gilesco

7 minutes ago, rofus said:

Actually I received a further email from FLO, apparently there was a miscommunication. January they meant for new orders, there's an actual shipment coming in couple of weeks and my one is in that batch 🙂

Yes, I see on other sites that orders taken now are expected to be fulfilled around 14th January 2021. Hopefully mine is in that batch too...

I'm not going to worry unless CO starts to show green somewhere.... which is very red with amber patches at the moment...

I'm thinking maybe one of the carparks on the B3387, past Haytor coming from the east, not sure from the camping maps how far we need to venture from the car... don't want to have to go too far, also don't want headlights of passing cars (not much traffic at night though?) to interfere...

7 hours ago, rofus said:

I ordered mine from FLO back in early August..it was late September, then October, then November, and the only annoying part was that I was told when I ordered that I was going to receive regular updates and I kept asking instead after weeks of silence.

News of yesterday is that is not happening before January. Obviously is not FLO fault (apart from communication about this specific matter as they are great otherwise), but is seems SW is messing it up big time.

Honestly thinking about canceling (I come from an Esprit 100 and 120 was an upgrade so I know the quality of Esprit), looking around to see if I find something else. If all this is because of Covid, then in January or during this winter is not gonna be any better, it might be realistically speaking another year I think.

I'll be in the same boat then...

10 minutes ago, gilesco said:

Keep an eye out for showers and dew, good luck friends! And Clear Skies.

OK, I might have to admit to jealousy... the 8" RC f/8 looks soooo compelling...

But I wait to see results.. 

Keep an eye out for showers and dew, good luck friends! And Clear Skies.

Forecast is not looking good... I blame you guys, far too many OTA fulfillments for a single day, good luck with dusting those indoor setups for the next two weeks 😷😷😁

7 minutes ago, Space Oddities said:

Coincidence? I just received a mail telling me I won 1 million euros...  

No, if you had just won anything more than 10k they would not send you an email, they would send you a taxi or limousine, and try and lap up as much publicity as they could for their ongoing cause.

I heard fraudsters use that as a ploy, to ensure they snare people who don't pick up on the detail.

Just now, Space Oddities said:

Intriguing! I also found the sale post, it's definitely the same scope and accessories:

 

Just found that myself, hmm, to claim to know its provenance after being third hand... now starting to look a bit dodgy...

I tend to enter into a conversation and get further details, further photos before trying to buy one of these online, I would also travel to collect rather than trust delivery, but don't necessarily see anything bad here.

I've so far ended up with this, I am straining with waiting for an APO, and wondering whether to wait for that to arrive, or still proceed with my Achro to improve my data, should I start again with the APO, or just add to data when it arrives:

I would be up for that, although given the nature of my equipment:

(a) I don't want to have to venture too far from the Car.
(b) I would only go on a night where the location had a full-nights good seeing forecast (say for 80% of available astronomical twilight).
(c) < 25% moon...

I've not done remote dark site imaging before, I'd love to get better results though, but as it is quite a few kilos of kit, it has to be worth it!

FYI this is the response I got from Dartmoor in September:

Good Afternoon Giles

Thank you for your email regarding car parking at night on Dartmoor.

I am sure you have had some wonderful opportunities for astronomy and astrophotography recently with the comet and clear skies we have had recently.

In answer to your query, we are guided by the Dartmoor National Park Byelaws, link below

https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/about-us/who-we-are/byelaws

You are allowed to park your car overnight but not allowed to sleep in it.

Visitors park their cars to backpack camp in the permitted camping areas away from the road.

https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/enjoy-dartmoor/outdoor-activities/camping

Hope you find this helpful.

Kind Regards
Amanda


Information Adviser
Dartmoor National Park Authority
National Park Visitor Centre, Princetown
Princetown
Devon PL20 6QF
Tel:  01822 890414
Email: princetown@dartmoor.gov.uk
www.dartmoor.gov.uk

Astroberry is ARM based (Pi) so would not normally be transferable to x64 stuff, but yes probably INDI would run on that, you'd be on your own though, so another kettle of fish.

