any change in the focuser axial alignment will almost always be a tilt only adjustment! From this point, you would need to rotate the secondary mirror to bring the primary mirror center marker back into alignment with the cross hairs. centered under the focuser, but it needs to be adjusted (tilted) so that the entire primary mirror is visible.

If anything is off-center, proceed with the following collimating procedure. A 6mm goldline will give you 108x, or you could buy a 2x Barlow lens to get 130x with the 10mm Plossl and a moderate magnification of 52x with the 25mm Plossl that comes with the 130ST. For now I'll leave things as they are and see for myself how things look but I may address this again in the future since I would prefer to have it done correctly. 130st 130mm spaceprobe Edit: I just noticed you have aOrion Spaceprobe 130st. Is this tube even usable for aligning the secondary mirror? Now hold the mirror holder stationary (be careful not to touch the surface of the mirrors), while turning the center screw with a Phillips head screwdriver (Figure 9). I suspect that my focuser is not straight and my need to be shimmed. Several functions may not work. The Orion SpaceProbe 130ST is one of many beginner telescopes sold on an equatorial mount, with the premise that an equatorial mount is either more advanced or capable of astrophotography. The mount doesnt have auto-tracking, and it is too weak to carry any DSLR camera. The 130ST attaches to its mount with a pair of tube rings, but no Vixen dovetail system.

It may not be perfectly centered, but that is OK. Now tighten the three small alignment set screws equally to secure the secondary mirror in that position. When we do that, focuser axial alignment becomes a tilt only (mostly) adjustment as Vic explains. Accurate mirror, alignment is important to ensure the peak performance of, your telescope, so it should be checked regularly. Aligning the Secondary MirrorWith the collimation cap in place, look through the hole in the cap at the secondary (diagonal) mirror. When adjusting the tilt/rotation can I first look for the mirror clips and then rotate/tilt with my hand so the bulge is pointing to the right followed by tightening the allen screws? At first this seems impossible as tilt can induce some rotation, so it can or should be corrected in real time, too, or avoided all together if possible. Unless you change the mount with something that costs more than the SpaceProbe 130ST, youwontbe able to image deep space. To point the telescope to the east or west, or in other direc-. Edited by jwpkrfan, 19 November 2019 - 08:47 PM. The less expensive ones come with a target on them but if they are not worth it I'll consider something better.

Yes (preferably a good one, like this https://www.eyepiecep/17401010.htm, A simple thin beam laser is an excellent tool for assessing and correcting the focuser axis (via secondary mirror tilt). 130st spaceprobe reflector telescopio telescope sherpalife in Dec. so it points to where you want it near the horizon. the R.A. setting circle.

Edited by Vic Menard, 13 November 2019 - 05:47 PM. Similarly, to point the telescope directly south, the counter-, weight shaft should again be horizontal. In, Figure 1 the telescope is pointed north, as it would be during, polar alignment. From there, inspecting your secondary placement against a white paper background, you may (or may not) see a need to shim the focuser or pull the spider laterally in the tube using the spider vanes. They also have better build qualities. The equatorial mount makes the whole package too expensive, more unstable than the usual Dob, and harder to use. Then, adjusting the spider center bolt, pull the secondary toward the open end of the OTA and away from the primary. Id personally get the SpaceProbe. Most setting circles are not accurate enough to put an object, dead-center in the telescope's eyepiece, but they should, place the object somewhere within the field of view of the, finder scope, assuming the equatorial mount is accurately, polar aligned. I have verified with a calipers that the secondary mirror holder is centered. The correct method is described here http://www.micosmos.lowed_Laser.pdf. By the way, collimation is the process of aligning the optics, if you dont know what that means. Some are short (2 inches) and others are over 6 inches. A DSLR camera is too much for the focuser and mount to handle, so deep-sky astrophotography is basically out of the question in any case, autoguiders and the like would be needed for good pictures and the SpaceProbe cannot accommodate these things. Youre limited to the Moon and planets, using a webcam-style CCD like a Celestron NexImage or ZWO ASI camera. As Jon said above, those adjustments above only deal with your illuminated field of view and are not critical to axial collimation. Would you recommend one over the other? We tend to use them independently (like we do the primary mirror) to tilt the secondary so the laser or cross hairs approach the center mark from any direction. Placing a piece of white paper in the telescope tube opposite the focuser (i.e., on the other side of the secondary mirror) will also be helpful in col-limating the secondary mirror. Telescope.com also offers a 30-day price match guarantee, 30-day money-back guarantee, free technical support, and next-day shipping. If you are a person who is looking for an EQ mount specifically, you probably dont need to read this review. Used in conjunction with a collimation cap, you can achieve excellent collimation. Collimating. There was a bit of guess work at this stage but I ignored the center dot/primary mirror center mark. This seems odd since in my original post my secondary mirror position seems in the middle of the focuser view.

