Buy Local???

[ballaratdragons]

After my part in the complaining about the bad quality of the Series 500 EP's I thought I would bite the bullet.

I went into Ballarat today to the only 2 places in the whole town that sell telescopes(apart from Dork Smith). Both are Camera shops.

My intention: If I am going to complain about my EP's, why don't I pull my head in and buy a good one instead of complaining about my junk.

I know that Camera House sells Meade and Fletchers sell Tasco so I hit both in the hope of getting a Meade EP.

Outcome: Fletchers don't sell any EP's at all and Camera House have a Meade price list in a folder stashed in the back storeroom which he went and got. After looking through the list he said he will have to order the one I want from Meade in USA as they don't keep any EP's in stock. He also said it's not worth him contacting his Head Office as every time he does they don't have what the customer orders, so he orders from USA direct.

Next Step: I will HAVE TO order from a shop in Sydney or Melbourne!

I would've thought that in a town the size of Ballarat that there would be at least 2 or 3 EP's for sale in one of the shops. 'Not Happy Jan'

Both shops sell scopes but not the EP's. :confused:

[ving]

camera shops rarely sell EP as far as i can tell... at campbelltown we have a camera shop called jock leets or something. he has about 20 scopes (mostly small) for sale but not a single EP... so off to bintel you go young man :P

[Daring Dave]

Not much choice Ken..I guess the dedicated astro shops or the internet / Ebay etc is your only choice.

I suspect your s500 EP's might become family airlooms .

[ballaratdragons]

Sounds about right Dave. I am going to check Andrews site as well to see if he has any EP's better than the s500's & GS ones.

[ving]

his site shows synta, GSO, 500 series and something called "ED" which could be orions.

[ballaratdragons]

Yep David. Just had a look. Not much of a choice!

The 'ED' is 'Extra Dispersion' :confused:

[ballaratdragons]

Bintel has sets here: https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=6929

I am wondering if these are Bintels version of series 500's or GS?

[Iddon]

Bintel and Andrews on the web are the go. Do your research here.
For this niche, shop based retail can't compete.

[Starkler]

I have bought quite a lot of gear from OS and have only once had an issue with a faulty barrel thread. The dealer sent me a new barrel.
If you deal with a reputable dealer you shouldnt have any trouble and the savings can be considerable.

This is a nice buy.
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=368699
I used to own one myself.

[Daring Dave]

Ken

Just a thought here ..

At the upcoming camp at Snake Valley there are bound to be lots of people with lots of difference EP's.... Good Bad and Ugly

Perhaps there could be some formal 'swapping / testing ' arranged... Im sure most attendees would be happy to briefly 'loan' EP's to others for a few mins... It may make it much easier to decide on what EP to purchase in the future...

I personally have never viewed through a real quality EP in my scope . Ive only read reviews...

Speaking personally..If I owned a quality EP and someone wanted to try it in their own scope I would be happy to oblige..

Just my thoughts

Cheers

Dave

[RAJAH235]

Ken, :poke:
Why not just buy Meade series 4000,(bound to be some left), Super Plossl's from Bintel. They are very good E/Pcs. Should get them fairly cheap too. :D L. :thumbsup:

[davidpretorius]

daring dave, i have undertaken to do as larger comparison as possible at snake valley and write up the results. i have been given a range of indicators to work with.

http://www.precons.com/iis/gallery/Showdown!.htm needs to be updated with the indicators but should give you a general idea

[xrekcor]

Man your lucky!!! I live in a village that doesn't have any shops at all, even my damn P.O.Box is 30kms away. :poke: :rofl:

Did you use the dogs and sled? or should I say Hog on a sled :D

regards, Snow filled skies

[Daring Dave]

Sweet

[ballaratdragons]

Rob, In my town we only have a General Store & a Pub which I have never been to.

It reminds me of 'Pettycoat Junction'. Lol! (without the railway line)
Some of the people belong on that old show too.

Dave, I will be doing a lot of Comparing EP's at the Camp. Hopefully buy something there too. :thumbsup: It's only just over 2 months away.

