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What did the postman bring?

nightfisher

By nightfisher
in The Astro Lounge

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Surreydocker

Surreydocker

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Brand new direct from Altair. A couple of days after requesting an 'in stock' notification, the golden ticket arrived. £35 added to the 'out of stock' price but still a nice telescope for £495.

I have the exact same scope - you won't be disappointed !

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mikeDnight
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I had to pop out for a couple of hours around lunch-time, and inevitably a parcel was delivered while I was out. On my return I found this behind my front door.   I've no idea how this

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Padraic M

Padraic M

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Not as exciting as a new scope, but the makings of a new mount have been arriving in dribs and drabs over the last few days.
(Nearly) a full set of bearings for the HEQ5 Pro. Might have a crack at the RA axis this weekend. Still waiting for a second taper bearing and 9mm bearings for the Dec worm assembly.

IMG_20210129_141344.jpg.c9fb3a8d90fb1085342afd195c05f57e.jpg

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ScouseSpaceCadet

ScouseSpaceCadet

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Hmm I wonder what an “out of stock” price means. I wonder if it’s like the “restocking” fee that some US companies have. That would be a worrying trend if it were.

Dont let this comment put you off enjoying what I’m sure is a wonderful telescope 

The list price is £549 so getting it for £502 inc. next day delivery at least feels like a bargain. 😉

The scope didn't look adequately boxed at first due to the small size, but on opening it was double boxed, securely packaged and in perfect condition.

 

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Dantooine

Dantooine

Posted
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39 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

The list price is £549 so getting it for £502 inc. next day delivery at least feels like a bargain. 😉

The scope didn't look adequately boxed at first due to the small size, but on opening it was double boxed, securely packaged and in perfect condition.

 

They double boxed those scopes after I phoned Ian up about the inadequacy of the packing over a year ago. They only used to be single boxed and the focus knob was right up against the box edge. Quite a few were delivered with a bent focus shaft as was my first one. It’s good to know the fantastic product is now better protected. 

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John

John

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33 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

Arrived this morning, fresh from the esteemed @Dantooine, thank you 👍

An APM 20mm 100 degree... now to see if I can get on with these super wides or not 😬🤞

APM_20mm_100degree.jpg

It will be very interesting to see how you get on with 100 degree eyepieces. The APM 20 / 100 is an excellent way to find out :smiley:

 

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Mr Thingy

Mr Thingy

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18 hours ago, Telescope40 said:

 

8417D1B6-7FEB-4DC4-80EB-30BF3ED537FC.jpeg

 

I see the courier seemed to assume that the "handle with care" sticker only referred to the corner it was stuck on. The other corner was fair game for normal courier handling/drop-kicking 😂

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callisto

callisto

Posted
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21 hours ago, Alan White said:

That looks super Mark, the tripod looks a very solid one, be interested how it performs.

Looks like a good sturdy mount....been pondering on this or the GEM28 for a while 🤔

 

Mark

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HollyHound

HollyHound

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25 minutes ago, John said:

It will be very interesting to see how you get on with 100 degree eyepieces. The APM 20 / 100 is an excellent way to find out :smiley:

 

Exactly, it's a no risk introduction to the 100 degree world and I can compare it to both the XW20 (70 deg) plus it gives about the same FoV as my XW30 but with shorter focal length and smaller exit pupil... interesting comparisons to follow 🤔

Part of me wants to really not get on with 100 degrees at all, as I realise if I am blown away then the call of the Ethos will be next and I'm remarkably comfortable with XW/Delos right now 😬🤣

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John

John

Posted
Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

...Part of me wants to really not get on with 100 degrees at all, as I realise if I am blown away then the call of the Ethos will be next and I'm remarkably comfortable with XW/Delos right now 😬🤣

That's interesting. I have always really liked very wide fields of view so when 100 degree eyepieces were launched (the Ethos 13mm) I jumped at the chance to go wider still, hoping that I would find them to be good as well as delivering even more expansive views than the Naglers that I had at that time. So I really wanted to like them, and I did.

I'll have a small bet with myself on how you will find them - so I'll await your findings with interest to see if I've guessed right :smiley:

 

Edited by John
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ScouseSpaceCadet

ScouseSpaceCadet

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

How does the AZ-GTi handle the scope? I could imagine it's on the heavy side.

With tube rings it's 4.2kg. Adding the 1.25" diagonal and an eyepiece should keep it just below 5kg. The rather heavy metal finder is just for show. Whilst on the AZGTI I'll use a plastic rdf.

 

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Dantooine

Dantooine

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Mr Thingy said:

I see the courier seemed to assume that the "handle with care" sticker only referred to the corner it was stuck on. The other corner was fair game for normal courier handling/drop-kicking 😂

He’d have broken his foot kicking 

 

1 hour ago, Mr Thingy said:

I see the courier seemed to assume that the "handle with care" sticker only referred to the corner it was stuck on. The other corner was fair game for normal courier handling/drop-kicking 

Edited by Dantooine
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Surreydocker

Surreydocker

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

With tube rings it's 4.2kg. Adding the 1.25" diagonal and an eyepiece should keep it just below 5kg. The rather heavy metal finder is just for show. Whilst on the AZGTI I'll use a plastic rdf.

 

I have the same scope, mount, metal RDF, and a 2" prism diagonal and it all works fine. No need to worry about the weight !

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Dantooine

Dantooine

Posted
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47 minutes ago, John said:

That's interesting. I have always really liked very wide fields of view so when 100 degree eyepieces were launched (the Ethos 13mm) I jumped at the chance to go wider still, hoping that I would find them to be good as well as delivering even more expansive views than the Naglers that I had at that time. So I really wanted to like them, and I did.

I'll have a small bet with myself on how you will find them - so I'll await your findings with interest to see if I've guessed right :smiley:

 

Wonder what odds you are giving. 

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HollyHound

HollyHound

Posted
Posted (edited)
54 minutes ago, John said:

I'll have a small bet with myself on how you will find them - so I'll await your findings with interest to see if I've guessed right

I hope you win your bet... I have a feeling you might, but I have to scratch this itch 🤞🤣

Edited by HollyHound
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Dantooine

Dantooine

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, John said:

That's interesting. I have always really liked very wide fields of view so when 100 degree eyepieces were launched (the Ethos 13mm) I jumped at the chance to go wider still, hoping that I would find them to be good as well as delivering even more expansive views than the Naglers that I had at that time. So I really wanted to like them, and I did.

I'll have a small bet with myself on how you will find them - so I'll await your findings with interest to see if I've guessed right :smiley:

 

APM also do a 13, 9, 5, 3.5 oh and now also a 7mm on your journey to ethos 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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F15Rules

F15Rules

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Dantooine said:

They double boxed those scopes after I phoned Ian up about the inadequacy of the packing over a year ago. They only used to be single boxed and the focus knob was right up against the box edge. Quite a few were delivered with a bent focus shaft as was my first one. It’s good to know the fantastic product is now better protected. 

You shouldn't have needed to call them up about the packaging..a seller of any  precision instruments should not risk any packaging which is clearly not up to the task.

Proper packaging and good communications are two of the most important "what counts" factors when buying astro gear.

Some years ago I had zero response to an enquiry to Altair about an item. Since then they have had zero business from me. It's a shame, as I've always thought Altair offered some interesting products.

I hope that things have improved since then (it sounds as though they have, thankfully), but as I discovered FLO soon after my experience, I've never felt the need to go anywhere else for new items, apart from the very odd occasion.

The saying "First Impressions Count" is very true..

Dave

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