Yesterday, my much anticipated new AG12 arrived from the UK. As you can imagine I was very excited, especially since the journey from the UK took longer than expected with the scope bouncing around Heathrow for several days until I rang the courier to ask what was going on. I didn't get a useful answer, but the scope finally did get on a plane for Australia.
The shipment finally arrived yesterday - two boxes in the morning and the final box of three in the afternoon. I raced home from work as soon as I could and started unpacking. Everything looked great until I got to the last well wrapped bundle containing the mirror cell and mirror. I was aghast... the pictures attached show you what I found inside. It looks like somebody tried a destructive drop test on the carton, perhaps encouraged by all the "Fragile" stickers.
The good news is that Orion Optics responded to my email tale of woe very promptly and it looks like I'll have the scope up and running before too much longer. I also can't fault their packing. Given the damage to the solid metal mirror cell it looks like the package has been subject to serious deceleration.
I'll let you know how the story turns out. Coming on top of a very expensive CCD camera that had to be returned to the USA for "evaluation" of the sensor I feel like I deserve some good luck.
Speaking of which, does the seven years of bad luck superstition apply to couriers?
Given the anticipation you get when buying something like this I can totally feel you disappointment. I am so sorry. this is where dealing with a reputable company that cares about outcomes becomes an importent consideration.
OMG!!! Very sorry to see these pics Ric. What is the projected time for a replacement mirror & cell? Will you be able to fit it together here in Oz or will it require shipping back to the UK??
It looks like somebody tried a destructive drop test on the carton, perhaps encouraged by all the "Fragile" stickers.
.....
Ouch!!
I have received a number of very expensive mirror shipments over the years, but thankfully have never seen that sort of result.
Then again they all were double boxed, the inner being in a sea of styrofoam beans....so even dropping the box from head-height had no damaging effect.
Unfortunately bubble-wrap alone doesn't cut it...and shipping large mirrors in their cell is not a great idea if you can't monitor the handling every step of the way. (there fancy new "g-force" sensing labels that now address this)
They certainly kicked your third parcel around. Just wondering with such sensitive and expensive equipment why wasn't a hard case or some sort of crate used?
Wow, that must have been disappointing. However rough couriers are a known quantity and double boxing in a sea of styrofoam as Peter points out is the level of packaging required against the occassional abuser.
Perhaps you can gently let them know thats how you want your replacement sent so it doesn't happen again.
What was the story with your camera? What brand and make is that?
Oh man, that is terrible news, what an awful experience to be faced with this destruction upon opening the boxes. I hope it get sorted soon.
Cheers
Dennis
Thanks, Dennis!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lhansen
Given the anticipation you get when buying something like this I can totally feel you disappointment. I am so sorry. this is where dealing with a reputable company that cares about outcomes becomes an importent consideration.
I hope it all works out in your favour
Thanks, Lars. Orion have been great to deal with so I'm expecting a good outcome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidTrap
OMG!!! Very sorry to see these pics Ric. What is the projected time for a replacement mirror & cell? Will you be able to fit it together here in Oz or will it require shipping back to the UK??
Hope the courier company doesn't fight the claim.
DT
David, a replacement mirror is available immediately. A new cell might take a little longer (when we were exchanging email on Friday night I hadn't had a chance to pull everything apart so I didn't know if the cell was OK or not). I should be able to fit the mirror and cell myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blink138
i would have blubbed like a baby!
pat
Good idea, Pat! Perhaps I should have done that
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
Ouch!!
I have received a number of very expensive mirror shipments over the years, but thankfully have never seen that sort of result.
Then again they all were double boxed, the inner being in a sea of styrofoam beans....so even dropping the box from head-height had no damaging effect.
Unfortunately bubble-wrap alone doesn't cut it...and shipping large mirrors in their cell is not a great idea if you can't monitor the handling every step of the way. (there fancy new "g-force" sensing labels that now address this)
Hope it works out OK in the end...
It was double boxed as well with some serious tape and cardboard to hold the mirror in place. Not quite to Takahashi triple box standards but they certainly did make a good effort. Thanks for the good wishes, Peter!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MortonH
That's shocking,. I don't know how some of these couriers stay in business.
Morton
Unfortunately, they all have bad days. We use all the major couriers at work and none really shine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidNg
They certainly kicked your third parcel around. Just wondering with such sensitive and expensive equipment why wasn't a hard case or some sort of crate used?
It's a big scope, over 1m long, so if you add some extra layers of protection it gets really expensive to ship. I guess you just have to balance cost and the possibility of damage in transit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tandum
That's a real pisser Rick. It looks like fining up this week too
I've reached the stage of being philosophical about it now, Robin I should be preparing for the eclipse this week anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Wow, that must have been disappointing. However rough couriers are a known quantity and double boxing in a sea of styrofoam as Peter points out is the level of packaging required against the occassional abuser.
Perhaps you can gently let them know thats how you want your replacement sent so it doesn't happen again.
What was the story with your camera? What brand and make is that?
Greg.
Greg, the camera was an Apogee U16M with D9 body. I bought it near new from IIS. Apogee have been good with their support and have been happy to honour the warranty (I checked with them before I bought it). Unfortunately, the sensor appears out of spec. Apogee sent some of my test data back to Truesense Imaging and they asked to get the sensor back for evaluation. I'm hoping they will replace it and send it back to me soon.
Shocking state of affairs that Rick, I know Orion will fix it but still, no one wants to have such an arrival. Initially I was concerned about the packing but seeing these photos, that looks like serious handling neglect to me that no manner of packing would have helped Orion must be spewing as much as you.
Hang in there mate, when the dust settles all will be forgot I am sure.
Enjoy the eclipse, it will work out, these are great scopes (when delivered intact )
OMG, that would have been one nasty to the open it up in the excitement and have that reveal itself. Not many worse things to discover than that!
Glad Orion are on the ball and sorting it out for ya. That first light is going to be all the more sweeter ey
I'm taking it philosophically, thanks Ken. As you say I will appreciate it all the more when everything comes together and those first few images pop out!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Shocking state of affairs that Rick, I know Orion will fix it but still, no one wants to have such an arrival. Initially I was concerned about the packing but seeing these photos, that looks like serious handling neglect to me that no manner of packing would have helped Orion must be spewing as much as you.
Hang in there mate, when the dust settles all will be forgot I am sure.
Enjoy the eclipse, it will work out, these are great scopes (when delivered intact )
Mike
Thanks, Mike. Yes, I agree it must have taken quite a beating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
When you say sensor was out of spec what was the issue? Too many columns or a grouping of hot pixels or something like that?
I haven't heard of a faulty 16803 sensor before.
Greg.
Greg, the sensor had one really hot column the full height of the sensor followed by two more contiguous columns that weren't as bad but still noticeably hotter than surrounding columns. There was also a clump of hot pixels around 20 pixels in diameter, centered on the hot column.
These defects could not be removed by cooling to -35C and dithering wasn't effective because of the size of the defective area. The columns just smeared and the hot clump of pixels showed up as a fake star.
The spec for the standard grade 16803 says that up to 10 column defects is OK but more than one contiguous column defect is not. After sending a bunch of test frames to Truesense via Apogee they asked me to send the camera back so I'm hopeful they will fix it under warranty.
BTW, that's something to watch. The Apogee warranty doesn't cover the sensor. It is covered by the original sensor manufacturer. Despite the camera only arriving with the first owner in AU a couple of months before I received it, it was nearly a year since the sensor was sold by Truesense and the sensor warranty was due to end only a few days after I returned the camera.
I should be preparing for the eclipse this week anyway.
Orion must be spewing as much as you.
) 
