FLO

You were the first to order one so yours will be the first one dispatched. Promise 🙂 Steve

Some good news regarding the new Rowan AZ100 Alt-Azimuth mount 🙂 Dave at Rowan just phoned to say the design and development stage is complete. A number of suggestions made by @John and @Stu have been incorporated into the design, the parts are machined and should be back from the anodisers later this week so production units will probably be arriving at our warehouse around the end of next week. (Stu now has a finished production model). Also, we have one correction to make. Our product description for the counterweight said 6" / 5kg. It is actually 5" / 3.75kg. Sorry about that. Otherwise all is good. Thank-you for your patience. Steve

It is that time of year again! 🎅🎄 For your peace of mind we have extended our 30-day returns policy so orders placed from today (2nd Dec) until end of December can be returned up until the 31st Jan 2020. More information about our easy returns policy can be found here. If you would like to return something please contact us. HTH, Annette, Ann, Grant, Ian, James, Katie, Lisa, Martin, Rob & Steve 🙂

Unfortunately not. Sorry 🙁 It is very frustrating because we have lots of requests. Steve

One Astronomik L-RGB Type 2c Set 36mm Round Mounted. Ex Demo LRGB Astronomik Type 2c Filter set. Excellent condition & covered by full manufacturer warranty. £338.00 £199.00 (saving £139.00)

One Astronomik CLS Filter Clip for Canon EOS APS-C. Customer Return Has been opened but is unused (mislabeled at warehouse so dispatched to customer in error). Includes full manufacturer warranty. £116.00 £69.00 (saving £47.00)

Yes. I think we had best replace that too please. It is the weekend but I will find your email when we reopen Monday then will arrange collection/replacement of both items. HTH, Steve

Yes, no problem. It is only a year old so well within the two-year warranty period 🙂 Where is your HitecAstro dew controller now? I think we had best replace that too.

Neither have we. We have of course experienced the occasional failure but fortunately nothing as spectacular or scary as that experienced by smr. I cannot find an order from you for heater tapes so I don’t think they were ours 🙂 FLO only sells AstroZap heater tapes. We have been selling them for as long as I can remember, probably at least a decade. I think in the UK most heater tapes in use today are AstroZap. All are covered by a ‘two year no fault replacement warranty’ so if anyone reading this has a problem with theirs they are welcome to contact us for a replacement. We won’t even ask how it happened... 😎 HTH, Steve

We revealed the first, a 104mm f6.25 triplet manufactured for us by LongPerng in Taiwan, at IAS. It will be the telescope used at our IKI Observatory in Spain. It is still a work in progress (currently we have only beta models) but our first delivery of finished 104mm telescopes is scheduled to arrive mid-Dec. Not sure how close we are to revealing the second and third models but if you 'Follow' us or the Sponsor Board you will know as soon as we post info. HTH, Steve

I remember Vivitar Series 1 lenses, they were highly regarded. Steve

At FLO/IKI we have two StellaMira triplet refractors in the pipeline. Both will have an optical design that includes two ED elements using FPL53 and FPL51 glass. HTH, Steve

Thank-you 🙂 I don’t know why but in all these years it never occurred to me large aperture bins might have cemented elements. Every day’s a school day. Steve

Celestron-UK have announced two reduced price offers for Black Friday 🙂 Both are available until end of Friday 6th Dec, subject to availability. Celestron C8 SCT VX GOTO £1,743 £1,595 (save £148) Also, includes FREE Celestron Lens Shade & NexYZ Smartphone adapter (total value £65). Celestron NexStar Evolution 5 £1,199 £1,145 (save £54) Also, includes FREE Celestron ThermoTrek (#48011) handwarmer/powerpack & NexYZ Smartphone adapter (total value £58).

Is that true for large observation binoculars? If yes then you have taught me something new 🤗 Steve

Worth noting there is nothing special or unusual about air-spaced lenses. I.e. all Sky-Watcher's refractors have 'air-spaced' lenses, including the humble Capricorn 70 and StarTravel-80. Air-spaced optics are the norm, not the exception. HTH, Steve

Oops. The ZWO ASI 2600 MC Pro is also due to arrive end-Dec 🙂

Our first delivery of ZWO ASI 6200 Pro cameras is scheduled for end-Dec. HTH

Not the same but similar. This image from our Astronomy Tools website shows both FOVs for comparison.

Please don't make this discussion political 😟

The Queen has Corgis to feed 😁

Absolutely. What he said ^ Sky-Watcher retail prices in the UK are extraordinarily low. And people still ask for discount 🥴 Steve

The UK retail price is based on ZWO's $ price so depends to a large extent on the $-£ exchange-rate + UK Import Duty + UK VAT. Plus of course the cost of delivery China-UK. ZWO's price is currently $899, which at todays exchange-rate, plus Import Duty & VAT, is £874. Our price at £885 is only £11 higher to cover cost of delivery and Customs charges. The $-£ exchange-rate does of course vary so the sum might be a little higher/lower depending on when you do the maths. HTH, Steve

The NEW ZWO ASI 533MC-PRO camera is now available to buy at FLO 🙂 Features Sony’s latest 1" square, 9.07MP back-illuminated IMX533 sensor with 3.76 um pixels. Also features zero amp glow, very low read out noise (as low as 1.0e) and an improved 2 stage TEC cooler. Our first delivery will arrive in only one week.

It was only that Es' has asked us to not share his contact details. Skyline and Pete_l are right, if you suspect your telescope's optics are faulty then you need to first discuss this with your supplier. Steve