Collimating refractors

Hi,
I am posting this also to Refractor and Televue boards. After having only refractors for some time I bought a used 11 inch Newtonian for deep sky work and set to learn to collimate it. The Menard book says that refractors can be collimated using the Cheshire EP, that in ideal collimation two little donuts will exactly align when the cap is on and the Cheshire is illuminated. So I got curious and guess what, I tried my AP130 and saw the two little donuts, exactly atop one another. I tried my TV85 and got two donuts side by side, and on a TV 102, found three donuts which partially overlapped. The AP is the sharpest telescope I have ever viewed, so I believe this does reflect an accurate assessment of the collimation. However, the Televues have no means to collimate, and their images are pretty darned sharp too. Ought I take this up with Televue, (especially as the 102 is in warranty)? Is this a reliable means of assessing a refractor?

Ciao

Robert Howe

If you go to the Meade refractor group in yahoo, in the files section there is a guide made by the members that gives examples on how to collimate a refractor

The objectives should definately be collimated. I would contact the Manufacturer or dealer and ask if they have a procedure for collimating their scopes.
If not, they should make it right.