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UK astronomy products

FLO

By FLO
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FLO

FLO

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We have been thinking about how much (or how little!) kit we sell that is manufactured here in the UK. Currently the stock held here at our distribution centre looks something like this:

Manufactured in:

US : 36% (we are counting Celestron as US)

Far East : 35%

Europe : 15%

UK : 14%

Those figures are not absolute because a product made in one country might be manufactured from components sourced from another. If we count only those products designed and manufactured entirely here in the UK the 14% figure would be even lower. It doesn't look good.

We want to increase our support of UK manufacturing. Historically the UK has led the field in most areas of engineering and today we still produce some of the finest examples of product design and manufacture.

Perhaps you already design and manufacture products for other markets but have an interest in astronomy and an idea for a new accessory. Maybe you have an engineering background, bought an astro accessory and thought 'I can do better'. Please get in touch.

Let's find and bring premium quality products designed and manufactured here in the UK to the market :D

Steve

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FLO

FLO

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Perhaps it will help if we say we are not interested in the cheap and cheerful end of the market, Asia has that sewn up. We are looking for premium quality products. If the product solves a problem or suits a purpose and the price reflects the quality of design and manufacture, we'll give it our full support.

Also, because we will be buying direct from small manufacturing companies, there won't be the middlemen to contend with so the retail price might not be that different to similar products made in Asia.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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Yep well done Steve... lets hope you can get a portfolio of UK designed and manufactured products :D

Most of our production goes to the US and Far East... for the Indian market they used to "insist" a made in the UK badge.... We still try and get all our sub-assembly work done in the UK as well...

Peter...

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malc-c

malc-c

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Steve, your post is very inspirational. The reasons why there is little UK manufactured items are several fold, but mostly down to the bureaucracy of the regulations we have here in the EU. The other cause, the fact that all good ideas get ripped off by the far east and then the market gets flooded with the product at such cheap pricing that it puts the UK based manufacture out of business.

I've dabbled part time in three area, two electronics, and one just a simple metal / carbon product, the latter being the most successful, resulting in it being stocked by three leading RC model shops in the UK and one in the US... it was that successful the design was copied and mass produced by a leading composite company who already supplied most of the CF rotor blades for model helicopters worldwide. I was a one man band working part time so couldn't compete... both in price, volume or legal fees to sue them !

I do beleive that astronomy is one area where the cost of an item doesn't matter to the same degree. For example for the cost conscious you can pick up a decent eyepiece for £50 - £75. But there are those who will spend £300+ on a similar focal length eyepiece but know or expect they will get superior quality or performance. The other area's I targeted were the opposite, people wanted "everything" for next to nothing making it impractical to sell.... unless I had it made in the far east to reduce cost down and raise the thousands of pounds it takes to get it approved for CE marking for sale in the EU.

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sirmetin

sirmetin

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This is a great move it is the principle reason I bought an orion optics scope - it seems they used to have dealers but many seemed to have dropped them or maybe there is a tale I do not know. I was also intrigued at the peak star party by astro developments and peak to valley both of whose websites fail to relay the range of product they can or do make?

We need to support UK businesses as much as we possibly can both manufacturers and retailers.

I am surprised that there is no UK firm making mounts and goto kits that I am aware of as it is the type of work we excel at - maybe someone could work with one of the many small precision engineering forms that lost business from the downsizing of BAE - they may not realise thars brass to be made from dem dar stars!!!

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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P2V telescopes were a thing of beauty at PSP2011.

I only wish I had the space for their 6" f12 achro.... Quite reasonably priced as well (£1300) considering the quality (0.96 strehl objective, moonlite focuser, baffled tube, CNC tube rings etc.)

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malc-c

malc-c

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I am surprised that there is no UK firm making mounts and goto kits that I am aware of as it is the type of work we excel at - maybe someone could work with one of the many small precision engineering forms that lost business from the downsizing of BAE - they may not realise thars brass to be made from dem dar stars!!!

I think part of the problem is that these skills are now sadly missing. A lot of the practical skills are now not taught in schools for H&S reasons, and the cost of living means that most small one man band machinists charge too much for the time it takes, be that machining the old fashioned way or time spent programming a CNC machine. I recently had a couple of small ali items re-drilled and milled to reduce thickness... took the guy around 45 minutes and cost me £40 in cash - no receipt ! - so if he is charging approx £60 per hour for his time... think how much a competitive HEQ5 / 6 would cost in labor alone !

I think this would really reflect the specialist end of the market... those who can afford £10K on an PE mount... but for the mass market it would be very difficult (IMO) for anyone to compete with SW / Celestron etc

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johninderby

johninderby

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P2V telescopes were a thing of beauty at PSP2011.

I only wish I had the space for their 6" f12 achro.... Quite reasonably priced as well (£1300) considering the quality (0.96 strehl objective, moonlite focuser, baffled tube, CNC tube rings etc.)

They are very, very nice but the I think the scope (the Classic) you've mentioned starts at nearly £3,000.00 not including the Moonlite focuser and the other options.

John.

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jkwhinfrey

jkwhinfrey

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In small quantities, without the bulk buying power of large companies, it's amazing how much it costs to buy the materials to make anything.

It's frequently much cheaper to buy a finished product than to buy the materials to make it yourself. It's easy to find yourself working for free, just to cover your costs.

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FLO

FLO

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I am surprised that there is no UK firm making mounts and goto kits that I am aware of as it is the type of work we excel at...
I agree, definitely!
... websites fail to relay the range of product they can or do make?

Ah, you have touched on something there. Without mentioning names and apologies in advance to all the excellent engineers out there, I find most engineers simply don't understand retail and marketing. They assume it is easy. They throw a website together, add some pictures and a price list then sit back and wait for the orders. Needless to say the orders don't come flooding in and the products don't take off.

But, if a capable engineer were to work together with a dependable retailer to bring the right products to market...

I am biased, of course :D

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