Telescope collimation tools rother valley optics ltd. An introduction to electronicallyassisted astronomy eaa. Without the right tools, this process can become tedious and inaccurate. The key is an accurate and low latency centroid that can be chased aggressively to overcome gearbox and bearing noise. The advanced ct laser collimator brings the collimating star to your telescope within arm reaching distance. The image at the far right is a snapshot of the goldfocus analysis software which shows the measured quality of collimation and focus realtime to assist in. Celestron cgxl 1400 fastar 14 sct goto computerized. Collimation of an sct from scratch, a photo guide solar system.
Maybe because it was a major domo listreferring to the mailing list software running on a. Collimation of a sct is critical to getting the sharpest images possible, especially when viewing planets at high magnification. If i remember correctly a big if, he would connect his camera to his macbook air via usb i. Depending on which telescope the observor chooses, the placement of this artificial star can fluctuate. Collimation is greatly helped if you use a visual red filter i use the. That he said taught him the importance of he watching his sct s collimation very closely.
The first step in collimation is to get this donut round and uniformly illuminated. Banner is the marketleading suite of software applications for student information, advancement, human resources, financial aid, faculty and advisors, finance, and more. For the absolute best results, you should collimate on a star near your target every time you shoot. If an sct is in need of collimation, a slightly outoffocus star near the center of the field of view will appear as in one of the six eyepiece views shown above. There are three stages to a really good collimation using the stars or a starlike source such as a solar reflection off a distant ball bearing or christmas tree ornament. Use softwareassisted metrics for focusing that give an objective readout of star size in full width half. The conference provided exciting insights into some of supply chains latest and greatest technology movements. As the leaves started to fall off and the nights started to become. Collimation viewer shows the threescrew, tiptilt collimation arrangement that is commonly used on sct s, rcs, newtonians, and other styles of telescopes. Center the star in the field to avoid possible effects of aberration in your telescope. Sct performance gas and diesel tuners tuning software. And, by god, is it critical for good cat performance. Now, backyard astronomers have an alternative to achieve excellent collimation conveniently using the advanced ct laser collimator.
Collimation verification with astrosnap and dmk21af04. Well it sounded to go to be true, but the moon was out and i was stalling for fear of messing with my collimation. Sct will be an exhibitor at the sapinsider logistics and scm event in las vegas march 30 april 1. The celestron cgem ii 925 with starbright xlt coatings puts the high contrast optics of a 9. Even more frequent collimation is required of the perfectionist who wishes to account for collimation errors caused by pointing the sct at different objects at different positions. This is mainly for my reference however youre welcome to use this video as a guide for the collimation of your schmidtcassegrain. Acf is the perfect solution for the serious astroimager or visual astronomer looking for reasonably priced observatoryclass optics. It just requires looking into the front of the scope from a very specific location. Plugin device automatically supplies gps location and time data to your orion skyquest xtg or xxg dobsonian, starseeker iv goto telescope, skyview pro goto mount, sirius eqg mount, sirius pro azeqg mount, atlas eqg mount, atlas pro azeqg mount, or hdx1100 eqg mount. Unfortunately, highdefinition video is not going to work for highresolution planetary imaging. D represents only a fraction of turn of a collimation screw of a sct. Orient your scope so its easy to reach the collimation screws. During the threeday event, we took part in networking sessions, strategy discussions, and conversations with current and potential customers. Sct 3000smartline configuration toolkit is a pcbased engineering and maintenance tool for plant maintenance engineers, managers and instrument technicians to manage the honeywell smart field devices efficiently.
B represents less than 120 th of a turn, a modification of the orientation of the optical tube can be sufficient to produce this effect. On this type of instrument, the transition from fig. The advanced ct laser collimator simulates a real distant star light path, and as a result it can collimate most telescopes which primarily rely on star collimation. How do i collimate my schmidtcassegrain telescope sct. How many people can collimate their 8 and larger cassigrain scopes by themselves. The described procedure is suitable for an sct telescope. This is because the camera will taken the full resolution of the sensor, say 6,000 x 4,000 pixels, and interpolate decimate those pixels down to the normal 1,920 x 1,080 pixels used in highdefinition video. With its shortrange capability, you can perform collimation indoors day or night without being subjected to weather. Using a schmidtcassegrain telescope sct like my celestron nexstar 6se requires the secondary mirror to be collimated properly to get a crisp image. A star test is the most accurate way to check that your telescope is correctly collimated, however, with care, a laser collimator can do an excellent job for you. Download sct advantage iii ford pro racer free software. Some telescopes require very accurate line of sight adjustment. The story relates the importance of perfect collimation to the sct design. What id like to do is plug either my dslr which is my main imaging camera or my superstar guide camera into the scope.
