Once again unencumbered by knowledge I came up with a Rube Goldberg way to do an STC collimation after installing some Bob's Knobs on a C8. I needed a daytime solution since it doesn't get dark(ish) here until about 9:45 PM.
1) I made an artificial star from one of those new keychain LED flashlights and a pinhole in a piece of aluminum foil. These little devils are impossibly bright, so I was able to see it easily on an overcast afternoon in Boston (is there any other kind now?).
2) I replace the phillips head adjustment screws with the new knobs as instructed. I quickly became frustrated by having to move back and forth while adjusting. There HAS to be a better way.....BONG!
3) I attached a Logitech QuickCam 4000 (Mogg adapter and field reducer) and started the native Logitech software application. I was collecting a nice fast frame image when the dullness left my mind and I realized that the Logitech Image Studio comes with an image ZOOM feature YES!
4) I zoomed the image to 300% and framed my out of focus "star" and collimated live on the laptop screen. SOOOO much easier! If you have a webcam give this a try even without the zoom feature.
By so doing I have now pretty much guaranteed that the clouds and rain will continue unabated for at least another three days. But then, what a perfect time to try this stunt. I also got a chance to clean the secondary.
1) I made an artificial star from one of those new keychain LED flashlights and a pinhole in a piece of aluminum foil. These little devils are impossibly bright, so I was able to see it easily on an overcast afternoon in Boston (is there any other kind now?).
2) I replace the phillips head adjustment screws with the new knobs as instructed. I quickly became frustrated by having to move back and forth while adjusting. There HAS to be a better way.....BONG!
3) I attached a Logitech QuickCam 4000 (Mogg adapter and field reducer) and started the native Logitech software application. I was collecting a nice fast frame image when the dullness left my mind and I realized that the Logitech Image Studio comes with an image ZOOM feature YES!
4) I zoomed the image to 300% and framed my out of focus "star" and collimated live on the laptop screen. SOOOO much easier! If you have a webcam give this a try even without the zoom feature.
By so doing I have now pretty much guaranteed that the clouds and rain will continue unabated for at least another three days. But then, what a perfect time to try this stunt. I also got a chance to clean the secondary.
