Joe, if you get the new knobs and can't get it collimated by then, definitely bring it to Mat's house for the next ATM session. Loads of ATM and engineering horsepower there and I'm positive you'll come away with perfectly-aligned optics. If Mat, Jeff, Josh, Jay, Charlie, and others, can't fix it- it can't be fixed! As I've been easing myself into digital imaging, I've been sticking with my ED refractors, even though I have larger SCTs and Newts at my disposal, mostly to eliminate one variable while I'm learning- collimation issues. On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 5:19 PM, Joe Bauman via Utah-Astronomy < utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:

Hi Chuck, The secondary was crooked because I had screwed in one of the adjustment bolts too far. I thought I could adjust it by fiddling with the bolts but it didn't work. Then I took the corrector plate off, took out the secondary mirror tube and adjusted the mirror so it was fairly even. Finally I made a collimation mask and took all out to the desert again. But I couldn't get the process working right and managed to get the mirror too lopsided again. Now I've ordered a second set of collimation knobs (one of the first set broke) and I'll try again. I am pretty sure it's something I can fix, but it's been most frustrating. Thanks, Joe