ICEINSPACE
Moon Phase
CURRENT MOON
Waning Gibbous 99.1%
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27-08-2015, 07:21 PM
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Widefield wuss
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Caboolture, Australia
Posts: 6,823
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H. Do you need a paramount for your FSQ really? Your scope and camera weigh all of what 7kg? Hahaha. The g11 Gemini would carry the Esprit 120 and the FSQ side by side. Use the 120 for lum and the FSQ with colour stl11k and you will be set.
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27-08-2015, 07:27 PM
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IIS Member #671
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Canberra
Posts: 11,159
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Oh, I meant that I want a Paramount, and, if I purchase one (which the dear wife has given me permission to) then I wouldn't be able to justify an FSQ-130ED. How much is one, anyway? Claudio has removed pricing from his site.
H
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27-08-2015, 07:28 PM
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IIS Member #671
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Canberra
Posts: 11,159
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By the way, the camera and STL-FW8 filter wheel is quite heavy. The FSQ-106N is quite heavy, too. And, with an FS-60CB on top, it starts to add up.
H
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27-08-2015, 07:31 PM
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Novichok test rabbit
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Somewhere in the cosmos...
Posts: 10,388
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Just get the FSQ-130ED... forget the Paramount. Put the scope on your G11. Bliss.
I believe the US price for the 130 is circa $13K.... so, I guess it is more than the ME+... just.
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27-08-2015, 07:40 PM
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IIS Member #671
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Canberra
Posts: 11,159
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So, about $20K Australian, after having to buy all the adapters and focuser.
I'll pass.
H
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27-08-2015, 07:40 PM
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Widefield wuss
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Caboolture, Australia
Posts: 6,823
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H.. The dear wife allowed a paramount??!! Lucky man. I call dibs on the g11 if it is to be sold!
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27-08-2015, 08:11 PM
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Novichok test rabbit
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Somewhere in the cosmos...
Posts: 10,388
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04-09-2015, 09:43 AM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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Just an update on this: almost three weeks and no response from Tasco regarding either the focuser issues, nor the missing flattener. Very underwhelming support.
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04-09-2015, 11:38 AM
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Novichok test rabbit
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Somewhere in the cosmos...
Posts: 10,388
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I gave up on Tasco a long while ago. Once, you would get almost instantaneous replies from Rob at Tasco. Now you get NO replies from ANYBODY, let alone service of ANY nature. Terrible really, and it is for that very reason ANYTHING I need that Tasco supplies I get from Teleskop Express instead (AND save money!).
They are only losing customers doing this tactic of non-support. I am positive they would rather your dealer handle it, but sometimes they even give dealers the brush off as I found out. By the time Tasco had answered my dealer about a replacement MC board, I had ordered and had DELIVERED a replacement from Germany, and $75 cheaper too.
Tasco needs to WAKE UP!
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04-09-2015, 12:52 PM
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Drifting from the pole
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 5,429
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Just a silly question...have you tried calling them?
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04-09-2015, 12:53 PM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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They certainly do need to wake up. When people spend the amount of money that these things cost, they expect decent support.
My dealer has also told me that he'd chase them up, but having heard nothing back from him (he's usually very good), I'm guessing they're giving him the run-around too.
And this was after the rep told my dealer that some of them accidentally shipped without the flattener... kinda seems like something they could have checked, given they already knew it was a common issue?
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04-09-2015, 12:55 PM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
Just a silly question...have you tried calling them?
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Fair call. No, I haven't. Seems reasonable to expect a response from an email address that they publish on their website.
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04-09-2015, 01:02 PM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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This morning I sent an email to Barry Smith direct (QLD rep), and just now, mere minutes after posting my last response, I finally heard back.
Apparently an order was raised for my flattener but "for some reason it wasn't shipped" but it will ship directly to me today.
Apparently their scope technician will be in contact to work through the focuser issues.
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04-09-2015, 01:26 PM
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Drifting from the pole
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 5,429
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Quote:
Originally Posted by codemonkey
Fair call. No, I haven't. Seems reasonable to expect a response from an email address that they publish on their website.
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Given the prevalence of email in modern society I partly agree, but at the same time email is notorious for going awry in pretty much any global corporate scenario...
When high-tech don't work, revert to the old fashioned methods.
The reason I raised it was that when I was looking for "real" info about the Esprit before I bought mine, I contacted them by phone and was put through to a knowledgeable chap who was very helpful. Maybe I got lucky
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04-09-2015, 01:31 PM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
Given the prevalence of email in modern society I partly agree, but at the same time email is notorious for going awry in pretty much any global corporate scenario...
When high-tech don't work, revert to the old fashioned methods.
The reason I raised it was that when I was looking for "real" info about the Esprit before I bought mine, I contacted them by phone and was put through to a knowledgeable chap who was very helpful. Maybe I got lucky
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That's interesting. I'm a software developer by trade, and for me email is basically a more official SMS; something that usually gets a response in minutes, or hours, not days, and certainly not weeks.
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05-09-2015, 10:50 AM
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Drifting from the pole
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 5,429
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I feel your pain, and don't take this the wrong way, but for many businesses who don't specialise in IT, email is a secondary form of communication
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05-09-2015, 11:31 AM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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Yeah, fair enough. I guess my perspective may be somewhat outside the norm. Geeks gonna geek! :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
I feel your pain, and don't take this the wrong way, but for many businesses who don't specialise in IT, email is a secondary form of communication
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12-09-2015, 08:57 AM
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Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Posts: 2,058
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After getting it touch with Tasco's telescope technician (very helpful, nice guy!), I've been provided with some more information on adjusting these focusers and I think I've now got it about as smooth and even as I'm going to get it.
The down side is, I carried the scope ~300m back to the house to do the adjustment, only to find the locking lever had fallen off somewhere along the way. Something to be said for build quality...
I've now asked Tasco for a replacement lever; given I'd never done anything to the lever besides use it for its intended purpose, that seems reasonable.
Tasco also told me the flattener would be sent last Friday and I should receive it early this past week. I contacted them yesterday and was told that the sales manager believed it had been sent yesterday because "the guys have been very busy".
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12-09-2015, 09:25 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Woodford , Queensland , Australia
Posts: 219
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Quote:
Originally Posted by codemonkey
The down side is, I carried the scope ~300m back to the house to do the adjustment, only to find the locking lever had fallen off somewhere along the way. Something to be said for build quality...
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Lee - How did the focus lock fall out ? You are not having much luck.
Rob
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12-09-2015, 09:34 AM
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Novichok test rabbit
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Somewhere in the cosmos...
Posts: 10,388
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Grab a metal detector and go search for it! I would!
These are hex screw retained aren't they? Loctite in your replacement when you get it!
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