m37

That's a great site, a welcome resource.

Thanks from all of us frustrated UK astronomers. Very nice of you to give something back (again!).

Cheers

If the rain stops I will post first light images from the GT-81. If it stops. Ever.

Just wanted to give some good vibrations to Opticstar after a very pleasant experience. Problem with a manual filter wheel resolved politely and swiftly with great communication. Replacement was sent without quibbling and they even tested the fittings to make sure they were OK and sent some spare bits and bobs for the trouble. Also offered to refund return postage cost. Much appreciated and highly recommended. Top notch.

Didn't want to post a negative review of a supplier so I will stick to the facts.

Illuminated reticule ordered. Delivery was missed and a card left, I did get an email saying when the delivery slot would be which was in an hour. Handy, except I got it on the day of delivery so was not aware until I had missed it as I don't have mobile email (yes, still some of us left!).

Re-delivery was available but only on a day from 7am to 6pm and could not be tied down further than that without paying a premium which was no good due to work. I drove 20 miles each way to collect the item and unfortunately it was faulty. The illuminated section did not work properly.

I asked if a replacement could be sent by royal mail to avoid courier problems as it is a very small component. Their terms do state "Goods under a value of £70 are sent via Royal Mail," which this should have fallen in to at £58.99.

Customer service suggested I send a photo which they could forward to Skywatcher to get a replacement sent directly to me but I thought this might be long winded with the supplier involved so opted for a straight swap. I prefer to deal with the supplier, not the manufacturer. Return bags are not offered (unlike FLO who send out pre paid jiffy bags and Opticstar who offered to refund my postage without any prompting) so I have paid £4.90 recorded delivery to get it back without risk of further damage in transit.

Hopefully this will sort it but my £59 reticule eyepiece plus postage plus jiffy bag plus return postage plus petrol has ended up costing me more.

I asked them for a comment before posting in case I was just unlucky (no company can get it right 100% of the time) but two days later and nothing has arrived in my inbox.

Comms were not as fast as Opticstar, Astronomiser or FLO - responses from TH came in 1 or 2 days. They were also very much to the point, one email simply saying in its entirety "regret we do not offer return bags. Regards." Factual but not very polite.

This is not explicitly stated in the faulty goods section of the terms and conditions, paying return P&P is only covered where you change your mind about a purchase which I consider quite reasonable. The faulty goods section reads:

Not the worst service ever but was not as pleasant as it could have been. I would not use them again when comparing the various points about communications and returns policy with other companies I have used. Not paying return postage for faulty goods is not the level of service I expect.

thanks

Just had a less than great experience with another of the 'top' suppliers so thought I would redress the karma by giving a big up to FLO. Unsurprisingly Steve and the FLO crew have advised me on a focuser upgrade, sourced the part that they don't usually stock at the same price as other retailers, and sent me a video link to help with installation. Just going that little bit further than the competition in my opinion based on a few recent experiences.

First Rate Optics more like.

cheers

Like everyone else I can only go by my experiences. I've had really great service from FLO, quick responses, replacements with no arguments etc. I have had a really positive experience with Opticstar too but I think FLO has a better range and more brands on board. Both seem to be really good reliable suppliers.

cheers

Hi and welcome.

Only just saw this. Downloaded and about to have a read and a cuppa. Thanks mate.

I use 10 X 1.2V rechargeables to power my Synscan AZ. Just go to Maplins and you can get a pack to connect then up.

I then used the connector from the supplied 8 X 1.5V pack to wire up. The 10 pack will just fit in the leather/plastic pouch provided.

I simply strap the pack to the base of the arm which holds the scope.

Gives me at least 4 hours power and eliminates "cordwrap" problems.

Also put a 5kg flat dumbell weight on the centre tray- this keeps things nice and steady and is OK to put your EPs on too.

Nice tip on the batteries matey. Never thought of that! I use the old counterweight from my Newt for this too. Makes a massive difference.

As a noob who has recently bought a scope on this mount I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. After just a couple of weeks of using the setup I can now get aligned in about 10 minutes. That includes slewing back and forth across the sky 2 or 3 times so I don't think that's too bad.

I kind of approached it a different way. I look for a couple of bright-ish stars (I've found they don't need to be the brightest) on opposite sides of my vista.

I find out what they are with my tablet running SkEye software and then select the first from the list. I've changed the sort order in the handset so it's alphabetical rather than descending brightness. Helps me find them quickly. I try to select 2 stars that start with A, or A and Z etc. This means you're selecting and slewing to the next one before the tracking goes too out. You can scroll up from A to Z as well as down from A to B.

To minimise the time between the first and second star I centre the first one THEN press enter to register that star. Then I pick my second already identified star from the list and slew to it. Centre that and I'm good to go. I can then relax and have a fag while fine tuning it - I just pick a couple more in the middle of the sky, select enhanced precision option (ESC then hold ESC), fine tune their alignment with the arrow keys and press Enter to register the tweaks.

I've found that I can go to , for example, Altair to Arcturus for alignment, then fine tune with Tarazad (sp?) and maybe Rasalhague. I do one final Altair to Arcturus check and I really find that to be pretty much spot on enough to find, say, M15, M13 etc.

I started with a 25mm eyepiece, then when I got more slick at it I moved to a 10, then a 10 with barlow and now I use Sharpcap with reticule to get it majorly spot on. I was actually surprised how accurate it is, I was expecting it to be in the eyepiece but a bit off to the side.

The main thing that helped on top of practising was a powertank. Got the Maplin 5 in 1 and I noticed a different noise from the gears straight away. It is clearly delivering the required juice and alignment has got even better since I started using it.

I think a couple of weeks just working between a few main stars is worth it to get a quick setup, reliable GOTO and pretty much hassle free spotting.

Oh, and I keep my rig in the shed so from the time I get it out to the time I am installed, levelled, setup and aligned is about 20 minutes.

I know this is not exactly a current thread (pun intended) but I bought a Maplin 5 in 1 today and spoke to the bloke in the shop about battery life.

Basically, he said the instructions should be followed to the letter (carry out initial 38 hour charge and never let it fall near the red, always charge between uses) and it should be fine.

If it's being stored it needs to be charged every 2 months, and I believe the light stays red and doesn't go green; it's just a mains light. You have to just charge it for the stated length of time then stop charging. Not ideal but I will be posting back about performance over an extended period.

This probably isn't much use to anyone with an already dead battery but I thought it might be of use to someone.

cheers