Hotech Advanced CT User manual

HOTECH COOTION
9320 Santa Anita Ave. #100
Rancho Cucamonga, A 91730
U.S.A.
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DATE: June 21, 2019
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QUANTITY DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE AMOUNT
1 HLC-925: HyperStar Laser Collimator for 9. 5"
& 11" $530.00 $530.00
Hypersar telescope, includes a fine adjustment stage.
S/N: 7998
1 HTGL-G3: Astro Aimer G3. Green laser with flashlight. $119.95 $119.95
S/N: G08758
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1 -Clip: Astro Aimer Belt Clip. $15.00 $15.00
1 V-Mount-01: Astro Aimer V-Mount. $15.00 $15.00
1 VMT-RB: V-Mount Rail Base $12.00 $1 .00
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TOTAL
$691.95
n/a
$15.95
$707.90
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Instruction Sheet
ADVANCED CT LASER COLLIMATOR for CASSEGRAIN T LESCOPES
Thank you for purchasing the state-of-the-a H TECH
Advanced CT Laser Collimator instrument. This instrument
uses the most advanced laser and optical technology to
enable the user to achieve excellent collimation in a ve
sho distance. Collimation is the process of aligning a
telescope's optics. The laser collimator makes the
collimation process more eicient and can increase
collimation accuracy. Your telescope is aligned at the
factory, but harsh handling during shipping can cause
misalignment. Some telescopes are not well collimated
when shipped. Misaligned collimation can mean lessened of
optical efficiency and result in poor image contrast,
astigmatism, and blurry images. The following describes
how to collimate your Cassegrain style telescope with the
aid of the Advanced CT Laser Collimator.
Please read the entire instruction sheet before using your Advanced CT L ser Collimator
Be aware of the following as you use your Laser Collimator:
Only turn ON your laser(s) when you are going to use it. The laser should only be used with adult supeision, and should only
be used for collimating a telescope. Never point the laser or the reflection of the laser collimator at anyone's eyes. These
instructions cover collimation of Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes, but most Cassegrain type instruments are collimated in similar
fashion. For telescopes with both adjustable secondary and primary mirror (e.g. Ritchey-Chretien type telescope), please email
or call us for details. All lasers on the collimator are class II ( <1 mW). For additional information, please visit our website,
www.hotechusa.com, or write us at [e-mail].
Collim tion Basics You Must Know Before Sta
What to Adjust:
The only user accessible collimation adjustment on a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope is the seconda mirror via three screws.
Therefore, you only need to adjust the three alignment screws located at the front of the telescope behind the secondary mirror
(see illustration below). For ease of manual adjustment, we recommend replacing the stock alignment screws with knob headed
screws (available from several vendors) to allow easier, finer adjustment.
Collitor
Lar 1
cal s
r 3
r 2
r 1 return
FIG.1
conda rror Pri rror
Mirror
How the Collimator Works:
The Advanced CT Laser Collimator samples the entire optical system (primary, seconda mirror, and the eyepiece axial
position) with a si m u l ated la r ge a p eure flat-wavefront light source generated by three parallel lasers positioned behind the
ta rg et p l ate . T h e ta r ge t p late provides a clear view of the optics ' alignment condition when the three lasers are reflected back on
t he targ et (FIG. 1 ). I t is e x tremely critical that the lasers are pointed s q uare-on ( co-aligned ) to the primary mirror for an accurate
r e ad i ng. I t is u st li k e looking at a distant star and centering the star in th e ey e piece field of v iew during a star test, except the
star is only a b out 3 feet in fro n t of the telesco p e .
Advanced CT Laser Collimator User's Manual (vB), pa e 1 of 7

To ensure accurate aiming, you use the d ffused crosshair projected from the center of the collimator as a guide to optically
center aim the prima mirror back to the center of the collimator (FIG. 2A), and center aim the return crosshair reflected from
the prima mirror to square up the collimator aiming (FIG. 28). Please expect to spend most time on these aiming adjustments.