Some are simple, excellent for beginners but lacking in highlevel. Collimating the hyperstar iii posted on october 12, 2014 by greg parker it is possible to get perfect stars right across the diagonal of an apssize chip such as the starlight xpress m25c or m26c but only if your hyperstar imaging system is in very good collimation. Eaa is a relatively new and often misunderstood pastime, one that sits somewhere in the continuum between strictly visual observing and hardcore astrophotography. Coincident with our crusade, a small sct collimation cottage. Collimation guide for schmidt cassegrain telescopes. Ive done the collimation after fixing the screws, but i wanted to finetune further. Here is a technique that has greatly helped me with collimating my c14. If there is any other software worth mentioning please chime in. Recenter the star and recheck the outoffocus image of the star. Schmidt cassegrain telescope advice maintenance sct. Experienced sct users will tell you that the first step in collimating your scope is to understand why it is important by reading thierry legaults collimation page look at the astrophotography on his web site he very much knows whereof he speaks.
Aligning the optics of a schmidtcassegrain telescope sct is much easier than collimating a newtonian telescope and can easily be learned by any user. Opt offers all the collimation tools necessary to ensure the utmost accuracy for your telescope adjustments to improve your overall astronomy imaging and observing. For easy locating and tracking of celestial bodies, you can use the softwareassisted allstar polar alignment feature which allows the user to choose any bright object for telescope alignment you do not even need to identify the star. Unfortunately, many new cat owners seem intimidated by this simple process. There are various seatofthe pants methods to check for proper collimation. Checking the optical alignment on schmidtcassegrain or maksutovcassegrain telescope can be easily done in broad daylight. Subscribe to our email list to receive the latest on tireshredding sct products, vehicle applications, events, and more. Collimating the hyperstar iii new forest observatory. See bottom also for an easier method without mask if you have a webcam adapted for telescope usage and a pc connected to the sct mount. The software will average the seeing and reveal the airy pattern with the. Davids done his homework on this one, coming up with a very ingenious answer to daytime collimation of an sct. Metaguide can provide insight into both the optics of your telescope, and the tracking behavior of your mount.
As you change focus and the donut gets larger or smaller, you will need to change the gainexposure of the webcam to keep it from saturating. Collimation viewer can be started by clicking on the realtime collimation defocused star collimation viewer menu in ccdinspector. Hi matt, many sct owners modify their rear cells to lock the primary mirror in place and then use an after market focuser e. Focal reducers for sct, rc, and fieldflattened edge hd or acf telescopes thread onto the back of the telescope tube with 224 or 328 sct threads. Each collimation knob in this set measures 12 mm or 12 in diameter. The astrozap artificial star for collimation uses bright 18,000mcd led focused a stainless steel aperture of 100 micron precision. Slice width, dose and scan time michael mcnittgray, ph. With an sct or newtonian, the star will appear as an out of focus blobby donut.
Celestron cgxl 1400 sct equatorial goto telescope 12072. The meade 10acf lx90 telescopes technologically superior optical design gives a flatter, and advanced comafree field of view with pinpoint images all the way to the edge of the field. Agenas guide to focal reducers agena astroproducts. If the focal reducer is to be used for visual observation, the visual back is threaded onto the eyepiece side of the reducer, and then a star diagonal and. Metaguide allows me to obtain sub2 fwhm stars with a celestron cge and 11 sct at 2800mm f. When i have all of my components focuser, filter wheel, telescope.
If serious long exposure astrophotography is in your plans, the special allstar polar alignment software described below allows you to choose any bright alignment star for a softwareassisted alignment of the mounts polar axis, even if you cant see the north star. Ill download the trial and see how things progress, ill report back my findings. Daylight collimation of a sct or maksutovcassegrain. Diy artificial star for sct collimation wesleys toolbox. Software for collimation computer software control. Collimation tools expert service unbeatable prices opt. The collimation technique can be implemented on any size telescope. Tonight was the night to tackle this collimation beast and see what happens. The purpose of collimating is to get the best images of stars and other celestial objects. Single defocused star collimation method introduction. There are a wide variety of programs available, each with its own pros and cons. Feb 19, 2012 how to use setting circles on a small telescope and why they dont work.
