These days people tend to shop online and I am not any different. One of the reasons is that there are only few shops selling astronomical equipment. Teleskop Service (Teleskop-Express) is one of my favorite supplier and because I needed a real, technically equipped and knowledgeable service (briefly: a help of a technician) I decided to pay a visit at TS in Solalinden because it’s only 3 hours drive from my home.
It was easy to find a way to Solalinden (from direction Putzbrunn, from highway exit Haar, after Munchen-Ost on A99 heading from north). It was not easy to find the right building in the very small village as I overlooked the TS sign at the entrance (they should make it more apparent) and spent some time driving around in a circle.
The main reason to come to TS was to replace the focuser I had on my Individual 152/900 OTA (6” achromatic refracting telescope) for a better one for double price and because I do not have the tools needed to make sure it is precisely centered, square to the optical plane and collimated I needed help from a technician. Fortunately, TS does have the tools and knowledgeable staff to help. As we had to wait for the telescope to thermally stabilize I have fully used the services of my dear friend Michael Paur from Teleskop-Service to collect all the other items I planned to purchase and to show me the other products I was interested in. I do like the astronomical “hardware” very much. Good that these physical stores of astronomical equipment are far from my home place. Otherwise I’d have to visit them more frequently, just to look at the nice gear.
Intra, Extra, In-focus Stars, Ronchi Pattern Test
To sum my short two hours visit up I have to say I am happy to get the service I wanted. My little 6” achromatic refractor has got a new focuser (is it normal to have a focuser of the same price as the main lens or am I just a crazy fool?). The technician was nice and showed me the Ronchi patterns along with focused star shapes in different colors (red, green and blue). The company was nice, well equipped, clean (!) and full of friendly people. I have a big confidence in them.
Finally, some images of the astronomical equipment on display at TS.
Individual 152/900 with new FTF focuser from Starlights Instruments, LLC
Teleskop Service Offices
Visiting a place full of telescopes and other stuff is a real experience. That’s the reason to share mine with you because I am excited.
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