APM

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Name:APM
Web Site:http://www.apm-telescopes.com
Address:APM Markus Ludes
Kapellenstraße 6
66507 Reifenberg
GERMANY
Phone:
Orders:+49-6375-6345
Inquiries:
Fax:+49-6375-6397
Other:ludes@ur.pils.de
Types of Stuff:
checked Telescopeschecked Eyepieceschecked Binoculars
checked Tripods/Mountschecked Accessorieschecked Books
checked ATM Materials
Methods of Purchase:
un-checked Storechecked Phoneun-checked Web(un-checked Secure)
Methods of Payment:
un-checked Visaun-checked MasterCardun-checked Discover
un-checked American Expresschecked Checkun-checked Money Order
un-checked CODun-checked Financing 
Description:Orders can be made by mail or email or bank transfer
Vote Highlights Vote
APM
Markus is a great guy! I bought too many things from him so I can remember everything :)
Everything always arrived in great packaging and very fast (shortest delay was 24H - longer was 72H)
Prices are very good, so APM is surely one of the best Astronomy dealer's available in Europe.
Highly recommended !!

Overall Rating: 10
Price:10 Service:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=253435

APM
Markus is a nice guy. I think he keeps the best stuff for himself however... (oh well ;)).
You also got to be careful about what you get and be sure to do your research before
you order something. Some of his eypeieces, for example, are originally made for spotting
telescope, so that the focus position will not be the same as that of most
telescope eypeieces (usually with too much infocus). I've been satisfied with his service
however.... A nice guy, just a little bit clueless, I think...

Overall Rating: 10
Price:9 Service:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=85393

APM
This site contains EP reviews for a Nikon 7mm-21mm Zoom EP, which are pretty excellent BTW. When I went to the APM-USA site, they did not have a 7mm-21mm available but rather a 9mm-21mm. I sent three emails regarding a possible oversight/typo or possibly whether a 7mm-21mm might have been but is longer available. The last email was not answered. I also sent an email to APM-Germany which went unaswered. I is frustrating to see such wonderful products available but not be able to clarify a detail. (The 2mm difference is 50X extra in my scope). Before making a purchase.

Overall Rating: 9
Price:9 Service:9
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=69627

APM
I would'nt recomend any person to buy anyting from that man.
His warranty is completely worthless. Sending me a broken mirror and did not answered mails! Calling the customers idiots
and other nice names.

Overall Rating: 0
Price:3 Service:0
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=304244

APM
I've purchased a TMB-105F/650 and an ortho eyepiece from APM over the last year. Both products were ordered from stock, and both arrived in a reasonable time once they had received the payment. APM is accomodating, and very helpful. You may have to ask for distinct details, but I'vealways got a quick response to the questions. I've heard some complaints about the English... but APM's English is a LOT better than my German!

Overall Rating: 10
Price:10 Service:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=243222

APM
Don't confuse this site with APM-USA. This vendor is honest, reliable and most generous with free and friendly advice.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=194515

