Where to buy an SBIG STF3800?

[White Rabbit]

Where is the best place to purchase one of these? I've decided to step up and embrace the curve that is ccd astro photography.

I can't seem to find any local distributors here in oz, certainly not with the web search I did. I did come across these guys in the US http://www.optcorp.com/ProductList.aspx?uid=319-320-324-1965 THey are selling them for 2K. Add gst 2.2 add shipping and insurance maybe another 200 takes me to about $2400/2500.

I've heard of guys buying the here for around the same price but I can't seem find anywhere in oz. if you have one where did you get it from?

Thanks

[Peter Ward]

There is a little ad on page 23 in the April edition of Australian Sky & Telescope that should be helpful....

[mithrandir]

My April AS&T got soaked by the rain, but I guess that might be the same ad that's on page 65 of the Feb/Mar issue which is still on the shop shelves.

[naskies]

As far as I'm aware, Peter Ward (Advanced Telescope Supplies) is the only distributor of SBIG products in Australia: http://www.atscope.com.au

I bought the STF-8300M Pro Plus package a few months ago (December) from OptCorp. Shipping for the large pelican case it comes ended up being US$210.85 via UPS. They delivered it two days past the "guaranteed" delivery date, so I ended up getting the shipping fee completely refunded! :)

As it happens, a manufacturing defect in the cooler manifested within a week of purchase - doh :( I spoke with OptCorp and they were happy to let me return the entire package as a dead-on-arrival product (albeit at my own expense) and immediately ship out a new unit (even whilst it was in transit).

I decided to send the camera into SBIG for repair instead. They were very responsive and happy to deal with me directly. I shipped the camera itself in a padded box to their Californian headquarters for ~ AUD$65 using Express Post International (standard) - and also paid for the optional insurance (~ AUD $60). They repaired the defect, acknowledged a firmware bug that I found (problem with bias frames) and updated it, and shipped it back to me via UPS for free.

I personally chose to buy from OptCorp because they had immediate stock on hand (no waiting), they were much cheaper, and I received better pre-sales service. However, I know there are many people on IIS who purchased locally from ATS and have been very happy too.

Kudos to SBIG too for being happy to deal with international customers directly and not enforcing a no-export policy on OptCorp.

By the way... since you seem to be referring to the *mono* version of the camera, you may want to check out some of the SBIG packages that include the filter wheel, off-axis guider, guide cam, filters, etc... much cheaper than purchasing them all separately.

[rat156]

I bought my STT8300 Pro package off Peter, essentially the same price as OPT, but if something goes wrong it's a ship to Sydney rather than ship to US. Peter also offered a much longer warranty.

Just a happy customer, YMMV.

Cheers
Stuart

[SpaceNoob]

I second this.

Got my STT-8300 through Peter, happy to recommend.