my 12-inch dobsonian, and then when I stuck in a laser collimator the dot was going right pass the secondary mirror onto the wall when I thought I was roughly all aligned.
Thanks for a great video. You have a very soothing voice 😃
Haha thanks! Cheers!
Great guide on collimating a Newtonian telescope! The step-by-step instructions and clear use of tools like the laser collimator and Cheshire eyepiece make the process easy to follow. Regular collimation is key for optimal performance, and this video really highlights that importance!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Chris. I have learned so much from you video series. Kindly keep doing more when you have time. Thank you very much.
Thanks for your encouraging comment! Very much appreciated!
You can also use paper to determine where the laser is reflected from the primary mirror or just the palm of your hand, then you can look at it with your eyes from the safe side.when the secondary mirror is adjusting ~
True after Im using laser collimator, my calibration to my newton is much faster and no hassle much anyways the SECOND version of SVONY laser collimator has a DOT laser beam compared to their first one which is kinda OVAL in shape. . no too friendly hehe
Thanks for your input! Cheers!
We decided to look down tge barrel of ours from a few meters away and have someone look down the eyepiece with enough distance for the light to get through. When you could look through and see the eye clearly and centered, it gave us a fairly good ballpark to start from.
I'm really curious if your SVBony Laser Collimator came collimated? I just got the exact one you show in your tutorial and it was way off. Laser beam drew 1/2" circles on the floor. And yet they plug up the holes that allow you to adjust the laser to bring it into collimation. It wasn't all that difficult to do. I'm sure I voided my warranty by removing the rubber glue they use to plug the holes. But it was worthless to me as it was out of the box. Luckily, I watched enough TH-cam videos to understand how you collimate a laser collimator. And once I had the collimator collimated, everything worked like it should. And when you rotate the collimator, the red laser dot stays put. And the Star Test was amazingly good. So I'm happy with my purchase. Just disappointed that SVBony plugs up the holes.
Oh no! That's annoying! 😐 Glad you could solve the problem. My laser was A-OK when taken out of the box.
Can you provide us with a link for a good tutorial?
Cheers!
Exactly mine wasn't. And after 2 hours playing with it I can only get it to about a centimeter circle at a distance of about 13 ft. I don't know if that is considered acceptable, but I used it on my 12-inch dobsonian and for some reason I can see the donut in the viewfinder, and I'm pretty underwhelmed with the picture.
Good tutorial. I would add one thing that is inevitable - equipment screwed on the focuser will cause sagging and loss of collimation. Therefore it is a good thing to gently sag the focuser with a similar amount of force while collimating the secondary to primary and primary to focuser. It will never be perfect, but additional level of precision can be reached that way.
Sorry, but that sounds like a terrible idea since the direction of sag will be different depending on the direction of the target. Best to get everything aligned in the neutral position.
Thx! Best video I've seen yet. I'm struggling with a Newtonian that is really out of alignment.
Thanks so much, glad I could help! Cheers
Nice work Chris 👏
Thanks a lot! Cheers =)
FYI, I wrapped the tip of the collimator with blue painter’s tape going all around by not overlapping, this will make the collimator straight and there is no need to use the thumbscrew so no misalignment.
Good trick, thanks a lot!!
You don't point to the adjustment Laser screws, only talk about it. Also this Svbony is pre adjusted and it double glued so adjusting will be hard. FIRST check to see if when you rotate it if the laser does not stay in the center FIRST before using or adjusting the laser screws! To confirm if the Svbony or any laser, take a 2"x4" x 6" piece of wood and used 4 round head screws 2 for the front and 2 for the back of the laser laser and place the screws so they are placing the Svbony laser in the center if the laser and then when turned on point to a wall 25 feet away and see while rotating the laser that it stays in the center, maybe be take a white sheet of paper and put a circle about 1/4" and place laser wood towards the wall and turn on and tape the sheet of paper putting it in the center of the laser and then go and rotate the Svbony laser and see if the laser stays in the center. If not adjust or if you just got from Amazon return it and get another as newer generation lasers are pre adjusted? P.S I don't like how large that center hole on the laser angled scale is.
Also if you find the 2" Svbony adapter or the 1.25" is a bit loose just take that scotch tape and wrap a bit fully around the metal part that goes into the EP holder and if 1 layer of tape makes it snug your done, if it's still wobbly then 1 or 2 more wrappings of tape should make it snug.
Thank you so much for your helpful comment!! Cheers!
Great video screech
Cheers!
I got the Svbony laser collimator. It has two problems. First, the movement of the screws is not enough to collimate the collimator itself. Thus the laser is always pointing at an angle no matter what I do. Second, the electrical switch is defective: I turn it into position, knock on it, and sometimes it turns on.
Oh no! Seems like a clear case for refund or replacement? Did you have any problems with that? 🤔
I got one as well too which I cannot really get perfectly centered....
I got the secondary mirror nice and circular, adjusted primary mirror and put donut in centre. Then put in a cheshire piece and it's crosshairs were off by a 1 cm to left. Confusing stuff.
Great video! Thank you!
Did I hear that the secondary mirror is supposed to look like a perfect circle when it is lined up properly?
Yes sir
@@catchingphotons Hi thanks my friend for responding. So I got it looking fairly concentric and collimated, but when I throw in a Cheshire eyepiece, the superimposed Cheshire crosshairs look to be about a centimeter off to the left. They aren't lining up with my telescope's 12 inch dobsonian cross hairs. What does this imply? Looking with our 33mm lens it looks pretty good, but things start to get not very clear trying to focus with smaller lenses at greater distances. I worry it's not perfectly set up. I'd really appreciate some help since I tried to set this up for my Elementary school.
What is the benefit of a Newtonian when we have SCTs sand RCs?
It's cheap and easy and bad-ass 😉
Thank you 😊
Through that lazer in the bucket thrre junk tight out the box
Oh no! Were you able to get a refund?
Mine was garbage too. what a pain in the butt.. I'm trying to show this stuff to the students at my school.... I spent 2 hours trying to get the laser collimator lined up perfectly and I can only get it within a 1 cm
❤you said this video would be about using a laser collimator but instead you instructed how to use a collimation cap which is DON’T have!!!!!!! How frustrating!!!!!!!!!
Oh boy! 😯 Please note that you can buy a film roll for
I will tell you something I used to collimator cap on my 12-inch dobsonian, and then when I stuck in a laser collimator the dot was going right pass the secondary mirror onto the wall when I thought I was roughly all aligned.
no more videos? :(
I'm working on it. I moved and this took sadly all the time there was. Now I'm getting ready for the next round 😀
What the hell is a "Newton" telescope?
Purhaps, "Newtonian" was meant?
It's a Newtonic telescope, bruh
Probably....
15 min of talking when 5 would do. 8 would be ok.
How much talking vs showing how it worked?
:-) sry. Talking is my business. Hope you could take something away anyway. Cheers!