FLO

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

Yes, as far as I know John is still machining custom items. Our thread adapter for Daystar Quark was the result of a similar custom adapter he made for an SGL member. HTH, Steve

Grant did mention something about a large 'Clear my Skies Now' button for the next update....

That is very good news You have been missed. Steve

Yes Touch the 'Locations' button at the bottom of the screen to see your list of stored locations (the one ticked is your current 'Home Location'). Touch the 'Edit' button top-right corner. Touch the location you want to make 'Home Location' then switch the 'Home Location' slider to on. Job done. We did consider making a more prominent 'Make Home Location' button but felt most people would use it only once. The app also provides the option to make a new location 'Home Location' when it is created. HTH, Steve

We will happily take credit for that The sun set times are correct. The times are based on when the sun reaches a certain position on the horizon but they don't take into account your local geography, like the elevation of nearby land. So if, for example, you are next to a hill the sun will appear to set earlier as it disappears behind the hill. We are guessing that is what you are experiencing because you have the same result with other calculators. HTH, Steve

The ClearOutside weather forecast website for astronomers has now made over half-million forecasts for over 10,000 locations Most pleasing though is 86% of people who try ClearOutside continue to use it on a regular basis. Thank-you for making it a success

The Clear Outside website and IOS App was down for approx 15 mins about half-hour ago. Sorry The site and app are okay, no faults, but the server ran out of space after an unusually busy period. We should have received an alert early enough for us to respond but that didn't happen. Both the website and App are up again and the server will be upgraded in the morning. Clear Outside has now generated 484,587 forecasts over 9362 locations! Yes, we personally guarantee it Steve

We have never blacklisted someone for writing a negative review. That would be ridiculous. It would also be counter-productive because negative reviews keep us on our toes and help us to improve. It is true we asked bmc to shop elsewhere but not because he posted a negative review (his review and our response is here in this thread dated 27th Jan 2014). We did consider bmc's review unreasonable (he didn't mention we had already dispatched a replacement - twice - and had refunded his payment in full as our apology for the inconvenience caused) but that isn’t why we no longer accept orders from him. That decision was made when he accused me of lying. No retailer wants to lose a customer but we are not confident we can please bmc so have respectfully asked him to place his orders with our competitors. HTH, Steve

No, that's more Grant's forte. He brews his own beer For me coffee is king Steve

Oh yes, much more