As detailed in another thread, I've been tracking the progress of my mount across the Pacific. It left the factory on Monday night our time. By Thursday night it was in Sydney. This morning, I saw it had arrived in Brisbane. At lunchtime, my wife phoned and told me there was a surprise for me at home!!!
I was a little disappointed to find that UPS had just left it on the front doorstep when no-one was home. I would have expected such a shipment demanded a signature. Their service has otherwise been the definition of efficiency. They phoned me on Thursday while the package was in the air between Honolulu and Sydney to collect the import duties so that there would be no delay. One amusing point - when I saw the package was in Brisbane this morning, I thought I might try and pick it up from the depot today after work, rather than wait until the scheduled delivery on Monday. I rang UPS and was put through to America - the woman on the phone told me that as the sender had paid for them to deliver the package to my home, they would have to attempt delivery first, before I could collect it from the depot. I reminded her that I was the customer and that I was paying for the freight, so shouldn't it be my prerogative to decide whether I should collect it from the depot? I eventually spoke to the Brisbane office and found the staff there most helpful - she assured me that it was already on a truck!
Anway, onto the mount itself!
This thing just oozes quality. It looks fantastic. The machining is a work of art. Even the cables and connectors are first class. The tripod is huge and rock solid - the spikes on the tips of the legs could be classed as a lethal weapon. The keypad is quite large, but light. It's menus are relatively straight forward, but somewhat different to anything else I've used. The packaging was incredible - I can see why they told me their shipments were delayed because their head shipping guy was off sick, he is obviously a perfectionist!
I've only had a chance to play with it on the deck, as of course it's cloudy. The daytime alignment procedure looks quite clever.
I have a shocker day at work tomorrow, so will probably be too shagged to play with it tomorrow night. However, I have a day off on Monday, so will pray for fine weather on Sunday night.
I hope to report "first light" in the next few days.
Cheers
David T
Last edited by DavidTrap; 16-04-2010 at 10:13 PM.
Reason: mistakes
Now Mike, I understand that you have an AP scope and a Tak Mount. Wouldn't you prefer to have a Tak Scope for your Tak Mount - I'm sure we could come to some arrangement...
BTW, I sent an e-mail to Astro-Physics about the lack of signature on delivery. They technically hadn't asked for one - they assumed there would be interaction between the driver and recipient given the payment of GST & import charges. They appreciated the feedback and will review things from their end.
Looking like a nice clear, crisp night tonight - hope the guys at Ten Chain Hill have a good one. Too buggered after an early start for work today - lets hope tomorrow night is clear.
The weather looks unfavourable, so I setup again on the deck just to try out the scope on top. Now to work out a wiring loom for all the necessary cables.
Nice new toy you got there David 
