FLO

@vlaiv The FOV charts now show the 8” f12 Classical Cassegrain. 🙂

That is interesting because I liked mine and am struggling to think of another similarly priced 2” eyepiece series with better performance. Steve

Your comment started quite a debate between myself and some colleagues 🙃 You see, in our earlier days three of us at FLO have owned and used a number of these eyepieces with f5 & f6 Newtonians and liked them a lot. Speaking personally, I used the 30mm in a GSO 10" Dobsonian (both badged Revelation) then later in a Skyliner 300p. The views were wonderful. I remember Pleiades fitted the FOV beautifully when used with the 10" and only the outer 25% of the FOV softened. It was tack sharp where it mattered. It is true the edge sharpened when used with a slower focal-ratio telescope, like a SCT, but that is true for pretty-much any eyepiece. So with this in mind we are saying: "Suitable for telescopes with focal-ratios f/5 or slower (optimum performance achieved around f10)." All the eyepieces are covered by our 30-day return policy so if someone doesn't agree, they can easily return it for refund 😇 Steve

I don't think anyone has tried one yet but they should be. The sensor size would sit comfortably inside the illuminated field.

I think they are priced about right (was expecting £270-300). I guess it depends though on what we compare them with. The William Optics 0.72x Reducer costs over double and the Explore Scientific 3" 0.7x Reducer costs roughly the same. They do cost more than most reducers designed for smaller aperture telescopes and Sky-Watcher's own Flatteners for Esprit 120 & 150. We will receive our first stock delivery Mon/Tue. We will then make some photographs so comparisons can be more easily made. HTH, Steve

I will be surprised if they do not release one for the Esprit 80 & 100 but they haven't provided details. Will post here as soon as they do. Steve

Sky-Watcher have released new optically-matched 0.77x Reducers for their Esprit 120 & 150 triplet refractor telescopes 🙂 Sky-Watcher 0.77x Reducer for Esprit 120ED Triplet Sky-Watcher 0.77x Reducer for Esprit 150ED Triplet

@vlaiv Asked the same question earlier in this thread. We will measure the field stops then update our product descriptions where necessary.

Done 🙂 "For best performance use with telescopes with focal-ratios f10 or slower." Measuring field stops and updating the FOV charts will take longer but will be done. Thank-you for the info. Steve

At FLO when announcing StellaMira or StellaLyra products we always share who manufactures them. The information is available here and on our website 🙂 I think it highly likely other major brands source from the same factories but they don't share that information so I cannot confirm. HTH, Steve

@vlaiv @John As you know, these GSO manufactured eyepieces have been on the market for many years in one form or another. But they are new to FLO. We added them to our website only yesterday so if either of you notice any specifications that need correcting please let me know 🙂 Steve

There are a lot of new products in the pipeline, from a number of manufacturers 🙂

We switched off the $ & € buttons only because they caused confusion. They were provided in the hope our non-UK customers would find them useful. The prices they displayed were based on the daily currency exchange-rate, which varies. Also payment providers like Paypal, Visa, etc, apply their own currency conversion rates so the amount paid differed slightly to the price displayed on our product page. Only by a small amount but enough to cause confusion. HTH, Steve

They haven't set a date, they say only that it will be this month. I guess they will stop distribution when stock in their warehouse has cleared, along with any remaining incoming stock. HTH

Our Celestron prices will be fluctuating for a few days because the Celestron distributor we normally use is closing. The new (to us) distributor has provided a new price list. We imported it into our inventory system which initially set everything at RRP. That was earlier today. Now we must work our way through the products, series by series, accessories too, setting them to something more realistic. By the end of tonight they will make more sense but it will probably be another week or two (after we have run some price comparison reports) before they settle. This is something that affects all specialist astronomy retailers. Not just FLO. Please feel free to email price-match requests. HTH, Steve

During the pandemic it is almost impossible to say what is/isn't trending because sales of virtually all astronomy kit have gone through the roof! Astronomy is an ideal hobby for someone stuck at home during a lockdown. Also experienced astronomers unable to holiday abroad are using the money saved to upgrade. The only fly in the ointment is manufacturers are unable to keep up with demand. I expect things will settle down when a vaccine becomes readily available, perhaps 6-12 months. Steve

Also, to compliment the new eyepieces, a StellaLyra ED Deluxe 2x 2" Barlow Lens 🙂

Manufactured by Guan Sheng Optical (GSO) in Taiwan 🙂 StellaLyra SuperView eyepieces Many here will recognise these eyepieces. They are a well established design. Fully multi-coated edge-blackened optics in a machined aluminium body with rubber grip & smooth nosepiece.

Cough 🙂 The Bresser Messier 6" Planetary Dobsonian telescope is now in stock at FLO. Steve

As requested 🙂 Bresser Messier 6" Planetary Dobsonian telescope In stock.

Sorry to hear you feel that way. I can assure you that was not his intention. Ian is not a fob-you-off kinda guy 🙂 HTH Steve

That is NOT FLO's stock response. It never has been. Ian first thought it could be firmware related so suggested ZWO support might provide some input. It is normal for us to ask how the camera is powered because most apparent faults are related to power supply. Your camera was then collected and tested in our workshop. We concluded it was performing to spec. No. They are not! 🙂 ZWO, QHY and ToupTek are not all the same. They are three entirely different and unrelated manufacturers. It is okay to choose the cheaper product. It is not necessary to bash other brands in an attempt to justify your choice. Steve

In Summer 2019 Ian King joined FLO and his 'Ian King Imaging' website became Ikarus Imaging. We built Ikarus Imaging to ensure Ian's customers had continued access to the same high-end mounts, cameras and telescopes and could continue speaking directly with him via phone or email. We soon learned most IKI customers were also FLO customers so didn't feel the need for a separate website. They wanted everything under under one roof so all products have been moved into FLO. After a rebuild, the Ikarus Imaging website will become home for the Ikarus Imaging Observatory in Castilléjar, Spain. It will also showcase the products, services and tuition we provide to our educational and commercial clients. If you are a new or experienced astrophotographer looking for advice or an educational or commercial organisation wanting someone to project-manage an installation upgrade or new observatory build. We can help. Ian's contact details are unchanged and can be found at the Ikarus Imaging website. Tel. 01392 791001 Email. info@ikarusimaging.com Thank-you for your continued support. The FLO / Ikarus team 🤗

Welcome to SGL @Samuel Khodari I am guessing you are posting from outside the UK. In the UK most ZWO cameras are purchased at FLO. We have a workshop with two full-time staff and on the rare occasion a camera requires returning to ZWO, if it is a current model and in good condition, we simply replace it. (Warranty claims are rare so we can afford to be generous). We chose ZWO because their cameras are part of a mature, well designed, modular system and are supplied with all the adapters you are likely to need to achieve correct spacing. Their drivers, firmware, memory buffer and USB-3 are very stable so new cameras can be added with little or no drama. Also the ZWO ASIair, which is also regularly updated, has some nice features and is compatible with everything in the ZWO family. We cannot speak for QHY or ToupTek (aka Altair Astro, Orion, etc) cameras because we don't sell them. HTH, Steve

No problem but Johninderby is right, if the spider-vane is bent please check the rest of the scope for damage and keep the box/packaging for a while. It will then be easier for us to collect if necessary.