Sometimes have a night where you forget just one or two things and it ruins the whole night. for instance one night I forgot the counterweight and scope balancing. I usually judge the counterweight position very well, but on that night my scope naturally had tracking issues all over the place, I didn't work out the reason until I was giving up, when I saw the counterweight bar and counterweight on the window sill in the conservatory.

It helps to have a run book of steps or a checklist...

14 minutes ago, wornish said:

Not sure what you mean.  You don't need the INDI ribbon if you are using KSTARS/EKOS.  All the INDO connections can be set up using EKOS.

Or you can just visit http://<astroberry-ip>/panels.html

Where you can view, the Polarfinder, GPS Panel, and Indi Web Manager panels.

I go there everynight when polar aligning with my polar scope.

31 minutes ago, Kinch said:

👍....wishing you clear skies (which I don't have until next week 🙄)

Thanks, don't have any clear skies forecast here until, well, for as long as the forecast forecasts for... I am waiting on an Apo and then, hopefully, will get more subs in less overall time than I can with my cheap-ish achromat.

Just now, Kinch said:

For sure...if you know there is bad data in there, you should get rid of it. Less time with better data always gives you a better foundation if you are going to add more time to it. I am sure you will get it sorted ... but do add as much time on it as you can bear to run with. 

Yes, when I have enough subs my workflow will discard them.

I still have this going as a work in progress... some bad data in there still, but will improve over time.

Are these by the same OEM that do the FLO's StellaMira APO scopes?

I've been contemplating that in one or two years time I might go for an EdgeHD 9.25, but now looking at these I'm wondering to scrap that idea and look at getting a 8" f/8 of these...

Will wait and see what others make of them, my wallet is still on fire...

2 minutes ago, tomato said:

Well, I bought a telescope which FLO said they had in stock and it was duly delivered the day after placing the order, so I am a very fortunate and satisfied customer. Getting hold of the motorised focuser for it is a bit of a different story, but patience is a virtue.😊

Well I ordered one (that wasn't in stock) seven and a half weeks ago 😬... the anticipation has been rather frustrating (I acknowledge that it's completely out of FLO's control, and I was aware of the long lead-time advertised when I bought it.) - However - the news that there is a big Sky-Watcher order coming in the next couple of weeks, mean that there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel now... fingers crossed...

4 minutes ago, FLO said:

We have a large Sky-Watcher delivery arriving in 1-2x weeks, there might be some in that. 

 

ooh... excitement 📦📦📦

12 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Many stores in the US charge a 15% restocking fee because, by law in many parts of the US, you can't resell a used item as new.  You could try to charge the new price for it, but most folks will demand a discount once the fact it was a return/refurb is disclosed, which the 15% restocking fee covers.  Many unscrupulous retailers simply re-shrink-wrap the box and hope you don't complain.  In the US, return policies must be posted by retailers in most states.  If the retailer has a no-returns policy, that is perfectly legal.  The only exceptions under federal law are for 1. if the sold good is defective or 2. if the seller breaks the sales contract.

However, word of mouth gets around pretty quickly online about retailers with bad return policies, so most honor some sort of 30 day return policy.  However, you may be responsible for return shipping unless the item is defective or not as described.

Yes, you guys tend to get better prices than us in the UK, for tech goods we've called this the pound/dollar parity. We pay the same pounds as you pay dollars, and we keep our consumer rights that you don't have. We will have to rename it, as the pound is so weak now that we will have to change from parity to... a little more...

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

And the good places like FLO clearly state when they are selling a customer returned item in their “offers” section plus you get full guarantee of course.

And of course the fact that every piece of equipment I've received from them has been flawless... dont know how that happens, but happy to let it continue.

12 minutes ago, gilesco said:

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds

It’s illegal to display any notice that deliberately misleads consumers or deceives them about their rights, for example a sign that says you do not accept returns or offer refunds.