Edited by Asbytec, 20 November 2019 - 05:25 AM. Again, bring the cross hairs or laser back onto the center mark using one tilt screw (only) and the other two in unison in the opposite direction, as above, allowing the single secondary adjustment screw to tilt the secondary in a straight line instead of more random directions (as is intuitive). SpaceProbe 130ST leans more towards deep space performance. If the secondary mirror is centered under the focuser and the laser is collimated should I get the same result as my collimation cap? As I stated above, "This small error is unlikely to impact your image performance. The images it provides are rather dim and narrow.

You might also consider this: https://www.cloudynihers/?p=5775875, (There is a better way to decouple rotation and tilt (for example, Novak and AstroSystems). I also tried to make the image look as flat as possible. If I were to get the better laser can the barlow method still be used to align the primary mirror? The opening of the collimation cap no-longer matches with the primary mirror center spot. If you want to look at galaxies an 8 or larger Dob is really what you need, and is easier to use. However, a 6 or 8 Dob is vastly superior to either. Neither is actually the case. It should fit pretty snug without a lot of play (registration error). Doing so will tilt the secondary in a straight line toward the center mark and reduce any unwanted tilt and inadvertent rotation (which may be how you ended up in the picture you posted above). The key seems to be using the one secondary collimation screw inline with the focuser to adjust tilt and the other two screws orthogonal to the focuser axis as a pair working in unison. Because it lies directly in the shadow of the secondary mirror, its presence in no way adversely affects the optical performance of the tele-scope or the image quality. the Collimation Cap and Mirror Center Mark Your SpaceProbe 130ST EQ comes with a collimation cap. Your error is a skew error (combined tilt/rotation error). People who need an equatorial mount for some reason. If you are going for deep space performance specifically, SpaceProbe 130ST wont disappoint. a. I moved the secondary mirror using the center screw until the secondary mirror appeared centered. I didn't want to spend money on something I could make at home cheaper. Your telescope's optics were, aligned at the factory, and should not need much adjustment, unless the telescope is handled roughly. Finally, I made a sight tube from 1.25 inch drain pipe (Length = Inside diameter of pipe multiplied by 5). But, once you get the tilt process correct by using the secondary adjustment screws correctly, you can minimize the unwanted tilt and induced rotation. You simply adjust the mirror posi-tion (described below) until the reflection of the hole in the collimation cap is centered inside the ring.

This is why centering the primary reflection becomes so important using rotation only and avoiding using tilt until the secondary is properly placed and rotated under the focuser (to the extent possible). OK--unless the secondary mirror is already concentric with the bottom edge of the focuser drawtube, the visibility of the primary mirror clips is not a valid alignment reference! As Ive mentioned before, SpaceProbe 130ST leans towards deep space performance anyway. This is where precise rotation (only) comes in very handy. e. Raised the focuser to get the focus tube out of the reflection and took a picture. I notice that when I put the tube in the focuser and look through the cap the right side of the primary mirror reflection is obscured by the tube. Then you check your signatures by focusing outward until the secondary and primary reflection (including the clips) are nearly the same apparent size.

Ignore the reflec-tions for the time being.

Next, rotate the secondary so the primary reflection is centered on the secondary center line (its major axis). Who should buy the SpaceProbe 130ST?

