collimation of Lightbridge 8inch

[laumar]

need help, thanks I am new to astronomy.
After hours on the internet I decided to buy the Meade Lightbridge 8inch.
The question I have is:
I followed all the instructions regarding collimation.  What I noticed is that the small circle on the primary (bottom) mirror is not in the center of my view.  Is this normal, or should it be centered? 
Looking at the instruction page it looks like it should.  I don't want to do something wrong. 

Any help welcome

Marc

[rtanton]

Hi Marc,

It should be centered.  A good read on collimation is at:  http://web.telia.com/~u41105032/kolli/kolli.html 

Russ

[jlummel]

Another real good article on collimation that explains a lot of things in pretty plain language is:

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1648

It also has some of the best diagrams of what to expect when you look at the mirror alignment.

James

PS- as a side note, I had to replace the white ring at the center of my Lightbridge 12" as it was 3/16ths of an inch off center. This was enough to cause coma all the way across the field of view, all the stars had"V" shaped rays of light coming off of them (in all different directions). Most owners of Lightbridge telescopes that I'm aware of have had this problem with the white ring being off center and have needed to re-spot the mirror. The red triangle in that article I linked to above is one of the alternative center spots you can replace your white ring with.

[provencial]

A Cheshire Collimator will make collamination alot easier for you. I use one and I feel it out preforms the fancy laser collaminators!
I purchased mine at ScopeStuff for $39.00 price includes shipping, best money I ever spent!
Check them out at the below URL...

http://scopestuff.com/ss_coll2.htm