I just got SDM'd!

[pgc hunter]

It's official, my 12" dob is awaiting its last observing session tonight in it's existing form, for it will soon be reborn as a shiney new SDM :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Have been in discussion with Peter for a couple of weeks, and we have settled on a sweet as package that will make observing a revelation over the rickity old thing I have now :lol: The existing structure is inadequete, with a dodgy mirror cell that doesnt hold collimation well, a secondary thats virtually uncollimatible, no fan, and the thing is really showing its age. But from tomorrow, all that will irrelevant :D

[lacad01]

Nice one, post some piccies once it's ready :thumbsup:

[mithrandir]

Nice move.

So I suppose that means Melbourne will be clouded out for the foreseeable future.

[telecasterguru]

Hey,

Your scope sounds like mine.

Sounds like you are on a winner.

Fantastic, I am jealous.

Frank

[erick]

Glad to hear you were able to go ahead! I look forward to comparing notes. :thumbsup:

[dannat]

"So I suppose that means Melbourne will be clouded out for the foreseeable future."

To the contrary, it means Melb will have perfectly clear skies for the weeks while it is being built..visual & imagers take note:

[ngcles]

Hi PGC,

I can understand your excitement but you must know that it will rain for three years starting the moment you take delivery ...

Hope it all works out for the best mate! Peter does a very high-quality product so I'm sure you're going to be happy ... with the ''scope ... ;)


Best,

Les D

[mithrandir]

We've had this discussion lately. I'm of the opinion that the bad weather starts as soon as you have committed to buy.

The delivery conjecture could be right, but it would mean everyone else in Melb would have to not buy anything either.

[barx1963]

Congratulations!
Looking forward to seeing photos when job is complete. I thinks it is wonderful that peter is able to rejuvenate scope under his SDM banner, I certainly wouldn't mind hsving go aometime in the future!

Malcolm

[DavidU]

Mate ! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[GrahamL]

great stuff .. hows yours going Eric ?

[pgc hunter]

Gentlemen, it is not possible to make Melbourne Weather any crappier than in it's existing form :lol: Incidentally, today is also overcast ....

[mithrandir]

Can we borrow the cloud for a few hours? It's bright sun, 32 deg and rising quickly.

You can have it back at sunset.

[pgc hunter]

Yes you certainly may, although you are more than welcome to keep it for eternity. I'll even pay express post.



nah nah I'll be right thanks!

[mithrandir]

I guess you are nowhere near Melbourne Park. The tennis looks like they have full sun.

[wavelandscott]

Congratulations! I believe you'll love the work of SDM!

[erick]

Patience is a virtue! Peter is doing fine - I'm away several weekends (like now - I'm up near Mittagong) - so we have agreed to push back delivery if necessary - hopefully later in February.

[Manav]

Thats good news SAB hope the skies remain clear for you!

Andrew: The way we are heading I wouldnt be surprised if it gets cloudy tonight!

[pgc hunter]

Met up with Peter this afternoon and handed the scope over....it's officially happening for real :D :party:

Stuff included include Feathertouch focuser, heated filter slider, Stellarvue 60mm finder, dew heaters, onboard battery, sexy black paint scheme and other varieties of awesomeness. :)

[mithrandir]

Yugant, I got set up, reasonably aligned, both cameras focused - and the cloud moved in. Maybe by the end of "Lie To Me" ... but SWMBO is setting the alarm for 6am.

[pgc hunter]

That happened to me last time I was out....dragged the dinosaur 12" out...got all my eyepieces, maps n stuf ready...got outside....freakin cloud rolling in at warp speed. Yes I was spewing. All that heavy lifting for nuttin'

[Dave47tuc]

Sounds like great news Sab. Peter will do a fantastic job:thumbsup:
Look forward to seeing it someday.