Then you simply, rotate the scope on the Dec. axis until it points in the south, What if you need to aim the telescope directly north, but at, an object that is nearer to the horizon than Polaris? Using a 2mm Allen wrench, loosen the three small alignment setscrews in the center hub of the 3-vaned spider several turns. how do you do it? Pleiades, Hercules, Orion, Andromeda, are all easy targets for the SpaceProbe 130ST. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Our team of experts has reviewed and ranked 180+ telescopes based on price and quality. One can purchase a motor drive for hands-free tracking from Celestron or Orion which will work fairly well for visual use, but simply isnt up to par accuracy-wise for astrophotography. In fact, it almost never, This illustration shows the telescope pointed in the four, cardinal directions: (a) north, (b) south, (c) east, (d) west. Planetary nebulae like the Cats Eye begin to show colors and perhaps even detail at moderate magnifications. Would a laser be helpful? I would recommend the Zhumell Z130, Celestron Astro-Fi 130, or AWB OneSky instead. scale that is on the eastern half of the Dec. setting circle. I have not touched the collimation since my original post which Vic annotated so my original collimation errors remain. The SpaceProbe 130ST is little more than a 130mm f/5 tabletop scope slapped on an equatorial mount and tripod that is marginally more useful than a Dobsonian mounting, at the expense of a higher cost and a less convenient setup. You need anadditionalplanetaryeyepieceto reach the planetary potential of SpaceProbe 130ST. I am not familiar with this scope, so I do not know any of it's potential collimation quirks, if any. You can add some cross hairs to it, as well. In addition, the mount needs to be aligned accurately to keep tracking accurate enough to keep whatever youre imaging in the tiny field of view of the camera, which is hard when theres no polar scope or sighting hole as I mentioned previously. THEN you should fine align the primary mirror tilt with your collimation cap (always finish any collimation procedure with a final precise alignment of the primary mirror tilt). I don't know enough about collimation, but will be watching and learning. You will be able to distinguish the Rings of Saturn, and Polar Ice Caps on Mars with some of its black stains on the surface. I heard of secondary offset but was unaware that the bulge should point in the 3:00 direction. The primary advantage of an equatorial mount is that tracking the sky is much simpler than with an alt-az mounted scope/Dobsonian. Edited by Asbytec, 13 November 2019 - 09:08 AM. Do so by calibrating the setting. The only collimation error present is the secondary mirror placement, which is already pretty close (corrected placement would have the actual edge of the secondary mirror aligned to the green circle). What's remarkable is that your alignment image reveals that, not only is the secondary mirror not concentric with the bottom edge of the focuser drawtube, the primary mirror reflection is also not concentric with the actual edge of the secondary mirror. I am thinking of getting this scope, but I feel the focuser and mount would limit me in the future and the former would be difficult to get a good replacement for. One screw adjusts the tilt, the other two allow that tilt by adjusting both in the same direction by the same amount. An Astromania 4mm Planetary will provide 163x, which is getting closer to the upper limit of magnification that the 130ST can handle on most nights. 3. Less than optimal (reasonably sized) secondary mirror placement mostly impacts the centered and balanced field illumination, but even this is unlikely to be observed--although it may be revealed in an imaging or photometric setup.

Hopefully it has none. While Dobsonians tend to be recommended to beginners, Orions SpaceProbe 130ST promises to deliver decent views with the promise of astrophotography down the road. Thanks Vic and Ken for your reply's. Planetary performance is disappointing out of the box. Deep space performance ismuchbetterthan planetary out of the box. If you overshoot, simply reverse the process. Of course, secondary mirror placement errors are easy to see, but not always easy to fix. But a good laser is an actual, real collimating tool. Here is what you have to know about astrophotography:it is an entirely different field. Do not put much, if any, bend on the spider vanes. This helps center your eye so that collimating is easy to per-form. Unlike with more expensive scopes/mounts, the 130STs tube rings simply bolt to the EQ2 rather than using a Vixen dovetail and saddle. I see that Jason D has posted some instructions about using a laser. If the axis of the focuser is aligned with the center of primary mirror and the axis of the primary is aligned with the focuser axis, that is all the is required to provide the best on-axis views. You will also find collimation is much easier and that it really does not take all weekend to git'er done. It has a 1.25 rack-and-pinion focuser, which is made mostly out of plastic but works pretty well. You may need to repeat the process (tilt--rotate) to fully correct the skew error. For a 130mm aperture, this means the cross hairs should not deviate from the primary mirror center marker more than about 4 or 5mm.

If you can get a deal on a used one, by all means, go for it.

Depending on the altitude of the object you want to observe, the counterweight shaft will be oriented somewhere between, Figure 7 illustrates how the telescope will look pointed at, the four cardinal directions north, south, east, and west, The key things to remember when pointing the telescope is, that a) you only move it in R.A. and Dec., not in azimuth or, latitude (altitude), and b) the counterweight and shaft will not, always appear as it does in Figure 1. You simply turn the RA slow-motion cable occasionally or install a motor drive.

Hi I am looking at buying a second hand telescope. I appreciate the feedback. The primary center mark is also located on this imaginary line, so you can use only one adjustment screw, primarily, to tilt the secondary and adjust the other two in unison to permit that linear tilt toward the primary center mark.

You also need a DSLR camera for any amateur deep space imaging. It needs some rotation, too, but you need to see the entire primary reflection if at all possible. I only concerned myself with the with the clips. My issue right now with adjusting the secondary mirror is once I begin to loosen the allen screws the mirror sags so it both rotates and tilts. I've been playing with this for about two weeks now and it took me awhile to figure out the movements and how this all works.

Once you've sorted the secondary mirror placement, the bottom edge of the focuser drawtube (blue circle), the actual edge of the secondary mirror (green circle), and the reflected edge of the primary mirror (red circle) will all be concentric. A 2 focuser would make the deep space performance insane, but the one that comes with the SpaceProbe 130ST is 1.25.

