[Chaos-l] ES Comet Hunter Repair Experience

[Mark Montazer]

Just wanted to contribute my experience with Explore Scientific to the
group as I know at least one of us (Tony G) has an identical scope to mine.

I purchased a new ES Levy Comet Hunter earlier this year and though it was
generally fine, I was having trouble with collimation. My experience with
customer support could have been better. It took a really long time to
convince them that something was wrong but once I did the process went
smoothly and rapidly.

The symptoms were that the locking screws within the primary adjustment
thumbscrews were not functional and adjustments didn't feel natural. After
receiving a new set of components from ES, I removed the mirror-cell from
the tube and disassembled it.

The first thing I noticed was that the mirror retaining clips were really
tight. ES customer service said the mirror be slightly loose and able to
turn a little. The next issue was that the opposing adjustment screws were
installed far too tight by the factory. They were actually bound to the
adjustment screws and would back out when making adjustments.

After a quick mirror de-dusting with an air bulb, I reassembled everything
according to ES customer support directions. Collimation (with both
peephole eyepiece and SCA laser) went very smoothly. It went from way off
to the best collimation yet in a matter of a minute or two. Preliminary
results look very promising.

The problem shouldn't have existed in the first place, but at least
everything got resolved. Hopefully my experience can be of use to someone
else in the future.

Mark
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