FLO

One Rainbow Astro RST-135 Mount Standard Silver / Clear. Ex Demo Ex demo. Good condition, complete and fully working. Slight signs of regular usage, open box. Full manufacturers warranty. £4,095.00 £3,480.75 (saving £614.25)

One Ursa Major 8" f/6 Dobsonian. Customer Return Too large for customer. Good condition, no obvious signs of use. Open box. Full manufacturers warranty. £349.00 £314.00 (saving £35.00)

One StellaLyra 8" f/6 Dobsonian. Customer Return Customer changed their minds - wants more aperture! Used but good condition, complete. Signs of use on base. Open box. Full manufacturers warranty. £449.00 £404.00 (saving £45.00)

One Sky-Watcher HEQ5 PRO with Rowan Upgrade Rowan upgrade. Customer Return Customer changed their mind. Overall good condition, tested and fully working. Some minor marks on tripod from use. Open box. Full manufacturers warranty. £1,229.00 £1,106.00 (saving £123.00)

One iOptron CEM70 Center Balanced Equatorial GoTo Mount. Customer Return Developed a fault during the warranty period. Replaced and since repaired with new boards. Includes handset, handset cable, usb cable, PSU, counterweight and shaft. Carry case has some cracks / dents. Good, used condition. Open box. Full manufacturers warranty. £2,698.00 £2,428.00 (saving £270.00)

Sky-Watcher's distributor says the ship will dock Monday, so we will most likely receive Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi mounts at our warehouse around mid-April. Looking at the numbers, we will be able to clear all our existing customer backorders 🙂 We should also have a handful of 'mount only' available, though they will likely sell quickly. The mount/tripod/extension/extension-pillar bundle will be more readily available. After this month, the next shipment with Star Adventurer GTi is scheduled to dock in June! HTH, Steve

One Celestron C6-N Newtonian VX GOTO. Discontinued Brand new, discontinued (by us) bundle. Grab a bargain! Full manufacturers warranty. £1,199.00 £1,079.00 (saving £120.00)

Atik is no longer developing new models. They are, however, working on some new QSI series CMOS cameras (Atik own QSI). We know at least three are in the pipeline: a QSI 533 CMOS (due mid-late 2023), a QSI571 CMOS (due end-2023) and a QSI 455 CMOS (due early-2024). They say the QSI571 will have some "interesting features", one of which will be a "first in the astronomy camera market". We look forward to posting info and adding the new cameras to our website. Starlight Xpress is also working on some new CMOS models, although we know little about them. We will post details here at SGL and update our website when we do know. Currently, you can still buy CCD cameras from both Atik and Starlight Xpress. HTH, Steve

😁

I (speaking personally, not as FLO) have noticed the same. I think it is because their design and manufacture remind me telescopes are scientific instruments. For me, many telescopes sold today, with their shiny CNC-machined, colour-anodised hardware, are too pretty. I don't currently own a Takahashi. Though I want to. I will most likely purchase one for my retirement (not yet!). It will be my last telescope. Steve

^ What they said 🙂 The law of diminishing returns (it costs a lot to improve on what is already very good) applies here, and the Chinese / Japanese quality gap continues to narrow. If you want the best and can afford it, buy the Takahashi. Otherwise, enjoy the fact you can get almost as good at a much lower price. HTH, Steve

It wasn't anything to do with us, or Takahashi, either 😇

I am sure that can be arranged. In a recent discussion, one of my colleagues suggested the same. The StellaLyra category would also benefit from being divided into telescope types. It is on the to-do list 🙂

We thought putting our name on the side might be a little ostentatious 🙂 We don't pretend to be optical designers or telescope manufacturers. Whenever we reveal a new StellaLyra or StellaMira telescope or eyepiece, we say where it is manufactured (mostly Long Perng, Guan Sheng Optical or United Optics). We give credit where credit is due. Thank you for the suggestion. Our website will likely be updated/refreshed this year. Mostly because our accessories category has grown so much. In the adapters section alone, there are now over 400 items! It is sometimes difficult to find what you need. Steve

