acreutz

Having seen an eVScope at a star party in Borrego Springs, we were very taken with it. Asked a bunch of questions of Unistellar Support and they were very responsive. So, ordered my eVSCope on April 8, 2021, and it arrived very quickly -- I had it in my hands on April 15. That was a surprise! Charged it up, turned it on, and, well, no joy. "Your version of this application is too old. Please, update your application to communicate with your eVscope." OK, went through Google Play (I use android) and assured my self that I had the very latest version of the app (released in December, 2021). Contacted Unistellar support and they were quick to respond that this was a known issue and that the issue was with the software on the microSD card; and sent me a replacement. That took a week. New card arrives, and the eVScope will not boot. Contact support again and very quick to respond, and told me that they have had issues with cards not actually having been flashed (i.e., the card was likely empty). They would rush me another replacement. That was a week ago. Very friendly and responsive in support; not so much in the technical group (located here in California). The technical group is not even repsonding to support on the issue. I offered to flash my own card if they would make the microSD card image available, but they refused (not really unreasonable on their part). Still waiting, and they don't work on weekends -- strictly a 9-to-5, 5-day-a-week outfit. At the price of the scope, I guess I would hope for more capacity in the company to work issues. It is a startup and has been crowd-funded. Reading this forum is actually sort of comforting since I have worked with alpha and beta companies a lot as a consultant and as an angel investor. I just wish they had been more upfront about the ability of the company to deliver stable product. I am OK at being in the beta program. BUT, I did pay about $5,000 for the scope; and THAT bothers me if I am in the beta program. "Patiently" waiting for a response on getting an updated card. And, then, hopefully, the scope will be fine (I see issues with a variety of things here, but hopefully that is a matter of those few problem-situations rise to the top in a forum like this and, hopefully, are not indicative of a wide-spread lack of quality control or serious design/manufacturing issues.