Astrofest 2012 - what a let down !

[malc-c]

Went to Astrofest yesterday and was really disappointed.

Firstly with all the travel chaos the 20min trip into London from Stevenage took an hour, plus the train was running late and arrived half an hour late as well. Then the delays on the tube resulted in the train being held at every red light, so it was almost three hours after setting out that I arrived at the exhibition centre.

I purchased a ticket and had a look round - same old same old from the previous year. Same retailers, in the same places, with the same old "exhibition" scopes taking centre stage. The fact that the weather was so bad resulted in a low attendance, so you could easily get and talk to the guys manning the stands, so going up on a weekday paid dividends there.

I was after two things, a connector to fit a SW 9 x 50 finder to allow an QHY5 to be used as a finder guider for when I come to SGL7, and a R/A finder for my 200P. Found Bernard on the Modern Astronomy stand and asked if he had one of the connectors and how much were they (thinking there might be a show price ) - He said he had a few, but was reluctant to sell one as he was doing a package deal of a finder with a QHY5, and by selling me one ring would mean one less package he could sell, and it would be at the full price anyway - I walked away empty handed, the experience not reflecting the comments found on this forum regarding how "helpful" Bernard usually is !

OK on to the next quest - I located a straight 9 x 50 SW finder on the Astronomia stand and after waiting patiently to get someones attention I asked if they had any RA versions of the finder, to which I was told "sorry I've just sold it not ten minutes ago" - Sold IT ! - ONE item of stock ! and it wasn't even lunchtime on the 1st day!!

I spent the next half an hour having a saunter round before leaving two hours after getting there, very disappointed with the whole day. Unlike last year there were few chances of actually buying items and making a saving that justified the travel expense. The wide screen center did have Vixen scopes with "show deal prices" which averaged 10%, but again lost a sale on a £1000 scope as one chap was annoyed that he couldn't take one with him, having driven up to the exhibition especially rather than using public transport.

Personally that for me will be the last Astrofest I'll be going to, at least for several years...

[palebluedot]

I was there for the first session and thoroughly enjoyed it. But then I was primarily there for the conference. It's not all about shopping and it was pretty packed by my standards.

Would they not let you buy what you want at show price and have it sent on?

[malc-c]

Lee, if you thought that was packed, you should of been there last year on a Saturday.. it was a battle to get near some stands and when everyone came out of a talk you could almost get "sucked" away in the flow.... it was heaving ! - Yesterday was empty by comparison.

Whilst it was possible to order items, I don't see the point. I could do that by phone by placing orders with FLO or RVO. Last year David Hinds had buckets full of X-Cell eyepieces all at £50 ea. OK it was end of line stock, but where these were retailing for around £79 in the shops it represented a saving that covered the cost of my travel expenses and I came away with something other than a handfull of pamphlets !

[palebluedot]

Okay, I understand why you were disappointed, after having such a good experience last year. I guess I didn't miss what I didn't know!

[malc-c]

To me I can't seem to put my finger on what direction Astrofest is going. If it's purely to show off top of the range scopes and cameras etc then it works. If it's a "sales exhibition" which is trying to offer the exhibitors a chance to recoup some of their exhibition costs then they seem to of missed the point.

[TakMan]

I decided not to go this year - my observing buddy went instead to get in a few lectures...

But, he had my shopping list if there were any show offers...

10% off at the Widescreen Centre stand so he emailed me regarding the 4.7mm Ethos that I was after to complete my set - at £499 I think it was advertised at...

Now I know my maths isn't great but a '10% off Show price' on a £525 eyepiece (on the Widescreen Centre's own website) doesn't correlate to £499 does it...!? That's partly why I don't bother going any more... some retailers must think we're stupid...

Anyway, he haggled on my behalf and walked away with one brand new 4.7mm Ethos for £475 - (still not quite the full 10% off), but much better for my wallet and I'm sure Simon is still making a profit!

To finish off Andy called me to say he'd got the box signed by David Nagler too, so all in all not bad - and I saved a day's holiday, the hassle of getting there and £50 on travel/food etc....