Time to ring BOM as the drought will be officially over. :lol:

[pgc hunter]

Yep, when he saw the existing structure, he agreed that it needed to be replaced ;) I had to use paper to shim the primary so that it would "sort of" hold collimation...Peter said that by doing that I was introducing astigmatism and thus the mirror was not performing to its full capabilities. Even then, the collimation wouldn't hold well. And the Secondary housing was all rusted and just not adequete, nearly impossible to collimate. He also agreed that the primary cell is poorly ventilated, hence the mirror could not acclimate with the outside air. All of these worries have plagued me during every observing session. But now, that's all history :party:

And yes, you will be seeing it as we must organise an observing session :D



lol that's a distinct possibility! And with Erick also recieving his SDM soon....we're done for!!! :lol:

[DavidU]

You fellas will somehow ,make the weather here worse with these beaut scopes.
I don't know how the weather could get worse but maybe a Tornado or Typhoon or some such gem:lol::D

[pgc hunter]

sea surface temps around melbourne are too antarctic to spawn cyclones :lol:

[Manav]

Global warming :)

[pgc hunter]

Yes, but let's not go there.

[Moon]

Sab
It's wonderful to see you now have such a awesome scope. I'm looking forward to reading your first observation report with the new scope and excellent seeing conditions. Should be great reading I would say...:thumbsup:
James

[Lismore Bloke]

Great stuff SAB!! Everything I've heard about SDM is positive, you will end up with a great scope - the mirror deserves it. Hope you are not deprived of it for too long. Any indication of how long the job will take?

[pgc hunter]

Peter mentioned something along the lines of towards the end of February, but that's not set in concrete. Not 100% sure.

Yeah it's going to be great, all my doubts about seeing/thermals/collimation/astigmatism will finally be GONE!

[Lismore Bloke]

Can't wait for the first photos of the "reborn dob" - and the first observation reports. Are you having Argo fitted?

[pgc hunter]

Not having the Argo fitted, I'm going to continue navigating the old school way ;)

[Dave47tuc]

The man is an Argo let me tell you. If its on a star map he will find it, if it's not he will still find it.:D

[Lismore Bloke]

:lol: Classic!! SAB's observation reports bear that out! I thought the Argo was pretty much a standard part of these SDM scopes, but I suppose it can be tailored to your individual needs.

[Phoenix]

From one who has been SDM'd to another.... nice decision Sab. Peter will no doubt do a stellar job as usual - a true craftsman.

cheers

[Peter Ward]

I'm sorry...WTF is an SDM?

PS... sorry I had never heard if "SDM"....so did a google.. we have telescope artisans in VIC...cool.....I now understand

[Lismore Bloke]

Hey SAB, how did you go getting that Intes Mak collimated? Any luck?

[pgc hunter]

Havent tried yet, been a bit busy but now that work is over I have a week off before uni so I might give it a crack during this time.

However seeing as I never collimated a Mak before, I might request the assistance of someone who is familiar with the collimating techniques of these scopes.

[Paddy]

Congratulations Sab, no doubt you will be well pleased.

[spacezebra]

Congrats!

Cheers Petra d.

[pgc hunter]

Yep, these scopes are definately tailored to the customer's needs! Peter is very flexible in that department.

[pgc hunter]

UPDATE from Peter....

He has measured the focal length of my scope, it is actually 1333mm, making it an F/4.4. He also mentioned that the mirror appears to be of "exceptional quality" (his words), and that the scope in its existing form is "incredibly frustrating" to assemble and collimate (again in his words)!!!

[erick]

f4.4? Mine is the standard GSO f5. I guess we'll soon pick it if our mirrors get accidentally swapped between scopes! :D

[AstroJunk]

From my experience, if Peter says it, it's likely to be true.

Nice mirrror you've got yourself there :thumbsup:

[pgc hunter]

Yep the mirror is actually an F4.4 / 1333mm FL (not F4.6 as I've been told by the previous owner.) So all the magnifications quoted in my observing reports over the last couple of years are wrong!

[DavidU]

I knew the mirror would be sensational.
I would love to see the scope one day:D

[pgc hunter]

he just told me...."put it this way, it's as good as the best"

[pgc hunter]

Official focal length of the scope is now 1335mm @ F/4.4

[pgc hunter]

Well, according to the SDM site, the scope is due for delivery on March 8! :jump:I can already feel the fabric of spacetime slowing down.....


And now I present the weather forecast for March 8 in all its wintry glory:
Forecast for Monday

Cloudy. Scattered showers. Winds west to southwesterly averaging up to 25 km/h increasing to up to 50 km/h during the afternoon.
City
Showers. Windy.

Min 14 / Max 21


eewwww gross eeww eww ewww!!!!

[AstroJunk]

Welcome to the longest week of your life ;)

[Lismore Bloke]

Crikey, we've had one tsunami warning already and the SDM Superscope hasn't hit town yet!

