North (Nanjing) Instruments - ever heard of?

[NorthernLight]

Hi All,

searching the forums and the rest of the web for the actual factory where all the famous brands produce their gear, I found a manufacturer in China that offers very interesting products for an even more interesting price (127mm APO triplet for under $1k). They claim to produce for the chinese army and seem intermittend to advanced in their product portfolio.

My question is: has anyone ever heard of them; or can tell what experience(s) he/she had with them in terms of quality, shipment issues, final costings?

looking forward to your input -
clear skies!
Max

[DavidU]

Half a dozen members here have those 127ED scopes.
Do a search of "north group"
They are a bargain but suffer from suspect focusers.
I gave up trying to contact their rep"Gilman" some months ago.
Here is an image done with an 127ED by Humayun,
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=58549

[AdrianF]

I bought one. Nice scope. Cost $1280 shipped to my door. Focuser is OK but could be better.


Adrian

[NorthernLight]

Hi Dave,

thanks for your reply - and I thought I discovered new horizons...

Did you have any trouble with shipping, customs, incoterms, insufficient packing or else?

Cheers
Max

[DavidU]

Well I never got one as I couldn't get hold of Gilman.

[AdrianF]

No trouble with customs or shipping. 4 days from the time they shipped to landing at my door. Trouble was it took 40 days from the time I paid before they shipped. This was an unusual delay as all the people who bought one on this forum had theirs within 8 days.

I think most have replaced the focuser with a Moonlight unit from the USA and I probably will sometime this year.

My focuser was modified and rebuilt by a gent in Rockhampton and suits me at the moment.
Problem is now that I cant and I believe a lot of other people are having problems contacting Gilman at North Group. I tried many times in the last 2-3 months with no luck.

Adrian

[Terry B]

I've had no trouble with mine and I'm happy with the original focuser. Mine was quick to arrive but it was in the first batch to be sent.
Customs etc was no problem.

[NorthernLight]

Can anybody comment on their eypieces, esp. the 90° 2" or the binoviewer or the Maksutov-Cassegrains they have on offer?

[h0ughy]

do yourself a favour and use the search function - -there is a lot of information in them. i have a 127Ed but i opted to purchase a moonlight motorised focuser for it - very good scope

[Octane]

Max,

I had mine within the space of 3 days from payment to picking it up at a TNT depot.

I love mine, except the focuser is crap. Even the advanced focuser. It can hold a DSLR, just...

I'm waiting on a digital Feathertouch system as a replacement.

H

[AdrianF]

As I mentioned in a previous post in this thread.

My focuser as been modified by a gent in Rockhampton. He rebuilt the focuser with new teflon pads,realigned and the focuser is now much more positive in feel and the focuser lock now locks :D and he drilled the focuser to include 2 other screws to hold the DSLR, so its held in 3 places rather than 1, much more secure. Although I still leave the DSLR strap around the focuser just in case (it did fall out once but fortunately all good).

I will be buying a new MoonLight Focuser when funds permit later this year. This will make a good scope into a great scope:thumbsup: I am happy that I couldnt get hold of Gilman as I was going to purchase North Groups new improved focuser but if I remember right some people couldnt get focus as supplied (?).

Adrian

[Louwai]

I don't know this crowd, but if they are in Nanjing as mentioned then possibly I could help with contact.
I used to live in Nantong (not too far from Nanjing). I still have a lot of Chinese friends in & around the area.

If you can provide an email add + company street address + ph number, I can ask one of my friends to try to contact them.

B

[DavidU]

North (Nanjing) Instrument Technology Industries Group
#4028, Commissariat (liangshi) Mansion, No. 371, South Taiping Road, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. China
Nanjing
Jiangsu
China (Mainland)
210002
86-25-83808470
86-25-86648277
http://www.northgroup.cn (http://www.northgroup.cn/)
http://njnorth.en.alibaba.com (http://njnorth.en.alibaba.com/)

contact: Gilman

[Octane]

Gilman replies to me pretty much straight away.

As I have mentioned before, if he fails to reply to you now, it's because they're trying to rectify the problem with the "advanced" focuser not coming to focus.

I would like to see them communicate this to potential customers rather than leave them lurking waiting for a reply. Not much we can do, unfortunately.

I must say, for the money you pay, you receive a wonderful optical instrument.

H

[AdrianF]

Agree H I have not had any real problems with the scope, a few with the focuser in the beginning but I learnt to live with it. If it wasn't for North Group I would not be able to own such a great scope and would still be struggling with the 10" GSO which is now sat in the corner unused. The only thing that will improve it is the focuser. Would I buy one again? Would I recommend the scope to anyone. Yes on both counts. It's not a TAK but neither is the price.

Adrian

[wasyoungonce]

I noticed Bintel is selling the Meade 127mm ED triplet (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8888) which I believe is from the North group factory.

It's more expensive, $2699, but it is local.

Anyway...for what it's worth.