Telescope Fix It Session

Fix It Day, sometimes called the Telescope Tune Up or the Telescope Fix It program is a real simple service the SJAA offers to members of the community for free, though it’s priceless. The Fix It session provides a place for people to come with their telescope or other astronomy gear problems and have them looked at, such as broken scopes whose owners need advice, or need help with collimating a telescope.

Weather doesn’t slow this program down, so even if it’s windy, cold and rainy outside, Fix It day goes on. Big thanks to go Vini Carter for being the gear expert who faithfully make themselves available at Fix It day! (We acknowledge the passing of Phil Chambers, our SCT expert, a few years ago, pre-pandemic; we still miss him, his expertise and willing to help anyone with their gear.)

The session is held every first Sunday of the month, from 2 to 4 PM (coinciding with the Solar Observing sessions) at Houge Park.

Appointments have priority for service. Scheduling an appointment helps us to prepare what we need to bring in order to provide you with the best service possible, appointment sign up cutoff time is Sat noon before Sunday Fix It session
Fixing telescopes issues is the priority for Fix it sessions. Training on how to use equipment may be done if appointment is scheduled and Fixit staff have adequate coverage.
Sorry but, we are unable to disassemble telescopes to fix electrical issues with telescopes or disassemble telescopes to clean mirrors or corrector plates on the telescopes. (We may be able to give you instruction on how to do it so you can do on your own.)

Please fill out the form below to schedule an appointment to help us be better prepared to assist you.

See SJAA Event Calendar to the right for the next scheduled day.

Hi All,

I’m really glad to see we are getting more people involved in imaging and viewing. As you know, imaging requires a EQ (Equatorial) type mount. The EQ type mount can be a challenge for those first starting out to understand how to set it up: polar aligning and balancing the scope.

Here are some videos that I think will be of great help to setting up your scope. Dion is based out of the UK, but he uses a EQ6, an Orion Atlas mount and a Newtonian scope. Using a refractor is a very similar setup. I have found his videos to be very helpful. Let me know what you think after you watch them.

Thanks,Ed

Polar Scope Reticule Centering & Mods

Complete Mount & Scope Setup. PART ONE

Complete Mount & Scope Setup. PART TWO (Polar Aligning)

Complete Mount & Scope Setup. PART THREE (scope balancing)

Complete Mount & Scope Setup. PART FOUR (alignment & imaging)

Complete Mount & Scope Setup. PART FIVE (Cone Error)

A fair amount of our club members have Dobsonian and Newtonian style telescopes and have asked about how to collimate them. Here are links to some videos that are very detailed that show you how to do it.

Collimation Part 1