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Agena 1.25" Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece for Refractors
| Brand | Agena AstroProducts |
| Part Number | - |
| Availability | available |
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Product Info
Manufacturer Description
Is collimating your refractor a real chore? Collimating your refractor is quick and easy when you use this 1.25" Cheshire collimating eyepiece.
To use this eyepiece, simply cap the telescope, remove the diagonal, and place the eyepiece directly in the focuser. Use natural daylight or shine a flashlight into the side opening with the 45-deg angled silver plate. Look into the small opening at the top of the eyepiece. You will see one or more small faint circles (usually overlapping) near the center. Adjust the objective cell's push-pull bolts until the small circles merge into one. Thats it! With precise collimation, your refractor telescope will deliver the best image it can.
No additional instructions are included with this product, but you can easily find additional information about Cheshire eyepieces and their use on the internet. The dual images can sometimes be hard to see (especially in very bright or very faint light) but you will see them. As with most other telescope collimation/alignment procedures, use of this accessory requires patience and experience.
This Cheshire eyepiece fits in 1.25" focusers or in 2"-1.25" adapters. Weight = 2.8oz.
Please also note the following:
- Use of this item assumes that your focuser is aligned properly with your telescope tube.
- This item can only be used if your refractor telescope cell has a push-pull or other mechanism to adjust the lens elements. It will be of no use with fixed cell objectives that cannot be adjusted.
- You may notice a small dimple on the angled silver plate. This is a manufacturing artifact and not a defect. This will have no impact on its performance.
Reviews
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May 26, 2019
Short Cheshire collimating eyepiece
Pros: Cons: Comments:I bought this item to work with a short range magnifier as a refractor collimation tool. It works well for this application.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
May 13, 2019Worked Perfectly
Pros: Cons: Comments:This Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece was very simple to use ... a very bright image even with a small LED flashlight. I thought that the reflections might be difficult to interpret, but they were quite sharp, and I was able to accurately align my 7" f9 APO refractor lens in about 10 minutes. An exceptional, well-made product.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Apr 24, 2019Excellent Cheshire
Pros: Cons: Comments:A friend recommended this for refractor collimation, despite already having a long tube Cheshire I tried this one.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
The relatively tiny view hole and rubber eye cup really helped make refractor collimation much easier. Typical Agena Astro high qualiy machining and anodizing raised the value per dolar as well.This review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Jul 23, 2018great tool
Pros: Cons: Comments:I was able to use this eyepiece to align a focuser that was out of alignment.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
I thought I had to collimate the lenses but this eyepiece saved me the extra effort.This review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Jun 12, 2018Works very well, the reflection
Pros: Cons: Comments:Works very well, the reflection is clear and well centered. I found that the crosshairs do get in the way, but they're very easy to remove by unscrewing the ring that carries them.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Dr. Ski Well-Known Member
- Skill Level
- Unknown
- Time with Product
- Unknown
- User Notes:
- Review by Dr. Ski of Obscure Philippine Island.
Sep 25, 2015Slick!
Pros:Accurate
Cons: Comments:They say that the focuser needs to be properly aligned to the optical tube, but I found this not to be the case. I used this on my ES 102 Achro and had no problem aligning the circles by adjusting the push/pull bolts on the objective lens. The aligned image was slightly off-centre in the crosshairs of the eyepiece so I loosened and tightened the 3 screws which attach the focuser to the tube until the circle was centered with the cross-hairs. CA was greatly mitigated! I no longer need to use my #11 filter to remove purple fringing at high x. What a great gadget!
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
rmscott59 New Member
- Skill Level
- Unknown
- Time with Product
- Unknown
- User Notes:
- Review by RMS of NorCal.
Nov 1, 2014Simple, effective!
Pros:Easy to Use,Strong Construction,Lightweight,Compact,Accurate
Cons: Comments:If you own a refractor and want to squeeze every drop of performance out of it, you need this product to ensure it's collimated precisely! Improved the views in my 120mm and 150mm refractors!
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Paul Schofield New Member
- Skill Level
- Unknown
- Time with Product
- Unknown
- User Notes:
- Review by Paul of North Carolina.
Jun 9, 2014Worked fine
Pros:Strong Construction,Accurate,Lightweight,Easy to Use
Cons: Comments:I was able to check the collimation and correct the focuser alignment on both my refractors. It was easy to use and the instructions were given right on Agena's website. Thanks again Agena Astroproducts.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Apr 8, 2014Cheshire Collimation Eyepiece and ES AR1
Pros:Quality Lenses,Easy to Use,Accurate,Lightweight,Strong Construction,Compact
Cons:See Review
Comments:I bought a ES AR152 6" refractor about a month ago. When I got it one of the push screws in the lens cell had fallen out inside the dew shield.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
I bought the Agena Cheshire Collimation Eyepiece to check and make sure that it was still collimated. I tried it but was having a hard time seeing the donut becuase of the crosshairs in the eyepiece. I found a post on the internet that said just unscrew the crosshair piece and it would work much better. I did and it does.
