16
I
ENGLISH
For the 10” Dobsonian, you won’t need any tools
to tilt the primary mirror. Instead, simply adjust the
thumbscrews. Three of the thumbscrews are locking
screws, while the other three thumbscrews adjust the
tilt.
a.
Start by loosening all three of the locking
thumbscrews (Figure 21).
Figure 21:
For the 10” Dob, there are three spring-loaded collimation
thumbscrews that adjust the tilt of the primary mirror. The other three
thumbscrews lock the mirror in place once tilt adjustments are completed.
b. Adjust the collimation thumbscrews one at a time.
Each collimation thumbscrew is spring-loaded, so
you can rotate it clockwise or counterclockwise.
c. Continue adjusting the screws until the reflection
of the secondary mirror is centered within the
reflection of the primary mirror.
d. Re-tighten the three locking thumbscrews until
snug.
e. When you are finished, the view through the
collimation cap should look like Figure 16.
Your telescope’s optics are now aligned and ready for use.
You can also confirm a telescope’s alignment at night by
pointing the telescope at a bright star at high magnification.
Center the star in the field of view and slightly defocus the
star—it should appear like a circle with a hole in the middle.
(The “hole” is the shadow from the secondary mirror.) If the
hole is not centered within the circle, you’ll need to make
additional adjustments to collimation (Figure 22).
GOOD COLLIMATION
NEEDS ADJUSTMENT
Figure 22
: You can check collimation by defocusing a bright star centered
in the field of view and checking to see if the “hole” is centered. If it is not
centered, some adjustment is needed.
TRANSPORTING
Transporting the StarSense Explorer Dobsonian is
easy, especially considering its size. First, remove the
telescope tube from the base by loosening the altitude
tensioning knob and lifting the telescope tube. You can
carry the tube and the base separately by their integrated
carry handles. The handles are positioned to balance the
load, so neither component should be awkward to carry.
LOCKING
THUMBSCREWS
