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Tuesday, January 17, 2012Reflector telescopes collimationIf you’re the type that likes to tinker, fiddle and otherwise fuss with gear, telescopes may disappoint you. There really is very little maintenance needed with telescopes or even telescope accessories, though some types of telescopes do require a bit more adjusting and upkeep than others. Still, all telescopes are simple to maintain. That includes reflector telescopes, by the way. When it comes time to choose the right telescope, beginners sometimes avoid reflectors out of fear of having to adjust the mirrors (collimation). True, you do have to learn how to collimate a reflector if you want to get the most out of it, but I’ve never considered it enough of a chore to avoid reflector telescopes. True, there was a day when collimation could be a time-consuming undertaking, but laser collimators have changed that and thankfully so in my case. I have to wheel my large Dobsonian telescope (a type of reflector telescope) around the yard as needed to view areas of the sky I want to see ( yes, it is actually equipped with wheels for the sake of transport). It’s a sometimes bumpy ride, though, and just enough to throw alignment off a bit, so I typically collimate the mirrors at the start of every observing session. In truth, the mirrors are never way out of alignment, even using the telescope this way, but the mirrors are optically superb, so why not have them aligned, perfectly? How long does collimation take when I use a laser collimator? On the average, not much longer than it takes me to change a telescope eyepiece. Doing an initial collimation with a new telescope does take longer, but once you’re in the ball park and assuming you haven’t been rough on the telescope, collimation is no big deal. Comments: |
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