Be patient and careful; the results will be well woh the trouble!
How to Adjust Collimation on Your Scope:
You can collimate your telescope at almost any position (e.g. telescope 20 deg. up) as long as
both the collimator and the telescope point square at each other. Once the lasers and
telescope are co-aligned, adjust the telescope's three secondary alignment screws carefully by
small amounts to move the three projected laser dots to the same bull's eye circle on the
collimator's target.
Process Flow ha:
1 . Set collimator distance
2. Install reflector in the telescope's visual back (2-inch or 1.25-inch as appropriate).
3. Aim telescope at the collimator (FIG. 2A)
4. Aim collimator at the telescope (FIG. 28)
5. Adjust secondary to move the three laser spots onto the same circle on the target.
Package Content:
1 x Premium Soft Caring Case
1 x Advanced CT L aser Collimator
1 x SC A R eflector M irror ( 1 . 2 5 " or 2" )
1 x 3V, CR1 2 3 L ithium B a  e 
1 x U sers M anual (in co v er po c ket)
Advanced CT Laser Collimator User's Manual (vB), p ge 2 of 7

1.0. Settin the Laser Collimator on the Tri od
1.1. Where to setu the telesco e and the collimator
Position both collim tor and the telescope on solid ground (no carpeted, wooden floor, or other suace that will flex or vibrate).
Both telesco e and collimator must be on the s me round floor.
1.2. Setu the collimator on the tri od
). Aach the fine-adjuster to your tripod using the tripod's 1/4-20 bolt.
b). A ch the laser collim tor to the recommended fine adjustment stage
using the thre ded knob on the fine-adjuster and the -20 screw hole
on the boom of the collimator.
c). Lock the collimator firmly in place with the lock-knob on the fine
adjuster's 1 /4-20 bolt.
2. . Gettin Familiar with the HOTECH Advance CT Collimator
2.2. Switchin the laser to the ro er mode
Unthread the baery compament cap and inse the included CR123 lithium bae with the
positive side up (tip side up) and replace the b tte cap.
BL: B cklight ON.
CL: Three alignment l sers and b cklight ON.
rocedure for best result.
Other modes:
DT: Three alignment lasers ON.
1 L: Crosshair laser and backlight ON.
Please use the recommended mode in e ch
Position the collimator on a tripod bout 4 feet from a white wall with the t rget side facing the
wall. Rotate the rot ry knob on the top right corner of the collimator to activate different laser
modes. You will see the projected laser paerns on the w ll t v rious positions.
Mode 0: Unit off.
Mode 1 : Cross h ir l ser ON.
Mode 2: Crosshair laser and three alignment lasers ON.
Mode 3: Crosshair laser, three alignment lasers, nd t rget backlight ON for night use.
2.3. Rou h adiustment
Switch the laser to Mode 2, lift the tripod and move the collim tor with the tripod to v rious
distances from the wall to see how the crosshair exp nds and contracts in size t different
dist nces.
2.4. Fine adiustent sta e adiustment
Place the tripod with collimator b ck on the ground. Adjust the fine- djustment stage s follows:
Veical Adjustment:
- Th e larg e knob on r ig ht i s for ro u gh ad j ustment in the veical direction. L oosen the l rge knob
a nd le v el the laser before conti n uing.
- Th e foar d small k no b is for ine adjustment in the ve  ic l (up / down ) direction. The large knob
must be lo c k ed i n order to make to use this fine djustment.
Horizontal Adjustment:
- Th e l e ft side smal l kno b is for fine adjustment in the horizont l (lef  right ) direct i on.
Advanced CT Laser Collimator User's Manual (vB), p ge 3 of 7

the Reflector Mirror:
If the telescope is to be used mostly for visu l obseation, it's a good idea to collimate with your star
diagonal in place. Ple se note th t a poor quality diagonal, one with a misadjusted mirror, may
cause collimation problems. However, if photography or CCD imaging is planned, it is best to inse
the SCT mirror directly into the telescope's visual back. You will first, of course, need to thread your
visual b ck onto the telescope's rear po. Use either a 1 .25-inch or 2-inch visual back depending on
the size of the nose piece mirror you purchased.