[xrekcor]

Nope no pub or general store here, but we do have a railway line.

Coombell is a village of 6 houses and a population of 11 that's including me and Jake :rofl: my nearest shop is in Casino 30kms away where my P.O.Box is. They used to make bricks here "Coombell Bricks" if you have ever heard of them. But that shut down 30-40 years ago. Back then they did have a shop, the railway line did have a station all gone now. Dont even have street lighting. I live in one of the old workers houses about 100m from the rest of the houses so I'm probably considered as living in suburbia. I could go roo shooting from the lounge room window :rofl: and the skies are nice and dark lovely for chaps like us.

[ballaratdragons]

Sounds heaps better than my dark town. We are stuck with about 16 street-lights!

You will have to open a telescope shop there and sell EP's. There's 9 other people who might buy from you!

[TidaLpHasE]

Last week i was lookng for a tripod mount for my binno's.

I went to a local astro shop that had a plastic version of the mount i needed, i asked how much it was , and was taken back with his answer "$50.00":scared: thankyou very much, but no thanks.

I then went to a camera shop and they had the same plastic mount for $39.00, i decided to pay this, as i wanted to mount my binnocs that night for some viewing time.

After mounting on the tripod, i noticed straight away the flex in the cheap mount was very annoying when focusing, i looked for a while and decided to return it the next day for a refund, saying that i had bought this mount and it was the wrong one, i got a refund.

I felt ripped off, firstly at the price , the quality, and the time and fuel i used to go around in a circle to end up with no mount.

Andrews to the rescue, a metal mount at a mind boggling $19.00:doh: thrown in for free with my purchase of the big BT's:thumbsup:

How can these other shops justify their charges ?????
It definately pays to shop around.....

[Iddon]

what tripod are you using ? (am shopping for tripods and mounts myself).

[ballaratdragons]

Andrews, Bintel and the very few shops like them buy in bulk. That's why they can charge less.

And they also know what thier customers are prepared to pay!

[TidaLpHasE]

I am using a Manfrotto190D Tripod with a 141RC head, it works well with my 9x63's, and also with the Canon.

All i need is a decent adapter for the binnocs, i am just resting them on the tripod until the adapter arrives.

Buying in bulk definately makes a difference to us at the cash register:thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Im considering getting 15x70s from aoe ..

Is the tripod they are selling (http://www.aoe.com.au/binoculars.html) for $199 good value?

[h0ughy]

well guys,

I think that the local guys do charge too much, however I know that they have to make a living. But at what cost. Take for example a Nagler, lets say a nagler 17mm. I have just bought one for $315US (around 420 odd dollars) from astromart, but I did consider purchasing a brand new one from Bintel. They wanted $625 AUS for it. in my books that leaves an extra $200 for the next purchase. Sorry I made the trade deficit worse :doh: .

I think Andrews has the right atitude and price for astro gear, things need to get a little more competitive.

I did however get a wonderful deal on two new eyepieces from Queensland Astrofest (Star Optics), and Sirus Optical would bend over backwards to provde service in the middle of the night. So sometimes the personal touch is worth paying for!

[TidaLpHasE]

<table nof="LY" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="32" width="271"> <tbody><tr align="left" valign="top"><td colspan="2">
</td> <td colspan="2" width="280"> "Price....$199.00 less with binocular purchase"

</td></tr></tbody> </table> That seems decent value for money,and it should be sturdy enough for the 15x70's, 30mm legs should provide plenty of stability.

[xrekcor]

I have dealt with Star Optic's it where I buy my Pentax XW's from, at a good deal, same with Sirus gave me a 20% discount at AstroFest. Both venders to me are excellent to deal with and they will see more of my dollars.

However I did buy a Astronomiks UHC filter from Bintel their web price was $190.00 and at the time they were advertising them in AS&T for the same but charged me $198.00 minus postage which took it up to $208.00. I didn't say anything at the time as I found out after purchasing what they were advertising for in AS&T during the month I purchased it. kinda peeved me off really even though it was only $8.00 difference.

Personally I prefer to buy local for waranty purposes

regards