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Congratulations on owning or considering owning one of the finest telescopes
commercially available today. We hope that by learning to collimate your telescope it
will give you many years and thousands of hours of pleasure. Please be sure to read
this entire procedure BEFORE you begin. You may be able to skip some of the
beginning instructions, but you must know them to proceed.
The primary and secondary mirrors have been very accurately adjusted at Vixen's
factory before being shipped to you. If, for any reason, either mirror needs to be
removed, it is extremely important to mark the edge of the mirror or holder for
repositioning when replacing. This is critical to reproducing the best view when re-
collimated.
If you are removing the secondary mirror holder there are a varying number of washers
between the secondary and the vanes. It is imperative that you keep all of these as this
will set the correct unique distance of the secondary from the primary mirror. You will
also need a Centering Eyepiece for this adjustment. Many amateurs make them out of a
35mm film canister.
At the focuser end of the telescope, especially on the VC200L as it has the rear
corrector lens element, you may need to add an extension to the focuser draw tube. You
can use the Star Diagonal Flip Mirror system in the straight through position or any of the
other 1.25" eyepiece adapters with the 43mm or 60mm extension tubes with appropriate
adapters where necessary. Be sure to have them accessible before you begin.
Deep breath... Is it dark outside? Can you see and track a moderately bright star? Are
the seeing conditions good and "steady"? Have you let the Optical Tube reach outside air
temperature yet (20 to 45 minutes typical)? Are you sure you are not looking over any
thermal feature, your neighbors fireplace, set up on top of the garage with the dryer set to
stun? Then we are ready to begin.
Star Test
•
Point and track on a star of approximately 2
degrees in the sky.
• The night must be steady, if you see rapidly twinkling stars, enjoy the night but
do not attempt collimation as the atmosphere is likely causing more disruption
than any collimation errors you may be able to remove.
Collimating Your
VC200L or VMC200L
Vixen Optics a Division of MrStarGuy, Inc. Copyright 2006
nd
magnitude that is higher than 45
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Related Manuals for Vixen VC200L
Summary of Contents for Vixen VC200L
- Page 1 Centering Eyepiece for this adjustment. Many amateurs make them out of a 35mm film canister. At the focuser end of the telescope, especially on the VC200L as it has the rear corrector lens element, you may need to add an extension to the focuser draw tube. You can use the Star Diagonal Flip Mirror system in the straight through position or any of the other 1.25”...
- Page 2 • Once you have off centered the image in the direction of the hole, you are now ready to adjust the SMALLER screws on the back of the telescope. • Use the smaller Allen key adjustments closest to the outside of the telescope as you are looking at the back.
- Page 3 If the thin ring is not evenly spaced from that central black doughnut, then you will need to adjust both Push/Pull screws at the back of the telescope until it is. These are the same set of screws on the far outside of the optical tube on the rear that you used for the Star Test procedure above.
- Page 4 • You will then most likely need to collimate the Secondary if you move the focuser. When you have completed all the steps, we recommend that you Star Test your telescope to verify collimation. Vixen Optics a Division of MrStarGuy, Inc. Copyright 2006...