It is, of course, difficult to make intelligent comments about the FOT without taking both it and the Ulka apart but I do have an FOT sitting in front of me. If appearances mean anything, it is impressive. Certainly the flow rate is more conducive to espresso viv-a-vis the Ulka.

The fact that it was/is standard equipment on the Maximatic says something, right? I also like the wire frame mounting system although FOT also offers rubber as per the Ulka.

Your current setup is hydraulically correct.

in the beginning I really wondered: why are there no complaints about the maximatics brew pressure? judging by the experiences with a gaggia classic (58mm) - which is assumed more critical to distribution than a 49mm basket - it was damn difficult to avoid channeling on my maximatic when I got the machine. a week later I got my first brew pressure readings: 16 bar blind pressure and approx. 12 bar at normale flow rate. ok that, kind of clears the channeling issue up..
after searching online it became clear that the replacement of the fluid-o-tech pump with the ulka one was the source of my problem. unfortunately I didn't went down the easy road and just replaced the pump, but instead went into inserting an OPV. indeed it should have been a tell-tale sign that olympia themselves did use fto instead uf an ulka - but being influenced by my OPV manipulations with my gaggia, I falsely assumed that easiest way to get brew pressure to the +/- ideal range, is to insert a relief valve (aka OPV).

Your current setup is hydraulically correct.

thanks for cheering me up. and to relate to the content between the lines: you are so right! although my setup is hydraulically correct it is certainly a far cry from an advisable one..

[EDIT] I didn't want to bump up the thread so I'm editing this one - hope this is ok with the posting rules.
I finally had a useful idea on how to lock the opv into position; I just took a adhesive bowl as a mounting and added some foam as a buffer between opv and tank. The adhesive bowl seems to stick to the tank really good and did never fall off since I mounted it a week ago.