Telescope Reviews: skymasters crash to the ground

You have my deepest sympathy Mark .

If it's any consolation , there could well be some truth in the old adage " what goes around comes around " !

I confess to having chuckled to myself not THAT many moons ago when a most esteemed fellow member reported the undignified descension of one of his most favoured binoculars , which thankfully ( and probably due to their being of stout construction ) escaped any serious damage ( which I WAS pleased about , to be truthful , in spite of my amusement )

What I have NOT reported until now , is that recently a less fortuituous fate occured to what is by far the most expensive instrument amongst my modest collection .

I was in the process of dusting down and carefully cleaning my Zeiss Diascope and the Bogen 501 head and Manfrotto 055B tripod it practically lives on in the comfortable but precarious surroundings of our lounge , when my mobile phone rang , which I have to take outside to enable callers to hear me , due to a poor signal .

I carelessly left the whole set - up just around the corner from the door , when another family member , who shall remain nameless , came rushing along the hallway to answer a call on the LANDLINE telephone , dashed into the lounge , and apparantly sent my pride and joy crashing to floor :-(

I'm glad I wasn't actually there to WITNESS this nightmare of occurences !

It's only fair to admit that the " culprit " was even more upset about this accident than I was , and I can only blame myself REALLY -- but suffice it to say I didn't at the time !

The blow was not softened by the fact we have no carpets in our house -- just wooden flooring throughout , but at least the tripod was set at it's shortest height at the time !

Luckily , the damage was limited to a slight scratch on the scope body but a SERIOUS crack on the zoom eyepiece .

I was 90% CERTAIN the eyepiece itself MUST be damaged as in a state I can only describe as being considerably less than CALM , immediately grabbed the entire set - up with both hands and somehow CAREFULLY took it outside to inspect the REAL damage , while the " culprit " was doubtless cowering in a corner like a puppy which KNOWS he or she has just " had an accident " displeasing to it's owner :-)

I am eternally grateful , and thankful to Zeiss Optics , that the damage following THIS particular accident is wholly restricted to cosmetics .

Granted , the damage HAS devalued the little scope , but it's not an item I would ever dream of SELLING in any case .

Regards , and BE CAREFUL folks !

Kenny

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If everyone is thinking the same thing , no-one is thinking - General George S.Patton

Zeiss 7 x 42 BGAT
Captain's Helmsman 7 x 50
Nikon 10 x 42 Superior E
Swift Audubon Kestrel 10 x 50
Helios 15 x 70 Observation
Strathspey 20 x 90
Televue 76 APO
Zeiss 85 Diascope
Helios 102 f5 refractor
Various eyepieces barlows tripods mounts etc.
Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ5 digital camera