APM
I have had some very poor experiences with Mr. Markus Ludes of APM which might be appropriate to relate here. I ordered a deluxe GR-2 altazimuth mount from ITE for use with my Astro-Physics Stowaway telescope. ITE gets these mounts from Markus in Germany. Only 15 minutes after I received the mount I noticed that the arm was very hard to turn in the up and down direction, so I wrote an eMail to Markus. His reply was that he had shipped out 15 of these mounts and they were all perfect and had no problems so therefore my mount was perfect. I wanted to exchange my mount for another one. Markus refused stating that all of his mounts were without any defects. ----- Luckily, I had bought the mount from Bill Burnett at ITE. When I called him up while he was on a trip to North Carolina he was very understanding, and stated that he would make it right even if Markus refused to stand behind his product. While I was on the phone with Bill Burnett, he suggested that I remove the arm to see what the problem was. We removed the two small allen screws, pulled out the arm and found out what the problem was. The inside of the main mount had 20-30 deep circular grooves and pits which were approx. 1/32" deep. These deep circular grooves were in the mount when I received it, and they were discovered by me during the first one-half hour after I had received the mount. These grooves and pits were causing the arm to bind up and not turn smoothly at all. ----- I then sent Markus another eMail about what we discovered thinking that when he knew the problem that he would be more understanding. Markus responded that since I had disassembled the mount, that there was no longer any warrenty or any guarantee. I stated that I removed the arm with Bill Burnett's (ITE) permission and while he was on the phone with me. He said that he didn't care. He stated that all of the grooves on the inside of the mount had been made by me! I replied that I just received the mount less than 30 minutes before, and that I had never even put the mount on a tripod, or even put my telescope on the mount! Markus responded that this was not he concern. ----- After talking to Bill Burnett at ITE Mr. Burnett stated that he would exchange my mount for a new one irregardless of Markus not willing to stand behind his own product. I was very fortunate that Bill Burnett of ITE was so honest and willing to stand behind the mount that he sold me. ----- I also bought two Baadar Moon and Sky-Glow filters from ITE and they are preforming wonderfully!! Especially in the polluted skys of Los Angeles. They greatly increase the contrast, and I recommend them highly. ----- Based upon this experience, I would never deal with Mr. Ludes again. He only appears to be interested in the money that he can make from selling products, and is very unwilling to stand behind his products -- even when there is a manufacturing defect. ----- Based upon my experienc, Mr. Bill Burnett of ITE does stand behind the products that he sells -- even if the manufacturer doesn't. Mr. Bill Burnett was a pleasure to deal with during this experience. I exxpect Mr. Burnett to follow through and send me a replacement mount soon as he agreed to, although I haven't received it yet. ---------- I hope that this information will be helpful to other amateur astronomers. Sincerely, Richard Lapides in California

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=46094

APM
Looking for those hard to find items? APM just might be the answer! Extremely fast service(I'm located in Casper Wyoming) and everthing is exactly as described every time.

Best regards,
Bill

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=46085

APM
I have attempted to buy from APM on 2 occassions. After a few e-mails asking technical questions that were promptly answered, I made my decision to buy from him. On both occassions I replied back that I'd like to buy from him. That's when the replies stopped coming. Did I miss something here? If I can't even throw money at him can you imagine what any possible needed service might be like? Try yelling into an empty coffee can. The website is a redeeming factor but he is too busy to keep the correct info on it. Perhaps APM-USA will be better. The APM-USA website is a bit weaker however.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=46099

APM
I bought a Meade LX200 8 (F/10 scope) from Markus Ludes End 2000.
The LX200 is certainly not Markus'top selling scope: he is giving clear preference to APO refractors, or Mak-Cass and Mak-Newt that he imports routinely from Russia.
Anyway, the scope was on his product list; it was not in stock but he was able to get one for me in less than a week, at a very attractive price.
One good argument for buying the scope at APM is that its optics would be inspected and collimated by Markus.
As I live about 300 kilometers away (Belgium), Markus proposed to ship it but I preferred to drive and pick it at APM in Reifenberg.
All was arranged via email; Markus always answered quickly but briefly to each mail, in English.
Payment had to be made in advance by bank transfer as credit cards were not accepted; this was not very comfortable but gave me a chance to check my bank's services; all went well.
Markus accepts major credit cards now, which is more convenient but probably not more advantageous (currency conversion).
We arranged to meet on a Saturday (his shop is normally closed but he kindly accepted to make one exception) and after he performed the collimation of the optics, we repacked the scope and I drove home.

There, I noticed a few problems the same day:
- the DEC motor refused to work; I gave Markus a call (remember, it's Saturday) and the problem was quickly fixed by phone (DEC cable not properly plugged)
- the tripod was damaged: two screws out of the six which attach the base to the legs were broken; I sent an email with a picture of the screw and Markus promised to ship me some screws for replacement, which I received one week later (the problem was anyway cured in-between by a visit to a store which happily had some of these US screws)
- the transport case from Meade was for a 10 inches scope and not for a 8 inches; this could have been checked at APM but apparently was not; I returned the case to Markus, who arranged with Meade Europe to get one shipped directly to me; a few weeks passed (Xmas time) and still no bag; I asked Markus to check with Meade and he was told that the case was shipped; again two more weeks, no case; I insisted that Markus rechecked with Meade...which admitted that the case was just being shipped only and indeed I received it a few days later.

The scope works fine since then and I am quite satisfied. Collimation did not suffer from transport from Reifenberg to home.

I give APM an 8: the service is really fine but the web site needs improvement. Emails should also be answered with more details. I assume that Markus does it for equipment that he really promotes (I know he loves to abundantly talk about these).

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=46098

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