[Phoenix]

So.... any news Sab?

nix

[pgc hunter]

^^^ Peter is about 90% done, only got the spraying to go and I think the poles. But he's on a trip to NSW atm and will be back around the 23rd I think.

Judging by the latest forecast, the SDM is not too far away now :whistle:

[Starkler]

Now do you have or are you planning to use a paracorr? At f4.4 I would think its a must and it does come into the calculations for pole length. If you havent thought about it then you should now.

My scope as delivered needed 15mm taken off the poles to accommodate the extra focuser in-travel required by the paracorr.

[Phoenix]

Geoff makes a very good point Sab - I'm sure Peter will accommodate your needs (if required) even at this closing stage..... although there are possible showers here in Adelaide tomorrow evening - heading your way!

nix

[pgc hunter]

hmmm paracorr....I don't know the thought never actually crossed my mind. The Vixen LVWs did a very good job as it is. I tried my standard GSO plossls in the scope and the view was horrible to be honest, but with the LVW's it's nice and clean pretty much to the edge. There is a little bit of bloating at the edge of the FOV, but personally I never found it to be a big deal. Although that could be because I use the scope mostly for galaxy and high mag planetary nebula viewing!

I think I would see the benefits of the paracorr only in low-mag open cluster viewing, which to be honest is an exceedingly rare occasion with this scope!


btw, Melbourne is a synonym for cloud and rain!!

[Phoenix]

Sounds as though you will be happy without the paracorr. To be honest, I'm sure I have the same f/ratio mirror as Geoff (f/4.8) - made by Mark Suchting - I have never noticed any coma in any of my wide field viewing - typically with a WO 28mm. Then again, I'm sure its there but perhaps I have never been fussed by it. Then again, I'm not sure what I would see with an f/4.4. Perhaps get some advice from Peter.

Cheers
Nix

[tnott]

At f4.4 you will definitely find a big improvement with a paracorr but only with high quality eyepieces. At short focal ratios, most cheap to mid widefields exibit too much astigmatism(seagulls) to notice the coma(comets).

You might as well get him to cut the poles for this length anyway, just in case.

[pgc hunter]

I wonder if the FOV of the EPs plays a role in this? WHat I mean is , do naglars with their 82º fields show more coma than the Vixen LVW's with their 65º fields?

[AstroJunk]

Coma exists in all fast newtonians, but if you can't see it, don't go looking as discovering it will only spoil your day!

At f5 I use a paracorr more often than not, but I have 20:10 vision and that sort of thing annoys me. But even a Paracorr can't fix an 'ordinary' eyepiece, so don't buy one unless you are willing to get serious about your oculars :)

[Satchmo]

Yes , because Naglers don't correct coma, but they do correct off-axis astigmatism . The edge of the field in the Vixen of the same focal length would be worse as it is probably not as well corrected. Only a Parracor or similar will correct the coma, which is by far the least dominant aberration compared to filed curvature and astigmatism.

Mark

[Starkler]

But if you do spend serious money on quality eyepieces and have a scope of f5 or shorter, you're missing out big time on performance you paid for if you dont use a paracorr imo.

Its not only coma thats corrected, it also helps as a field flattener and in that regard alone it improves performance of certain naglers and pentax models affected by field curvature.

[tnott]

Yep. I noticed a lot less field curvature in my 28mm UWAN with the paracorr in the 22" F3.6. This was noticeable even compared to F5 scopes without the coma corrector. In these scopes the outside and inside of the field did not reach focus at the same time.

[pgc hunter]

I just asked Peter about this, and he's building the scope so it can be used both with and without a paracorr :thumbsup:

[AstroJunk]

Completely agree.

The moment I saw the difference one made to the eta carina nebula on-axis never mind at the edges I was sold. The second biggest improvement I made was over-sizing the secondary mirror which really helped to illuminate the edge of the field with the Nagler.

[Starkler]

You simply see more stars with a paracorr.

Find some very faint stars at the limit of detection in centre field. Once moved off centre they disappear, with the paracorr they do not. Witnessing that convinced me and that its not just about aesthetics alone.

[pgc hunter]

Latest news.....

Peter has just done some testing and says the scope's working beautifully :D Almost there now....

[Rodstar]

When do you take delivery, SAB?? You must be beside yourself!