4.0. Positionin the Laser Colli ator at the Pro er Distance
a). Position the collimator one tube length's distance in front of the telescope with
the target display facing the telescope (photo above).
b). Switch the collimator to Mode 1 (crosshair laser only).
c). Roughly aim the crosshair toward the telescope.
d). Experiment with the proper distance by lifting the tripod and collimator and
moving the collimator slowly toward and away from the telescope while keeping
the reflected crosshair on the target plate. Don't wor about getting the
crosshair peectly centered on the target at this point. You will see how the
crosshair contract and expands in size on the target plate in relation to the
distance adjustments.
e). Move the collimator to the distance where the crosshair is its smallest. This is
the back focal point of the prima mirror. Now, begin to move the target
towards the telescope until the crosshair exp nds to the size of the first ring.
f). Firmly position the tripod at this distance. This will be your collimating distance.
e
The distance between the laser collimator and your
telescope varies depending on the diameter and focal length
of your telescope. In general, the greater the distance from
the telescope, the higher ccuracy you will achieve. In
practice, any dist nce beyond the focal distance will be
suicient. In this procedure, we will identify the best
collimating distance for the telescope .


5.0. Achievin
This is the critical stage where you must co-align the collimator and your telescope for an accurate reading of your optics
alignment. DO NOT use the center of the seconda mirror assembly as a crosshair centering reference since the secondary
mirror might not be peectly centered on the corrector plate. Referencing the center of the secondary as the pointing axis does
not mean the rima is also on the axis. You can use it as a uick ross aimin , but not for final aimin adlustent.
Usin g a single-point light source emi  ing from the center of the collimator, the telescope can optically reference the reflected
li g ht and aim back to the source. The primary mirror reflects a filled cone-shaped beam and projects onto the collimator ' s
target plate as a donut shape beam (seconda mirror shadow in the center ) . Reference your ad j ustment only on the outer
d i ameter of the donut light beam to an e q ual-sized printed ring on the target. This techni q ue will optically center aim the
telescope to the collimator.
a ). Place the provided diffuser (ma  e-finish tape) in front of the center crossh ir l a ser to diffuse t he l ser .
b ) . U se the telescope ' s fine ad j ustment knob or its hand control to center im the donut light beam to an equ l or similar-sized
ring on the target .
c ). Li ne u p o n e a xi s at a t im e , up / down or lef  right, unless yo u are very f amili r w ith your telescope iming control.
F or example, mo v e the telescope up down ad j ustment to see where the donut light beam moves , and try to make j ust t h e
top and bo  om of the donut have the equal distance to one of the ring on the target.
Then a djust lef  ri g ht controls of the telescope to see where the donut light beam moves, and try to make just the left and
right side of the donut have the equal distance to the s me ring on the target.
d . Iterate ste c to close in the don u t on the s me rin .
Advanced CT Laser Collimator User's Manual (v ), page 4 of 7

SCTOTA
FIG.
Note: If the diffused light is too dim to see, you m y remove the diffuser and use the outer
edge of the crossh ir line as the s me referencing technique s the donut outer rim to line
up with the equal-sized ring on the t rget. Ignore the position of the crossh ir line to the
printed target cross in this step.
For example, when centering the lefright position of the horizontal outer edge l ser line,
ignore the veical crossh ir line offset position to the veical printed line on the target pl te.
Only t to bring the left nd right outer edge of the projecting horizont l laser line to equal
distance on the ring during this t sk. See photo illustration.
