Telescopes

We are authorised dealers for ATIK Instruments, Ba'ader,  Bosma, Ferrari, Guan Sheng Optical, iOptron, Long Perng, Lumicon,  Saxon, William Optics and many other brands...and Lay-By is available, too!
We have far more stock than any other telescope or binocular dealer in Australia...for your convenience! Immediate delivery on most models!!

   ***AUSTRALIA'S PREMIUM TELESCOPE IMPORTER AND STOCKIST***

*** Massive Meade telescope shipment just arrived - see chart below! Yes, Meade competition has arrived - thank goodness! *** INCREDIBLE SKYWATCHER SALE continues... *** Selected CELESTRON telescopes super discounted!! *** New! Carbon fibre "jewel-like" Long Perng APO doublet refractors - just arrived! *** All-new BOSMA 102mm ED TRIPLET APO refractor - absolutely outstanding...A$1799! *** See our 150mm and 200mm telescope OTA comparison charts listed below...*** Simple CCD cameras comparison chart is on our Atik CCD cameras page ***

  See www.atik-instruments.com for more Atik astrophotograhy info...

      We stock many hundreds of telescopes and thousands of accessories!
         Why wait weeks or months elsewhere - only to pay far, far more?

Most products ordered ship same day from us
     
We mail order worldwide - contact us now to order!

Luke seen checking out Bosma's wonderful new TRIPLET ED 102mm super-high grade refractor. Luke's verdict; "I want one!". The smile on his face tells all...

Telescopes, cameras and spotting scopes
 

Telescope accessories and eyepieces
 

Used and Surplus Stock
 
 
Meade complete telescope packages - just arrived!

Yes, real competition has arrived!
 

Type Price $(AUD)
ETX-80AT-TC BB 80mm f/5 Backpack package.
#0805-04-20
$549.00
ETX-90AT 90mm f/13.8 Mak. has UHTC and PEC.
#3514-03-60
$999.00
ETX-125 125mm f/15 Mak. has UHTC and PEC.
#0515-03-60
$1399.00
LS, Lightswitch 6" f/10 ACF SCT w/GPS and UHTC.
#0610-03-10 
$2399.00
LS, Lightswitch 8" f/10 ACF SCT w/GPS and UHTC.
#0810-03-10
$3099.00
LX-90 8" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #0810-90-03  $2549.00
LX-90 10" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #1010-90-03 $4149.00
LX-90 12" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #1210-90-03 $5449.00
LX-200 8" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #0810-60-03 $4149.00
LX-200 10" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #1010-60-03 $4949.00
LX-200 12" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #1210-60-03 $7249.00
LX-200 14" f/10 ACF w/GPS, UHTC. #1410-60-03 $10,949.00
ED Triplet 80mm f/6 APO refractor OTA. #0306-00-03 $999.00
ED Triplet 102mm f/7 APO refractor OTA. #0407-00-03 $1999.00
ED Triplet 127mm f/7.5 APO refract. OTA. #0575-00-03 $2599.00
Lightbridge 10" Dobsonian f/5. #1005-05-02 $1199.00
Lightbridge 12" Dobsonian f/5. #1205-05-02 $1399.00
Lightbridge 16" Dobsonian f/4.5. #1645-05-02 $2499.00
Additional models coming, too! ACF = advanced coma free. UHTC = ultrahigh transmission coatings. PEC = periodic error correction Prices and info shown may vary

Andrews 150mm telescope OTA-only comparison chart

OTA = Optical Tube Assembly

Type Price $(AUD)
BOSMA Maksutov-Cassegrain 150mm x 1800mm $699.00
CELESTRON OMNI 150XLT Newtonian 150mm x 750mm  $399.00
CELESTRON C6N Newtonian 150mm x 750mm   $699.00
CELESTRON C6S Schmidt-Cassegrain 150mm x 1500mm $999.00
GSO Newtonian w/Crayford 10:1 focuser 150mm x 750mm $299.00
GSO Newtonian w/Crayford 10:1 focuser 150mm x 1000mm $349.00
GSO RC 6" Ritchie-Chretien 150mm x 1360mm
Super flat field!
 
$1199.00
SKYWATCHER Newtonian w/dovetail bar 150mm x 750mm (light blue tube colour) $149.00
SKYWATCHER Newtonian 150mm x 1000mm  (light blue tube) $199.00
SKYWATCHER Black Diamond Newt. N150 150mm x 750mm $249.00
SKYWATCHER 150mm x 750mm achromatic refractor $549.00
SKYWATCHER 150mm x 1200mm achromatic refractor $799.00
SKYWATCHER PRO-MAK150 150mm x 1800mm Maksutov-Cassegrain (gold tube colour) $699.00
SKYWATCHER Black Diamond MAK150 150mm x 1800mm $899.00
We believe our new chart should make it easier for you to choose the 150mm (6") OTA best suited to your requirements! Please compare the overall quality levels and types of focusers fitted, too! Please call us for more info
Andrews 200mm telescope OTA-only comparison chart

OTA = Optical Tube Assembly
Type Price $(AUD)
CELESTRON C8N Newtonian 200mm x 1000mm  $899.00
CELESTRON C8S Schmidt-Cassegrain 200mm x 2000mm $1499.00
GSO RC 8" Ritchie-Chretien 200mm x 1600mm
Super flat field! 
 
