A Tale of Two Focusers (or, "Moonlite Becomes Her")

[MjrTom]

Yes one VERY unhappy camper.

[swag72]

have you contacted them about sorting the issue out?

[MjrTom]

have you contacted them about sorting the issue out?

Yes. via email and answerphone messages.

Awaiting their reply.

[swag72]

I think you should give FLO the opportunity to sort it out before so publicly slating them.

[MjrTom]

I think you should give FLO the opportunity to sort it out before so publicly slating them.

For the record I have.

I am only stating the facts here. I have removed any comments regarding personal feelings as to comply with the forum.

After spending a month of back and forth emails there has been considerable communication on this subject.

[swag72]

I am very uninpressed with the quality of service I have recieved and would voice my experience publicly if the SGL had not locked the FLO supplier feedback thread...

Aplogies if I misunderstood, but this suggests that if you could you would gladly 'voice your experience' now, before FLO have even had the chance to resolve the issue.

It could be that they resolve it to your satisfaction.

[MjrTom]

Aplogies if I misunderstood, but this suggests that if you could you would gladly 'voice your experience' now, before FLO have even had the chance to resolve the issue.

It could be that they resolve it to your satisfaction.

Yes I appreciate your point.

I have removed any personal feelings and left it as the bare facts.

The purpose of having the supplier feedback threads was so that people can voice their experiences both good and bad.

[Helen]

For the record:

You can start a supplier review thread to cover your personal experiences with any supplier - FLO is no different. Supplier review threads are locked so that there is no discussion about them. We then pull together individual reviews of the same supplier to make the board easier to use.

So, to give your experience, just post a new thread in the supplier review section

Helen

[MjrTom]

So, to give your experience, just post a new thread in the supplier review section

Helen

Thanks Helen.

I misunderstood how you go about posting supplier experience feedback.

I shall put together a factual post of my experience in due course.

[swag72]

I hope you get it sorted though Mark. I swapped my original focuser to a Moonlite and it's well worth it.

[A McEwan]

I can understand how frustrated you must be, MjrTom - my Moonlite first arrival also had an issue that required it to be replaced, resulting in a further delay. Mind you, mine fitted but was not quite "perfect" in another way. As a result of informing and discussing with Steve at FLO we returned it for replacement and the replacement was absolutely perfect once it arrived.

You WILL get satisfaction and you WILL be happy with the end result - it's worth waiting for. Shame about the bad timing. Hang in there!

Ant

[MjrTom]

Thanks, for the record it is a beautiful product and look forward to mounting it on my telescope after using a misaligned skywatcher stock focuser for the past few months with all its annoying squeaks and slipping.

[FLO]

have you contacted them about sorting the issue out?

Yes. via email and answerphone messages.

Awaiting their reply.

I think you should give FLO the opportunity to sort it out before so publicly slating them.

Sorry to hear your Moonlite was fitted with the wrong flange Mark.

Whilst it was delayed en-route to us from the states, our records show it was dispatched yesterday and you received it via Fedex this morning. We cannot find an email from you today, your last communication appears to be on the 24th when we advised you our Moonlite delivery was imminent.

Unfortunately, if it has been packaged with the wrong flange I suspect it will take us a week or two to source the correct flange. I am guessing that will not please you. Would you prefer we collect your focuser and arrange a full refund plus some gift tokens for the inconvenience?

Sorry your order hasn't progressed the way we planned, I know how frustrating these things can be.

HTH,

Steve

[MjrTom]

Many thanks for the reply.

Please check ticket number #9410 submitted at 10:43am this morning and also check your answerphone which has a voice message from me asking for a callback to explain how to proceed.

[FLO]

Please check ticket number #9410 submitted at 10:43am this morning

We don't appear to have that ticket number on the system It might be that it is taking a while to register, they don't always arrive in sequence.

and also check your answerphone which has a voice message from me asking for a callback to explain how to proceed.

I confess we are still working through this mornings messages so one that arrived late-morning probably hasn't been found yet.

Anyhow, here I am

How would you like me to proceed? Should I arrange that you receive the correct flange (1-2 weeks) or would you prefer we collect, refund and send gift vouchers (2-3 working days)?

[FLO]

Your helpdesk enquiry has just 'pinged' on my screen

[MjrTom]

We don't appear to have that ticket number on the system It might be that it is taking a while to register, they don't always arrive in sequence.

I confess we are still working through this mornings messages so one that arrived late-morning probably hasn't been found yet.

