Just registered

[cturek]

I'm glad Charles invited members from the Yahoo Group to join this new forum. I like this format - very fast and clean. I cannot see anything wrong or not working.

Carl

[starzonesteve]

+1 Glad to be here.

[Siriusguy]

Hopefully my HitchHiker Astro will arrive by the end of the month, so I can start using it with my SVR-ST2, and the solar filter that fits it. I expect to get a medium-sized carbon fiber tripod to complete the rig, perhaps an Oben, Feisol Induro or such. Any suggestions?

[alt-az-builder]

I went to the shop on Friday to check progress firsthand. I don't think the shop is quite as far along as they conveyed over the phone -- but aren't too far behind where they said. The machining is definitely mostly done.

I think that neither the shop nor I realized in the beginning how much investment would be put into setting up for the production Hitch Hikers. Part of this new set-up results moving some part production to a new 4-axis machine. The fixtures for holding parts in the 4-axis environment are quite elaborate -- and very expensive. The shop had custom built three separate "tombstones" so far -- and was working on a fourth. There's a tremendous amount of work (and expense) in each of these special fixtures. And the 4-axis fixtures are not the only ones that are new (and improved). Plus, all new CNC programming has been generated.

The original time estimates also did not include the new accessories (like the side-saddle) that were added to the first run of Hitch Hikers.

But despite all of this, we're only about five weeks behind where we projected. And two weeks of delay actually resulted from the time it took to get the funding from Kickstarter once the project met its goal. Overall, I think things are progressing very well. But we won't cut corners on the perfection we are seeking just to speed things up a little. This is the start of what will be a very substantial and prolonged manufacturing run -- and everything has to be done correctly.

I'm confident that production Hitch Hikers will soon be spreading around the world -- and that everyone will be impressed by the new mount.

Charles

[Star Voyager]

Hi Charles -
This user groups is an huger step up over the yahoo group.

Quick question. Based on your previous post, does that mean the HH will be ready to ship around the end of May? Just trying to gauge delivery dates.

Looking forward to trying out the astro HH!

Britt

[alt-az-builder]

I'll be really disappointed if it takes until the end of May to start shipping the Hitch Hiker. It's looks more like early May will see the first Hitch Hikers go out the door. I was really hoping for some deliveries in April, but I think the shop underestimated how much time would be required for setting up production.

I'm glad that you like the new User Group facility. I too think it is a huge improvement over Yahoo groups.

Charles