FLO

Our next order/delivery is already in progress 😎 Hope we aren't boring people with these delivery pix. My hope is they demonstrate work in progress and provide assurance to customers with backorders. Steve

It has just arrived 🙂

I agree. The tube-rings felt should not need replacing so soon. I am sure I have said the same elsewhere here at SGL 🙂 However, if Sky-Watcher's felt is too thin or too easily compressed then we will need to do something. Replacing the rings with the same is only a temporary fix (as predicted) so currently I am thinking the best solution is for us to collect souls33k3r's rings and replace the felt ourselves with something better/thicker. Am happy to consider other solutions? Steve

Just received your message 🙂 I have your email address now so will do a deep search when at my desk tomorrow. Steve

This has been available on the website since February:

Don't forget, these are experimental so at the moment the colours don't make much sense, we are working on that. Seeing and transparency - lower is better. Lifted index - this can be used to predict the chance of thunderstorms, I would ignore the values for this for now as it needs more work. If you press on the label it gives a little more info but 7t means it comes from 7timer.

No. I don’t think so. Couldn’t see it this morning and searched for words ‘Esprit’ and ‘Rings’ this afternoon but didn’t find anything. When you sent it did you receive our usual auto-response saying your email had been received?

We mentioned some time back that we were testing some experimental features in Clear Outside which include additional cloud forecasts from 7Timer as well as seeing predictions and another cloud forecast from a third source. These experimental features are now available in the mobile apps, scroll to the bottom of the forecast to turn them on or off: Once on you will see the additional data: This is experimental so bear that in mind but we would be interested to see how you think the other forecasts compare to the default ones we use. All of this is part of our project to rebuild the Clear Outside website and mobile apps, the site is over 4 years old now so it's time for a refresh and as part of that we want to add in all the additional features people have been asking for - unit of measurement settings, alerts (possibly!) and the ability to see multiple forecast sources in one place and hopefully, the option to choose what sources YOU want to prioritise for your forecast.

A quick snapshot of the FLO team. Who we are and what we do... Annette: My boss (wife) and Company Secretary. Maintains my sanity! Grant: Company Director, IT Wizard and Project Manager. Holds me to task. Indispensable! Ian: Has probably done more to promote and support astrophotography in the UK than anyone else. A Rush fan! James: FLO's first employee. A Scot and a rock. Manages cashflow! Katie: Works with Lisa in dispatch. Quiet and capable! Lisa: Warehouse supervisor. Knows where everything is. Calm and steady. This is Lisa's tenth year at FLO. Martin: Oversees FLO's Helpdesk. A people person. Likes conversation and sugar in his tea! Rob: Mr Fixit. Likes to dismantle, improve then reassemble things. Often for fun! Steve: I started the company but generally keep out of everyones way. It is usually me posting at SGL.

Today was Ian's first day at FLO 🙂 We have also built a new separate website that, like Ian King Imaging, will focus exclusively on astro-imaging. Ian will oversee the website and, as before, will be contactable via phone or email. We will make the website live soon (lots of product pages to fill!). Regards, Annette, Grant, Ian, James, Katie, Lisa, Martin, Rob & Steve.

Adding felt, cork, etc to the inner surface of your tube-rings won't affect your warranty (you'd be surprised how many people do this) so if you have something suitable to hand go right ahead 🙂 Steve

No problem, please email us 🙂 Steve

New William Optics SpaceCat telescopes are incoming. Perhaps only 1-2 weeks away 🙂 Steve

Important announcement from Sky-Watcher: __________ We have released a new firmware for the EQ6-R and AZ-EQ6 mounts that use the new motor controller with a built-in USB port. This new firmware contains important updates that help reduce the power consumption and improves the reliability of the motor controller board. The new firmware can be downloaded at: http://www.skywatcher.com/download/software/motor-control-firmware/ __________ This only affects newer mounts with in-built USB ports on the mount itself. If you need any help with this, please get in touch here or email us.

We don’t know. Nobody has offered us an explanation. It is interesting to hear it isn’t only the U.K. affected this way. Steve

Sky-Watcher Esprit telescopes are hellishly difficult to source! They have been for some time now 🙁 Currently: Esprit-80 are in stock but we are waiting for a shipment of flatteners. Esprit-100 are not in stock, neither are the flatteners. Esprit-120 and flatteners are in stock 🙂 Esprit-150 are not in stock, the flatteners are. We are doing our very best to source Esprit telescopes but, as a retailer, there is little we can do to improve the situation other than keep you updated and apologise for the delays. We understand how frustrating this is. It frustrates us too. So we sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding. Steve

Olly’s argument in favour of Mono is well practiced, well reasoned and clearly born from experience but consider he lives on a mountain in France where clear skies are the norm. Here in the UK we are less fortunate so the case for OSC cannot be so easily dismissed. Horses for courses 🙂 Steve

You have mail 🙂 Steve

I think a lot of manufacturers / businesses begin with a ready-fire-aim approach, until they gain the size, resources and capability necessary to do otherwise. Steve

It raised an eye-brow here too... I guess it shows they haven't abandoned the GEQ design 🙂 We only recently began stocking iOptron mounts but have watched their progress with interest for several years. From memory, they began making GEQ mounts but were up against Synta (Sky-Watcher & Celestron) who were already very well established. They then appeared to change focus, concentrating mostly on CEM mounts. This made them a genuine and interesting alternative to Synta brands. IOptron now dominate the CEM mount market, and justifiably so. In response Synta are working on their first Sky-Watcher branded CEM mount to be released later this year. And now iOptron have revealed what is essentially a GEQ version of their newest CEM mount (the CEM40) with many of the CEM40's components and design details. IOptron say the CEM40 is the first of a new family/design of CEM mounts. More are in the pipeline. If, as it appears, they will also offer GEQ versions then I think they are a force to be reckoned with. Steve

So too is SGL 😀

Thank-you for your support but please don't be concerned for FLO, we have thick skin 🙂 Nobody likes it when prices rise and this recent increase from Sky-Watcher affected a lot of telescopes and mounts but, as a retailer, we are not responsible and have done all we can to reduce the impact on our customers. I am grateful for your comments and share your concern but sadly, for us UK astro retailers, the race to the bottom is already well under way. It is fuelled by one/two-man bands with low overheads (overheads include staff!). Some don't even have premises! Consider a few years ago there was Telescope Planet, Greenwich, Astronomia and Venturescope. All gone. Widescreen (still a good company) had a London showroom and Telescope House was a UK company (now owned by Bresser-Germany). Pillars of the astronomy retail world. Not to mention the countless smaller companies that disappeared with barely a trace (they thought retail was easy!). Our price-match offer has been on our website for nearly a year but few people used it. We chose to make it more prominent and draw attention to it when Sky-Watcher increased their prices, to ensure our customers don't lose out during a period when prices are, frankly, all over the place! I can't promise we will continue to draw attention to it after prices have settled... 🤫 Fortunately FLO is ticking along nicely. I won't share why (competitors read forums too) other than to say when we launched (fourteen years ago!) we knew we would not be an overnight success. We knew it was going to be a long haul and would require hard work. We planned for that. We are here to stay 🙂 Steve

IOptron tell us they will formally introduce the new GEM45 "in the upcoming weeks". They will provide details on price, final features and availability closer to release. We know the GEM45 will share many of the same components as the CEM40, will have higher maximum operational latitude (68°) and be rated for a 45 lb payload capacity. They predict the mount will be available to buy in "approx 60 days". An EC model is also in the pipeline. We will add it to our website soon. HTH, Steve

Also an interesting spec sheet comparing the CEM40 vs GEM45.

And another 🙂