OPT University
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United StatesThe Hubble Optics Hubble 5-Star Artificial Star may served its intended purpose fo night use, but it did not that well for me at daytime inside the house. Collimation when smoothly with the bigger diameter star when I used my C-8 at 400x, but when I switched to the smaller diameter the star was too dim. It may work better at night, but I need the collimation done at daytime before I star my night session. Bought the AstroZap, the star is smaller and brighter.
It produced the artificial star image I needed to collimate a refractor but it uses batteries too fast and illuminates all 5 star openings even if you just need one. It would be much nicer if the LED corresponding to the star you want could be selected and the rest turned off. Also would be nice if an external power supply could be added so I dont go bankrupt buying aaa cells.
Over all the items works and allowed me to touch up the collmination of my SCT's secondary mirror. However I find the little magnet mask supplied with it is hard to get to stick to the surface to cover the unwanted stars. You have to mess with it to get it to stay on.
It works, but I don’t know for how long. Made from VERY cheap materials. At least build it in a metal flashlight frame. Metal LED flashlights this size are a dime a dozen. You are basically paying for the laser-drilled plate of holes.
I tried for about 45 minutes to find the right distance for my 8" RC to focus on it. Couldn't find it. Ended up using the peep hole in my front door with some paper and a toothpick sized hole in it, and that worked. So I wasted my money on this product. It may suit Refractors much better.
It’s a very simple device, just five white LEDs, each illuminating a differently-sized small hole. Construction quality is adequate. (If it were an LED flashlight without the hole plate it’d cost 3 bucks.) Its one flaw is that the hole plate is bright aluminum rather than dark, so that the space between “stars” is much brighter than in the real night sky, which unnecessarily reduces contrast. Black-anodizing the plate would be a nice touch.