READ THE ENTIRE PROCEDURE BEFORE YOU BEGIN. ENTIRE PROCESS TAKES ABOUT THREE HOURS BUT THE AWARDS ARE WORTH IT. THE SHARPEST CLEAREST IMAGES YOU WILL SEE!

What you need: Laser Collimator / Saran Wrap / 1/16" drill / black fine tip marker / white construction paper / ruler / scotch tape / patience. Optional: AutoCollimator EyePiece / White cotton gloves / long nose forceps.

I normally wear white cotton gloves with disposable plastic gloves underneath whenever handling optics. The plastic prevents any oils from my skin being absorbed into the cotton.

BEFORE REMOVING THE PRIMARY OR THE SECONDARY CELL/CORRECTOR PLATE ASSEMBLY, MARK ITS EXACT POSITION WITHIN THE OTA WITH MASKING TAPE SO YOU CAN RE-INSTALL IT IN THE EXACT SAME POSITION - DO THIS NOW.

Step 1: Insure that your focuser is perpendicular to the Optical Axis of the OTA.

Remove the Corrector Plat/Secondary assembly and the Primary cell. Remove the focuser and the finder scope mount from the OTA.

Take several sheets of the white construction paper and tape securely together to form a piece long enough to wrap smoothly around the inside of the OTA. Align the front edge of the paper flush with the edge of the OTA. Make it a smooth tight fit and tape the ends to form a cylinder. With the paper in place, mark the positions of the screw holes for the focuser. Remove the cylinder, cut out the holes for the screws slightly larger than the nuts that hold it on (you need the paper to fit back in the tube as smoothly as possible once the focuser is re-installed. Re-install the focuser.

Rack out the focuser so there is no intrusion into the OTA. Mount your laser in the focus tube. Make sure it is snug. You may have to shim it with a wrap or two of scotch tape. Once it is in the focuser, turn it and watch the dot on the opposite side of the tube. The dot should remain stationary. If it does not, either the laser within the collimator is not centered or the collimator itself is not centered in the focus tube. Rack the focuser in and out and watch for movement of the dot. Again, it should remain stationary. Adjusting the tension knob on the focuser may help this. If you can not get it to stay stationary, rack it all the way in and out and pick the mid point of movement (an average if you will). Leave or lock the focuser in this position.

Reinsert the paper cylinder carefully aligning it with the front edge of the OTA. Turn on the laser and from the inside of the OTA, mark the red dot on the paper with the black marker. Turn off the laser - do NOT remove it or move the focuser. Remove the paper cylinder and very carefully punch a clean 1/16" hole where you marked with the marker. Now flatten the cylinder so that the two long edges are aligned and the crease at one end is centered through the hole you just made. You now have long rectangle with a hole punched in one of the creases. Take a ruler and measure along the crease EXACTLY how far from the long edge of the paper is the hole. Transfer this measurement to the opposite end and mark the position on the that crease. Unfold the crease so you have a cylinder again and punch a 1/16" hole in this second mark you just made.

Reinsert the cylinder back into the OTA, line up the front edge with the OTA, turn on the laser and make slight adjustments to the position of the cylinder until the beam shines through the first hole you punched. The front edge of the paper should still be lined up with the edge of the OTA. If the beam is striking the second hole you punched - all is good - tighten down the focuser - evenly tightening all four screws so that the laser dot does not move off its target of the second hole. If it does not hit the "target", make adjustment to the four screws and shim the focuser with black construction paper until it does. Tighten everything down. Your focuser is now very very close to perpendicular to the OTA optical axis. You can verify this with your crosshair eyepiece if you have one. The crosshairs should be on the mark on the opposite side of the tube. Once you are satisfied with your results - Go to the next step. Leave the laser aligned (turned off) in the focuser.

Step 2: Aligning the secondary.

Keep in mind, if you place a very small dot on the exact center of the secondary you will not see it as it will be in its own shadow. That is the easy way. However, if that makes you queasy... follow these steps. Print out the "Secondary Target" templates which are posted in the files section. Very carefully cut one out and punch a small pin hole in the exact center (printed crosshair intersection.)