Perhaps next year I'll venture down to London, but I too hope the organisers inject a bit more 'something' into it as it's all got a bit stale. Perhaps members of SGL could organise a get-to-gether(?), if nothing else it would allow us to put some faces to our signatures on here! I'd be up for that!

To those going, have a safe trip and don't spend too much!!!!

Damian

[michaelmorris]

There were definitely fewer retailers this year, leading to fewer bargains and stock selling much faster. There were a few bargains to be had, but definitely fewer than last year and you had to seek them out. Chatting to retailiers this year and in previous years, it seems that the high price of stands, the small size of the stands and the very high parking costs put many retailers off.

Widescreen Centre had a bargain - Celestron f6.3 focal reducers for £99. Ian King Imaging had Icarus 70 mm ED refractors with 2" focussers for just £150 and Altair Astro had their Starfire 80ED with 3" focuser and focal reducer/flattener for <£350.

The Optical Vision stand was shared with the Astronomy and Nature Centre who were giving away free large Philips Plansipheres and free copies of Philips 'Practical Astronomy' book.

The afternoon talks were excellent, especially the initmitable Allan Chapman

We too had travel probelms, but only on the way home.

All in all a good day and I will be going back next year, but I do wish they would get another venue!

[ollypenrice]

Yes, I think it's a shame to see it just as a trade show. The talks are usually excellent and I used to go to about half of them. It's a pest that you have to block book for the talks by morning or afternoon but there you go. I'm too far away now, really, but I do miss going.

I think that for the vendors 'show prices' are a bit double edged. I fancied a solar telescope one year but needed to think a bit first and said to the dealer, 'In reality you'll do me the show price next week, I guess?' and he just said No. That's fair enough but I still went off feeling miffed and I bought elsewhere when I did buy. It isn't great, either, for their customers who have just bought at full price without knowing about the show.

Olly

[jam1e1]

just got back, to be fair there were a couple of things on discount:

OVL had few bargains-

120ed for 880

100ed for ~600

120ed equinox for 1100

what looked like an 80ed for 275

would have bought the 120 if didnt have one already!

Didnt see the new eq8 or eq6 az, but they did have esprit 120 and 150 - think the 150 was about 4995

picked up a new puck for Skytee 2 for 24 and medium dovetail for 24 from Astroparts. They had a pier for 150 which wasnt bad price.

Celestron stand has good range of SCTs - good to see what size they actually are if thinking of buying -they are massive!

Quite a few solar telescopes were on show - good to see few different brands, may invest one day but will need a big piggy bank!

Widescreen centre seemed to have most variety of stuff, was also a Televue stand with good variety of eyepieces - though out my price range

overall if your after cheap bits, online retailers in general appear to be best bet - guess due to limited margins. Events like this are good to see products 'in the flesh' as online you cant really make out sizes. Also good to speak to traders as they can give you good steer if after something in particular.

Jamie

[NGC 1502]

I don't go to Astrofest for the talks, as my club meets weekly and I get my fill there. I go for the trade stands, and agree that there was much less kit for sale than there used to be. I realise that firms have to make a profit, but a lot a stuff was at ordinary prices that are available most of the time.

I expect I'll be there next year though.

Regards, Ed.

[malc-c]

Jamie,

The Espirit 150 looked nice, but at £5K you wouldn't expect anything else I agree that there were the odd item that had a reduction in price, a few of which gave me the impression they were ex-demo / shop soiled items reduced to clear - Just wondering if you could of walked out with the 120 there and then, or they would of given you a stock one from the factory at the show price ?

I agree that the Wide-screen centre had a lot to offer from a few adapter rings to the lovely Planewave scope and mount taking centre stage. The only issue i found is that everyone on that stand only dealt with whatever was in front of them. I was waiting to get a price on the 9 x 50 RA finder they had whilst the chap was dealing with another customer - the person next to the planewave scope asked if she could help, and when I asked about the finder she told me they "had nothing to do with that area" and I had to see the chap still dealing with the other customer. I waited 10 minutes later had my turn - didn't buy the finder as it was another package deal with illuminated finder at almost £300 !

