Items for sale from the Observatory
To order an item contact the Observatory. You can also use direct credit to our account to order and pay for an item. Follow the link for details or you may use trybooking.com for online purchase of the telescopes, calendars, yearbooks and planispheres. Also available is a gift voucher for $80 entitling the recipient to a private viewing.
NB: Your transaction after purchase, will show up as Trybooking on your account statement.
Bintel BT202-B 8" Dobsonian - $550 Includes workshop to assemble and understand how to operate the telescope (Only at the Observatory).
Big aperture performance in a telescope that is mechanically simple and very stable. The views through this 8" Dobsonian telescope are sure to thrill anyone from the intrepid beginner to the seasoned stargazer. This BINTEL telescope has a precision 8" (203mm) primary mirror with centre alignment spot and is mounted in an aluminium support cell that allows rapid equilibrium of the mirror to the outdoor temperature. Every Bintel telescope is given a full check up prior to sale. The Optical Tube Assembly is thoroughly checked and collimated (aligned) to ensure your new telescope will perform as you would expect.
Bintel's Dobsonians feature quality components and accessories to make using the telescope as simple and enjoyable as possible. These include:
- Knurled collimation knobs on the primary mirror cell making precise optical alignment much easier - no more fumbling with tools in the dark.
- A cooling fan mounted to the telescopes main mirror cell to achieve faster cool down of the optics.
- A fully adjustable four-vane spider supporting the secondary mirror.
- BINTEL Dobsonians are equipped with a smooth 2" Crayford focuser allowing extra smooth 10:1 fine focus control without backlash.
- The brake system makes the Dobsonian easier to balance and easier to use. The large aluminium knob can be tensioned to the perfect level for smooth movement of the telescope. If heavy eyepieces are being used it is easy to apply a little more tension. If you prefer light, easy movement you can back the brake off.
Standard Accessories include: Quality 26mm (2") Fully Multi Coated Eyepiece, 15mm and 9mm Fully Multi Coated Plossl Eyepieces, Moon filter, 8x50 90deg Correct Image Finderscope, Base carry handle, eyepiece rack for 2" and 1.25" eyepieces and Snap-on dust cap.
The telescope has been given a full check up prior to sale. The Optical Tube Assembly is thoroughly checked and collimated to ensure your new telescope is going to perform as you would expect.
In addition, we will help you to put together your telescope and give you a lesson on how to use it.
Specifications: - Aperture: 203mm
- Focal length (f/#): 1200mm (f/6)
- Limiting magnitude: 14.0
- Resolving power: 0.58 arc sec.
- Weight: OTA 9.4kg, Base 10kg
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Bintel BT252-B 10" Dobsonian - $750 Includes workshop to assemble and understand how to operate (only at the Observatory).
Once you look through a big Dobsonian you will discover what thousands of amateurs before you have discovered - the Universe is a very big place...and a simple-to-use telescope like this is the ideal tool to get out and see it.
Keen observers appreciate that larger telescopes give better views of fainter and smaller objects. A 10" telescope will let you go a full magnitude fainter than a 6" telescope bringing about 10,000 deep-sky objects (mostly galaxies) within reach from dark skies.
Where a 6" scope will show detail in in only a few galaxies a 10" will show details of spiral structure and dust lanes in many. So if you are ready for some serious views of the night sky without spending a fortune a 10" Dobsonian is a great choice.
This BINTEL telescope has an expertly figured and polished parabolic primary mirror made from BK-7 glass. It's guaranteed to be diffraction-limited, meeting the theoretical limits of resolution for its size. The mirror is mounted in an aluminium cell that allows rapid equilibrium of the mirror to the outdoor temperature.
Bintel's Dobsonians now include knurled collimation knobs on the primary mirror cell making precise optical alignment much easier - no more fumbling with tools in the dark. A cooling fan is included to achieve faster cool down. The secondary mirror is held in a fully adjustable four-vane spider. The Bintel BT252-B is equipped with a smooth 2" Crayford focuser featuring extra smooth 10:1 fine control for precise focusing even at high powers.
The new brake system makes the Dobsonian easier to balance and easier to use. The brake mechanism can be positioned and set at the exact balance point of the telescope tube. The large aluminium knob can then be tensioned to the perfect level for smooth movement of the telescope. If heavy eyepieces are being used it is easy to apply a little more tension. If you prefer light, easy movement you can back the brake off.
Standard Accessories include:
- 15mm and 9mm Fully Multi-coated Plossl Eyepieces (1.25"), 26mm Wide View Eyepiece (2")
- Moon filter
- 8x50 Correct Image Right Angle Finderscope
- Mirror cooling fan
- Base carry handle and Snap-on dust cap.
The telescope has been given a full checkup prior to sale. The Optical Tube Assembly is thoroughly checked and collimated to ensure your new telescope is going to perform as you would expect.
In addition, we will help you to put together your telescope and give you a lesson on how to use it.
Specifications:
- Aperture: 254mm
- Focal length (f/#): 1250mm (f/5)
- Limiting magnitude: 14.5
- Weight: OTA 16kg, Base 14kg
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- Astronomy Yearbook $32 includes postage (Australia only)
- Planispheres or star wheels - $17.00 includes postage (Australia only).
See what's in the sky and when.
- Astro-calendars for 2012 (choice of two versions) - $20.00 includes postage (Australia only).
NOTE - most astronomy Year Books, planispheres etc. give rise and set times etc. in UT (Universal Time, set by the Greenwich 0 degree meridian) or EST (Eastern Australian Standard Time) with no allowance for Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time).
- Observatory booklet - $5.50 + $1.50 postage
Booklet - "Features of the Ballarat Observatory"
This 16-page booklet, covers some of the early history of the Observatory and describes its significant features, namely buildings, telescopes and stained-glass windows. It contains 23 colour photographs, and was professionally designed by Peter Lambert Designs. Available in Ballarat from the Fine Art Gallery, Sovereign Hill and the Tourist Information Centre and in Melbourne from the National Trust Gift Shop in Block Arcade. It can be ordered direct from the Secretary, Ballaarat Astronomical Society, c/- P.O. Box 284, Ballarat 3353 at $5.50 incl. GST (plus postage).
A book now in stock
"Probing the New Solar System" by John Wilkinson $40 + $6.00 postage.
For more advanced observing, not in stock, is "Hartung's Astronomical Objects." Expensive, but will last you for years. It may be seen at the observatory.