ac498
Magic Lens Pen
A new-technology optical cleaning aid.
 

The Magic Lens Pen is an amazing new way of removing grease spots and moisture marks from your telescope optics and eyepieces. One end has a useful long fiber retractable brush - the other, a soft pad that dispenses a special non-abrasive cleaning powder. The results, even on stubborn blemishes, can be amazing. Please note that this product must not be used on any mirrors used in telescopes or telescope accessories.

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lcleaning
Basic telescope maintenance and cleaning kit
A useful kit to help care for your telescope and accessories
 

The kit contains 1x blower brush, 1x bottle cleaning fluid, 1x pack cotton buds, 1x pack acid-free lens cleaning tissues, 1x anti-static general cleaning cloth, 1x watchmaker's screwdriver (for adjusting T-mounts etc), 1x small-component tweezer. The kit is packaged in a handy white plastic box for convenient storage, and is supplied with full instructions.

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major
Major telescope cleaning kit
A versatile kit to help care for your telescope and accessories
 

The kit contains 1x "hurricane" blower bulb, 1x bottle cleaning fluid, 1x pack cotton buds, 1x micro-fibre cleaning cloth. The "Hurricane" blower alone makes this kit worthwhile - it's many times more efficient at dislodging debris than the puff from a typically blower brush and this makes it ideal for the larger tasks presented by telescope optics. The micro-fibre cloth can remove blemishes and be machine-washed for years of service.

The kit is supplied with full instructions.

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ac566
Deluxe Optical Cleaning Kit for all telescopes, eyepieces, CCD,
digital and other cameras

The kit comprises: 1x high-precision CO2-powered gas blower, 3x CO2 refill cartridges, 1x Lens Pen dry powder lens cleaning tool, 1x Micro-fibre cleaning cloth, 10x cotton buds. The kit rounds-up some of the most modern and efficient optical equipment cleaning tools available. A disposable miniature CO2 cartridge drives the high-precision gas blower. The 95mm (3.75”) long flexible blower tube is a mere 1.6mm in diameter at the tip - perfect for getting into small nooks and crannies.

From strong blast to gentle puff, the precise trigger-controllable gas jet is ideal for removing dust and debris from eyepieces and electro-photo equipment like CCD cameras and webcams. The Lens Pen is the same model as our popular AC498 detailed above and has an almost miraculous way with finger marks and grease spots. Also included is the micro-fibre cleaning cloth - great for general precision-surface cleaning tasks. Supplied with full instructions and packaged in a handy foam-fitted attaché case. Additional refill gas cartridges are available separately.

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cleaning
Meade telescope maintenance and cleaning kit
A useful kit to help care for your Meade ETX and LX telescope and accessories
 

As well as cleaning material, this useful kit contains spare parts and tools to help keep your Meade scope in factory condition. The kit contains 2x nylon viewfinder screws for ETX, 2x nylon viewfinder screws for LX type viewfinders, 2x imperial eyepiece holder screws (for ETX & LX) 2x metric eyepiece holder screws (ETX60 & 70AT). 5x imperial hex keys (all important ones for ETX & LX) 1x blower brush, 1x bottle cleaning fluid, 1x pack cotton buds, 1x pack acid-free lens cleaning tissues, 1x anti-static general cleaning cloth, 1x watchmaker’s screwdriver (for adjusting T-mounts etc), 1x small-component tweezer. The kit is packaged in a handy white plastic box for convenient storage, and is supplied with full instructions.

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coat
Scope-Coat
for popular sized refractors Custom telescope shower and dust cover

A top quality custom-fitted cover to fit popular sized refractors on German equatorial mounts. Made from tough shower and mould-resistant polyurethane-coated nylon and with double-stitched seams for long service. The Scope-Coat is the ideal long-term indoor dust cover that is also tough enough for short-term outdoor protection e.g. at star parties. Easy to put on and take off. Featuring fitted Velcro retaining straps to minimise wind-wear and achieve a snug dust-resistant fit. The material is moisture-resistant and yet breathable enough to allow a dewed-up scope to be covered and still dry thoroughly. Supplied in nylon storage case. Please note: the Scope-Coat is not suitable for long-term telescope protection.

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Description

Stock code

Price (GBP)

All 1.25” Eyepiece holders

The LaserDream Deluxe laser collimator

AC568

54.99

star
The PicoStar
LED and fibre-optic artificial star

No it's not something for indoor astronomy on cloudy nights - it's an aid to achieve perfect collimation! The PicoStar uses fibre-optic technology and a super-bright white LED to generate a less than 50 micron diameter artificial star. Simply place the PicoStar at the recommended distance for the aperture of your telescope (eg for a 250mm [10"] scope the distance = 19m [62']) and you can begin collimating without worrying about clouds or needing to track a star! Supplied with instructions. Supplied with photographic tripod mounting plate and full instructions

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laser
The LaserDream Deluxe laser collimator

The LaserDream is a modern telescope-optics alignment tool that utilises a solid-state laser module for precise collimation of the optical components of a telescope, to obtain the best possible performance in terms of image contrast and resolution. The collimator body has a 45 degree target face and viewing port that allows Newtonian reflectors to be adjusted with great convenience. Can be used with refracting and reflecting telescopes. Supplied in a shock-proof storage bottle. Full instructions and mirror-centring aids included.