5.2. Aim collimator s uare to the telesco e
After the telescope is initi lly center imed t the collimator in step 5.1, the collim tor will also requires to pointing b ck at the
same origin to complete the co- lignment. In this step, you will djust the iming of the collim tor by referencing the projecting
crosshair to the printed cross on the target.
a). Remove the diffuser to see the projecting crosshair.
b). Use the fine adjustment knob on the fine adjustment st ge to refine the collim tor iming to line up with the printed cross
on the target pl te.
c). Again, line up one axis at time. St  with up/down djustment, then lefright adjustment.
d . Place the diffuser back on the center laser to see if the donut Ii ht be m is still centered. If not, re
Advanced CT Laser Collimator User's Manual (v8), p ge 5 of 7

5.3. Co-alignment confirmation
Continu to repeat the procedures in step 5, adjusting telescope and collimator until the donut and the crosshair are all
centered on the printed target. When you achi v this, it means both the telescope and the collimator are pointing square at
each other; for all intents and purposes, it's as if the t l scop were pointed at a distant star. Lock your telescope and you are
ready to diagnose your optics.
t th c Ir It f R
t R d th o·
60 H . ow
0 ea
e raqnos re esu on e o
ra or
With the telescope and collimator properly positioned in St p 5, the collimator can accurately reveal collimation errors in the
tel scop 's optical system by m ans of the center deviation of thr e r turning laser dots on the target plate.
6.1. Locate the three laser dots
a). Switch to Mode 2 or Mode 3 (three lasers and the crosshair, or Mode 3 with backlight).
b). V rify that th crosshair is still cent r-pointed on both the target plate and the Alignment Tabs (or internal screws in the
case of a Meade scope).
c). Note the three laser dots on the target plate.
d). If the three laser dots are visible on the target plate, go to step 8 to collimate the telescope.
). If th thr laser dots are not visibl or ar only paially visibl on the target plate, please continue 6.2 and/or 6.3.
6.2. The SCA Reflector is not properly adapted
a). The SCA R fl ctor reflects the axial alignment of your visual back (or focuser draube with some types of telescopes).
You must install the SCA Reflector correctly (square in the visual back or drawtube). This axial position of the visual back
or draube affects the alignment of the entire optical system (telescope). Please refer to step 3 for proper SCA Reflector
installation.
b). If you have verified the SCA mirror is correctly installed, but the three laser spots are still completely or paially invisible,
continue to the next step, otheise go to step 7.
6.3. The SCA Reflector is not positioned at the focal because the scope's focus is out of normal visual range
a). This can happen if the telescop was last focused with a diagonal in place (and it is not installed now), or a focal reducer
was in the optical train the last tim the telescop was focused. The focal plane is too far out, and is not at the normal
visual position it would be in if the t lescope w re focused without a diagonal or focal reduce . If you do not want to use
the diagonal during CT collimation, you will need to adjust the telescope's focus. Continue to step b).
b). Adjust the focus to bring at least two laser dots into the full view on the target plate. Adjust the focus in one direction first
to see if any of the laser dots are moving toward the center direction of the target. If the laser(s) is moving or expanding
away from the center of the target, reverse the focusing direction to bring at least two laser dots into the full view of the
target plate. Go to step 7 to collimate your telescope.
6.4. Your telescope is grossly out of alignment
When your telescope is grossly out of alignment, the laser dots may be completely out of the target screen. If you believe this
to be the case, begin the collimation process anay and se if you can bring the three laser dots into the target screen. An
excellent check for a grossly miscollimat d scop is obs  ing the refl ctions of th telescope mirrors by looking directly down
the tube. Y ou will have to move the scope in a z imuth to do so, of course. Turn off the laser before proceeding. Proceed to step
7. 0 .
7 O Collimatmg the Telescope
The ob j ective of this step is to brin g the three laser dots onto the same ring on the CT collimator's target. You will need to
constantly check telescope and collimator positioning during the ad j ustmen t process to make sure proper aiming is maintaine d .
