Package costs US$1195. Check out this page http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/William-Optics/
Shipping to Sg is US$80.
WO also import 102 ED scopes!
just got the scope yesterday. came pretty well packed as u can see in the 1st and 2nd pic. the extra big box was to fit in the additional photo adapter i ordered. quite an overkill. the carrying case itself is being packed with more bubble wrap.
the scope is suppose to be white, but mine look pinkish. tube is smooth, no blemish anywhere. the tube rings were lined with felt to hold the tube, but i prefer to wrap mine up with paper to prevent additional scratches.
a dovetail plate is included, but since it's not required for the sp mount, nor the manfrotto 410, i took it off. tube rings look nice, but i have a feeling the ones on charlie's flt-110 was maybe slightly better made(aka heavier and tighter). still, one must remember this thing cost maybe 1/3 of wat the flt-110 used to cost. still, the tube rings served their purpose well(y did they paint it black instead of white?).
the carrying case is a mix of aluminium and plastic. noted in the protoproduction review is that his case is falling apart. prolly a little too extreme. i would say it's not quite the level of the case that wo used to provide with the flt-110, but still pretty usable. just dun bang around with it too much. do note that this case is much lighter than wat was provided with the flt-110(always thought it's a little overkill).
my sp mount is not with me at the moment, so the scope had to ride on the manfrotto for the time being. not too bad, the scope is pretty light, well within weight limit of the manfrotto mount.
focuser was pretty nice, 2 speed version. initial feel was pretty buttery. but at certain areas it felt a little tighter. maybe further use would smoothen it out. the fine focus was way better than expected. so precise, and so smooth that i can turn it with just 1 finger sliding along the knob.
also noted was the focuser is rotatable, not sure if i will use it much, but still nice addition. do note there's no provision for a finder. might have to fix that to the tube ring instead. will update when my vixen style finder dovetail arrive.
first light wasn't that bad. skies cleared up a little, but quite short session. only brought along 3 eyepiece, pano 15, tak le 30 and tak hi-ortho 4. orion neb looked pretty gd with the 15 and the 4. the trapezium is splitted with the 15. no e & f spotted. maybe have to wait for better sky conditions.
took a peep at pleadies. fit the fov of the 30. should say just nice. skies weren't going to hold up for long, did a quick star test on rigel(sirius is too near the horizon). out focus image shows green on one side and magenta on the other, prolly should say quite normal for a 102 f/7 doublet. rings pretty similar on both side of focus. not much to complain. do note a 4mm eyepiece was used, roughly 177x.
infocus shows a white disc with a dim ring around it and a pimple towards the 9pm(guess what this is). most prolly won't notice any colour unless they have something to compare to.
overall, i'm quite pleased with the scope. considering what people used to pay for their fs-102, this one is a bargain with the free rings, case, diagonal, dovetail, 2 speed focuser and eyepiece. any nitpicking would prolly be uncalled for.
~MooEy~
the scope is suppose to be white, but mine look pinkish. tube is smooth, no blemish anywhere. the tube rings were lined with felt to hold the tube, but i prefer to wrap mine up with paper to prevent additional scratches.
a dovetail plate is included, but since it's not required for the sp mount, nor the manfrotto 410, i took it off. tube rings look nice, but i have a feeling the ones on charlie's flt-110 was maybe slightly better made(aka heavier and tighter). still, one must remember this thing cost maybe 1/3 of wat the flt-110 used to cost. still, the tube rings served their purpose well(y did they paint it black instead of white?).
the carrying case is a mix of aluminium and plastic. noted in the protoproduction review is that his case is falling apart. prolly a little too extreme. i would say it's not quite the level of the case that wo used to provide with the flt-110, but still pretty usable. just dun bang around with it too much. do note that this case is much lighter than wat was provided with the flt-110(always thought it's a little overkill).
my sp mount is not with me at the moment, so the scope had to ride on the manfrotto for the time being. not too bad, the scope is pretty light, well within weight limit of the manfrotto mount.
focuser was pretty nice, 2 speed version. initial feel was pretty buttery. but at certain areas it felt a little tighter. maybe further use would smoothen it out. the fine focus was way better than expected. so precise, and so smooth that i can turn it with just 1 finger sliding along the knob.
also noted was the focuser is rotatable, not sure if i will use it much, but still nice addition. do note there's no provision for a finder. might have to fix that to the tube ring instead. will update when my vixen style finder dovetail arrive.
first light wasn't that bad. skies cleared up a little, but quite short session. only brought along 3 eyepiece, pano 15, tak le 30 and tak hi-ortho 4. orion neb looked pretty gd with the 15 and the 4. the trapezium is splitted with the 15. no e & f spotted. maybe have to wait for better sky conditions.
took a peep at pleadies. fit the fov of the 30. should say just nice. skies weren't going to hold up for long, did a quick star test on rigel(sirius is too near the horizon). out focus image shows green on one side and magenta on the other, prolly should say quite normal for a 102 f/7 doublet. rings pretty similar on both side of focus. not much to complain. do note a 4mm eyepiece was used, roughly 177x.
infocus shows a white disc with a dim ring around it and a pimple towards the 9pm(guess what this is). most prolly won't notice any colour unless they have something to compare to.
overall, i'm quite pleased with the scope. considering what people used to pay for their fs-102, this one is a bargain with the free rings, case, diagonal, dovetail, 2 speed focuser and eyepiece. any nitpicking would prolly be uncalled for.
~MooEy~