374 replies to this topic

[CHASLX200]

Go back to a 1977 SKY&TELE and about 100% of stores are gone now.    Most all scopes pre GO-TO can out last us but the junk made with GO-TO will never last long. It all went down hill around 1992.

Edited by CHASLX200, 27 November 2024 - 07:35 PM.

[mcoren]

Don't care if another scope is made or sold . After 650 scopes in 47 years i am done and just want someone to come get what i have left and take it all.

Just curious, how do you get to 650 scopes in 47 years?  Is there a scope-of-the-month club that I haven't heard of?

[mcoren]

When I wanted to step up from my old 60mm refractor and get a "serious" telescope, I went to Edmunds in late 1977. It was the only astro shop around and was about an hour away. When I went, the red tube reflectors and refractors were on display along with a Celestron C5 and maybe a C8. After seeing the scopes on display and their size, a month or so later I bought an 8" SCT, but not from Edmunds.

 

Edmunds was a great store and that was a great trip and remains a nice memory from my beginning astro journey.

 

The image is the Edmund's telescope display a few years before I went.

 

Bob

That's an awesome picture, Bob, thanks for posting it!  The one pointing down just to the right of center looks like my first 3" f/10 newt.  Mine was probably an earlier model because my focuser was a cardboard tube held by friction, and my finder mount was a couple of bent wires.  I also don't remember the tripod having a spreader.  Other than that, it looks the same.

[CarolinaBanker]

Scopes were flat out better back then and looked better. Everything went to fast optics and imaging.  No more F/8 Newts and no more U's.

I’m a refractor guy, I own 4 classics: an Apogee Widestar 102 (it’s about 20 years old so a classic in my opinion), a Meade 226, a Cometron Co-62 and a 70mm Vixen Halley Multi 70S. The apochromatic revolution has meant better optics and much more manageable size. That’s a boon to lunar and planetary astronomers. It’s a lot easier to mount an f/8 apo than an f/15 achro. I will say modern achromatic refractors are generally worse mechanically and often optically because QA isn’t emphasized in high volume, low cost Chinese manufacturing.

[CHASLX200]

Just curious, how do you get to 650 scopes in 47 years?  Is there a scope-of-the-month club that I haven't heard of?

It was all a blur like i was in some kind of sleep. All started at my first star party in 1977 when i saw and used real scopes for the first time like a C14 and 5. I went home and cried all nite in bed as i was destroyed having a sorry 60mm scope and said to myself i will own em all one day.  So i set out to do this that. Now i am broke and have no more home.

[CHASLX200]

I’m a refractor guy, I own 4 classics: an Apogee Widestar 102 (it’s about 20 years old so a classic in my opinion), a Meade 226, a Cometron Co-62 and a 70mm Vixen Halley Multi 70S. The apochromatic revolution has meant better optics and much more manageable size. That’s a boon to lunar and planetary astronomers. It’s a lot easier to mount an f/8 apo than an f/15 achro. I will say modern achromatic refractors are generally worse mechanically and often optically because QA isn’t emphasized in high volume, low cost Chinese manufacturing.

Just think if i can bring back Unitron from 1958 and have them make the same scopes today. Nothing made today can touch the build of them unless you get a AP or Tec by heck. I bet a 4" M160 would cost 15k today to make.  If we could just break the speed of lite and go back in time and buy any old scope i want at the prices back then and resell today.

Edited by CHASLX200, 28 November 2024 - 07:12 AM.

[starman876]

Just think if i can bring back Unitron from 1958 and have them make the same scopes today. Nothing made today can touch the build of them unless you get a AP or Tec by heck. I bet a 4" M160 would cost 15k today to make.  If we could just break the speed of lite and go back in time and buy any old scope i want at the prices back then and resell today.

The only good thing about Unitron really made was the mechanics.  The optics are easily surpassed by what is available today at far less money. 

[CHASLX200]

The only good thing about Unitron really made was the mechanics.  The optics are easily surpassed by what is available today at far less money. 

I mean the mount and OTA builds and the looks. Can always change out the optics if someone can make it work. Plastic today and no wood boxes.

