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TS 2" Led RC Collimator

£176.00✓ 2 year warranty

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About this product

Model: ts_tsrckolli
Part Number: TSRCKOLLI

This collimation device is compatible with almost all popular optical systems and allows the user to collimnate during the daytime.

It is especially recommended for collimation of Cassegrain systems such as Schmidt-Cassegrain, RC, Dall-Kirkham and similar telescope types. The collimator is very precise and the result of the collimation is mostly independent of tilting.

Please note due to the position of the primary baffle this collimator does not work with the Stella Lyra 8" RC

Collimation of Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes and similar systems

It is well known that collimating an RC is not an easy thing. With the TS collimator, it is possible to obtain an accurate daytime collimation which is comparable with the Takahashi collimation scope.

Collimation is easy and can be done by anyone but it is important that the secondary mirror of your telescope has a central mark. Simply follow the steps below:

Preparation:
Place the optical tube on a table or move the telescope on the mount into a horizontal position. It is helpful to aim the telescope at a homogeneous bright surface (paper, house wall, ...). Now put the collimator into the 2" receptacle of your focuser. It helps when you direct the labelling oriented towards the collimation screws, this makes alignment easier. Ensure that the collimator is optimally placed in the focuser. Now tighten the locking screws slightly. Next, switch on the collimator in Newtonian/reflector mode (red LEDs). Now look through the hole.

If the image looks this, you can stop the collimation process, your telescope is optimally adjusted and ready for the night.

But if the image does not look centrically, you should begin with the collimation for achieving the optimal result with the telescope.

Step 1 - adjusting the secondary mirror:

Adjust the secondary mirror with the collimation screws until the central mark of your secondary mirror is exactly in the centre. You can directly see any deviation which can easily be eliminated by adjusting. Make sure that the counter screws (if existing) are loosened before and that the secondary mirror is not loose after collimation.

The result at the end of this step of the collimation should look like this.

Step 2 - adjusting the primary mirror:

Now you centre the outer ring by adjusting the primary mirror. Please make sure the the counter screws are loosened here, too. Un tighten the counter screws by only a minimal amount, then adjust the primary mirror and retighten the counter screws. Take care not to over tighten the counter screws.

The result at the end of this second and last step of the collimation should look like this. Collimation is finished and the telescope is ready for the night.

RC telescopes with TILTING mechanism at the focuser:

Many Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes have a third collimation possibility - tilting the focuser. It is often used incorrectly to compensate for poor primary/secondary collimation. For this reason, you should adjust the tilting mechanism until it reaches the position stop before collimation. Thus it is ensured that the optical axis tilt is optimally adjusted to the focuser.

The tilting mechanism should be used for adapting the camera sensor optimally to the telescope. Thus you can compensate for a marginally tilted sensor or slight tilt of the focuser.