[pgc hunter]

Don't know yet, got the final sanding and spraying to go. Peter says we're getting very close ... with proof right here http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/vic/forecasts/melbourne.shtml

;) :help:

[pgc hunter]

Pickup date is looking like the weekend of the 24th. This is going to be the longest week in history :help:

Never mind, it;ll give me more time to finish all my damn uni assignments :lol:

[mental4astro]

Just to needle you a little more, what will be the first thing you'll aim the beastie at?

Might need to prepare a list of targets for first light!

[pgc hunter]

Clouds

[pgc hunter]

I had Peter post a pic of the nearly completed scope, and doesn't it look the part! Couldn't be happier with the way it turned out:D

And I'll be picking it up this weekend. C'mon weather gods, you owe me...

Here's a pic of the SDM (on teh left) and a couple of it in its original form.

[AstroJunk]

Thats a beautiful scope!

[Lismore Bloke]

SAB, that is one beautiful instrument. Here's hoping for clear weather.
Can't wait for the first reports.

[telecasterguru]

The scope looks sensational.

Frank

[pgc hunter]

Thanks all. It is actually quite an adrenaline rush as you press the open button in your email for your first look at your new scope. Picking it up this weekend, the weather is naturally looking like garbage.

[DavidU]

The scope looks just beautiful.:thumbsup:I hope you enjoy the hell out of it !

[pgc hunter]

Thanks David, I'll enjoy looking at it while Melbourne's climate works it's annual 9 month long blizzard magic...

But yeah it will be mad fun hunting galaxies with it once the April/May (or June/july, Aug /Sept) full moon takes a hike.

[GrahamL]

Great looking scope sab.. the right colour to !

Seeing the older version now , I remember that one in buy and sell thinkining it could be a handfull . :).. May it RIP :thumbsup:

[pgc hunter]

It was a bit awkward to setup up and collimation was, well, a total bugger, but the Barry Adcock mirror in it - Peter rates it as "up there with the best".... "exceptional quality".

The real issue with the old scope is that it didnt hold collimation, and I had to shim the primary with paper to stop it moving too much in its cell, but this was introducing astigmatism. The cell itself was poorly ventilated, with literally no ventilation from the bottom. The spider was rusted and impossible to properly adjust. However, I bought the whole rig (and got some goodies including a SkyAtlas 2000) for $600, and it came with a couple of eyepieces which I already had so sold those, recovering about $150 from that price. So effectively I payed $450 for the scope. Now to put that in perspective, a 12.5" mirror from OMI goes for $1650 US.

[pgc hunter]

Pick up is tomorrow! :jump:

[mbaddah]

So how did it go :)?

[AstroJunk]

Very well by the looks of things :D

http://www.sdmtelescopes.com.au/SDM045.html

[ausastronomer]

Hi SAB,

Congrats on the new scope. As I said to you on Cloudy nights I saw it pre delivery, partly assembled and in pieces at Peter's place and it really is a looker. So much so that I gave a lot of though to doing my 10"/F5.3 the same way. Ultimately, I am a "wood" man and I decided to stick with a wood stain "similar" to my 14" SDM.

I think you need to arrange an observing session with someone who owns a paracorr, either a private session or at a public event.

I have an 18"/F4.5 and a 14"/F4.5, both with premium mirrors and I find the desire to use a paracorr to be a very subjective thing.

In both scopes I use the paracorr with the 31mm Nagler, 20mm and 14mm Pentax XW's and the 17mm Nagler T4. I don't find a need or desire to use it with the 12mm Nagler T4 or with the 5,7 and 10mm Pentax XW's or with the 8.5mm Pentax XF. Most focal lengths of the Vixen LVW eyepieces are very well corrected at edge of field, and also have minimal astigmatism and field curvature and some of them, particularly the shorter focal lengths, may be fine without the paracorr at F4.4.

I can only suggest you try "your" eyepieces in "your" scope and then make a decision from there. The paracorr will definately help with some of your eyepieces but it really is a subjective personal decision at F4.4 IMO as to whether the cost (over $500) is worth it. For instance if you spend 80% of your time observing planetaries and galaxies at high power you may not need it. If you spend 80% of your time observing open and globular clusters and nebulae at low to medium power you will probably find a benefit from it.

