There are two schools of though on how to align Hyperstar prior to collimation. 1.) Some say to use spacers (i.e., for example, three pennies) to create an equidistant space between the Hyperstar and its base. Dave at Starizona says to start with the HyperStar down flat (no spacers), back out the tall thin screws and tighten short screws. That will bring the HyperStar down flat.
I suspect that either way will give a flat starting point to begin collimation. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on either method.
Thanks,
Joe
Hyperstar set up: spacers or no spacers?
Re: Hyperstar set up: spacers or no spacers?
A friend solved this for me. According to him, the Hyperstar would have been constructed to fit my camera. Since Starizona said to flaten out the unit (i.e., no spacers), that is what I shall do.
Re: Hyperstar set up: spacers or no spacers?
I messed with Hyperstar Collimation for many evenings trying a methodology described in an article in another forum where you start by inserting thin 0.030' shims between the parts. Frankly, I struggled to get this right and wasn't happy.
However, the author concluded by saying after collimation his Hyperstar was "tilted by merely 0.012" after alignment, equating to no more that 1/3 turn of a screw". Hang on a moment I thought, that is less than a third of a millimetre (0.305mm), equivalent to the width of thicker human hair. No way was Mr Clumsy going to mirror that! No way was my Alt-Az mount going to be precise enough to need such precision.
So, I loosened all push screws, tightened all pull screws, retightened push screws so my Hyperstar components are flush tight. Result, perfect collimation!
Having since watched a video for the HoTech laser collimator, I suspect what is more important is the centering of your FASTAR secondary mirror holder and corrector plate within OTA. Of course, if you have never messed with these factory screwed tight items, it is highly unlikely that these will be a problem. So, screw up up your Hyperstar flush and cease worrying is pretty good advice! It's a lot easier than collimating one's secondary mirror!
However, the author concluded by saying after collimation his Hyperstar was "tilted by merely 0.012" after alignment, equating to no more that 1/3 turn of a screw". Hang on a moment I thought, that is less than a third of a millimetre (0.305mm), equivalent to the width of thicker human hair. No way was Mr Clumsy going to mirror that! No way was my Alt-Az mount going to be precise enough to need such precision.
So, I loosened all push screws, tightened all pull screws, retightened push screws so my Hyperstar components are flush tight. Result, perfect collimation!
Having since watched a video for the HoTech laser collimator, I suspect what is more important is the centering of your FASTAR secondary mirror holder and corrector plate within OTA. Of course, if you have never messed with these factory screwed tight items, it is highly unlikely that these will be a problem. So, screw up up your Hyperstar flush and cease worrying is pretty good advice! It's a lot easier than collimating one's secondary mirror!