Shipping Cost

[nightsky]

G'Day,
Has anyone experienced this? I wanted to buy a Blue Star Adapter from Starry Nights along with there 4 DVD gift set.
http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=yhst-49664100110157&query=bluestar&vwcatalog=yhst-49664100110157
When I checked the shipping to Australia it was $36 US I then took away there 4 DVD gift pack checked the shipping guess what $36 US shipping.I emailed them asking why the shipping was so expensive and I received this reply.
Hello,
Thank you for your e-mail to Starry Night. Shipping orders
internationally we can only ship Fedex International and the minimum fee is $36.00
Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
What a rip off,it's a pity to, as they have dropped there price for the BlueStar Adapter down to $109 US.Although I've been told that there adapter is very slow transferring data
Cheers
Arthur

[iceman]

I think that's about right if they use FedEx. You could ask if they can use USPS but you may not have much luck.

[ozstockman]

Arthur,

they're all slow considering that they use serial communication over Bluetooth. I am using another bluetooth adapter and I was told that it will only communicate with a mount at 9600bps. And it's true. It did not work at higher speed at all.

However I wouldn't worry about slow speed. 9600bps is more than enough for telescope control.

$109 is a good price if you need this adapter for telescope control only. I guess it's rechargeable, right?
I bought my from aircable.net for $120 but my is programmable and it can be used with any application replacing serial cable with bluetooth while the one from Starry Night may work only with telescopes.

[Bassnut]

Fedex gives you door to door in a couple of days, no hassle, shessh, thats pretty cool I wouldve thought, half way round the world, whats the problem with that?. OK, its a fair proportion of the item cost in this case, but the charge given the service seems fair?.

[nightsky]

G'Day Mike,
They only use FedEx I forgot to mention that, I know that USPS is cheaper
Thanks for your reply
Cheers
Arthur

[nightsky]

G'Day,
I did check with Aircables but he's out of stock and wont be getting any for while,he was selling them for $79 I think.I'm not in a big hurry to get one,I was checking around on price's and types of Adapters,as far as BlueStar is concerned I'm not sure if it's rechargeable or not.To be honest I know very little about wireless adapter's I didn't even know they had to be recharged :shrug: I'm still learning :P
Cheers
Arthur

[nightsky]

G'Day,
The problem with that is, (as you put it) it's a rip off! I bought a table tripod for my ETX 125 and thats pretty heavy considering it has a weight plus 4 legs (1 extra leg) and that only cost $30 US and I received it 6 days after ordering.$36 for a item which is very light weight is waaaaaaay over the top,I'd rather do without, than be riped off.
Cheers
Arthur

[gb_astro]

I do not think Starry Night will sell it to you anyway since they have this one their "Ordering Info" page:

http://www.starrynightstore.com/orderinginfo.html

"Only Starry Night Software and DVDs may be shipped outside the US and Canada.
All other software or merchandise is restricted to delivery within the US and Canada."

gb.

[Bassnut]

Arthur

Horses for courses. 6 days for $30 is also fine. Fedex provides fast-for-a-fee. The likes of DHL and Fedex are for now delivery, you pay for speed, Yes, below a certain minimum weight its expensive. In your case the dealer should have provided more options.

[nightsky]

G'Day GB
Yes I saw that as well,but they didn't say anything about that in there reply email as stated in my first post. I would have thought that when I put all my details in and went to check out,it would have come up no international orders or something to that effect.
Cheers
Arthur

[nightsky]

G'Day Fred,
I just hate to think that I'm putting money toward another yacht for Tom Hanks :P
Cheers
Arthur

[ozstockman]

you can check www.astrocables.com (http://www.astrocables.com) . They also sell for $79 that cheaper version of aircables adapter.

You can also search for them on ebay using "Bluetooth Serial" or "Bluetooth RS232" keywords. As far as I know they all should work if they support 9600bps and you can turn handshake function off. In most cases they are all programmable which means that you can change all these settings either by using deep switches on the adapter or connecting to it using Hyper Terminal and running required commands.

But if you want to buy an adapter that can be used straight out of box BlueStar probably would be the best option. I haven't tried it yet I just guess that it should be made in the way when you can use it without going deep into techical details.



Don't worry, it much easier than it looks like. It's like connecting your mobile phone to bluetooth hands free. It can be hard at the beggining but after reading manual and trying it again it starts working :-)
These adapters usually come with good manuals or proprietary software for changing settings.

Mike

P.S. They should be powered and there are three options there:

1) an adapter comes with built in rechargeable battery
2) it can be powered through external power supply i.e. usb power cable, a wall power supply.
3) it can be powered through your mount serial port

Unfortunately I cannot tell you how to implement the third option, I've just heard that it can be done but I don't know much about details.

Mine came with built in battery and usb power cable.

[netwolf]

I have bought from Astrocables and can recommend them also. The other solutions out there are over priced. Worked really well with my Meade Autostar setup. But now i need a new cable setup for my Sitech controller. I should have got the 9v battery version rather than power from Autostar cable version. Bear this in mind if you buy and want to use it on other scopes later. If they have it get one that can be driven by a 12v source.

[nightsky]

G'Day Mike,
Thanks for all that info I appreciate it. I'll check around and see what's available plenty of food for thought :)
Cheers
Arthur

[nightsky]

G'Day Netwolf,
When I do get one, I would like it to be for the Meade 10"LX200 GPS and my Meade ETX 125 as I use the 125 at my weekender.so my question is would I need 2 cables 1 for each scope?
Cheers
Arthur

[Ian Robinson]

Tell them you want it sent by USPS airmail.

[nightsky]

G'Day
I asked that question but they only use FedEx :( also I might go for another Bluetooth Adapter as some of the lads who posted info here said it might be only usable for the Telescope and no other devices.
Thanks
Cheers
Arthur

[netwolf]

Arthur, look a the delux version it has a passthough fiiting that gets power from the autostar hc to base cable. This is the one i used. But it depends on your HC versions and if they are the similar to Autorstar 497.

[nightsky]

G'Day,
The hand controller for the LX200 is Autostar 2 and for the ETX 125 it's the Autostar 497. buying from a non astronomy on line shop is that they know nothing about wireless telescopes and I'm a bit doggy to buy from them as I might get the wrong cable and stuff the scope,what do think?
Cheers
Arthur
P.S. The only reason I ask about the cables,is that Aircable site say's to pick a cable for your make of scope, or would it matter if I just bought one from a non astronomy shop and bought a seperate cable.

[netwolf]

Arthur drop an email to Astrocables and advise him of your two HC's and see what he recommends. I am not sure of the A2 pinouts so am not sure if they are compatible with the 497. I thought the Autostar II had wireless feature in it.

[nightsky]

G'Day,
Ok I'll drop him a email and post the answer on this form.thanks m8
Cheers
Arthur

[Ian Robinson]

If they are like that , give them the flick , they sound like ripoff merchants to me.

[nightsky]

G'Day Ian
Yes I agree,I'm giving them a wide birth :) so much for competition.
Cheers
Arthur