They are incoming. Currently on the water, so will probably arrive at our warehouse mid-late April. HTH

Thank you 🙂 StellaLyra required a significant investment, so we are especially pleased it was so well received. Currently, FLO brands are: StellaLyra - Mostly Dobsonians, Newtonians, Ritchey-Chrétien & Classical Cassegrains. Ursa Major - Affordable telescopes. Mostly Dobsonians. StellaMira - Refractors. Specifically ED doublets and triplets. Lynx Astro - Electrical/electronic. I.e. cables, heater tapes & controllers. Astro Essentials - No-nonsense, affordable accessories, like filters and adapters. HTH

We have two tripods in the pipeline. A wooden one and a carbon-fibre one. Both will be launched soon. There are a lot of new products planned or already in development. It's all good fun 🙂 Steve

Both mounts are almost ready. It is surprising how long it takes to bring a new product to market. Not so much the Alt-Az mount, which has been available in one form or another for a long time. When the Alt-Az mounts arrived at our warehouse we didn't like the counterweight knobs, so we are sourcing others. When they arrive, it will be good to go. The binocular parallelogram mount is an all-new product, designed entirely in-house, so has been in development for some time. We sent a near-finished prototype to Steve Tonkin at BinocularSky. Steve has a lot of experience with this mount type and is probably the UK's best-known binocular astronomer. He made some suggestions that have since been incorporated into the design. We want to send him the latest version. If all is good, then that too will be ready for launch. Thank you for asking 🙂 Steve

Some of you will remember Aston Smith's first book about astronomy, The Solar System, written two years ago when he was only an eight-year-old 🙂 His fascination with astronomy continues, so he has written another book at the grand age of ten! Aston has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Aston finds researching and writing books about space provides focus and a welcome calm to his otherwise chaotic frame of mind. This new, updated, interactive book has new thoughts, experiences, facts, and information about objects like stars, black holes, and exoplanets. He has also refreshed his drawings digitally using his iPad. Aston is kindly donating £2 per book, for the first 500x copies sold, to the charity UK Astronomy. Here at FLO, we will match his donations, so a total of £4 will be donated to UK Astronomy from every sale. UK Astronomy is a registered charity that educates, inspires and excites others by sharing knowledge and passion for space through outreach and public engagements. Things About Space by Aston Smith Things About Space is an interactive book. Using a compatible device, readers can scan QR codes and listen to Aston narrate each page in his own voice. This is especially advantageous for young children who may struggle with some of the more complex object names and terminology. Click or scan the QR code below to listen to a sample of Aston narrating a paragraph of the book.

THANK YOU to everyone sharing images made using their StellaMira 90mm. They are much appreciated 🤗 Steve

One Meade 8" LX90 ACF Computerised GoTo Telescope and Tripod. Open Box Open box, ex-demo. Pristine. Full manufacturers warranty. £2,995.00 £2,545.75 (saving £449.25)

One Baader Ultra-Narrowband 4.5nm SII Filter 1.25". Discontinued Brand new, discontinued item. Full manufacturers warranty. £198.00 £158.40 (saving £39.60)

One Celestron C6-N Newtonian VX GOTO. Open Box Open box / ex demo. Excellent condition. Full manufacturers warranty. £1,199.00 £1,079.00 (saving £120.00)

One Celestron C8-N Newtonian VX GOTO. Open Box Open box / ex demo. Excellent condition. Full manufacturers warranty. £1,399.00 £1,259.00 (saving £140.00)

One StellaLyra 16" f/4.5 Dobsonian. Ex Demo Ex demo - used on display at a show and by members of staff here at FLO. Complete, in good condition but signs of usage / assembly. Full manufacturers warranty. £1,899.00 £1,709.00 (saving £190.00)