You can watch the basic section of this video for free on youtube and you will gain a good understanding of how to collimate a Newtonian telescope. This video is for serious amateurs astrophotographers who are willing to go the extra mile to achieve excellent collimation and sharper images.The full video is 40 minutes long and split into 3 parts;

• Basic collimation and collimation theory (you can watch this on youtube)
• How to physically “square off” your newtonian in order to achieve very accurate collimation
• Star collimation using the “good” donut method. I believe this is the simplest and best way for astrophotographers to collimate a newtonian. No expensive gadgets needed!

To access the full video please click the picture. You’ll need to become a £3 patron. Patrons get access to my other tutorial videos as well as access to hidden channels on my discord server such as #ask-a-mega-nerd channel where you can ask the best astrophotographers on the server for advice and you can ping me directly by adding “@astrobiscuit” into the question or you can simply message me directly on patreon.

CONTENTS

01:52 Collimation theory

04:20 How to adjust the secondary mirror

07:23 How to use a collimation cap

09:25 How to collimate with a Cheshire eyepiece

12:55 How to collimate a laser collimator

15:00 Quick collimation with a laser collimator

17:00 How to check if your focuser is pointing straight

20:08: Why does the secondary mirror need to be offset?

23:20: How to check the secondary mirror is in the correct position

30:26 How to check if the weight of your camera is causing your telescope to flex

30:49 Star collimation

39:00  Conclusion