Review of a CFApos before handing it over to the customer

or: what happens behind the scenes when you buy a telescope from us.

 

This is how the telescopes arrive at our location.





The manufacturer provides a test report with this telescope.





The telescope is first checked as a whole on the test mount.





White dust has accumulated on the front lens. This is normal, as the dust cap has a white felt coating (see the following image) that creates this dust.







This dust can be easily removed with a blower or compressed air (please never use the one from the can, it leaves stains that are difficult to remove).




Since we have the artificial star for the optical tests at a distance of 12 m, but the telescopes are designed for infinity, we have to extend the eyepiece tube for the tests.





We also check the smoothness and precision of the eyepiece drive.





Our artificial star. The star is the small illuminated dot to the right of the red laser dot. We first insert a laser diode (i.e., a laser collimator) into the eyepiece and aim at the artificial star. This way, we don't have to laboriously search for the star later.





This is followed by an optical inspection with eyepiece focal lengths of up to 2.5 mm. A Ronchi test is also performed.





Finally, the sticker is added and the device can be handed over to the customer.