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The Astronomy and nature centre, Whats happening ?


den12386

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I have watched there videos on youtube and bought a few things from there Scopes and Skies shop on line but since November this year the Scopes and Skies and Pulsar Optical sites have moved to new premises and come under A10 Optiocal LTD. Does any one here know whats happening to the Astronomy and nature centre in Ely.

Cheers

Dennis

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The A@N Centre has moved premises and the Ely shop is no longer in operation unfortunately.

They have moved about 10 miles away but as yet the new premises are not up and running as far as I am aware , and I'm not sure whether there will actually be a shop as such or whether it will be on-line only .

I'll ask some questions tomorrow and update.

Steve.

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Thanks Steve, I found there youtube videos buy chance earlier this year when I needed help in alining my EQ mounted scope. I have bought a few things from them to upgrade my kit ( eye peices and barlow lens) and purchased my 50th birthday present from them, a 70mm refractor on a goto mount which is when I noticed there address had changed and was now under A10 optical.

Dennis

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I didn't know about their Ely shop closing either, and was planning on going up there yesterday. Then when I checked the address, noticed it said Downham Market and that there was no info on Christmas opening times.

Hopefully there is still some kind of new shop, otherwise it means there's no longer any open telescope showrooms in East Anglia.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been having a problem getting some binoculars repaired under warranty by Pulsar and they claimed that Pulsar had gone out of business (hence warranty not valid) and A10 was a distinct business that had purchased the name. Any idea if this is true?

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Hi there,

I rang them this week. They said that they weren't a shop that you can look around but you can shop online. I said that I wanted something that they had in stock and asked if I could go and pick it up as I live close to them. They said that I'd have to pay for it online, but can pick it up from them. I was pleased, actually!

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I've been having a problem getting some binoculars repaired under warranty by Pulsar and they claimed that Pulsar had gone out of business (hence warranty not valid) and A10 was a distinct business that had purchased the name. Any idea if this is true?

If the bins aren't too old and you paid by credit card you can potentially claim against the credit card company.

Interestingly, Scopes'n'Skies Ltd and The Astronomy and Nature Centre Ltd. were closed down on 1st April 2010. Tony Mowles was a director of both. He is now a director of A10 Optical Ltd., though that company wasn't even formed until 20th September 2012. Suggests there's some sort of connection there, but I wonder what the trading status of the businesses were between those two times. Looks like there might be a story to be told somewhere...

James

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No, I am wrong. 1st April 2010 was when Tony Mowles ceased being a director. SnS was dissolved on 6/12/2011 and A&NC has a proposal to strike it off the register of companies at the moment. I can't find much information, but one of the banks seems to be claiming that A&NC has outstanding debts and their books are seriously overdue at Companies House, so perhaps they're the reason for striking them off. One of the other directors of A&NC is Robert Dalby who appears to be working for A10 at the moment on the basis of their youtube channel (he appears to be the chap who appears in their videos).

Strikes me as odd that a new company should have been set up with the some of the same staff and directors as the old ones and using the trading names of the old ones (presumably wishing to trade on the goodwill associated with those names), but unwilling to honour their warranties.

James

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They had quite a few names for their business over the years - Astro-Engineering, Scopes N Skies, Pulsar Optical, Astronomy & Nature Centre.

And now it seems A10 Optical is the new name. As you say, it's odd that they try to rebrand themselves so often. (although, given their customer service track record...perhaps it's not so odd)

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Well, strictly, SnS doesn't exist as a company any more. There's a new (six month old) company called A10 Optical Ltd. that is trading using the SnS name (as well as the names Pulsar Optical, A&NC etc.).

It's entirely possible there's some perfectly rational explanation for this. Sometimes such machinations are the easiest way to achieve a specific outcome given the way bureaucracy works. If that were the case though and the new company were effectively trading as if they were the old one I'd expect the new company would do the decent thing and honour the obligations of the previous business. If they won't do so it would make me uncomfortable about spending money with them.

James

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Pulsar Optical were at Astrofest earlier this month. They had some good deals on the stand. I bought a RDF for £12, it's identical to much more expensive ones, and a SW 2" UHC for £40.

Maybe they were selling off old stock, don't know. They were friendly and mentioned the new premises at Downham Market. I also spotted one of the employees from the shop at Ely, he was on the Widescreen Centre stand.

Regards, Ed.

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I ordered and paid for online a dovetail with camera mount from A10. Listed as 'in stock' on the website, but when nothing arrived after a couple of weeks I queried it and was told it was out of stock.

A full refund was promptly given, but the website still had the item listed as 'in stock'.

Might be worth telephoning to check stock before you order anything online.

