Hmm. I haven't had an issue with collminating my Z10 really. I do have to do it almost every time I bring it out, but it's done in less than two minutes normally. (occasionally it is spot on without collminating)

My question is this. I have six screws at the bottom of the scope. They are two sets of three screws. One set is very lose and easy to turn when collminating. The other set is very hard to turn.

They look kind of like this, except they are hand screws, not Phillips screw driver screws. As you can see, three and bigger and two are smaller. Mine are this way also. I think the bigger ones are much harder to turn than the smaller ones.



Is this the way it is supposed to be? As I said, it really hasn't caused me to much trouble except sometimes it's very hard to turn them. (I worry about putting undue pressure on the mirror.)

I realize it's a little late for the advice, but for the benefit of those that follow:

I took one of the springs from my Z12 down to Ace Hardware to find a suitable replacement and walked out with three replacement springs for just under $3.00.

I have to collimate it after the ride to and from my local astronomy club's dark sky site, but that's about it. The upgraded springs make a big difference. They're strong enough that I don't even use the locking screws anymore.

-Steve

To answer your question, DCBrown, your scope looks a bit different than mine. My scope has white screws knobs (locking screws) and black knobs (collimation screws). Other than the difference in the heads of the screws, it looks the same as mine. Looks like the larger knobs are the collimation screws. If you make sure to loosen the locking screws before adjusting the collimating screws, you should be good.

-Steve

I took one of the springs down to Ace Hardware and found replacements for about 33 cents each. No mirror flop, no loss of collimation below 45 degrees, and I rarely need to collimate it after transporting it out to our club's dark sky site.

Highly recommended upgrade.