Anyhow, here I am

How would you like me to proceed? Should I arrange that you receive the correct flange (1-2 weeks) or would you prefer we collect, refund and send gift vouchers (2-3 working days)?

Thanks Steve,

Yes it would seem your system is not registering this ticket when I go to look for it. I have sent you via email (to the steve@ email address) the FLO auto ticketing email and the info contained.

I still want the product I have ordered, paid for, and waited and month to receive so please arrange for the correct flange to be supplied ASAP.

There goes my imaging plans with the Equinox 80 in Ireland next week...

(background info) http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-help/142836-sw-equinox-80-focuser-problem.html

Thanks

[FLO]

Okay, will do. If you are willing I will ask Ron (at Moonlite) to send the correct flange direct to your address, that way you will receive it 2-3 days earlier.

Apologies again for the inconvenience.

[MjrTom]

Okay, will do. If you are willing I will ask Ron (at Moonlite) to send the correct flange direct to your address, that way you will receive it 2-3 days earlier.

Apologies again for the inconvenience.

Ok that would be acceptable.

Thanks

[MjrTom]

Hello again.

Though I best apologise to Ant as his thread has gone a bit off topic.

Just to bring it back in line with your original post here is some photos to sweeten it up a bit.

Wow I was expecting a well engineered bit of kit but this is astounding

I love my well engineered stuff but this is a little gem.

To compare it to my skywatcher stock crayford focuser is like comparing a "friday built" old school Skoda to a DB9 but I was suspecting that.

Apart from the obvious sliky smooth action of the focuser I also liked the low profile 1 1/4 inch adapter and the shaft lock function which looks like it could be very useful for locking off the focus.

The dual finder brackets are very useful. It means I can use both my RDF and 9x50 RA finder at the same time.

[FLO]

Regarding Moonlite, this has confirmed that we need to rethink our approach. Normally we pride ourselves on carrying more stock than most of our competitors but with Moonlite there are so many variables and options, it really isn't possible to have everything on the shelf. Take Mark and Antony's Moonlite CF Crayford Focuser, Moonlite offer 19x flange options, five drawtubes and six colours! My maths isn't the best but I make that 570 different variations

Moonlite have an excellent product, their focusers really are superb and we are very pleased to be associated with them. The company is good too, they don't have the rip-off-Britain approach shown by some US manufacturers (you would be surprised how many products we turn down because of this!). Moonlite's order/pricing structure enables us to offer their products here in the UK for around the same price you would pay ordering it direct from the US. There will always be a place for Moonlite here at FLO

But, we will reduce our range down to the two most popular colours (black and orange) and the two most popular fittings (Skywatcher and Equinox). They will be dual-speed with shaft-lock and have drawtube lengths to suit. We will also carry spare flanges. Other options will be special-order items that will require 3-4 weeks to source. This way the majority of UK customers will receive their orders in 2-3 days.

We probably should have done this months ago

[A McEwan]

Spare flange stock is a great idea. I was thinking of trying the Moonlite out on my Helios 6" f8, just for fun...

Mark, mine doesn't have the shaft lock feature - looks impressive! Black is definately the way to go on an Equinox!

Ant

[MjrTom]

Yeah I agree.

The first thing I noted when I unpacked the packaging was that the flange was already attached to the focuser.

It might be easier if they supplied just the focuser and then the flange was separate. that way you would only need to have specific flanges in stock and not have to have a full range of focusers with the flanges already assembled.

When it comes to picking all that is needed is a check on the flange type required then just grab a "standard focuser" off the shelf.

The parts coming assembled means I guess you need multiple volumes of stock compared to just a selection of flanges.

Oh also it had to be black. anything else on an equinox would look a little odd in my opinion.

[Nexus 6]

Nice pics Mark, love Moonlite, just to classy looking and do a great job on precise focusing with no image shift which is not that hard when you compare it to the standard focuser on my 925.

[MjrTom]

Thanks Alan

Yeah they are a cracking bit of kit and will do me well for many years I hope.

The optical quality of the Equinox 80 ED refractor is excellent with only the very hint of fringing when defocused.

However the focuser leaves a little to be desired.

Not only was I experiencing issues with holding the weight of a field flattener and DSLR parallel to the optical path but after a few months it has struggled to hold the weight of a 2 inch diagonal and 2 inch EP when pointed at the zenith...

Hence in dire need of a replacement.