ATM : Just a few questions before I screw my Dob together for the first time

["Ashish, Balaya (IE10)" <ABalaya@meghadoot.hiso.honeywell.com>]

Peder wrote :
> Also, should I put a mark or a sticker in
the center of the primary to aid in collimation?  Lastly, I remember reading
about making a collimation tool from a 35mm film container

Hi Peder,
    All the stuff I've read on collimating a Newt mention the mark at the
center of the primary and I've always done that and have got very good
results. One way I've read about recently is to cut out a circle of paper
the dia of your mirror and make a hole in its center and use that as a
template for marking your primary. That works well.
    On the collimation tool from the film container, its a great idea. You
need to make a hole at the bottom of the can (in India we get cans of
plastic which have a dimple at the exact center as a result of the moulding
process so its easy to identify the center) in the center and use that. You
also need to put cross hairs on the opposite side of the can so that when
you peer through the hole you can use the cross hairs as an alignment aid.
You could use thin wire or even hair as Al Kelly uses. I've yet to decide
how exactly to fix the hairs but I have a few ideas.

Clear skies,
Balaya