FLO

This one does

A number of people are asking us about points raised in this thread so, rather than wait, here's an update from us. Mert has three concerns: His focuser sticks, his finderscope falls out of it's shoe and the Dobsonian base isn't as smooth as he'd like (this he says is subtle). The focuser is the same one fitted to every Skywatcher Dobsonian with an aperture 8" or over, it isn't unique to the Stargate-450p. We aren't sure why it is sticking (we'll know when we have collected it) but it will no doubt be an easy fix or replacement. The same is true of the finderscope, if you own any Skywatcher telescope with a 9x50 finder, it is the same. They don't normally fall out of their shoe but we are confident it too will be an easy fix or replacement. The base not running smooth was a mystery until Mert noticed it should be greased, but his is not. Somebody else had assembled it for him and hadn't applied the grease (perhaps the pot of grease normally supplied with the telescope was missing). I am guessing any good lithium grease will suffice but we have asked Skywatcher for confirmation. We are dangerously close to a happy ending We don't know about Raanany's Stargate-450p, it isn't one of ours (he lives in Israel). HTH, Steve

As if by magic... I am online tonight updating ZWO prices after the promo ended so noticed your email arrive. My colleague Martin will find and respond to your message when we open in the morning, please let him know the problem so we can arrange a solution. HTH, Steve

We won't know until they arrive but we (FLO & Es) will be responsible for the ones purchased from FLO. If they slip, we'll put them back

WO say we will receive our first delivery of new Star-71 telescopes around the end of June, so 5-6 weeks. It is difficult to say for sure what it will cost without an actual landed price but we are guessing (based on today's exchange-rate) it's retail price will be around £1,075-1,125 with Es Reid's testing/adjustment. We will start another thread detailing the WO Star-71 soon. HTH, Steve

If a FLO customer approaches us with a telescope that needs attention, and the telescope is purchased from FLO, we will happily send it to Es. If the fault occurs within warranty we will cover the cost, if not we might charge. HTH, Steve

We have considered including the Skywatcher Esprit series. Certainly if someone requested an Esprit be sent to Es prior to delivery we can do that. We are also about to announce we are stocking Explore Scientific refractors, the low numbers of issues reported here at SGL suggest they won't need Es' intervention but if we find otherwise they can be included. So long as he can handle the numbers we can increase the range. HTH, Steve

That is a good point worth repeating. Often someone will buy a telescope for imaging with a small sensor camera then later upgrade to a camera with a larger sensor. Edge of field aberrations not visible when using a smaller sensor can then become strikingly apparent. Knowing the scope is AOK from the start and is supported by ourselves and Es Reid will, we hope, provide peace of mind. Steve

I probably should mention our doing this with Es Reid should not be seen as a thinly veiled pop at WO. It isn't. Quite the opposite. We have supported WO through thick and thin because they, we think, are most able to lean on the factories to ensure a better result. There are a number of similar models, from the same factories, wearing various badges. All claim to be "the same as" William Optics but we don't think they are. Our experience is they are often made to a lower specification and vary more batch-to-batch. I remember a few years back, one such telescope received a very favourable review in one of the magazines and was often recommended here at SGL for about a year afterwards, but the entire industry new it was pants! Even the manufacturer admitted they "struggled with that one". I think at one time it was sold with a certificate declaring it's prowess! I am not blaming the reviewer, I daresay the one he had was marvellous, and I won't say which telescope because the design will have improved over the years but it does hi-light how difficult it is for a retailer to plot a course through the trees. We think we have done that. The arrangement we have with Es will enable us to stock and sell with confidence, and our customers to buy with confidence. HTH, Steve

Unfortunately, it is. A quick search here at SGL will find plenty of evidence. WO will accept faulty telescopes back but their factories are in Taiwan and China and their nearest distribution centre is in the US. We need something more local.

Our clearance system is part of our inventory system and is automated. Will you be at your desk at 14:50? I can set the first to appear then. If not please PM me a time when you are available.

We had decided to wait a while before listing the new Star-71 but, now we have this new arrangement with Es, we will jump in as soon as it becomes available. Unfortunately we don't yet know when that will be, James is doing his best to obtain a price and ETA from WO as I type. There are a lot of people waiting on the new Star-71 so we will start a thread here at SGL as soon as we have news. We will be offering the first of three Es Reid tuned original model Star-71 later this afternoon. They are customer-returns so will have minor signs of use, perhaps a scuffed dovetail and scruffy packaging, but will otherwise be perfect and are covered by the manufacture's two year warranty. They will also be available at £100 less than the regular price and the Es Reid tuning is effectively free of charge Steve

That is a good point. Hadn't thought of that. It will certainly enhance the telescope's resale value. Our receipt will identify the telescope as one that has been checked by Es Reid but we probably ought to consider a sticker, or something like that. Thank-you for the suggestion Steve

Yes. If the cell is assembled in such a way that prevents adjustment or if an aberration is in the glass (this is rare but it can happen) the telescope will not be sold, it will be returned to the manufacturer for replacement.

This arrangement between Es Reid and ourselves, to check and tune our telescopes, is exclusive to FLO. Not as a result of negotiation, persuasion or bribery but because there is only one Es Reid, he has other commitments and there aren't enough hours in the day for him to do the same for another retailer.

