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Sky-Watcher Esprit Telescope Availability


FLO

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Sky-Watcher Esprit telescopes are hellishly difficult to source! They have been for some time now 🙁 

 

Currently: 

Esprit-80 are in stock but we are waiting for a shipment of flatteners. 

Esprit-100 are not in stock, neither are the flatteners. 

Esprit-120 and flatteners are in stock 🙂 

Esprit-150 are not in stock, the flatteners are. 

 

We are doing our very best to source Esprit telescopes but, as a retailer, there is little we can do to improve the situation other than keep you updated and apologise for the delays. 

We understand how frustrating this is. It frustrates us too. So we sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding. 

Steve 

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On 22/08/2019 at 19:30, tomato said:

No availability even after a recent price increase,  the Esprit range really is that good!😊

It is! It’s so versatile. I was using it on Jupiter the other night!

jarvo

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On 21/08/2019 at 12:36, FLO said:

Sky-Watcher Esprit telescopes are hellishly difficult to source! They have been for some time now 🙁 

 

Currently: 

Esprit-80 are in stock but we are waiting for a shipment of flatteners. 

Esprit-100 are not in stock, neither are the flatteners. 

Esprit-120 and flatteners are in stock 🙂 

Esprit-150 are not in stock, the flatteners are. 

 

 

The waiting times for Esprit Refractors is considerably less than those for premium brand APO Refractors such as TEC and CFF, most of which are made to order and involve a wait of at least 6 months.

Furthermore from what I gather, the performance of Esprit scopes comes very close to if not quite equalling that of premium brands costing several times as much.

John 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 21/08/2019 at 12:36, FLO said:

Sky-Watcher Esprit telescopes are hellishly difficult to source! They have been for some time now 🙁 

 

Currently: 

Esprit-80 are in stock but we are waiting for a shipment of flatteners. 

Esprit-100 are not in stock, neither are the flatteners. 

Esprit-120 and flatteners are in stock 🙂 

Esprit-150 are not in stock, the flatteners are. 

 

 

Are some other retailers being less than perfectly honest regarding certain items currently being out of stock.

For example, according to a couple of other retailers' websites, the Esprit 150 is currently 'In Stock', however I have my doubts as to whether this is actually the case as I was under the impressions that all Skywatcher products in the UK are sourced via the main importer (Optical Vision in Bury St Edmunds I understand), and stated stock levels refer to what is in stock with them rather than the individual retailer.

Even if other retailers do have the Esprit 150 in stock, I preferred to wait  to get mine through FLO, as I particularly wanted the Es Reid Optical Bench Test, which I understand is exclusive to FLO.  I gather that problems due to misalignment of the lens elements (frequently as a result of rough handling by couriers) is not uncommon, not only with Skywatcher Refractors, in particular the 150 ED doublets, but also with some Williams Optics, APM, and CFF Refractors.

John

Edited by johnturley
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9 minutes ago, johnturley said:

I preferred to wait  to get mine through FLO, as I particularly wanted the Es Reid Optical Bench Test, which I understand is exclusive to FLO. 

Some retailers will do a simple star test if requested (it isn't difficult) but as far as I know the Es Reid bench test (by someone who truly understands optics) is a FLO exclusive. 

Steve 

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15 minutes ago, johnturley said:

I gather that problems due to misalignment of the lens elements is not uncommon, not only with Skywatcher Refractors, in particular the 150 ED doublets, but also with some Williams Optics, APM, and CFF Refractors.

Actually, problems with Esprit optics are unusual. Here at SGL we resisted offering an Es Reid test for Esprits (an unnecessary expense in most instances) but we received so many requests we made it available as an option. Very occasionally Es does find one that needs adjustment but that is rare. 

HTH, 

Steve 

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On 07/09/2019 at 17:41, FLO said:

Actually, problems with Esprit optics are unusual. Here at SGL we resisted offering an Es Reid test for Esprits (an unnecessary expense in most instances) but we received so many requests we made it available as an option. Very occasionally Es does find one that needs adjustment but that is rare. 

