Andrews Communications / Skywatcher

[awesome]

Don't know if this the right place for this question :shrug: but here goes anyway.
I was wondering if anyone knows if the EQ6 pro mount from Andrews Communications is a genuine Skywatcher product or not.
Reason is , i just picked up a new William Optics 80mm FD today and enquired about the price of an EQ6 Pro mount whilst at the local Astro shop (who will remain nameless) and i mentioned i had seen the EQ6 on the Andrews website for $1799.00 delivered anywhere in OZ. He got a bit upset and told me the Andrews Skywatcher equipment is not supplied by Tasco Australia and he went on to say that Tasco are the only authorised distributor of Skywatcher in Australia and that Tasco hadn't supplied Andrews with Skywatcher products for quite a while . He said best he could supply me the EQ6 for was $1960.00 and that it would be a "genuine" EQ6 via Tasco Australia.
Does anybody know what gives here?
The price is tempting from Andrews , but i wonder if it's the "genuine" article covered by a "genuine warranty"? I'm tempted to ring Andrews and ask them straight out what or where the mount comes from , but am a bit scared of coming across the wrong way. Does anyone have any comments or info?
Cheers , Leon.

[Blue Skies]

I could but it would probably break some trade secrets.

What I will say is that the Chinese, who make Skywatcher, prefer to sell by the container-load. That's a lot of scopes in each sea container. You need to outlay a lot money to do that. Not everyone has it, so they need to buy from someone who can. Perhaps you can fill in the gaps from there.

[MortonH]

All I can say is that my dealings with Andrews have been excellent. I've found their service to be very good and they keep prices down by not having a fancy showroom in the city. Haven't visited since they started selling the Skywatcher Pro gear, but I'd have no reason to think it wasn't genuine.

Morton

[awesome]

Thanks for the comments Blue Skies and Morton , guess then the decision gets down to one of an ethical nature , do i go for the cheaper option or do i go for the local guy? :shrug:
I suppose it always gets down to bucks at the end of the day. But somehow i feel uneasy about this , don't know why.
Cheers , Leon. :thumbsup:

[Prickly]

Well I just bought one from Andrews recently and I have to say Im really happy with it. It certainly looks like every other Eq6 pro to me. Tracks nice and smoothly after a 3 star allign. Im now a real convert to computerised scopes - I saw more in one session last night than I have in years!

To be honest Im not really too concerned about whether or not its a Tasco version etc. I presume they all are made at the same spot and the warranty is still 5yrs.

Cheers
David

[DJ N]

Hi there Leon,

I see you are from Adelaide as well.........

I purchased the EQ6 Pro from Andrews just before Christmas. Seems like a "proper" Skywatcher to me, as I did have the HEQ5 Pro prior from another retailer. I suppose prior to ordering it from Andrews, I did do the ring around in Adelaide, and they simply could not match the price (by quite a margin). In fact they were trying to sell me astandard EQ6 for the same price.

In terms of service from Andrews (being interstate) - all I can say is absolutely second to none. When I unpacked the box, I found that the hand controller was damaged. I rang Andrews first thing the next morning and spoke to Lee. Literally, before I finished my sentence, he told me that he would express post a replacement hand controller immediately (after Luke there was going to check it on one of their mounts there prior to sending it just to make sure it worked). I recieved the replacement the following morning.

As for the mount itself, I find that it is suberb. As an example, here is a 5 minute guided shot I took on the weekend through the ED80....


Cheers,

Daniel

[g__day]

Andrews makes most of his dollars from CB radios, and telescopes are almost priced to snub other dealers and their overheads.

Lee seems to hate what others charge and deliberately price barely above wholesale. I've chatted to him about it - he has a bee in his bonnet.

