Any one who speaks English

[Julio]

Hi all,

is anyone here who speaks English?

I'd like to buy telescope and some accesories here in Latvia or somewhere not so far from Riga (lat's say Baltic states).
What dealers could you recommend me? Is there a shop in Riga, whe could I take a look?

Thanx in advance!

Julio

[valdis]

Hello!

Welcome to telescopes.lv forum!

Our Internet shop (http://www.telescopes.lv/) is available for now only in Latvian language. All prices are shown in Latvian Lats. We have the http://www.telescopes.lt page, for Lithuanian customers - this page is in working stage. It will be ready as soon as it is possible. Anyhow, we are offering lowest prices across all States of Baltic.

If you already have looked trough our shop and have choosen any product, don't be shine - ask for price in Lithuaninan Lits or Euro. We can delivery any product to any country of Baltic States for low shipping costs. We also have an bank account in Lithuania and Estonia.

You can ask anything - send an e-mail to us to info@telescopes.lv

Best Regards,
Valdis Bumburs
SIA Telescopes Latvia

[Julio]

Valdis,

thanx for info!
Do you have outlet?

I know thet it's not your interest to misspel names of other dealers, but maybe there are some other companies selling telescopes and appropirate Eyepieces?

Are all items that appear on your website in stock?

Thanx again

[valdis]

Valdis,

thanx for info!
Do you have outlet?

I know thet it's not your interest to misspel names of other dealers, but maybe there are some other companies selling telescopes and appropirate Eyepieces?

Are all items that appear on your website in stock?

Thanx again

We, right now, are selling all Sky-Watcher production, that is available from Synta factory. All items are in stock. In Latvia, we are the first telescope shop. There are shops in Lithuania and Estonia, but their prices are higher on the same production.

Our Internet shop, mainly sells on Internet, like amazon.com and many others. But we are also pleased to welcome anyone to see the all our telescopes & accessories in real life, before you choose to buy. Our office is in Riga, Latvia.

[Julio]

Very good.

Do you have the address or I should guess it from the stars? BUsiness hours would be nice too.

Julio

[valdis]

You can call me anytime, and we can arrange time and date, when you can come and visit us.

My phone nr. is +371 28348174
Or you can give me your mobile phone number.

Kind regards,

Valdis.

[Julio]

Here comes some more questions.

Are there some more astronomic forums here in Latvia, or in Baltic states, where can be discussed in English? I clearly understand that his is telescopes.lv forum, and most oppinion I can get from guys here is not really always objective

Did anyone had business with Lithuanian www.teleskopai.lt shop? I have business trip to Vilnius for couple of days, and plan to visit them - is it worth?

[hmmzis]

If you plan on getting something from SkyWatcher, then lithuanians will have higher prices than you can get here, but if your target is William Optics or Celestron, then either teleskopai.lt or telescope-baltic.com (estonians).
Regarding other forums, there is one but it's also mainly in latvian, but I'm sure english questons will also be answered www.astrocar.lv/fanklubs/forums - the holders of this forum are the oficial Meade dealers in the Baltics, so the bias there might be towards the blue scopes

What kind of scopes are on your radar right now?


V.

[Julio]

Thanx, Hmmzis

Actually I'm thinking about not quite portable SCT with goto (6"-8") or APO on Alt-Az mount, also not very big (80-90mm) and not very expensive. 2000-2500 EUR in total, including accesories is botom line here, I think so.

About the "blue ones"? I've got my oppinion long time ago, while were spending time in backyard of my fellow, trying to tame one of MEADE's. Memories, that still rests in my mind are not the very best So I'd prefer Orange ones...

[hmmzis]

Well, if portability isn't an issue, then an 6" or 8" SCT wins hands down against an 80 or 90mm apo. The lithuanians are the most expensive here, I'd recommend to order from the estonians (in Latvia we don't have any other SCT supplier than Meade), the prices are way more democratic there. I've seen 2 options there the NexStar 8i on a 1/2 fork ("the one armed bandit") goes for 2077 EUR and the C8S-GT is for 2166 EUR. If it would be up to me, I'd go for the S-GT, just because it comes on a GOTO GEM, so planetary and brighter DSO imaging is available straight out of the box, if that's of any value for you .

For the APOs imho the 90mm WO Megrez would the best in this price range (Lithuania or Estonia, no dealer here for WO). Why not a 80mm? Aperture rules .

As for eyepieces, estonians are pushing for TeleVues with some insane prices, they're good, very good, but imho not worth the price. Here in Latvia we have this shop with only Skywatcher eyepieces, haven't looked into one but the wide angles (1,25" 66Ć‚Ā°) have got some nice reviews. Actually the SPs should also work nicely in a f/10 scope. The second option in Latvia (you guessed it), Meade. The one's I've tried are quite good for the price, the QXes work also nicely in my f/6 dob, they have some astigmatism on the edges though. The new (5000 series) SWAs and UWAs look very nice, tried the 28mm SWA and 6,7mm UWA. The fit and finish is better than on a Nagler and the optical quality is also about the same (superb coma correction and baffling).
The lithuanians have the widest range of eyepiece suppliers now. My recomendation there would be to go for the WO SWANs or Baader Hyperions, they have recieved many good reviews and I haven't heard anything bad about them (thinking about a 13mm Hyperion myself ).

Good luck with your choice! And if you don't mind, give a first light report when the time comes

Clear skies!

V.