Id like to know if there is any software that can help me with collimating an sct. Archive sct collimation shifts equipment discussions. How to use setting circles on a small telescope and why they dont work. Camera assisted collimation eaa and night vision cloudy. About sct banner eeducation sct banner is the only fully integrated, oraclebased, internetnative technology solution available today for the higher education community.
Tsc lx200 12, televue 3x barlow, cooled for more than 7 hours. However, there are some tricks to doing it right, and some things to avoid. Collimating a schmidtcassegrain telescope jims astrolog. If i remember correctly a big if, he would connect his.
Along with the fork arm mount is a sturdy, 2 stainless steel legs and an accessory tray. These bobs knobs collimation knobs fit all versions of the celestron 6 f10 sct. The tabs helped get everything lined up, though, and if you are. At the center of the guide are the reference designations for the screws and their orientation as you face the front of the telescope. Sct solutions will help you ship cost effectively with the new pricing model. The difference between a collimated and an uncollimated sct, especially on the planets, is like night and day. The importance of sct collimation the revival of a 8sct dear all, this article was origionally printed in our astronomy club newsletter the njaa astronotes.
Five tips you must know to collimate your telescope easily. Their software, which supports most ford vehicles, is an easytouse, windowsbased program. Daylight collimation of a sct or maksutovcassegrain by robin casady checking the optical alignment on schmidtcassegrain or maksutovcassegrain telescope can be easily done in broad daylight. To collimate, turn the indicated collimation screw a very small amount in the direction shown. Orange county convention center orlando, florida june 35, 2014 also join us for a case study presentation thursday, june 5, 2014. Continue reading download sct advantage iii ford pro racer free software cracked available for instant download. See bottom for reference urls of imagesblog postsinstructions to build the mask. The mount also has upgraded adjustments for latitude and azimuth. Collimation viewer can be started by clicking on the realtimecollimationdefocused star collimation viewer menu in ccdinspector. Collimating your sct rod mollise basically, its a twopart process stage 1 rough collimation setup the scope and put a medium bright star in the field of an eyepiece. Usually collimation is done with an out of focus star, and refocusing an sct can throw that collimation back out, so i like that ccd inspector collimates on an infocus star. Advantage iii ford pro racer software from sct performance gives you the tools to customtune and tweak your pony.
The hotech advanced ct laser collimator patented is a breakthrough in. The celestron 14 sct ota comes with a 2 mirror diagonal that will accept either 2 or with included 2 to 1. Use a magnification near 2x per millimeter of aperture 50x per inch. Basically, precise collimation is somewhat less critical for observing dsos but extremely critical for planetary observing. Collimation is critical to obtaining the best performance from your telescope. Camera assisted collimation posted in eaa and night vision. Download sct advantage iii ford pro racer free software cracked available for instant download. Oct 12, 2014 collimating the hyperstar iii posted on october 12, 2014 by greg parker it is possible to get perfect stars right across the diagonal of an apssize chip such as the starlight xpress m25c or m26c but only if your hyperstar imaging system is in very good collimation. In our experience, the original screws on an sct secondary mirror are much better to use for collimation purposes than the aftermarket. Periodic collimation is required for casual observing to correct misalignment that results from normal handling and transportation of the telescope. Sct collimation page 1 of 3 instruction sheet hotech sca laser collimator laser collimation for schmidt cassegrain telescope please read the entire instruction sheet before using your sca laser collimator thank you for purchasing the state of the art hotech sca laser collimator instrument. May 04, 2019 metaguide can provide insight into both the optics of your telescope, and the tracking behavior of your mount. Collimation viewer shows the threescrew, tiptilt collimation arrangement that is commonly used on scts.
Hotech advanced ct laser collimator first light optics. I remember reading long ago a post by someone who said that he used an inexpensive monochrome camera with a usb port or the equivalent to collimate his sct. Diy artificial star for sct collimation posted by wesley on friday, october 30. The conference provided exciting insights into some of supply chains latest and. Construction and threads both consist of black oxide steel. Ron wodaskis collimating a cassegrain page note that most folks in the northern hemisphere use polaris as the star to collimate their scts because it doesnt move much during the time it takes to collimate a scope.
Astronomy software is an essential part of image processing for any astrophotographer, and is one of the tools used to create some of the most aweinspiring astronomy images. Collimation is incredibly important and frequently neglected, especially by sct aficionados. For instance, if the observor chooses to use an 8 sct, astrozap recommends an average of 100 ft. Al of als reticule fame has released a nice little program which, with the use of a webcam or similar, helps you to determine what adjustments need to be made to improve your sct collimation. Sct collimation the newfangled way uncle rods astro blog.
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