Coronado uk service centre?

[Stuart myatt]

Hello 

 

does anyone know if there is a Meade Coronado Uk service centre? I bought a se one hand solarmax ii 60 which I’m really struggling to get tuned. 
 

Also I seem to have a real bright spot one side of the sun when the sun is in the centre of the image?

id like to get the scope serviced to make sure all is well. 

[Carbon Brush]

Ha scopes can be tricky to tune. They also suffer filter degradion. Most important etalon quality does vary.
The spot off to one side suggests a misaligned filter or lens in there somewhere. But without actually viewing it is a guess.
Was the purchase from a known astro site? A shop? I was wondering if you could ask the seller.
If you add a location to your signature, you may get a response from a nearby member with 'I know these scopes, lets take a look'.

HTH, David.

 

[Stuart myatt]

Thanks David

I bought from astrobuy and sell. 

I live in Gloucester and as your suggestion I will update my bio. I’m new to Ha scopes and wouldn’t know how it works or how to fix. I’d rather send to a service centre and get it properly checked as I would probably make more damage. 

[Ceramus]

Try Oliver: oliver.smie@beloptik.de 

He's actually in France but may be able to advise.

[Highburymark]

Meade Coronado is owned by Orion USA now. The distributor - at least until recently - was Opticstar, but I don’t know if that’s still the case. 
I’m afraid the customer support on Coronado products has had a poor reputation for a while. 
Can you see any Ha detail? Proms for example? What you describe doesn’t sound good. If there’s a problem with the etalon, you need to get a refund if possible.

[Stuart myatt]

Thanks both, I tried opticstar and they no longer manage on their behalf and they pointed to the retailers. I contacted Flo etc and they pointed me to the Meade support email which has not responded to two emails. 
 

I have tried Oliver’s email and also messaged the buy I purchased from so hopefully one way or the other it will get resolved.

 

thanks 

 

Stu

[Stuart myatt]

I was looking at my double stack this morning and notice that it looks off centre. Anyone in the know if this is bad?

 

 

[Carbon Brush]

Sorry to hear the problems are ongoing.
It looks like your best next step is an informed option from someone SGL that is local to you.

There are some solar scope gurus on SGL. I can only think of some that are many miles from you.
But a couple of hundred miles driving, or shipping with a decent carrier, is much better than all the hassle of export to the USA and re-import.

Hopefully by adding to the thread it gets bumped up and attracts attention.

[Carbon Brush]

Another thought. you could ask the mods to move the thread to 'solar observing'.
It may be getting missed by being in the imaging section.

[Rusted]

It is always hard to be absolutely sure that the camera lens is perfectly on axis but something internal does looks tilted.
Do not attempt to dismantle unless your are drunk, drugged, feeling exceptionally lucky or possess unnatural mechanical skills.
There is a high level of fragility, precision and "alien technology" involved in solar H-alpha filtration.
I hope you did not spend a vast sum of money on this kit. Some sellers have the morals of a [insert personal choice of derogatory terms here!]
It is almost commonplace for sellers to unload solar equipment with flaws or clouded filters. Not quite the Wild West but getting there.
Not much help at this stage, but demanding images taken through said equipment may offer some safeguard.
Even then these image[s] might still have been taken before they dropped the equipment and decided to unburden themselves at YOUR expense.
Try Solar Observing [or even SolarChat! forum] for better advice. You could of course name the seller if a refund is not forthcoming.
Doesn't AstroBuySell have a blacklist of fraudulent traders? I seem to remember they had in the past.
Alternatively, seek the free advice of your Local Trading Standards Office. Always a mine of FREE and helpful advice in my past experience.