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Help me choose between Catseye collimation system

Started by erik_hammarlund, 09/15/2005 03:27PM
Posted 09/15/2005 03:27PM Opening Post
My new Dob's arriving soon, and I've got absolutely no collimation tools. i used to have a piddly little thing i used for my old Starwatcher, but it's time to get some real ones.

that said, I've heard two distinct schools of thought: 1) buy a laser; and 2) don't :S

I'm leaning towards the Catseye setup (less likelihood of eye injury if my kid ever grabs it) but even there I'm still a little confused.

So which two do I need? Infinity autocollimator and catseye cheshire? Can I get away with not paying another $100 (OUCH) for a sight tube?

help!
Posted 09/15/2005 04:49PM | Edited 09/15/2005 04:49PM #1
Hi Erik,
You need the Cat's Eye and the Infinity Autocollimator. The Cat's Eye is used to align the Primary the secondary and then the Infinity is used to align the secondary with the primary. This works well in the daytime, but does require using a light, red or white, during the night.
I use the Laser to align the secondary to the center of the Primary many times though, then use the Cat's Eye tools. At night I use the laser most of the time, though I do use a red light and Jim Fly's tools sometimes at night, especially if it seem the collimation is not perfect after the laser.

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