HTH, 

Steve 

So if i purchase a Esprit (I am interested in the 80) without a test and its got a problem I assume that you fix it exactly the same irrespective of if I paid for the test or not and in fact the test is just a pre-sale confirmation that its a good one to provide piece of mind and prevent the inconvenience of having to diagnose the issue, send it back and wait for it to be fixed or exchanged. 

Also what does it say about WO that you automatically include a test with their scopes but not SW......got to tell you that part of my reasoning in going SW Esprit 80 and not WO GT81III.

Adam

Edited by Adam J
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8 minutes ago, Adam J said:

So if i purchase a Esprit (I am interested in the 80) without a test and its got a problem I assume that you fix it exactly the same irrespective of if I paid for the test or not... 

No. If you purchase an Esprit telescope without an Es Reid bench test then find it’s optics require realignment under warranty we will collect it then relay it to Sky-Watcher’s appointed UK distributor (OVL) who will handle the realignment. (Assuming of course we haven’t simply replaced the telescope). We don’t know who the distributor uses for optical work. It is not Es. 

If you purchase a telescope with an Es Reid bench test then find it needs attention FLO will collect it and Es will make the necessary adjustments. 

28 minutes ago, Adam J said:

... a pre-sale confirmation that its a good one to provide piece of mind and prevent the inconvenience of having to diagnose the issue, send it back and wait for it to be fixed or exchanged. 

That is a good summary. 

It is an optional additional layer of QC made available in response to requests from customers. 

HTH, 

Steve 

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3 minutes ago, FLO said:

No. If you purchase an Esprit telescope without an Es Reid bench test then find it’s optics require realignment under warranty we will collect it then relay it to Sky-Watcher’s appointed UK distributor (OVL) who will handle the realignment. (Assuming of course we haven’t simply replaced the telescope). We don’t know who the distributor uses for optical work. It is not Es. 

If you purchase a telescope with an Es Reid bench test then find it needs attention FLO will collect it and Es will make the necessary adjustments. 

That is a good summary. 

It is an optional additional layer of QC made available in response to requests from customers. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Ah now that makes sense so its also an after sales service from ES in addition to the original pre-dispatch test.

 

 

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4 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

We had another Esprit (80) to stay for a week this dark time. Very, very good indeed. No question.

Olly

It would be interesting to see some recent comparisons with high end scopes such as TEC, TAK and CFF costing several times as much.

There was a comparison on Cloudy Nights a few years ago between an Esprit 150 and an AP 160, the AP scope came out as only being marginally better despite the huge price difference.

John 

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An interesting thing with the Esprits is that both the quality and the QC apparently are of a very high standard. As Steve says, Ed almost never sees an optical problem with them. So clearly Syntha and the Chinese can be very rigorous if they want to.

Edited by gorann
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In my experience of working for a Chinese owned manufacturing company in the final few years of my career, they can indeed be very rigorous.

Incidentally, I recently purchased a (nearly) new Esprit 150 via the SGL classifieds, no optical check with this one. Tonight it was hooked up to a 8300 camera using the spacer arrangement set up for another 18 month old 150, and it delivered beautifully round stars, right into the corners. Very impressed indeed.

Edited by tomato
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I recently got a new 100ED from @FLO only had it out once, as I've been away, it is a nice scope and looks lovely on my EQ6 R. Obviously I spent quite a bit of time fettling trying to get the balance sorted and the cabling tidy so only managed about an hours worth of imaging before APT decided a meridian flip was required and everything then went pear shaped, which was a surprise as it usually works fine. I gave up for the night. I stacked the 12 300s subs with the usual darks, flats and bias frames and only a little bit of post processing and got the following which looks quite promising to me.

I will mention that I had my mind set on getting one of these for a while and when I saw Ian King was selling a flattener for it at a very reasonable price I snapped it up, sorry @FLO but it was a good bargaining point to persuade my sweetheart that we'd be saving money overall.

 

NGC6960.jpg

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4 hours ago, Dinglem said:

... when I saw Ian King was selling a flattener for it at a very reasonable price I snapped it up, sorry @FLO but it was a good bargaining point to persuade my sweetheart that we'd be saving money overall.

NGC6960.jpg

No problem 🙂

It is good to hear your new Esprit telescope is performing well. 

Steve 

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