Edited by CHASLX200, 28 November 2024 - 03:00 PM.

[starman876]

I mean the mount and OTA builds and the looks. Can always change out the optics if someone can make it work. Plastic today and wood boxes.

Just throw another scope on the mount and make it an APO with a Feather Touch focuser.    That would be a great set up.   

[jragsdale]

Just throw another scope on the mount and make it an APO with a Feather Touch focuser.    That would be a great set up.   

SVX130T with a Unitron 160 mount. Oh baby!

[CHASLX200]

Just throw another scope on the mount and make it an APO with a Feather Touch focuser.    That would be a great set up.   

FIXED CRADLE RINGS made that a no go on the older U mounts.

[starman876]

FIXED CRADLE RINGS made that a no go on the older U mounts.

That is true, however, the ones with removable cradle will work great. What a combo that would be. Also a better tripod will help also. 

[starman876]

SVX130T with a Unitron 160 mount. Oh baby!

That would be an awesome combination 

[Herchel]

I always miss going to telescope stores and looking at the gear and the chit chat and learning stuff , meeting peeps

[mcoren]

It looks like scientificsonline.com is closing down.  There's a note on their website that they're no longer accepting orders, and they're only accepting returns through January 25.

 

I believe they were somehow a successor to the consumer business of Edmund Scientific.  For a while in the early 2000's, they had a lot of general science and astronomy-related items, such as diffraction gratings and various toys, books, and posters.  They also had a stock of leftover Edmund Astroscan telescopes, as well as many of the books originally published by Edmund Scientific in the 1960s and '70s (e.g., The Edmund Sky Guide by Terence Dickinson and Sam Brown, the Mag 5 Star Atlas, and All About Telescopes by Sam Brown).

 

The professional optics, including RKE eyepieces, are still available at edmundoptics.com.

[CarolinaBanker]

It looks like scientificsonline.com is closing down.  There's a note on their website that they're no longer accepting orders, and they're only accepting returns through January 25.

 

I believe they were somehow a successor to the consumer business of Edmund Scientific.  For a while in the early 2000's, they had a lot of general science and astronomy-related items, such as diffraction gratings and various toys, books, and posters.  They also had a stock of leftover Edmund Astroscan telescopes, as well as many of the books originally published by Edmund Scientific in the 1960s and '70s (e.g., The Edmund Sky Guide by Terence Dickinson and Sam Brown, the Mag 5 Star Atlas, and All About Telescopes by Sam Brown).

 

The professional optics, including RKE eyepieces, are still available at edmundoptics.com.

Here’s the information about how they were formerly linked to ES from their About Us: 

 

In 1942, Norman Edmund searched diligently through mail-order advertisements to find a specific lens required to feed his hobby. He was an amateur photographer, and it was difficult to find optics to support this pastime. What he learned from that experience prompted him to place his own ads, offering specialty lenses in a photography magazine. Almost immediately, other hobbyists looking for "hard to find" optics starting sending in orders and the Edmund Salvage Company was born.

Business boomed in the years following World War II. The military provided an endless source for quality, surplus optics. The breath of product and ample inventory of specialty optical items were highly sought-after by science enthusiasts. To advertise new items, Norman started mailing a monthly newsletter to his customers – the foundation for the Edmund Scientifics catalog.

The coming of the space age saw an Edmund Scientifics lens go to the moon as a critical component in the first color TV camera to record the Apollo landings. In response to customer inquiries for an affordable compact telescope, Edmund Scientifics developed the Astroscan® Telescope, winner of the 1976 Industrial Design Award. More than 30 years later, the Astroscan® endures as a living, working legend in the astronomical community.

For over 50 years, Edmund Scientifics experienced continued success at its Barrington, New Jersey location. A small optics company had grown into THE source for unusual science activities, toys, gifts, and demonstrations. Science hobbyists and engineering enthusiasts around the world know that Scientifics is the place to feed their ideas and inventions.

Today, Scientifics Direct, Inc. proudly operates as an independent business. Through our catalog and website, Scientifics Direct, Inc. continues to provide the latest and most unique science related items available. We love science just as much as our customers.