Cheers,
John B

[mbaddah]

Looks absolutely spectacular! Congratulations Sab :)

[Paddy]

It does indeed look very beautiful. Hope it does not intensify your relationship with clouds.

[erick]

Congratulations, Sab. Well done, Peter.

[pgc hunter]

Thanks all, yep I picked it up on Sunday and we even managed a test drive as the thick broken layer of ex-Melbourne Cloud magically cleared.

Upon arriving, Peter gave a thorough tutorial on assembly and disassembly of the scope, how the components work etc - basically he demonstrated it, then had me do it. I have to say, the new scope takes literally 1-2 minutes to assemble and tear down, while the old version was a frustrating, especially when it came to attaching the UTA, having to wrestle with it to fit it onto the poles then tightening up several screws. But with the new scope, it just slips on, a flick of the clamp and that's it.

One thing that really stood out for me is the collimation of the secondary. Now, the secondary mirror *used* to be the bane of my existance, fiddling with those bloody screws and tools only to get it moving in random directions. Now, it can be accomplished in exactly 0 seconds using the ultra smooth hand nobs and laser collimator. Primary collimation is just as easy using the barlow attachment on the laser. That Astrosystems laser is a beautiful thing. Goodbye flashlight and squinting thru the cheshire in the middle of the night :D

Peter suggested we try the scope, but it was quite cloudy so I was skeptical, but it actually cleared up quite nicely. So we set up the scope in the field - to be greeted by horror seeing and rapid onset of Dew. Peter did explain that seeing in that area is often poor. However, the moon looked good, even if seen from the bottom of a swimming pool and could immediately pick out 2 Plato Craterlets with an 18mm eyepiece.

We also tried a Paracorr on the Jewel Box, and bloody hell what a difference! Granted, we used a 35mm Panoptic, so coma was much more than what I'll be seeing with my 22mm and shorter LVW's but the Paracorr dramatically cleaned up the edge of the field.

Then, we packed the scope in the car as it was getting late and went inside for a bite. Then I was on my way, running into deck of Melbourne cloud as I hit Wallan and even some rain by the time I was on the Monash. Gee, who didn't see that one coming :lol:

Many thanks to Peter and Kim for their hospitality and to Peter for creating this masterpiece!

[Dave47tuc]

Very nice Sab :thumbsup:

All the gardeners in Melbourne are very happy you got your new scope :P

Enjoy and many happy nights with your scope. :)

[pgc hunter]

Thanks Dave! This Saturday looks promising :prey: I thought I saw a few flowers doing the mexican wave as I walked past on the way home ... in the rain :cloudy:

[Rodstar]

Gorgeous little SDM gem, nice one SAB!

[pgc hunter]

Little Gem indeed! I cannot be more pleased. Peter even put on an entirely new Telrad even though my old one was working properly, but he didn't let it go on due to the velcro and marks all over it... I guess that just shows his commitment to customer service and his immaculate attention to detail. Now I have 2 perfectly functioning telrads :lol:

Forecast for a clear Saturday night still looking good.... Full moon but I don't give a donkey's last crap!!

[pgc hunter]

A few more shots. sory about the horrible quality but my camera dates back to the dinosaurs.

[barx1963]

Just lovely Sab. Between you and Erick you've got me thinking about what I might do to my 12" GSO!
You should send pics to Barry Adcock, sure he would be chuffed to see one of his creations getting a new lease of life,

[Starkler]

grats on the new scope :thumbsup:

Im a little surprised to see an 18pt cell for a 12" mirror. My 15" sits on a 9pt.

[Satchmo]

Even a 3 point cell would be adequate for a historical 2 1/4" thick 12" mirror but I guess there is no harm in overkill.

[spacezebra]

Hi SAB - well what can I say, fantastic! As an owner of a 20" SDM - one cannot say too much about Peter and his workmanship.

Im hoping to have my 12" lightbridge moded in the same style as yours. Cant wait.

Cheers Petra d.

[Phoenix]

Congrats Sab - no need to say that I hope you will enjoy your new scope - I know you will!

