Telescope Reviews: Beat up Astrotrac

· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt

· Submit a Review / Article

Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums

Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User

You are not logged in. [Login]

Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online
FAQ · Calendar

Equipment Discussions >> Mounts

Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all)

bilgebay
Post Laureate

Reged: 11/06/08

Loc: Türkiye - Istanbul and Marmari...

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Tori]
#5477185 - 10/18/12 03:07 PM Attachment (24 downloads)

There is a consistency in the problems

So it should be easy to avoid them if they wanted to.

Post Extras:

Tori
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: PGW Steve]
#5477187 - 10/18/12 03:08 PM

Thank you everyone!

OPT is going to take care of me. I'm going to be keeping what I have - it works right now (except the PA scope) until I get replacements (which are being checked out before they ship) and once I have them I'll send the banged up parts back.

Yes, Steve, it's important to me that I have it in working order for AZ, which is why I want to keep this working one and why I was about to settle for banged up instead of insisting on pristine.

I'm really saddened, though, to hear that others have had similar issues. The product is physically gorgeous and looks and feels so well engineered - that so many go out with physical scars is sad.

Post Extras:

Tori
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: bilgebay]
#5477339 - 10/18/12 04:24 PM

Quote:

There is a consistency in the problems So it should be easy to avoid them if they wanted to.

I wonder if the one I first received WAS the first mount you had, recycled by AstroTrac? Perhaps that is the problem!

Post Extras:

Dave M
Postmaster

Reged: 08/03/04

Loc: N.E.Ohio

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Tori]
#5477584 - 10/18/12 07:11 PM

Tori
Glad to see OPT is taking care of you on this, they are a top rate outfit..

Post Extras:

Midnight Dan
Postmaster

Reged: 01/23/08

Loc: Hilton, NY, Yellow Zone (Bortl...

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Tori]
#5477775 - 10/18/12 09:26 PM

Quote:

... the parts with the marks have a kind of eggshell finish... not the smooth grooved CNC appearance ... in the dents is the same gritty/sandy kind of finish as on the outside.

That eggshell finish is part of the manufacturing process ... probably bead-blasted. But however it was applied, if the dents have the same finish then they definitely occurred before that finishing step. So these were NOT caused by being dropped after they were shipped to the distributor.

-Dan

Post Extras:

Tori
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Midnight Dan]
#5478254 - 10/19/12 05:05 AM

I can't say for certain either way. In the dents it looks a bit grainy to me, like the rest of the surface... but could that be from the bead blasted surface being marked by being pressed in by being dropped on something? Or would that be completely smooth?

Anyone have a convenient way to turn a telescope into a microscope? Oh! Let me play with the macro end of my telephoto lenses...

Post Extras:

Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Tori]
#5478368 - 10/19/12 08:05 AM

Quote:

I can't say for certain either way. In the dents it looks a bit grainy to me, like the rest of the surface... but could that be from the bead blasted surface being marked by being pressed in by being dropped on something? Or would that be completely smooth?

Anyone have a convenient way to turn a telescope into a microscope? Oh! Let me play with the macro end of my telephoto lenses...

Look through a telescope or a pair of binoculars backwards with the object very close to eyepiece (now the objective) and it becomes a microscope.

Remove the barrel from an eyepiece with the field stop in the barrel (first making sure that the barrel does not hold the optics in place) and it becomes a magnifying loop.

If the finish were dented after the finish was applied, the denting process would have yielded (plastically deformed) the aluminum and it would have been imprinted with the surface of the object that caused the dent.

Jon Isaacs

Post Extras:

Tori
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5478466 - 10/19/12 09:45 AM Attachment (22 downloads)

Thanks Jon,

At least several of the dents were caused prior to finishing:

Post Extras:

Midnight Dan
Postmaster

Reged: 01/23/08

Loc: Hilton, NY, Yellow Zone (Bortl...

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Tori]
#5478496 - 10/19/12 10:02 AM

Sure looks like it! No question, those are manufacturing defects.

-Dan

Post Extras:

jmasin
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 12/22/08

Loc: Murphy, TX (DFW)

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: Midnight Dan]
#5478508 - 10/19/12 10:07 AM

Good to know you will be taken care of.

I got here searching because I'm interested in a travel kit too... heading to some dark-sky parks for daytime photo trips and would love to have a night-time option too.

Above is pretty disappointing, for me it's most disappointing the reaction of the AT booth...

I hope it all works out for you. Please post your results when you get it all put together!!

Post Extras:

avarakin
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 07/13/09

Loc: Parsippany NJ, USA

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: jmasin]
#5481300 - 10/21/12 01:35 AM

To me all the issues seem to be cosmetic and not impacting performance of the unit, so if the unit works as expected, why not just keep it? Looks like the vendor has some consistent manufacturing issues so replacing one unit by another will not solve the issue. At the end of a day, we are using our equipment at night

Alex

Post Extras:

orlyandico
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 08/10/09

Loc: Singapore

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: avarakin]
#5481319 - 10/21/12 02:02 AM

would you buy a new BMW with a huge dent on the fender? you can't see it from inside the car...

Post Extras:

avarakin
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 07/13/09

Loc: Parsippany NJ, USA

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: orlyandico]
#5481334 - 10/21/12 02:36 AM

BMW is a status symbol. This mount is a scientific equipment used for taking images. Or is it also status symbol?

Post Extras:

orlyandico
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 08/10/09

Loc: Singapore

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: avarakin]
#5481402 - 10/21/12 04:10 AM

Ok BMW was a bad analogy. But my point is, when you pay that much money, you expect at a minimum a ding-less object.

Feathertouch recognizes this - they sell their less-than-perfect focusers as "cosmetic seconds" at a significant discount. And I accept that. You can settle for less than perfect (although fully functional) if you pay less money.

Post Extras:

Tori
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: orlyandico]
#5481503 - 10/21/12 07:23 AM

I was going to keep this one at first, until a number of people convinced me to send it back.

One thing I find a little worrisome, more so than simple entirely cosmetic manufacturing defects, is that the first one had a bent dec tightening bolt; the second one has an unglued polar alignment scope. Both indicative of physical abuse, not manufacturing trouble. Honestly the factory packaging is lousy, these things might be shipping damage. But since the packages don't even remotely meet ups or FedEx shipping guidelines, it is not the shipper's fault....

Post Extras:

rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: avarakin]
#5481627 - 10/21/12 09:45 AM

Quote:

BMW is a status symbol. This mount is a scientific equipment used for taking images. Or is it also status symbol?

It's neither. But the condition this unit arrived in was _pitiful_. The makers don't exactly give this thing away, remember. For the prices they charge for this rig it ought, in fact, to come in a silk lined mahogany presentation box.

Post Extras:

Tori
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Somerville, MA/Warren, NH

Re: Beat up Astrotrac new

[Re: rmollise]
#5487762 - 10/24/12 10:20 PM

I just received the third one from OPT and it arrived in perfect condition, no marks at all.

Post Extras:

Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all)

Extra information

23 registered and 32 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator: Bowmoreman, bilgebay, iceblaze

Print Thread

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Thread views: 1794

Jump to

CN Forums

Home

Cloudy Nights LLC
Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics