FLO

Good point...

More info on the current situation:

This post is essentially an update to one made earlier this month. Demand for astronomy equipment during the pandemic is very high. Higher even than Christmas! But whilst China have reopened, manufacturers are struggling with high demand, materials shortages and reduced shipping channels. A perfect storm! In an attempt to stay on top of the situation 'everyone' at FLO is working overtime. My own working day starts at 5am, seven days a week, and has done for a while. We have also employed two extra full-time people in dispatch (Nathan & Dan) and another full-time person (Alex) for the Helpdesk. Our biggest challenge is how to keep our websites stock availability indicators up-to-date and our customers informed during such a turbulent time. Doing this for Sky-Watcher products is especially difficult. We source most products direct from the manufacturer and hold stock at our warehouse but in Europe retailers must source Sky-Watcher products through a distributor. All communications to/from Synta (Sky-Watcher) are through a distributor. The distributor closed when the lockdown began then reopened with reduced staff. They are working hard in difficult circumstances to catch up but are only now finding how many products sold while they were closed and how little is coming out of China. It has not been possible for them to keep us regularly updated. Normally we practice a duck-on-water approach (calm on the surface while paddling like crazy underneath!) but we are past that. We are predicting it will take China 3-4 months to catch up so I think it important we share this with you (this situation affects all astronomy retailers) and ask you to please continue being patient until supply has caught up with demand. On a positive note. Interest in astronomy is at an all-time high and FLO has never been in such good health with a warehouse full to bursting and more staff than you can shake a stick at. Thank-you sincerely for your patience and understanding during these extraordinary times. Alex, Annette, Ann, Dan, Grant, Ian, James, Katie, Lisa, Martin, Nathan, Rob & Steve 🙂

They are here. We have stock of both models at our warehouse. Have just been soooo busy. Sorry 😟 It isn't only the CEM70. We have lots of new products piling up waiting for an opportunity to add them to our website and announce them.

Ooooh yes we are (said in pantomime voice) 😁 In my email to you this morning I said I’d ask the importer, and my colleague Rob in our workshop, to find some handles. I promised to update you later today or tomorrow morning. My colleague Rob came up trumps so when I email you again in the morning it will be to say they are in the post. Very odd though. Never in the last two decades has anyone ever had one delivered without handles. I guess there must always be a first. HTH, Steve

The shelf should have come supplied with the kit - drop us an email if you haven't already and we will double check what's happened here and get one sent out to you. We were only talking to Rowan earlier this week about the need to update our listings as a number of changes / improvements have been made so our photos and descriptions need to be updated to suit.

No problem. Thank-you 🙂 Steve

Both the new iOptron CEM70 models will be in stock at our warehouse within a week 🙂 I really must add it to our website... 😳 HTH, Steve

Never a dull moment 🙂

We are pleased to announce as of this week First Light Optics has taken over the manufacturing, ownership and distribution of all HitecAstro products and intellectual property. David Jackson, the man who launched HitecAstro over a decade ago, is looking forward to a quieter life where he can pursue not only astronomy but also his other hobbies (flying remote control aircraft and touring with his wife, Shelley, in their camper van). Dave built HitecAstro from nothing into a cohesive range of respected products. He also built a good reputation for himself within the industry. We want to thank him for his contribution to amateur astronomy over the years and for the legacy of impressive products he bought to market. Dave will continue working with us in a supportive role while we transition the products across and develop existing projects further. We look forward to revealing these new products over the coming months and years. For support and information please email us at support@hitecastro.co.uk

You might be right but I don't think so. The <£199 price-point for beginner telescopes is most attractive. Dobsonian telescopes are like television screens, wherever you start (4", 5", 6" or higher) it is only a matter of time before you want the next size up 🙂

The new Sky-Watcher Heritage-150P Flextube Dobsonian telescope is now in stock 🙂 Steve

It is aimed at the beginner astronomer so they want it to be easy and affordable.