 

https://www.scientif...m/page/about-us

[Jon Isaacs]

I haven't read the entire thread but I did not see anyone ask what Brick and Mortar stores are still open?

 

I know of Woodland Hills and Starzona but no others.

 

Camera Concepts, B&H, Adorama? 

 

Jon

[Michael Covington]

B&H and Adorama are major camera dealers and are doing fine; the only variable is how much they might be involved in telescopes.  I don't know what their showrooms are like.

Mail-order dealers are abundant; Astronomics and High Point Scientific are two of the most prominent.

Atlanta Hobby, north of Atlanta, has started selling telescopes (as of a couple of years ago), so the South again has a brick-and-mortar camera store.  (Camera Bug went out of business when the owner died a few years ago.)

[dhferguson]

Hello,

 

After their San Francisco and Cupertino stores closed, the last Orion Telescope store was located in Watsonville, about a fifteen-minute walk from the airport GA ramp. I flew in there 1/2024. The storefront appeared to just be the front office section of a large warehouse, from which I suppose all their mail order items were shipped. By early 2024--and this postdates the previous posts--there were only a few refractors--none larger than maybe 102mm aperture, and a small case with a few eyepieces. The clerk offered to help me find something "in the back,"--meaning the main warehouse--but I elected to quietly leave. I figured at the time they were on their last legs. Sad.

 

Happy observing always,

 

Don

[bobhen]

I always miss going to telescope stores and looking at the gear and the chit chat and learning stuff , meeting peeps

Yes to the above.

 

You know, the same can be said of record stores. Tower Records, etc. were more than just places to buy records. They were places to meet people, see what music and shows were coming, browse through racks of albums and check out the artwork on album covers (remember those). 

 

Obviously, the music business is many times larger than the telescope business. But the same brick and mortar interaction and community has been lost for the sake of Internet expediency The Internet makes buying easier. But easier isn't always better, it's just easier.

 

Bob

[GGK]

The Internet makes buying easier. But easier isn't always better, it's just easier.

 

What I think the Internet really does is make equipment cheaper for the consumer, and that’s the path most people will take regardless of whether or not it’s driving the brick and mortar stores, non-China manufacturers, etc. out of business. In the end, few people care whether or not those stores and manufacturers are gone as long as it doesn’t directly impact their personal cost. 
 

I’ve found that  my least stressful purchases have been from a store where I can see and hold the equipment first and ask questions. When I make the purchase there, I know it’s exactly what I think it is. That’s the easiest for me.  Buying equipment off the Internet unseen, my experience is that it’s a 50/50 chance whether or not the stuff’s any good or even described accurately unless I buy the premium brands. It’s a real hassle returning stuff so often, but it’s the new rules of the game.

 

Gary

[NinePlanets]

There used to be book stores too.

I don't remember the last time I saw a book store. It's been many years.

[CHASLX200]

There used to be book stores too.

I don't remember the last time I saw a book store. It's been many years.

They were in malls and now malls are going fast.

[Serenity Now]

In the Baltimore/Washington DC region Company 7 Astro-Optics brick front shop/showroom remains open though Marty has been poor-mouthing for the past year or so regarding store rent and undermining by online sales = a "why even try anymore" attitude. The fact that he is an AP/TEC dealer etc and sitting in one of the largest disposable-income centers of the nation surely is a benefit as well as his involvement in side science/govt projects (still viable in this political climate?). C7 was also a big Orion dealer and it's closure surely has to be a major kick in the you-know-whats.

[Bob Campbell]

It looks like scientificsonline.com is closing down.  There's a note on their website that they're no longer accepting orders, and they're only accepting returns through January 25.

So I ask the group here, with them (and perhaps similar sites) closing what will stimulate the development of future generations of scientists and engineers in the US?

 

It is troubling to say the least. I do have the answer for the eventual demise of astronomy/telescope related magazines: The amount of free science news sites and direct interaction of agencies (i.e. NASA, JPL) with the public will fill the void of no astro-related mags which has news printed at least half a year old.

 

Will everything become virtual? That is, holding science stuff in your hands become a thing of the past?

 

 

 

Bob

Edited by Bob Campbell, 05 January 2025 - 10:51 AM.