Around five years ago it became possible to buy triplet refractors at prices <£1,000. This caused us some concern because triplets are significantly more difficult (expensive) to manufacture than doublets. We were not confident manufacturers could produce them to a consistently high optical quality below £1k. When we say 'consistently' we mean off-the-shelf telescopes performing as well as the ones reviewed in magazines. Today, our own experience suggests our concerns were well founded, the return rate of <£1k triplets is significantly higher than more expensive models and comments, from owners, posted here at SGL appear to confirm this. Now we also have 4-element and 5-element refractors selling at around £1k! However, there can no doubt when they are good they are really good! The optics are well figured and free of colour, sometimes there is a little over or under corrected spherical aberration, probably due to airspacing errors, but astigmatism (the bane of any optical system) is pretty-much unheard of. So, we thought, what to do... The aberrations experienced (usually misshapen stars) are almost always due to misalignment so we needed to find someone able to realign them, and the someone had to be here in the UK. Es Reid is highly regarded in the optical business, his name is synonymous with high quality optics and his recent work for us here at FLO has been exceptionally good. So, after speaking with Es, here is what we propose: Beginning with the William Optics GT81 triplet, the GT-102 triplet and the soon to be re-released William Optics Star-71, the telescopes will be delivered direct to Es Reid. Es will assess them on his bench and make any corrections required. Doing this will ensure all GT81, GT102 and Star-71 telescopes purchased from FLO will be 100% AOK. Here's the clever part - Es Reid's work isn't cheap but a percentage of the telescopes will test okay so will not require adjustment. The cost of assessing a telescope's performance is less than for the work required to re-align one. If we send 'all' GT81 and Star-71 to Es then average the costs it will add only £75 to each telescope's retail price. We might need to tweak the price up/down a little but £75 should be about right. We will also warranty Es' work for two years so if the telescope should need re-alignment after, say, an unusually cold night under the stars, we will return it to Es for re-alignment free of charge. We will update our prices and product descriptions Monday, from then onwards all our GT81, GT102 and Star-71 telescopes will be checked and, if necessary, tuned by Es Reid. There will always be those who consider only price when purchasing a telescope but we think most will consider this additional cost a small price to pay for peace of mind. Steve & the FLO team EDIT: The service is now also available for Sky-Watcher Esprit telescopes.

Gina had one of the first Esprit-80 scopes to arrive in the UK, it might actually have been the first. At that time there was confusion around the correct spacing requirements (at least one store in the US was quoting the wrong distance and Sky-Watcher's importers were also confused). This thread should be read with that in mind, it is a blow-by-blow account of someone finding the correct spacing. We calculated the required spacing, for use with Gina's camera, then asked John (the engineer who makes our adapters) to machine a spacer/adapter. I then drove to Gina's house (wonderful dark sky!) with another Esprit-80 and the spacer/adapter. That was it. Problem solved, happy ending In hindsight it would have been more conclusive if we had not replaced the scope but simply left the spacer/adapter because the scope was later tested and found to be AOK. It wasn't the replacement telescope that solved the problem, it was the spacer/adapter. Regarding Sky-Watcher's quality control. Optically the Esprit scopes are very good indeed. Have you noticed how few issues have been reported since this thread? But we still occasionally experience minor niggling things like cosmetic blemishes in the cream powder-coating or the focuser's black anodising. And the case material is prone to shedding black fibres which can fall on the inside surface of the objective. For this reason we still check every Esprit prior to dispatch. HTH, Steve

I can promise there will be more useful data when we next update but I doubt Clear Outside will ever be the hostess with the mostess. We want instead to focus on data that is genuinely useful and make it easy to read. HTH, Steve

Clear Outside is having a growth spurt! It has now made over 2.5 million forecasts for 49,110 locations. A huge thank-you to all those using and recommending Clear Outside

Clear Outside has made over 2.1 million forecasts for 41,462 locations. We really didn't know if it would be a success when we launched it back in 2014 so we are chuffed to bits! Thank-you to everyone who is using and recommending Clear Outside An update is in the pipeline....

Clear Outside has generated 1.8 million forecasts for over 36,800 locations. Thank-you for making it a success We have moved it to a larger, faster server and will release an update with some new features in the New Year.

We have added a new CCD Suitability calculator to the Astronomy Tools website

Your thread has caused quite a stir in the industry because it suggests German retailers might have a head-start over UK retailers. Thomas Baader has made it clear in an email this is not the case. The new Baader SteelTrack focusers have not been released early. When they are released (later this month) stocks will leave Mammendorf at more or less exactly the same time and all distributers will receive stock. The German retailer received three pre-release samples to be displayed at the astronomy fair AME2015 in Germany. It is unclear why the retailer sold one of the samples but I guess it has enabled IanL to post details and photos here at SGL, which is good UPDATE: Baader Diamond Steeltrack focusers are now available here in the UK. HTH, Steve

Thank-you for the report Ian Unfortunately us UK retailers must wait until early-October for our first delivery of Baader SteelTrack focusers. Very frustrating! Steve