FLO

With the Covid-19 pandemic in mind we are making some changes to the way we work at FLO to protect our staff and prevent the spread of the virus. Most changes are internal. I.e. installing paper towel and soap dispensers, routinely disinfecting bannisters, handles, light switches, and so on. The usual stuff. More notable though is we will not be attending astro events from now until June 😷 We are also restricting order collections from our warehouse. If it is necessary for you to collect an order please contact us first. We hope you will agree these precautions are necessary and well-intentioned during what is an unusual situation. If only caffeine had anti-viral properties... ☕🤗

'Normal' is all relative 😁

Thank-you for your comments but whilst the majority of products are held at, and dispatched from, our warehouse we do still drop-ship where it makes sense. I.e. large/heavy items like Dobsonian telescopes and mounts. We do it because they then run the courier gauntlet only once. Steve

A number of customers have expressed concern for us. Asking if we are okay. If we are affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. The situation has caused us some logistical headaches but nothing we cannot handle and sales remain good (astronomers know they are unlikely to catch anything worse than a cold while in their garden at 2am). Stock at our warehouse is good, the wheels are turning again in China and our plans to introduce new products (lots in the pipeline this year!) are unaffected. If one of us were to catch the bug (there are ten of us at FLO) plans are in place to ensure we continue dispatching orders to customers. We are in good health. So too is Stargazerslounge, Clear Outside and Astronomy Tools. We hope you are also well and that you, your families and colleagues are unaffected. Thank-you for asking 🙂 Annette, Ann, Grant, Ian, James, Katie, Lisa, Martin, Rob & Steve.

In the trade those prices are called 'Spoilers'. It is an ungentlemanly tactic employed by weak retailers when they don't have stock (in the astro retail world I can think of only one retailer who does this). It is intended to spoil or take sales from those retailers who do have stock. FLO has never displayed spoiler prices but is often the victim of them. Steve

😲😬😢 As I type this, FLO is listing 7000+ unique items and in her warehouse there are 9,650 individual items. In stock. On the shelves. Ready for dispatch. You are forgiven 😁 Steve

The wheels are turning again, albeit slowly 🙂 We have a HUGE delivery from iOptron scheduled to arrive next week. Deliveries from all our Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers have also either arrived or are incoming. We are not yet back up to speed but I think, for the majority of items, we will be in 2-4 weeks. Thank-you again for your patience and understanding during what was an unusual and unexpected situation. Steve

It was the largest I could comfortably move around the garden single-handed as targets moved across the sky 🙂

I don't. I don't think I ever needed to mod the Alt movement. A little grease on the black disks (fitted to the side of the OTA) perhaps? I was thinking during my drive into work today about a Skyliner 200p with mods vs the more expensive Bresser Messier 8", which is arguably already pre-modded. For around 12% more there is the larger Skyliner 250px... 🙂 The choice is not mine but if it were and the budget were flexible then I would favour the larger 10" aperture, without mods, over a smaller model with mods. HTH, Steve

Mine was a manual solid-tube Skyliner 250p but I think the 200p model is essentially the same design. The plastic washer/discs are cut 3-4" wide (milk bottle cartons aren't large enough to make them wider) and slip over the central bolt, between the two round mdf panels. As you increase the number of washers you reach a point where they 'lift' the telescope slightly, taking some weight off the existing teflon tabs. It results in a nice smooth Azimuth action. It might not be worth doing the same for the smaller/lighter 8" model but it is an easy mod and won't cost you anything to experiment, assuming you already drink milk 😁 Steve

@AliP80 Please don't think you have to mod' a Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200p. Many owners enjoy modding a scope to enhance performance, but most don't. FWIW my favourite mod for a traditional non-motorised Sky-Watcher Dobsonian was to fit several large washers - cut from a plastic milk carton - around the central bolt to achieve silky smooth stiction. I also recommend at some point you upgrade the 10mm eyepiece, because the one included is pants! I agree with others here who say the Dobsonian is a better buy than the 130M/EQ2. HTH, Steve