Orion SpaceProbe 130ST has an unnecessary set of features that will make your life harder instead of easier. If it isnt, as in Figure 8b, it must be adjusted. The details on Jupiter will be much clearer, the space between the Rings of Saturn will appear, and surface detail on Mars will be easier to see. Let's say you want to view an object. I dont think it is, especially at the budget price range. The 130STs 650mm focal length gives it a relatively wide field of view at low magnifications, making it great for viewing big and bright deep-sky objects like the Pleiades, Andromeda Galaxy, and so forth. Otherwise, you will be stuck with mediocre performance in this area. But this comes with a price. This seems odd since in my original post my secondary mirror position seems in the middle of the focuser view. Do I need to move the secondary mirror to the left? The rotation of the secondary affects the centering of the off-axis illumination. Overall the planetary performance of SpaceProbe 130ST, out of the box, is not good.

That might seem counterin-tuitive, but its true! Beginners occasionally experience some confusion about, how to point the telescope overhead or in other directions. Even under poor seeing conditions, the 130ST can take 100x and up to 250x is possible on good nights with good collimation. Then rotate the scope. If your (non existent) cross hairs or laser are on the primary center spot, your focuser axial alignment is collimated.

Planetary performance is rather disappointing with the given eyepieces. One thing you DO NOT do is make any adjustment to the, latitude adjustment T-bolt. As Jon mentioned above, using the windowed laser with a Barlow is less precise than using a balanced Barlowed laser (as originally proposed by Nils Olof Carlin in the link above). If you find any incorrect information provided, please kindly send us an email. So, what can you really do astrophotography-wise with the SpaceProbe 130ST?

An expensive, high-quality, low-aperture eyepiece is necessary to get the most out of the SpaceProbe 130ST. But it will not look like that when the telescope is point-, ed in other directions. Typically, this adjustment will rarely, if ever, need to be done. At the price of SpaceProbe 130ST, you can get aSkyWatcher 6 Dobsonian. Remember, once the mount is polar aligned, the. Tilt one screw inline with the focuser axis, then adjust the other two by the same amount in the same direction. You will need a specialized eyepiece for that. Would you recommend another 5 f5 reflector over this one?

If you are a beginner, dont go for an EQ mount. circle for the centered object before moving on to the next one.

Note that, the tripod and mount have not been moved; only the telescope tube. Since your secondary mirror is pointing below the green arrow (below the primary mirror end of the tube assembly), it needs to be tilted upward a bit.

You should see the secondary mirror, centered in the drawtube, as well as the reflection of the pri-, mary mirror centered in the secondary mirror, and the reflec-, Dual-speed crayford focuser for orion refractors (3 pages), Equatorial newtonian reflector telescope (16 pages), #9851; equatorial newtonian reflector telescope (16 pages), Equatorial maksutov-cassegrain telescope (19 pages), Equatorial refracting telescope (16 pages), Skyquest xti intelliscope dobsonian telescopes (24 pages), Orion 10022 starmax; 10012 skyscanner; 10013 goscope telescopes (15 pages), 100mm equatorial refracting telescope (16 pages), #9862; 100mm equatorial refracting telescope (16 pages), #9826; equatorial maksutov-cassegrain telescope (15 pages), Equatorial maksutov-cassegrain telescope (16 pages), Manual will be automatically added to "My Manuals", UsingYourTelescope-AstronomicalObserving, Telescope Orion SpaceProbe 130mm EQ User Manual, Telescope Orion SPACEPROBE 130mm EQ Manual, Telescope Orion StarMax 102mm EQ Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion AstroView 120 EQ Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion AstroView 120ST EQ Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion 10026 XT6i Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion SkyQuest 10135XT12g Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion SkyQuest 10134 XT8g Instruction Manual, Telescope ORION 10022 StarMax Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion 100 EQ Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion StarMax 127mm EQ Instruction Manual, Telescope Orion 180mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Instruction Manual, 10269 Collimating The Optics (Aligning The Mirrors), StarBlast II 4.5 EQ Collimating The Optics, Shorttube 4.5" EQ 9083 Collimating The Optics (Aligning The Mirrors), STARBLAST 6/6I Appendix A: Collimating The Optics, 9527 Collimating The Optics (Aligning The Mirrors), SPACEPROBE 130mm EQ Collimating The Optics, SpaceProbe 130mm EQ Collimating The Optics, SpaceProbe 3 EQ 9039 Collimating The Optics, SKYVIEW PRO 120 EQ Collimating (Aligning The Optics), Observer 90mm Collimation Of Your Telescope's Optics, SkyQuest XX12g Collimating The Optical System, Ritchey-Chretien 8268 Care And Cleaning Of The Optics.

Can all of this just be corrected using tilt followed by rotation as Vic said in post #3?

Then ensure the laser or cross hairs are on the center mark, again, after fixing rotation and inadvertent tilt. When you're ready to get a laser--at least consider a good one Edited by jwpkrfan, 13 November 2019 - 08:45 PM. Edited by jwpkrfan, 11 November 2019 - 06:46 PM. It also helps maintain your collimation signatures (and refined at the apex when you're close to collimation).



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