8 years waiting then...

[Kal]

8 years ago I placed myself on the Astro-Physics notification list, and yesterday I finally got an email!


Some time ago, you informed us that you were interested in the 130mm f6 StarFire EDFS. We placed your name on the notification list at that time. We recently introduced the 130mm f6.3 StarFire EDF Gran Turismo. These scopes are now well into production, and we are offering them to the people who have been waiting the longest.

Delivery is estimated to begin in September.

Quite by coincidence, I will be holidaying in the US in September, so if things work out well I might even be able to personally bring the scope back to Australia in time for the IIS Astrocamp! :D I think this is the first production run of these scopes, so I could be one of the first people in the world to own one! :eyepop:

[leon]

My God...I would have given up hope of a reply in that time frame, but if you get the scope you really want than go for it, good luck.

Leon

[TrevorW]

Everything comes to those who wait and wait and wait

I would have given up long ago

[Kal]

Well I kind of had given up. When I put my name on the list I did it knowing that the wait list at the time was around 4 years. 4 years came and went. There were reports of the wait list being as long as 9 years for people on the 160 notification list - people getting there scopes in 2008 had been on the list in 1999.

Even though I'd kind of given up I'm still keen to jump on this offer, If I wanted to place myself on the list again I might have to wait more than a decade, and with the weakness of the US dollar at the moment, and the fact that I will be in the US in september, it's almost as if the timing is perfect for me to buy this once in a lifetime scope!

[Ian Robinson]

Ask them a price based on their cost 8 years ago ....

Better be bloody fanastic and a brilliant telescope after all that time.

8 years ago the AUD < 0.60 USD , now it's AUD = 0.96 USD , might be par or better in 12 months especially when the yanks wize up that they are in recession and admit it.

Do you mind telling us how much they quoted you 8 years ago , and how much now you're on the order list (presuming you said yes please) ?

[iceman]

What is the price?

8 years! Wow!

[Dennis]

I suspect the Aussie/US $ exchange rate right now is more in your favour than 8 years ago!

Great news!

Cheers

Dennis

[Kal]

8 years ago I think the price of the 130 was around US$4500, however I could be wrong. Current price of the new scope is US$5675. It was clearly stated that the price you pay will be the price quoted when your notification email is sent, not the price at the time you went on the list. As mentioned, the exchange rate dipped to a low of 49 cents in 2001 (http://www.rba.gov.au/Statistics/Bulletin/F11hist.xls), being between 63c & 55c in 2000, so this scope is actually more affordable now compared to back then for aussies.

[rogerg]

Well, 8 years is definitely longer than I'd wait between deciding to spend the money and actually receiving the goods. Sure, I've been waiting 6 years to have the money to upgrade my scope and still don't, but that's different :)

[Kal]

Actually, 8 years ago I didn't have the money, and I wasn't sure if I would buy the scope, but I put myself onto the list to give myself an opportunity to make that decision at a future date :) After all, if the time came (what I thought would be 4 years later) and I didn't have the money and I didn't want the scope, I always had the option to say no.

[RB]

Congratulations Andrew, I'm sure it will be a fantastic piece of gear and you won't be sorry. Sounds like a perfect combo, 130mm, f/6.3.
And it's a perfect time now with the $AU.

:thumbsup:

[wavelandscott]

Wow, Great news!

I would strongly encourage you to buy it (if you had any doubt)...that scope is one of the few things in life that will be worth more after you accept delivery than you will pay for it.

On Amart at the moment there is a AP Traveler going at auction for much more than that...while I know that it is not the same scope, I do beleive that it is representative of the esteem with which AP gear is held.

Congratulations after a long long wait.

[netwolf]

Congrats mate. I am looking forward to seeing through this scope and comparing it to Apoman's AP. I wonder how long a wait it would be if i put my name down now. I saw on CN one chap just received his GT scope. AP is a good investment, even if you had to sell it (which i would never reccomend) you could easily off load it. Oh yes I am still waiting for my call back about the Will discussion..

[jase]

Well done Andrew. Insanity kicks in around the 9 to 10 year mark. At this point you simply buy any AP that is advertised on astromart.

[Ric]

Andrew, I admire your patience it borders on legendary.

After waiting that long I hope it all fall into place with your trip. That's the least it can do.

Cheers

[Rigel003]

Congratulations, it will be am unbeatable scope. I saw one at NEAF this year when I was holidaying in New York, and also met Roland and Marjorie. Great scope and very compact. Strangely, APs production rate for its mountings has been increased enormously of late. I was surprised to be notified for a 900 GOTO less than a year after getting on the list and have placed the order now. I'm despairing of ever getting a scope though.

[Blue Skies]

8 years! I had been wondering how long the waiting list was these days. I'm sure the wait will be worth it. :cool2:

[Miaplacidus]

Isn't there an arbitrage opportunity here? Surely people with no interest in astronomy could put themselves on the waiting list, buy the scope after however many years, then on-sell it to impatient astroaddicts at a premium. After all, you've just saved them 8 years.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. (I guess there is no way, psychologically speaking, that you could allow yourself to admit disappointment anyway.)

Cheers,

Brian.

[Zuts]

There is an arbitrage opportunity, but you have to wait 8 years for it :)

Paul

[netwolf]

Brian, i think its called "Flipping" buy and sell. Lot of people especially with AP Mounts recently, have been called up sooner than they expected and they purchase to sell the item.

[kwkee]

Kal, I was on the list since 27 Nov 1999. I just got a notice too for the Gran Turismo.

Back in 1999, the scope (130 f/6) cost around USD$3800 with the 130 f/8 version around USD$3500. I could be wrong, but should be around that ballpark.

I grab the offer immediately when the notice to purchase came. I still couldn't believe that they actually contacted me. No words can describe that feeling.

[Kal]

Congrats kwkee!

Your memory is far better than mine, you remember the exact date you went on the list, I can't even remember the month I went on the list :whistle: so I'd trust your $3800 price! :D

You would have gone through a similar journey to me then. When they stopped producing the 130EDFS in 2003 your heart would have sunk a little and in the years following that the notification list started becoming a distant memory. In 2006 they announced the new 140 scope along with what is now the 130 Gran Turismo, but as it turned out it was another 2 years before they produced this scope, so the email came quite unexpected!

[kwkee]

Kal, you can actually ask the guy in AP who contacted you if you want to know exactly how long you have been on the list.

I can't wait for the scope to arrive!