H er e are few simple precautions to follow while ad j usting the seconda  mirror collimation ad j ustment screws located on the
secondary mirror assembly.
a. N e v er touch the central screw which holds the seconda  mirror (usually only older S CTs will h ave this central screw).
b. T h e three screws must be turned in by very small amo u nts. N o scr w b ing over-tight ned or t otally unscrew d. ALWAY S
colli m ate by tightening screws ON LY . O nly when a screw is snug should you loosen the opposi t e screw(s ) to continue
mo v ing the original screw in the proper direction. If collimation screws ar loose, collimation will not b maintained for long !
c. As y ou ad j ust the collimation screws, obse  e the laser spot positions on the collimator to determine which screw(s) to turn,
and by how much.
7 . . Collimate y our telesco pe
a) . Ad j ust the a l ignment screws to bring the three reflected laser dots onto the same ring on th target.
). I f you cannot br i ng a ll t hr ee l aser dots onto the target same target ring becaus the dots ar t o o far apa  , adjust th foc u s
to m er g e the three laser dots closer together.
c ) . Check for proper aiming of the collimator and the telescope in step 5 .
T he telescope mig h t shift in position if you apply too much pressure during seconda  mirror a d justment. Y ou must doubl
check whether you have nud g ed the telescope pointing out of co-alignment.
d) . Iterate step 7 . 1 until both the three laser dots are on the same track on the targ t and the coll i mator and telescop are still
co-aligned.
Advanced CT Laser Cof/imator User's Manual (vB) page 6 of 7

8.0. Verifying and Fine Tuning Collimation
9.1. Star test to verify the adjustment
a). On your fir t obseing es ion, tar te t the tele cope to verify the adju tments.
The Advanced CT La er Collimator hould bring excellent collimation to your tele cope. Minor adjustment might be
required due to temperature variation during a long obseing e ion.
b). Choose a medium bright tar--Polaris i good in the Nohern Hemi phere. Defocu the scope a lile, just until diffraction
rings are seen. The tar hould look like a lile bull' eye.
Carefully center the tar and ob ee the diffraction ring . If they are concentric, collimation i good. If they are "squashed"
on one side, collimation require fuher adju tment.
9.0. Pos ible Scenarios where the Laser Collimation Does Not A ree with Star Collimation
It is pos ible that during collimation ( tep 7), the co-alignment of the collimator and the tele cope wa lightly off causing an
incorrect diagnosis. It i very critical to en ure both the collimator and the tele cope are co-aligned.
Do not adjust the collimation screw . Go to tep 5 to verify the co-alignment of the collimator and the tele cope and check if
three laser dot still fall on the same track. If both condition are met, your optical y tem i in good condition meaning they're
all lined u well on the ame o tical axi . If not, continue to the next te .
Due to machining tolerance on the prima mirror and improper grea ing on the baffle, ome tele copes exhibit more mirror
flop then others. A slight loo e tolerance will cau e major axial alignment deviation. The Advanced CT La er Collimator is
sensitive enough to pick up any deviation in tep 5. Prior to adju ting the econda alignment crew , ob ee the hifting
position of the three laser dots on the target by making two full turn clockwi e of the focu knob, then rever e half turn. The
shifting of the laser dots during the rever e turn tell how much focu hift is pre ent in the tele cope.
If the displacement is more than 2 track di tance, we recommend a rear cell Craord focu er to the tele cope (these are
available from man sources for focu in adiustment, leavin the built-in focu mechani m untouched.
We recommend replacing a poor visual back with a higher quality model (2-inch back are generally beer in quality than the
1.25-inch models furnished with SCT ). If the tele cope u e a rear-cell focu er, it' po ible to replace a poorly aligned one
w ith ne w hi g her gr ade eyepiece drawtube or a focu er that ha tip / tilt adju tment to correct the axial error . F or example, a
M oo nli te CS model , o r special modified focu er available from our web ite. Plea s e email or call u for availability.
Advanced CT Laser Collimator User's Manual (vB) page 7 of 7