The Binocular and Telescope Shop is a retail store specializing in high quality optical products.
We have a large and diverse range and enjoy assisting our customers to purchase the products best suited to their requirements. Our Philosophy "Good quality sells itself." We believe this is true. Therefore we like to stock products that represent the best quality available for the price. We won’t carry products unless we ourselves believe they meets these criteria. In short, we sell products we are happy to use ourselves.
The ‘BINTEL’ Name
We didn’t choose the name, it chose us and it stuck! Some of our suppliers couldn’t fit our full name into the space provided in their computers. So they shortened it to things like Bin & Tel and Bin + Tel and finally Bintel. The name stuck, so now we use it too!
History of The Binocular and Telescope Shop
The Binocular & Telescope Shop started as a dream when Mike Smith was working in a Sydney camera store. Other than Mike none of the staff seemed to know or care anything about binoculars or telescopes. Seeing a gap in the marketplace for a specialized optical retailer Mike and his wife Lily decided to open a small store in the Hunter Connection arcade during November 1984. Soon Lily began working in the store full-time.
In 1994 Don Whiteman a keen amateur astronomer, telescope builder and birdwatcher joined the staff and brought a wealth of practical experience with him. Don has since attended training programs in two telescope factories in the USA. The business grew steadily and soon gained a reputation for honest advice and a good range of high quality products. In 1996 the store was moved to much larger premises in York Street Sydney.
Michael Chaytor, after being a customer for several years whilst at university one day asked Mike Smith if he could work at Bintel. He started the following day bringing his retail experience and amateur astronomy interests with him in late 2000. Michael, like Don, has been sent to the USA to learn the servicing of complex Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes.
In 2005 BINTEL expanded by opening an outlet in Camberwell Melbourne. Roger Davis was appointed manager of the Melbourne store.
Anthony McCullough works together with James Murphy in our Melbourne shop.
Mick McCullagh joined the team in 2005. Mick was employed to process and dispatch internet orders and also performs the pre-delivery check and collimation of our Dobsonian telescopes. If you purchase a Dobsonian from us it has probably been collimated by Mick.
The Binocular and Telescope Shop has taken a keen interest in fostering amateur astronomy, beginning with sponsoring the 1988 National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers. Most subsequent National Conventions have received substantial assistance. Open Nights for astronomy held at Macquarie University and at Sutherland Astronomy Society have been promoted and assisted.
The Binocular and Telescope Shop also sponsors major Star Parties including the South Pacific Star Party hosted by the ASNSW, Astrofest in Queensland, Border Stargaze and the Ice In Space Astrocamps. We attend these events showcasing the latest astronomy equipment available and support requests for door prizes and giveaways.
In 2011 we were also Major sponsors of the inaugural Astro Imaging Conference on Queesnlands Gold Coast.
The NIGHT SKY newsletter began in 1985 as a single page information sheet. It has been printed every month since then and now reaches an estimated three thousand readers each month. It has expanded in stages from a single page A4 format to four page A3 format.
The Future. Continued steady exptansion and careful choice of high quality optical products and accessories are the watchwords. New products are carefully evaluated and if they meet our customers’ requirements and represent good value and quality we will add them to our catalog. We value our customers, many of whom have become firm friends over the years.
It’s our intention to make shopping at The Binocular and Telescope Shop as pleasant and easy as possible for our customers.