Out of stock everywhere

[Dave scutt]

I'm looking for .

Explore scientific 82  ,24mm

Explore scientific 82,  18mm.

Can't find them anywhere in stock does anyone know who has them in stock. 

Thanks dave 

[johninderby]

Opticstar has their own branded versions in stock.

https://www.opticstar.com/Opticstar-Ultra-Wide-Angle-XL-Eyepiece-18mm.html

https://www.opticstar.com/Opticstar-Ultra-Wide-Angle-XL-Eyepiece-24mm.html

[Dave scutt]

Thanks Johninderby. 

But I'm trying to complete the set

[Kon]

Aliexpress has the 24mm but it may work quite expensive by the time you add tax and duties:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32883164929.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.13.20243c90wwh1I5&pdp_npi=2%40dis!GBP!￡283.45!￡283.45!!!!!%402100bdde16563195653866901e2bf6!12000017944268615!sh

 

[Dave scutt]

Thanks kostas. 

There over 100 euros more and then the customs and tax on top

[Kon]

2 minutes ago, Dave scutt said:

Thanks kostas. 

There over 100 euros more and then the customs and tax on top

Aliexpress used to be cheap but the last few months they have really increased their prices. As John said, you may want to look at clones but I am like you, I like having a set.

Ebay may be an alternative.

By the way, do you need both the 18 and 24; they are fairly close to each other? I find that I use my 24 and then go down to 14. 

[MarsG76]

I find most astro gear out of stock and (in stock or not) prices are increased by 25-50%!!! ... I could literally sell a lot of my current used gear for more than what I paid for it in the last few years... of course, than I'd be without gear or have to pay a premium to replace it... prices have gone nuts.

[Andy ES]

38 minutes ago, Dave scutt said:

I'm looking for .

Explore scientific 82  ,24mm

Explore scientific 82,  18mm.

Can't find them anywhere in stock does anyone know who has them in stock.

Dave,

I’ve got the 18mm and it is fantastic to use.

I've had the 24mm on order for 18 months at £220. I think FLO lists it now as £344 🤢

I have spoken to ES and the supplier many times and at the moment I am quoted as Available again “in the Autumn”.

They  didn’t say which one though.😬

[SiriusB]

14 hours ago, Dave scutt said:

Thanks Johninderby. 

But I'm trying to complete the set

Probably not terribly helpful but it's taken 36years to complete my Circle T set.

Is that a record?

Just when you've explored every possibility, given up, someone will offer a minty for sale.😉

Eyepieces are like buses, you wait ages, then three come along together.

[johninderby]

 

Patience will usually get you the bits you want ….eventually. 😁

Edited June 27, 2022 by johninderby

[Gabby76]

Astroshop is showing the 18 mm available 15.07.22 and 24 mm available 01.01.23 

https://www.astroshop.eu/eyepieces/15_10/m,Explore-Scientific/a,Zubehoer.Allgemein.Serie=82°

 

[vagk]

19 hours ago, Andy ES said:

I have spoken to ES and the supplier many times and at the moment I am quoted as Available again “in the Autumn”.

They  didn’t say which one though.😬

I've been hearing it for two years. Postponements follow one another from season to season. I wonder if their production line still works.

Edited June 28, 2022 by vagk

[Dave scutt]

I've found the 24mm on cn classifieds at a good price. 

[Dave scutt]

6 hours ago, SiriusB said:

Probably not terribly helpful but it's taken 36years to complete my Circle T set.

Is that a record?

Just when you've explored every possibility, given up, someone will offer a minty for sale.😉

Eyepieces are like buses, you wait ages, then three come along together.

I don't get any buses around my way , living in the middle of nowhere,  I would be waiting a long time , It would be quicker getting a tractor 🚜 🤣

[F15Rules]

3 hours ago, vagk said:

I've been hearing it for two years. Postponements follow one another from season to season. I wonder if their production line still works.

..sadly, this is what can happen when most or all of production is farmed out to the Far East..add in a natural and/or man made catastrophe such as COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and seemingly robust supply chains suddenly become very brittle.

Maybe it's time to remember how we and other western countries used to be able to make so many items cost effectively and to high quality standards..and start "making things again"..🤔

Dave

[Andy ES]

18 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

start "making things again".

Would be nice but China is now the “Workshop of the World”, as the workers are unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view)  paid about £7k per year.

Not sure we could make things cheaply enough.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Andy ES

[F15Rules]

11 minutes ago, Andy ES said:

Would be nice but China is now the “Workshop of the World”, as the workers are unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view)  paid about £7k per year.

Not sure we could make things cheaply enough.

Yes, they are, and we have allowed it to happen. And it won't be long til they have so many higher paid domestic consumers who can afford to buy their "home produced" consumer goods that they won't need to ship things half way around the world to find buyers..so shortages will increase, and prices will increase further. What do we do then??

Dave

[Stu]

19 minutes ago, Andy ES said:

Not sure we could make things cheaply enough.

I guess we do more of what Germany do, invest in automation to produce stuff locally.

The other answer may be to consume less?

[Andy ES]

7 minutes ago, Stu said:

The other answer may be to consume less?

What less Astro gear??!!! Surely not ! 😂

 

[Stu]

Just now, Andy ES said:

What less Astro gear??!!! Surely not ! 😂

 

Well no, obviously not. I’m talking about consuming less of the non essential stuff… 🤪🤣

[F15Rules]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Well no, obviously not. I’m talking about consuming less of the non essential stuff… 🤪🤣

Like food??😁

[chiltonstar]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Well no, obviously not. I’m talking about consuming less of the non essential stuff… 🤪🤣

Not my nightly glass of Shiraz!!

[Stu]

Just now, F15Rules said:

Like food??😁

Indeed. Having put on weight during lockdown, I certainly have some reserves I could use up!

[Stu]

Just now, chiltonstar said:

Not my nightly glass of Shiraz!!

Please, everyone listen to what I’m saying. I’m only suggesting cutting back on non essentials. A nightly Shiraz is clearly essential for preservation of one’s wellbeing 😉.

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Maybe it's time to remember how we and other western countries used to be able to make so many items cost effectively and to high quality standards

And at a high price.  I was watching a rerun of a 1970s game show where you had to guess the price of an item.  An American made Oster blender cost $21 nearly 50 years ago.  They're about $30 today.  That 1970s blender would be about $160 in today's dollars, 7.5 times more expensive.  This is in line with the American-Chinese wage and overhead differential minus the additional cross-Pacific transportation costs.  How many Westerners would be willing to suffer a sudden 7x increase in the prices of low cost items to move production out of the Far East?

Think about it, if car production had moved entirely to China, we'd probably be paying about $12,000 for a new car instead of $40k to $60k.  Of course, they'd probably only run for 5 years at most. 😁  But hey, new car every 5 years!

When I worked for a semiconductor foundry company, I asked an executive why our company wasn't building new fabs in the US.  He pointed out that just the difference in utility costs between Taiwan and the US more than up for any additional costs in shipping from there to here.  If Taiwan has cheap electricity relative to the US, I've got to think China's is even cheaper.

Brandon eyepieces are entirely American made from the optics to the barrels to the assembly.  These four element eyepieces cost $280.  Imagine what a 21mm Ethos would cost to make in the US instead of Taiwan (let alone China, which they aren't).  Look back at how basic eyepieces and Newtonians cost about the same in 1970s astro catalogs as today.  Astronomy would only be for the well heeled.