Carefully wrap the saran wrap over the surface of the secondary. Pull it tight and tape it down to the sides of the secondary with scotch tape. I leave a folded over tab on each piece of scotch tape so that I can reach in through the focuser when finished and remove it with a pair of forceps. Carefully position the target template over the secondary and mark the exact center with black marker. Re-install the corrector / secondary assembly aligning it with the marks you made previously so it is in its correct orientation. Turn on the laser or use your crosshair eyepiece to verify that the mark you just made on the secondary is under the crosshair of laser. If it is not, adjust the secondary front or back using its adjustment screws till the target is centered. Careful adjustments are needed - no big turns. Never loosen more than one screw at a time as you don't want the secondary turning if you can help it.

Once you have the target centered, tighten everything up. Reach in with the forceps and very carefully grab the scotch tape tabs and pull them off - removing the saran wrap.

Step 3: Aligning the primary.

Very carefully determine that the center mark on your primary is indeed the center of the mirror. There is a Mirror Template in the files folder. You can print it out on a piece of clear transparency or regular paper - your call. If it is not centered, you will either have to remove the existing ring and install your own, or leave it where it is. What your level of tolerance is will be your own choosing. Once you have determined that the center is marked correctly, then determine if the mirror is centered in the cell. Carefully measure from the slot in the cell that the OTA slides into to the center of the mirror (or use the template for mirror spotting. If it is centered, you are set. If it is not, then we have more work to do.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE MARKED THE ORIENTATION OF THE PRIMARY MIRROR IN THE CELL AS YOU DID MARKING THE ORIENTATION OF THE CELL TO THE OTA. Carefully remove the 6 screws holding the mirror clips and remove the primary. Find the exact center of the mirror cell. You can measure with a ruler, use a compass, or the center spot template. Drill a 1/16" hole through the exact center (this should be the piece of cosmetic plastic attached to the cell. Remount the primary cell. Turn on the laser and adjust the secondary collimating screws (small three screws) until the laser exits through the 1/16" hole. Now the secondary to primary path is aligned with the central optical axis of the OTA - this is a good thing.

Now remove the empty cell and remount the primary into the cell. Turn on the laser. If your primary is centered within the cell and if the center mark is accurate, the laser should be hitting the center of primary center spot donut. If it is not, you will have to "shim" / shift the primary within the cell until it does. Trial and error is the proven method here. Now is a good time to perform that clipectomy to remove those spike inducing mirror clips by siliconing the mirror to the primary cell. I used 9 globs of silicone, set the mirror in the cell, installed the clips using round toothpicks to "wedge" shim the mirror while the silicone was curing. Once you get the laser centered on your doughnut ring target - set the mirror aside and allow the silicone to cure for 24 hours. After that you can remove the clips, cut off the overhang and finish the clipectomy with the second application of silicone. Wait another 24 hours - re-install the primary mirror cell. If all is good - when you turn the laser back on, the dot should be in the exact center of the mirror cell (assuming you have not had any major temperature swings during this process). I did mine in the basement where temperature and humidity is pretty much constant. Even if you have to make a slight tweak adjustment after final assembly - it is alot more accurate than when it arrived after carefully handling by UPS.

From this point on, after set up and temp acclimation - a quick 1 minute laser alignment is all that is needed to get really sharp detailed views. I end using the lock down screws on the primary cell as my fine tune collimation screws after I get close with the big knobs. If you get right on with the big knobs - tightening the lock screws will move the laser beam and thus affect collimation.

The real test of how good your collimation is can be done with a device (ep) called the AutoCollimator. When it is inserted into the focus tube, if all is aligned perfectly, you will get a "closed" optical path. All you will see is a dark circle in the center of the secondary as it is the reflection of the dark of your eye's pupil.

The f/ratio will have no effect on this as you are not "projecting" any holograms. You are simply aligning the light path from your eye -> secondary -> primary ->secondary ->eye. Simple geometry and a few tweak adjustments.

This works for me... any suggestions and comments are welcome.

Hope you enjoy it - good luck - and good viewing.