[themos]

Well, I emailed Bernard beforehand and explained what I was going to pick up so I was not disappointed. It was very busy this Saturday so they probably need a bigger venue. The item that intrigued me the most was a TS 115/800 triplet refractor with 3-inch focuser and 3-inch flattener for £1349? How good is that thing? And I started dreaming about a Ca-K Lunt module...

[ismangil]

I too was looking for RACI, SCS Astro got a 9x50 at £66, so not much saving.

There Hyperions ranging from £55 to £79.

I got Baader Neodymium for £30 (yeah just a couple of quids off, nothing to shout about) from Bernard.

[AWR]

I had a good time today with Mrs Awr and young daughter. There weren't as many offers as last year (although there wasn't many then either). I did save a bit on a 6mm Delos from Widescreen, however.

I don't view it as an astro-shopping opportunity in the main and I don't think that is what is intended. It could be, but they'll need a much bigger venue. I enjoyed chatting to various suppliers about some of the things that are on my wish list. (The Meade LX800 looked pretty but unfortunately the LX80 wasn't ready yet).

It's easy for us as it's not far for us to get to Kensington. I'm not sure I would travel from outside London unless I was going to attend the lectures.

Andrew

[Dave Dubya]

Bear in mind that traders were apparently being charged the same for smaller trade spaces this year - perhaps the reason there were less offers (or less traders). That didn't mean there weren't offers to be had - the society bought a whole new observatory setup from Astronomia. You just need someone who can haggle like our own blakeuk can.

I personally think the slightly bigger rip-offs were the book sellers (perhaps knowing people would, understandably, be buying them for the signing opportunities.) The don't find the trade areas massively appealing anyway - too many people packed into too little space - and a couple of walks round is usually enough to see everything.

As always, Ian Ridpath and Iain Nicolson put together a very good, interesting and varied talk programme (some better than others - that post lunch session always seems to be a bit hard to get through).

Simon Singh's lectures are entertaining enough to see several times. Noah Petro's talk possibly took the prize though.

[Specman]

Found Bernard on the Modern Astronomy stand and asked if he had one of the connectors and how much were they (thinking there might be a show price ) - He said he had a few, but was reluctant to sell one as he was doing a package deal of a finder with a QHY5, and by selling me one ring would mean one less package he could sell, and it would be at the full price anyway - I walked away empty handed, the experience not reflecting the comments found on this forum regarding how "helpful" Bernard usually is !

Give the guy a break! If he had to break up a set he's hardly being unreasonable. Put yourself in his shoe's a moment. He obviously went to the show to make money, he would have to pay for the stand and the space (these things are not cheap, I know from experience). If I had say a package worth say £800 quid I wouldn't sell you a bit out of it for a tenner either!

Get over it...You had a day out! Go find some stars to look at...It will make you feel better

[FrankieValley]

It was my first Astrofest and my thoughts were that the talks were a bit overpriced to tempt me in, it was too warm (inside and too cold out) and too cramped. On the up side, I got to meet some of my suppliers face to face, which was great. One of whom was Bernard, who had arranged a custom lathe job for me and I picked that up and had a chat.

I also made use of the fantastic Astrofest only offer from Atik and walked away with a 314L+ (colour) for £859 (£310 off) after having a pleasant chat with Steve Chambers, who even gave me a couple of beanie hats for my daughters!

It was a very worthwhile visit. I guess my small (first timer) gripes are aimed at the organisers regarding venue and price rather than our suppliers, who I think work very hard to keep us lot supplied.

[Doug]

Well I think that the Widescreen Centre should give a good discount at the Astrofes considering they are one of the most expensive shop/companies If they think they should charge more because there in the heart of London ,think again I would like better prices then a shop in London

[malc-c]

Give the guy a break! If he had to break up a set he's hardly being unreasonable. Put yourself in his shoe's a moment. He obviously went to the show to make money, he would have to pay for the stand and the space (these things are not cheap, I know from experience). If I had say a package worth say £800 quid I wouldn't sell you a bit out of it for a tenner either!