With binoviewers it is normally lack of in-focus that can make it difficult to achieve focus. In truth I don't know but if you email us details of your binoviewer / filter-wheel / diagonal we will do our best to answer your question. Steve

It is not user collimateable. Es is currently checking every telescope but that is more for our own peace of mind (StellaMira is our brand so we are being extra careful). Long Perng (the manufacturer) ED doublet cells are practically bomb-proof so I don't think you need be concerned 🙂 HTH, Steve

FLO is the UK’s largest ZWO stockist. We are not neutral. We chose ZWO and have no regrets. If we had been unable to source ZWO then we would probably have chosen QHY. I don’t think it fair I say more than that 😇 HTH, Steve

The ZWO ASI 290MM is back in stock 🙂 They are not the same 🙃 Altair cameras are manufactured by ToupTek in China (we stocked ToupTek cameras for a short period a few years back). ZWO cameras are manufactured by ZWO. Different companies. Different designs. Different manufacturing facilities. HTH, Steve

It looks like it was caused by something inside the case. Not an impact from outside. Anyhow, it isn’t one of ours so I will exit the stage 😊 Steve

That appears to have been caused by something inside the case poking out. The scopes piggy-back mounting screw (on top on the tube-ring) does occasionally do that during transit but then the hole is roughly in the centre of the lid. I don’t think I have seen one in the corner. Have you purchased it from us? If yes then we’ll happily arrange collection/replacement. HTH, Steve

ZWO have reopened so the wheels are turning again, albeit slower than usual 🙂 The Chinese lockdown has resulted in record numbers of customer back orders at FLO so we want to say a genuine and sincere ‘thank-you’ for your patience and understanding during this unusual situation.

It still looks rather messy! 😕 Some supplier/manufacturers remain closed. Some have reopened and have begun dispatching, but not manufacturing. Some have staff working remotely from their homes but of course are unable to manufacture. One company was able to reopen but because many of the roads are closed, their staff are unable to travel to work. Thank-you for your patience.

Probably. We have a Lakeside Motor Focuser fitted to ours but I cannot think of any reason why the Sesto Senso V2 should not fit. We will check...

Comparing fit and finish, StellaMira telescopes are more 'William Optics' than 'Sky-Watcher'. The difference is noticeable when you compare their product photos and even more so when you handle them. If this matters to you - and you don't mind the price difference - then buy a StellaMira. Optically, both Esprit and StellaMira telescopes are capable of very high performance. Es' says StellaMira's optics are "more consistent" on the bench than the Esprits. More than that I cannot say 🙂 Steve

He's a good man 🙂 Steve

Mondays are extra busy for most retailers so if you emailed them during the weekend they might need a little longer to find and reply to your email. Steve

Yours clearly is faulty. I am confident your supplier will want to send you a replacement. If they are unable to do that then contact Bob at Telegizmos 🙂 HTH, Steve

This is an old discussion so it took me a while to find the info 🙂 Back in Dec 2018 @Jkulin shared with us the following from an email he received from Bob at Telegizmos: "... the seams are sealed without tape. The first step is the inner solar liner is "pulled" into the seams during the sewing process. The second step is the type of thread we use...it's a UV treated nylon that chemically reacts to a sealing chemical that expands the thread to fill any voids left that the solar liner penetration misses. Actually very effective. But oddly, not opaque...as in light can be seen through it. The track record of the 365 Series over the 12+ years they have been produce backs up the success for this process. But...as with all manufactured products...a failure can occur. Your description sounds like the seam(s) has stretched and thus opened." At FLO we began selling Telegizmos scope covers three years ago. It is the only brand of scope cover we stock. In that period only two have been returned by customers (less than 1% of those we sold) saying the cover had leaked. The first was jkulins (replaced) and the other (refunded) is here in the warehouse waiting for one of us to test it. A glued/taped seam is a legitimate (and more affordable) method of preventing leaks but was rejected by Telegizmos because the waterproofing lasts only as long as it takes for the glue to fail. Whereas, when properly designed and manufactured, waterproof stitching will last the lifetime of the product. HTH, Steve