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pkit
1.25” Universal Eyepiece Protection Kit

The Universal Eyepiece Protection Kit is designed to provide lasting care for some of your most valuable astronomical assets. The kit comprises three special universal-fit shock-proof bolt bottles that will fit 1.25” eyepieces ranging from 40mm to 130mm long and up to 50mm in diameter. The helical screw bolt bottles feature a die-cut foam insert that helps protect your eyepiece from shocks and bumps, and ensures a snug fit for an amazingly wide range of eyepiece sizes. Also included in the kit are 3x 1.25” soft black vinyl eyepiece end caps and 3x eyepiece holder dust plugs.

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AC598
2” Jumbo Universal Eyepiece Protection Kit

The Jumbo Eyepiece Protection Kit is designed to provide lasting care for some of your most valuable astronomical assets. The kit comprises two special universal-fit shock-proof bolt bottles that will fit 2” eyepieces up to 195mm long and up to a massive 83mm in diameter. The helical screw bolt bottles feature a die-cut foam insert that helps protect your eyepiece from shocks and bumps, and ensures a snug fit for an amazingly wide range of eyepiece sizes. Also included in the kit are 2x 2” soft black vinyl eyepiece end caps and 2x 2” eyepiece holder dust plugs. Don’t be deceived by the photo, the eyepiece pictured to add scale is a 2” Tele Vue 35mm Panoptic - when we named these eyepiece cases “Jumbo” we weren’t kidding! (The expensive Tele Vue eyepiece shown is not included in the price - but you knew that anyway. Yes you did!)

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Price (GBP)

All 1.25” Eyepiece holders

Colli-Mate Deluxe combined Cheshire and sight tube collimating eyepiece

AC656

37.99

ac656
Colli-Mate Deluxe combined Cheshire
and sight tube collimating eyepiece
Simply the best, most precise, visual tool for collimating your telescope

Much has been written on the respective merits of laser collimators over sight tube and centering eyepiece tools for collimating telescopes - it is certainly true that the primary function of telescopes is for looking through and not shining lasers through and it certainly makes a lot of practical sense to use collimating aids that rely on the principle of eye-views. Aligning the mirrors seems easy enough in theory, but in practice it can be difficult without the proper tools. A common way of establishing “rough” collimation is to simply remove the eyepiece and look down the focuser tube to center the mirror reflections. The accuracy of this method is not very reliable. For one thing, there is no way to be sure that you are looking straight down the focuser tube. Another problem is being sure when the reflections of the mirrors are exactly centered, and merely peering into the focuser like this is not precise enough; the reflections may appear to be centered when in fact they are not. The Colli-Mate Deluxe collimating eyepiece will take care of both of these problems, allowing you to achieve precise collimation without the guesswork and thus improve your telescope’s performance.

The Colli-Mate Deluxe collimating eyepiece is a combination of a sighting tube and Cheshire eyepiece. The sighting tube’s narrow field of view and crosshairs provide a centering reference for the telescope’s optical elements. The Cheshire eyepiece has a means of providing illumination to a target face (set at 45 degrees to the illuminating hole) that will be used to collimate the primary mirror.

The need for user-collimation most commonly applies to Newtonian reflectors and Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes (SCTs) though the collimating eyepiece can be usefully employed with refractors, Maksutov-Cassegrain and other telescope designs.

A useful feature of the Colli-Mate is the addition of an engraved target on the polished target face. This is useful to check the accuracy of the position of the focuser (on Newtonian instruments in particular), as the reflected image of the wire crosshairs at the bottom of the eyepiece tube should be perfectly superimposed on the engraved lines on the target face. (No other collimating eyepiece that we know of has this feature).

The AE Colli-Mate Deluxe combined Chesire and sight tube collimating eyepiece offers an ideal solution to keep your Newtonian or other telescope in perfect collimation. The Colli-Mate Deluxe has an anodised blue finish and is supplied with full instructions.

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Description

Stock code

Price (GBP)

All 1.25” Eyepiece holders

Colli-Mate collimating eyepiece with “glow-in-the-dark” target face

AC649

7.99

ac649
Colli-Mate collimating eyepiece
A simple to use centering eyepiece with a “Glow-in-dark” target face

When you just need a quick ultra-simple and convenient way to check your Newtonian telescope’s collimation, there’s nothing better than our Colli-Mate eyepiece. Simply expose it to a light for a few seconds and pop it in the eyepiece holder. Thanks to the photoluminescent target face, the small centering hole is easy to see in total darkness and makes light work of checking the collimation of your telescope. The Colli-Mate can be used in daytime too. The Colli-Mate is supplied complete with full instructions.

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