I have no trouble seeing the donut now. When I put the screw back in inially I tightened it down to the same level as the other two push screws. I found that I had to back out the screw I put in by about a 1/32 turn. Took a look and it was perfect.
Saved me from buying another Cheshire with out the crosshairs. It works great now.This review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Oct 6, 2013Easy as.. pie!
Pros:Strong Construction,Lightweight,Compact,Easy to Use,Accurate
Cons: Comments:Although I'm a 'casual-recreational' astronomer - I've been at this hobby for a long time and have quite a collection of scopes, so I bought this to check out my refractors. It is very easy to use and quickly shows how well collimated your telescope is.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Jul 28, 2013Very easy to use
Pros:Strong Construction,Easy to Use,Compact,Accurate,Quality Lenses,Lightweight
Cons: Comments:This is easy to use, can collimate my refractor in the daytime. Just cover the objective, put the collimation eyepiece in the drawtube, and fix a light source to shine into the side hole, I used a flashlight. I adjusted the cell a small amount until the two circles were inside each other. A very useful piece of equipment, and for the low price, is an exceptional value.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
BillyThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Apr 18, 2013Easy as...
Pros:Accurate,Compact
Cons: Comments:So easy to use. I knew from star tests that my optics were in great alignment and this proved it. According to a laser collimator I have the optics are out of alignment...yes sometimes can't beat the old methods.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Mar 22, 2013Refractor must have
Pros:Compact,Accurate,Easy to Use,Strong Construction
Cons: Comments:If you own a refractor buy this eyepiece. It works just as described. Easy to check your collimation, just slip the eyepiece in with the objective lens covered and the paterns are obvious. I was able to improve the collimation on a 80mm refractor without a collimatable lens cell at the focuser. Not as easy to do but it worked well all because of this great little collimation tool. Its real easy if your lens cell is adjustable. Any refractor can benifit from this eyepiece.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
spongebob New Member
- Skill Level
- Unknown
- Time with Product
- Unknown
- User Notes:
- Review by Spongebob of New Jersey.
Nov 30, 2012Easy as a first check.....
Pros:Compact,Easy to Use,Lightweight
Cons: Comments:Once you realize how to use it, its a good beginning to test your refractor. You can see a very small concentric ring, but there after you should do a star test for best results. It's very light and inexpensively built.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Sep 22, 2012Agena 1.25" Collimating Eyepiece for Refractors
Pros:Lightweight,Easy to Use,Accurate
Cons:Difficult To Focus
Comments:I have been told many times that it is very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to collimate a refractor and that I should not even try. That is until someone told me about this product. It is an inexpensive and pretty easy way to collimate. I needed an easy way to collimate after cleaning my filthy lense and this product allowed me to do that. I didn't give it 5 stars because I can't get the crosshairs to focus well. Not sure if it is just mine or an issue with the product. But all in all it made a huge difference on my scope.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Sep 22, 2012Useful tool
Pros:Lightweight,Easy to Use,Compact
Cons: Comments:I have used this to check collimation on 4 refractors, with results that correlate with the image quality in each. It helps in making adjustments. Make sure the reflective part is square with the hole in the side. It can move if the top gets loose, but it's easy to fix.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Feb 24, 2012Works well
Pros: Cons: Comments:This product works well for collimating a refractor. The reflective surface could be larger to add more light for collimating.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
dvoprvb New Member
- Skill Level
- Unknown
- Time with Product
- Unknown
- User Notes:
- Review by dvoprvb of Plainville, CT.
Aug 11, 2011Hey! Give it a try
Pros:Easy to Use,Accurate,Lightweight,Strong Construction,Quality Lenses
Cons: Comments:Easy to use. If you have push pull collimation on a refractor this is the item for you!
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
May 28, 2011Simple Fast and Accurate Collimation
Pros:Simple,Quality Lenses,Accurate,Compact,Use by Beginner,Strong Construction
Cons:None
Comments:After hours of frustration, couldn't collimate an 8 inch Reflector using a "popular" laser collimator...better results came from setting up by "eye"...tried this collimator (bought to collimate a Refractor!) Simple, easy, did the job in 5 mins...very easy when you know how.... AND have a good Collimator.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
Thanks Agena Astro....a very happy customer.This review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
May 28, 2011Razor sharp alignment tool
Pros:Easy to store,Day time use,Strong Construction,Accurate,Simple to use,Compact
Cons:None
Comments:This works great on Refractors that allow collimation and fits easily in a standard eyepiece holder.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
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