$1699.00
GSO 8" SDX Newtonian w/Crayford 10:1, 200mm x 1000mm $449.00
SKYWATCHER Black Diamond N200 Newt. 200mm x 1000mm  $349.00
SKYWATCHER Newtonian (light blue colour) 200mm x 1000mm $299.00
SKYWATCHER Black Diamond MAK180 180mm x 2700mm $1599.00
We believe this new chart should make it easier for you to choose the 200mm (8") OTA best suited to your requirements! You should also compare the overall quality levels and types of focusers fitted, etc.! Please call us for more info



                                                 REFRACTOR BASICS

A single objective lens is the most basic lens for a refracting telescope.

Most refractors have a "compound" (two lenses grouped together) objective lens and these will provide improved image quality with reduced optical aberrations (e.g. chromatic aberration, in particular) than a cheap single lens refractor.

A "doublet" (two lenses spaced apart) objective lens refractor performs better than a compound lens refractor.

A "triplet" (three lenses spaced apart) objective lens is generally regarded as the best lens system for a refractor.

"ED" means "extra-low dispersion" of light. ED lenses reduce light scattering, resulting in improved contrast.

There are several grades of ED lenses - the best being FPL-53 which is the highest grade of fluorite ED lens. FPL-51 is a more common, slightly lower grade, but lower cost ED lens. Incorporating an ED lens into a triplet lens design is generally regarded as providing the best possible optical performance in a refractor, at reasonable cost.

APO = apochromatic = colour free.
OTA = optical tube assembly.
 
Magnification may be calculated simply by dividing the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the actual eyepiece in use. E.g. a telescope with a focal length of 900mm fitted with an eyepiece of 10mm will deliver a magnification factor of 90x. In this example, adding a 2x Barlow lens will double magnification to 180x.

A Barlow lens effectively reduces the focal length of the eyepiece in use, therefore increasing the magnification. Barlow lenses can reduce some optical aberrations. Barlow lens have negative optical characteristics. They act similarly to a magnifying lens. Telescopes have positive optical characteristics.

The maximum recommended/advisable/useable magnification for most telescopes is generally regarded as being double the aperture (in mm). E.g. a telecope of 100mm aperture would have a maximum recommended magnification factor of about 200x.

Low quality telescopes often advertise high magnification levels on their boxes - beware of them! Generally speaking, the higher magnification printed, the lower the quality of the telescope. Often, the first thing to throw away is the Barlow lens...

                                                           Lee's blog

We offer our technical expertise to those who purchase products elsewhere (often from overseas). Our optical manager, Luke, has a university degree in Cosmology.
Does your telescope supplier have such qualified and also well-proven expertise?
We import and support high quality products at often the best prices in Australia.

Why do some competitors take 2-3 days to despatch products which they claim are in stock? We despatch most products same day from our massive stocks! Some competitors say a short wait is required, but we don't believe a short wait should typically be 7-12 business days. It should only be 2-3 days - unless competitors hold no stock of those products and rely totally upon their suppliers to hold stock.

We retain the services of two outstanding optical technicians, one of whom has for many years successfully repaired telescopes for numerous east coast telescope shops when those shops' in-house technicians could not successfully repair some telescopes.
The other is contracted to ExtraVision, the previous Celestron telescope distributor.
We always report competitors who engage in anti-competitive practices to the ACCC.
We set the "street" prices on most telescope models in Australia. Others follow...

We continually export to New Zealand and many other countries and, in fact, also sell our goods in New Zealand personally by regularly visiting field days there! We also have a truly outstanding New Zealand agent, ensuring our New Zealand customers enjoy excellent product support. We offer genuinely friendly and helpful service to all!

Mr Lee Andrews with Mr Jim Sheng of the world famous Guan Sheng Optical Company on Lee's second of many visits to the GSO  factory in Taiwan
The Arctic Moon at Kakslauttanen, 250klm north of the Arctic Circle, near Ivalo, northern Finland, at 6pm on 5th January, 2010.
See www.kakslauttanen.fi for more information.


Andrews Communications Systems
Shop 8, 41-51 Bathurst St, Greystanes, NSW 2145
Telephone: (02) 9636 9060, (02) 9688 4301