We have edited the regular sales spell so hopefully it is more genuine and less 'zap-pow' 😁

Oops - meant 'collapsible'

We've just received our first stocks of the new Sky-Watcher Heritage-150P. This is sure to become the new best selling beginner telescope in the UK with the same great optics from the excellent Explorer 150P combined with the proven collapsible tabletop dobsonian mount of the Heritage-130P. This is an excellent beginner scope with plenty of aperture to be genuinely useful and a lovely size to make it portable and easy to transport. And, it's currently in stock!

We have some good news 🙂 Our warehouse say they received 5x pallets of Sky-Watcher stock this morning. Another 8x pallets are arriving tomorrow or Monday. Not sure yet what is included but, whatever it is, it will enable us to clear a lot of customer backorders 🤗 Steve

We source some Astro Essential products from China and some are manufactured for us in the UK. Unfortunately the Guidescope you ordered is from China and is delayed.

Now the EvoGuide 50ED. Ordered 65x but are receiving only 5x. Imagine the conversations we must now have with our customers. Some have been waiting since April 🥺 I don't want to be negative and I hate posting bad news. I only want to provide a snapshot of the situation that affects all Sky-Watcher dealers. We source from the same distributor so are all waiting for the same boats to dock.

Have just learned it is a similar situation for Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED Pro. Distributor says there were none on this shipment. Next shipment is arriving end-June / early-July 😳 This situation affects all astronomy retailers. We all source from the same distributor so are all waiting for the same ship to dock.

Thank-you for your kind comments 🙂 We continue to fulfil most orders in good time but when an order is delayed, the delay is often unexpected and eye-wateringly long. A good example from today: We have a lot of customers waiting for Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED Pro. Some have been waiting since April! We were expecting 38x to arrive today. We received.... One! 😖 Next delivery is 3-4x weeks away 😟

It will 🙂 We have LOTS arriving at our warehouse later this week. (At least I hope we have, it is difficult to be certain of anything during this pandemic). HTH, Steve

On a positive note - many of the extra sales are parents buying telescopes for their children 🙂

When the country went into lockdown we feared sales would fall off a cliff. We were wrong. The opposite happened! Sales of astronomy telescopes and accessories have increased dramatically. More than at Christmas and more than at any other time in our company's fourteen year history. Increased sales are of course welcome but servicing them during a pandemic is a challenge. China have reopened but manufacturers are struggling with reduced staff and materials shortages. There are also less shipping channels available. We have our own warehouse/distribution-centre so source most products direct from manufacturers and communicate directly with them. This enables us to more easily source and manage stock and keep our customers updated. Where we cannot source direct we are doing our best to work with the manufacturers appointed distributor and support them where possible. They are experiencing high demand with reduced staff and limited supply so it is difficult for them to provide us the information on availability we and our customers need. This lack of information means we struggle to display reliable dispatch estimates on some of our product description pages. At FLO we don't simply list everything 'in stock' or 'usually in stock'. We have invested in a grown-up inventory system that is regularly updated. Prior to the pandemic this worked very well (it still does for most products we source direct) but it is only as good as the information available to us. During the pandemic, some of our product ETAs are little more than educated guesses based on information provided by a distributor. Later this month when our government eases the lockdown businesses will reopen (we hope) and remote workers will return to their workplace. Things will feel 'normal' but the problems we are experiencing - lack of materials, fewer shipping channels, product shortages and lack of information - will continue for some time. Indeed we expect things will become worse before they get better. Manufacturers and some distributors will struggle to catch up with demand. Already some shipments are selling out before they dock or have less stock in the containers than predicted. The next 2-3x months will not be fun, for us or our customers. Please be assured we are doing our best to manage the situation and to communicate reliable information. I.e. we are working overtime (late at night, early in the morning and on Sundays). We are employing more staff (a full-time person for our Helpdesk and another at our warehouse). And when available we are holding more stock at our warehouse, including large/heavy items normally drop-shipped by distributors. Thank-you for your patience and understanding during these extraordinary times and please accept our apologies if your order is delayed or our dispatch estimates change without notice. Steve & the FLO team.

They do not have stock. They are only listing it. Though I guess that is one step further than us at the moment... We have several of both CEM70 models on order. We will post an update as soon as we know they have been released from the factory. HTH, Steve