Baader Planetarium Laser Colli MkIII (laser collimator) LASER

I am a beginner amateur astronomer, but I know quality when I have used it. I originally bought a less expensive laser collimator as I did not think it was necessary to have a more expensive model to collimate, especially an entry level scope like I had but I was wrong. The first collimator I bought did not work effectively at all. I went ahead and paid the extra for the MKIII and it is amazing. I use it every time I observe. It is precise and is incredibly easy to use. The laser is nice and bright. If you use reflector telescopes and have trouble collimating, this wonderful tool will solve your problems.

The factory collimation Phillips screws on a Celestron NexStar Evolution 8" EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope were replaced with knurled knobs, so the secondary mirror had to re-collimated. The first attempts at collimation by eyeball were fairly good, and the rings of Saturn and bands on Jupiter were visible, but the images were not quite as good as with the original factory collimation. I ordered the Baader Planetarium Laser Colli. Setup was simple and when I turned on the colli laser, I was pleased that even with my previous rough eyeball collimation, the laser return dot appeared on the colli's grid plate, albeit off-center. Adjusting the scope's new knurled knobs to get the dot centered was very easy and quick, and I was excited for nightfall to come so that I could see the results. After turning on and aligning the scope, I set it to go to Jupiter. I was immediately disappointed that the giant planet was a fuzzy blob and the four visible moons all appeared to have "angel wings". I changed out the eyepiece for the laser colli, and discovered that it's return laser dot was not centered again, so I quickly adjusted the knobs and re-centered the dot on the grid. Replacing the eyepiece, I found the same results - blobby Jupiter and angel wings on it's moons. I repeated this several times, and each time I reinserted the laser colli, it's dot was off-center. I took extra care thereafter to ensure that the colli was fitted up tight against the focusing barrel before tightening the set screws, but even so, getting the dot centered upon reinsertion of the colli was not repeatable. I noticed that the body of the laser colli was noticeably smaller than the scope's eyepiece barrel and the tolerances were pretty loose; just tightening the setscrews caused the laser dot to skew across the aiming grid. I spent over an hour going back and forth between the laser colli and the eyepiece, and could not improve the images at all. I finally gave up on the laser colli, and aimed the scope at a star and defocused the eyepiece - within minutes, I was able to adjust the knurled knobs and bring the unfocused star image rings into concentric alignment. Focusing back on Jupiter, it's fuzziness was gone and the moons no longer had wings. Jumping to Saturn, I could again see the rings. The Baader Planetarium Laser Colli has been returned.

Mine showed up with loose parts rattling around that had to be tightened down. Specifically, the laser lens assembly and keeper ring.It takes three ultra-tiny watch batteries that are rather difficult to get into the collimator's tiny, long, slender battery compartment correctly. Why didn't they choose to go with a larger single 3V lithium battery or at least some MS76/367 batteries? They would have been MUCH EASIER to cope with than these uncommon, tiny little buggers.And the return laser target is squared with the body instead of angled, like so many of the others. It is impossible to see the return-target from the back of a typical Newtonian telescope.Save your money and get the HotechUSA crosshair collimator instead. It is a MUCH-BETTER designed and built unit.I had thought that Baader Planetarium always made top-notch stuff but this collimator sure isn't a good example of that. Looks like it was made in China on a bad day.

I have several laser collimators, and this was one of the more expensive collimators I have purchased. It produces a decent beam, but not any brighter or tighter beam than less expensive models. The body is well made, and imparts a feeling of quality, but the meat of the unit, the laser, fails miserably. My first laser body in the unit fell apart after very little use. I called the US Baader representative and they said there were no replacement parts, and the unit was out of warranty. I attempted to find other laser bodies that would fit into the collimator, but they were as cheap and flimsy as the one that was in it when I bought the unit. So, not I have a collimator body in pristine condition, and no laser in it, which makes it useless.