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Just recieved my 10" f/4.7 primary, cell, spider, and secondary from these guys from there Astroboot section all for 135 pounds so they do indeed have some bargains but they don't half make you sweat whilst they take over two weeks and 3 phone calls to get it sent out! swings and roundabouts with these guys:D I've used there shop in the past and the service in shop was great, the guy even made me a cuppa!:D Its a shame there will be no more shop, like Dave says theres not much in the way of actual Astro shops in East Anglia:(

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So I have a bit of a dilemma. Having watched Mr Dalby's videos he's convinced me I need the AE pier for my LX200 and I have 2 tons of concrete in the ground and an AstroShed being delivered in March. But I'm really nervous about ordering an AE product with the uncertainty around the company (or companies). I decided to go ahead and order the pier through another East Anglia based company but just had an email from them saying they don't stock AE products any more because of difficulty with supply and uncertainty over their trading status.

Is there a good alternative? Should I persist?

I know I'm only one customer but I wonder if this uncertainty is affecting their sales.

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I had my astroboot stuff i ordered 3 weeks ago today. The case is different to the one I ordered (eye piece case for my mates scope) a telrad dew thing and a new power cable for my etx 70 after I butchered the last one. 3 weeks and a email (and they addressed it to just Gareth.......) hmmmmmm the invoice said a10 optical but still had scope n sky's on it......

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys

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So I have a bit of a dilemma. Having watched Mr Dalby's videos he's convinced me I need the AE pier for my LX200 and I have 2 tons of concrete in the ground and an AstroShed being delivered in March. But I'm really nervous about ordering an AE product with the uncertainty around the company (or companies). I decided to go ahead and order the pier through another East Anglia based company but just had an email from them saying they don't stock AE products any more because of difficulty with supply and uncertainty over their trading status.

Is there a good alternative? Should I persist?

I know I'm only one customer but I wonder if this uncertainty is affecting their sales.

I would definately look at making your own pier unless you have money to burn, theres plenty of info on the net and SGL in the DIY obsy section, I think mine cost 10 pounds for the tube and about 20-25 quid for concrete and rebar. But then again I'm a cheap skate and even made my pier adaptor out of ply, M12 threaded bar, and a handful of heavy duty nuts and washers:D

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I had my astroboot stuff i ordered 3 weeks ago today. The case is different to the one I ordered (eye piece case for my mates scope) a telrad dew thing and a new power cable for my etx 70 after I butchered the last one. 3 weeks and a email (and they addressed it to just Gareth.......) hmmmmmm the invoice said a10 optical but still had scope n sky's on it......

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys

A10 Optical seems to be the name of the company that seems to be made up of Scopes 'n' Skies, Pulsar Optical and the Astronomy & Nature Centre. Someone will correct me about this no doubt, but that's what I gather.

I also had a bit of a problem getting a dovetail out of them. Resolved in the end but communication was a bit lacking. This was right during the move though so I expect things will be back to normal soon if not already.

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I would definately look at making your own pier unless you have money to burn, theres plenty of info on the net and SGL in the DIY obsy section, I think mine cost 10 pounds for the tube and about 20-25 quid for concrete and rebar. But then again I'm a cheap skate and even made my pier adaptor out of ply, M12 threaded bar, and a handful of heavy duty nuts and washers:D

Put it this way, money is less of a problem than time.

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So I have a bit of a dilemma. Having watched Mr Dalby's videos he's convinced me I need the AE pier for my LX200 and I have 2 tons of concrete in the ground and an AstroShed being delivered in March. But I'm really nervous about ordering an AE product with the uncertainty around the company (or companies). I decided to go ahead and order the pier through another East Anglia based company but just had an email from them saying they don't stock AE products any more because of difficulty with supply and uncertainty over their trading status.

Is there a good alternative? Should I persist?

I know I'm only one customer but I wonder if this uncertainty is affecting their sales.

Altair Astro also sell piers. Have a look on their site.

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Altair Astro also sell piers. Have a look on their site.

Yes they do, and Lee at Green Witch pointed me at them. But in dalby's videos he points out that having a lovely secure vibration free pier and then perching your 10" reflector on top of 3 adjuster bolts doesn't make a lot of sense. Is that a valid criticism?

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Yes they do, and Lee at Green Witch pointed me at them. But in dalby's videos he points out that having a lovely secure vibration free pier and then perching your 10" reflector on top of 3 adjuster bolts doesn't make a lot of sense. Is that a valid criticism?

To a point, yes. But he's primarily trying to sell you something. Fortunately it's easy to tell when a salesman isn't being totally honest. Their lips move. There are sections in that video that strongly suggest to me (and I'm not alone -- it's been discussed here before) that he really doesn't understand as much as he'd like you to think.

If you stuck a 10" newt on top of a plate supported by three 120mm M6 bolts you might expect it to be less than stable. Replace those by (say) some 60mm M12 bolts (or even bigger) and the result would be rather different.

I don't disagree that there's something to be said for the design he espouses for the top of the pier, but equally I think a little common sense saves an awful lot of money here.

James

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