Cheers, nix

[ausastronomer]

Hi Geoff,

I can give you a little insight into the 18 point cell. When Peter and I set the design specs for my 14" scope at the beginning of last year, I requested a "stainless steel cable mirror sling" system. The reason for this is that I need to rinse my mirror about 4 times per year because I live right on the salt water. The stainless cable/velcro system makes it much easier to get the mirror in and out of the scope than the traditional kevlar sling/double sided tape system, which is what my 18" Obsession has. In addition my 14" Zambuto mirror is only 34mm (1.33") thick, to aid cooling. Peter decided to avoid any possible risk (however low) of having mirror cell induced astigmatism, to use an 18 point mirror cell. Basically my 14" was the first of the small scopes with an 18 point mirror cell and stainless cable sling. You will notice SAB's scope also has the stainless steel cable mirror sling system.

As a result of how well this works and how easy it is to get the mirror in and out of the scope, Peter has decided to use the cable sling system on all future scopes, notwithstanding it makes quite a bit of extra work for him. Why he used the 18 point cell on these 12" scopes with thicker mirrors I don't know, because there is clearly no need for it, moreso having regard to the fact these mirrors are fairly thick. However, I guess it comes back to Peter's motivation which is to build the best possible telescope that he is physically capable of building. Having seen these 12" scopes in the flesh they are clearly "overengineered" for their aperture, but it makes for an exceptionally performing high quality product which is what Peter strives to achieve. My 10" scope will have a 9 point cell with the stainless cable sling.

Cheers,
John B

[pgc hunter]

CLEAR here tonight, so excited! I just collimated the secondary mirror, to get it to slide up and down the central bolt all you do is incrementally adjust the 3 screws, too easy! Took 2 minutes. Some minor touch ups required but will attend to those later. And the barlowed laser makes life a breeze.

[DavidU]

Hows it testing tonight Sab?

[pgc hunter]

Just got back inside after playing with the scope. Firstly, I couldn't see much thanks to Hurricane Katrina II and furthermore tonight provided one of the worst examples of poor seeing I've ever seen.

However.... there were times when Saturn appeared nice and sharp, with the ring's shadow on the globe appearing with razor sharp contrast. On the globe some dusky cloud bands could be seen. Quite impressive IMO for what are otherwise among the worst possible conditions for observing.

I was pleased to find my Vixen LVWs come to focus comfortably, unlike on the old scope where there was not enough infocus to use the longer focal lengths.

The scope's motions are nice and smooth and collimation takes exactly 2 seconds thanks to the barlow laser. I don't know how I lived all this time without one! Peter's secondary assembly is a dream come true for collimating what was once my worst nemesis...the secondary mirror! Each of the 3 screws provide precision movement in a set direction, not all over the place like other Newts I've used, and with nice smooth action. The secondary can even be moved up and down the central bolt for centering using the 3 collimation screws.

I'm loving the Feathertouch focuser. It really is buttery smooth and getting perfect focus is a snap. Even the set screws have this silky feel. A vast improvement on the focuser on my old scope.

Tonight, no dew heaters were required so I wondered where to put the straps. I found that the braces between the two outer lips of the UTA provided a nice way to stow them well out of the way, I just slid the straps between the brace and the UTA body which provides a neat way of storing them so they don't hang and get tangled etc when not in use!

Power to the scope runs thru the ground board, so no tangled wires! The fans and dewheaters run from an outboard car jump starter which simply plugs into the base and you're good to go.

And I think a case for the finders, cables, collimators etc is in order aswell!

All in all, give me some good seeing and no wind and I'll be laughing :D

[pgc hunter]

and moar pics!

[Paddy]

Good to hear Sab. Looking forward to some reports of more favourable nights.

[pgc hunter]

Saturday night a chance at this stage, and moon gone so fingers crossed!

We had it out at Peter's when I picked it up and suffered terrible seeing there too.

[DavidU]

Is that a TransitPak drum case it's in?

[pgc hunter]

Not sure.

[erick]

Transit Pak Cases in Thomastown - northern Melbourne. I picked up a number of "hat boxes" last week and took them up to Peter. One came back home with my UTA in it.

I got to see inside the workshop - big operation with some very sophisticated and certainly robust packaging options being built.

Seems most of Peter's cases are custom built for him by these people. Every UTA, every set of poles is probably different.

[DavidU]

George from TransitPak has been making my cases for years. Fantastic quality stuff.

[pgc hunter]

Yeah the cases are probably custom made to Peter's specifications. They ain't cheap, but I'm glad I got them as it makes storage and protection of the equipment so much easier. And they look pretty damn good aswell :D