[tbentley]

Interesting to hear that. I am thinking of buying an ED80 Pro and speaking to the Perth dealer lowered my confidence a little after I found that Tasco did not supply Andrews. The local price was a little high for my liking so I had put the idea on the backburner. After reading this I may return to my original thinking and contact Andrews after all.
Why am I pleased that this thread might have just cost me more of my hard earned?:bashcomp:
Travis

[Zuts]

Whether it's supplied by Andrews or not, it's an ED80. It may or may not be a grey market ED80 but it's still an ED80 whether you buy in Perth or in Sydney or where ever.

The important thing is the warranty service you get with it. Does Andrews offer a good warranty service, most of the threads here say so.

I would say just go for it.

Paul

[tbentley]

The only problem is that I now have to convince my (significantly) better half that while she can't actually save money by spending it, I can.:P
Trav

[awesome]

G_Day , mate i think you have "hit the nail on the head" with your post.
The reaction i got from the local dealer seems to be directly proportional to his ability to compete with Andrews because of perhaps some sort of contractual arangement between he and Tasco :shrug:
That being the case , that warranty , after sales service etc. isn't a problem if dealing with Andrews , then i guess the dollar rules and the win goes to Andrews' EQ6 pricing.
Thanks to all who replied , may the sky be clear and the mounts be cheap!
Cheers , Leon :thumbsup:

[tbentley]

Well I emailed Lee last night and he got back to me first thing this morning. Everything I read about his service would seem to be true. He answered all my questions brilliantly and has given me the confidence to proceed with the purchase. He is either a really good salesman (and I can usually pick 'em being one myself) or, as I suspect, a really good, genuine bloke.
His response indicated exactly what g_day was saying. A couple of mentions of "greedy retailers" and that he can sell whatever he wants at whatever price he wants and loves to force competitors to follow his lead.
So far, without even placing an order let-alone receiving it, Andrews Communications has won a great deal of respect from me.:thumbsup:
Travis

[Night Owl]

That's why I buy stuff off Andrews as well. I've bought $1500 of equipment off his business in the last month alone. His team provides no BS service and advice, and first class back up. They sent me a brand new scope no arguement or questions asked, after the first was damaged by the freight company enroute. That was before it was even returned to them, so I didn't have to go without.

And, very importantly, they have the best price / value in Australia for the money. To get any better price you have to paypal to a business address in Hong Kong! Did I mention that when they say they'll send it today, they mean it. I get it in two days, from Sydney.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Andrew's Communications to anyone.

And you know how fussy I am mate! :thumbsup:

[toc]

This is great to hear. Having one company (Tasco) control the entire supply of something is obviously not good for the consumer. A bit of competition in the astro-market is great for us! :thumbsup:

[Mr. Subatomic]

Yeah I'm looking at purchasing a SW ED80 PRO from there. I was amazed at the price. I can get it with a SW mount for less than competitors offer for the OTA alone.

[tbentley]

The version with the mount is not the PRO version. It confused me a little at first too. The PRO is $800 + $99 for the case. It's still a fair bit cheaper though, that's why I've got one in transit to me now.:D
Travis

[Mr. Subatomic]

Yeah I soon realised that soon after I made that post.

But is the SkyWatcher 80ED (not the PRO version) still a relatively good scope? I mean it would beat any achromatic wouldn't it?

Cheers.

[Hagar]

I think you will find the pro series were originally put to gether as a true kit including the mount, diagonal some EP's and a case. and the standard ED80 was a stand alone optical tube which was not brought into australia by tasco. The standard model is the same scope just coloured differently and may have a rack and pinion focuser instead of the crayford.

I have found Andrews to be a first class reputable dealer who deserves our support and patronage.

[Stephen65]

I've only had good dealings with Andrews Comms, and I have bought a fair bit of equipment from them.

[Screwdriverone]

I agree, Andrews Comms are great!

I had a slight problem with my brand new binoculars about 4 days after I bought them and took them back to Andrews where they were exchanged for a brand new pair straight away. Luke showed me the differences between the 15x70 and the 11x70 regarding exit pupil size etc as I was all set on the higher magnification because of the bigger number! :sadeyes:
I am extremely happy with this purchase. Lee also checked and adjusted the collimation on them before I left to make sure they were right, a service they apparently do to all mail order items (including scopes) so they can minimise any potential disruption/pain for their customers by having to send back items in the post etc.

