I have been trying to use an OCAL running on my MacBook pro computer to collimate a Sharpstar 13028HNT hyperbolic newtonian and despite emails back and forth from the OCAl tech team, they really are not compatible. The issue is that no matter how you mount the OCAL camera to the Sharpstar using a direct connect to the 48mm Sharpstar adapter or the 1.25 collimating adapter, you cannot adjust the OCAL "circles" size and horizontal/vertical offsets to properly encircle the focus tube. And until that is done, you cannot collimate the scope. Has anyone had any luck using the OCAL with the MacOS download software to collimate their Sharpstar?
OCAL 4.0 Collimator & MacBook Pro a non starter?
Well written
I have the ocal 4.0 and a Mac. Never been able to get the sliders to work nicely. From memory I either manually entered numbered values into the slider number box thing or gave up and used a windows pc.
Just as a note on top of this, I also have this exact same scope and it’s very difficult to get reliable results with the ocal. After 8 months of trying I gave up and purchased a Catseye. Perfect collimation, and I mean perfect in probably 10 minutes. I also had confidence in what I was seeing unlike with the OCAL. My secondary had tilt that was undetectable with the ocal, which then there out the collimation of the primary to compensate. I also checked with my Baader laser and it said it was collimated, but it wasn’t. I stuck the Catseye in and it was nowhere near collimated.
Honestly I sold my ocal and I now use the Catseye. There is practically no alternative for this scope. it’s a lot easier in a way once you get the process down, because it’s instant visual feedback and no crazy software to deal with on my nice Mac laptop.
Hope this helps! Any other questions feel free to ask. I’ve been down this exact road with the SharpStar 13028HNT.
Helpful
JTSAN · Jun 14, 2026, 03:31 PM
I have been trying to use an OCAL running on my MacBook pro computer to collimate a Sharpstar 13028HNT hyperbolic newtonian and despite emails back and forth from the OCAl tech team, they really are not compatible. The issue is that no matter how you mount the OCAL camera to the Sharpstar using a direct connect to the 48mm Sharpstar adapter or the 1.25 collimating adapter, you cannot adjust the OCAL "circles" size and horizontal/vertical offsets to properly encircle the focus tube. And until that is done, you cannot collimate the scope. Has anyone had any luck using the OCAL with the MacOS download software to collimate their Sharpstar?
If it's a 2015 or older mbp you can install windows on it via bootcamp.