Get over it...You had a day out! Go find some stars to look at...It will make you feel better

Struth - one comment about a slightly negative transaction and you think I'm giving him a bad time !!

If your business is making and selling a product then you would expect that product to be for sale.... The item in question is £30 adapter ring.. the package was a stock SW 9 x 50 finder, QHY5 and the ring to join the two together for a tad under £300... and to be honest most people who might want to do the same with the qhy5 would already have the 9 x 50 SW finder....so I can't see that many being sold..

I would of thought the idea would of been to of sold as much stock as you could at these events to recover the expense of a stand etc. It's up to Bernard how he runs his buisness and who and how he chooses to sell to - his prerogative, which IMO (which I'm entitled to) feel is slightly negative.

[BlueAstra]

Well, I got a really good deal at Orion Optics, made the trip very worthwhile.

[E621Keith]

Astrofest was busy as usual. I had a few problems too, but it was a enjoyable day. Orion Optics and Skylight telescope had small astroboot section where I was able to pick up a few filters and eyepieces at cheaper than ABS price. Gerard at Skylight was great to talk to. Bernard at Modern astronomy was helpful, although the dew controller I bought turned out to be slightly faulty.

People at the Widescreen Centre stand were importers and representatives from various manufactures, so it's understandable that they didn't know much about what other companies in their stand are selling. The Astronomia staff doesn't seems to know what they are selling. I asked for a M48-Nikon F adapter, they search a bit, looked up their book, and then told me they don't sell them. A few minutes later, while I was looking for something else, I noticed a box marked M48-Nikon on their table. They did sell it, but the staff didn't know they were selling it.

The lectures was great as usual. I was very interested in the Venus Transit talk and now I know a few more phenomena to look out for.

[Luke]

It was my first AstroFest and all in all it was a bit better than I thought it would be.

There were a few more retailers there than I thought there would be, given the economy, cost of doing trade shows and the narrow margins.

For me there were a few tempting offers to be had, depending on what you were after. My wallet only just survived, the Atik314L+ in particular was very tempting!

It was nice to be able to check out a few bits of kit we'd been thinking about, it's answered a few questions I had on them.

Nice to see some various scopes and mounts in the flesh for the first time.

And not least of all, great to see a few familiar faces.

Sure I would have loved crazy, low prices on everything, but I think there are already aggressive prices online, so is there a lot of margin to reduce things much below that?

For me I think this is a specialist hobby, it's not mainstream and I appreciate there being a show like this.

[SteveA]

Astrofest is a regular outing for me…but only as its really easy for me to get to from Oxford (90 mins bus ride and then a 10 minute walk). I’m always amazed at how many people travel and hotel it for the two day event. If I lived further from London I doubt I would bother.

The first year I attended I only took in the exhibition, and I was frankly disappointed…to crowded, no where to sit and relax and the lack of proper facilities for food and drink is a joke….and this has not changed.

Ever since that first year, I’ve always attended the lectures as well.. and for me they have become the main reason for attending.

In my opinion a lot of people don’t make the effort more than once having been put off by the poor facilities. I’m surprised that the organisers haven’t looked for a more suitable location offering better facilities for the exhibition, possibly dare I say it ..outside of London. I’m no expert on conference/exhibition facilities but surely there must be some where that would offer a better location…

I wouldn’t mind betting that a friendlier location would attract not only more visitors but more exhibitors and probably more potential speakers to the conference….

[sanmatt]

I didnt even know about it.

(West Oxfordshire here too)

[kniclander]

I've gone the last 4 or 5 years (except this year) and always really enjoyed it. never picked up a bargain but it's just nice to be near the shiny stuff.

I'm in London anyway and I don't work fridays so it's pretty easy for me. I probably wouldn't travel any great distance.

IIRC David Hinds often had good offers but as thye're not in retail any more AFAIK maybe that stopped. Scope and Skies are also usually trying to knock out their old tat on the cheap (be afraid, be very afraid...) but maybe thye don't need to any more cos of astroboot?