I also had to take my EQ2 mount back to the shop front store of where I bought it and have it replaced as there was something not quite right with it (sticky RA controls) and they were just as accomodating regarding getting me back in business quickly and staring at the sky.

So, from my experience, both stores have great service, Andrews is now the most dangerous place for me because of the equally great advice, lower prices and the fact that they are about 35km closer to home for me.... its just a pity I didnt go there first when I got my Skywatcher as I would have saved some dollars, but having the showroom to touch and feel the scopes as well as sound out the guys for an hour helped me make my decision better than any catalogue or Web site could do. Just my opinion.

Chris

[Satchmo]

Check Bintel who are a local Skywatcher distributer: according to their online shop webpage their Skywatcher ED80 Pro ( gold tube ) is $699.

[Aster]

Check Andrews :)

SW ED80 OTA $499

Comes with Mounting Rings, Dove Tail and FREE Aluminium Case.

And it has Pro written on it's Tube.

Should know as I tossed up between the ED80 and ED100, finished up with the ED100

[Satchmo]

I stand corrected , I think theres confusion over the type.

The Bintel ad shows a Pro in the photo but the text doesn't mention it, so I guess its a standard one.

The Andrews blurb says the 80ED Pro is $800 and theres no photo . Go figure..

How do you find the 100ED BTW?

[Aster]

Not bad Mark....seems to be some colour at the 90% zone. Nice star images....Jewel Box is nice....a quick DSI Pro image shows clean sharp separated star images.
Still waiting for some clear nights to give it a good try out. Should be quite good with a Mogg Reducer/Corrector

[Jazza]

Just quickly from what I can tell the 80ED Pro is the same ota as the the 80ED, but with 5mm and 200mm LET eyepieces included... as well as a 2" diagonal. I could be wrong though ;)
Jay

[Mr. Subatomic]

Does the SW ED80 from Andrews ($499) come with a finderscope and diagonal or is that only with the $800 dollar OTA they advertise as the PRO?

[Aster]

Mischa,

No Finder or eyepieces for the $499 ED80 just the OTA mounting rings dovetail alumunium case.


Jay,

Yep, the same without eyepieces, diagonal or finder.

[awesome]

Bit the bullet and ordered the EQ6 pro mount from Andrews , arrived on friday. Put it together and noticed two problems , dec has a lot of slop and no bubble level fitted to the head.
Spoke to Luke at Andrews today and i'm going to have a shot at adjusting the worm mesh myself , the bubble level i'm leaving up to Luke to sort , but it doesn't look promising as they are normally glued in from the factory and i'm unsure if they can be obtained as a spare part.
Guess i'll see how we go with the after sales service side of the equation from the word go.
Will keep you guys updated as to how this is dealt with.
Cheers , Leon

[tbentley]

Just received my ED80 PRO and other items from Andrews, one day earlier than expected. Everything as expected and very well packed for the long haul from NSW to the pilbara.
I guess I don't need to say it's been cloudy nights up here since I placed the order.:mad2:
Travis

[Terry B]

How unusual. Usually it's perfectly clear between ordering and arrival of the new astro gear. Only after arrival does it cloud over.:lol:

[tbentley]

And last night was perfectly clear! Not much observing done though as I was overly tired. What are the chances of the clear nights lasting until the weekend? Yes, I thought so.....
TB

[centauri]

Thumbs up for Andrews from over here in NW Oz
Great service and speedy freight
AND
currently free freight on Skywatcher stuff.
Would have cost me over $300 in freight for my brand new 8" reflector from another Sydney company.

[tbentley]

Hi Centauri. Another Pilbarite on here. I started a thread a while back to find others in our beautiful region but you must have missed it. There's three of us now (one FIFO) that I'm aware of.
Any tips for observing locations up here?
Travis