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Astro Optical in Melbourne
Hi All,
I also remember fondly Astro Optical in Melbourne as a child of the 1980s.
It was at Mid-city arcade, 200 Bourke St when I first “discovered” Astro Optical. As a child, I simply couldn’t afford a telescope, so it was always a real big treat for me when I go into the city just to see their telescopes from the window display. Comet Halley craze in 1986 was also a real delight for me seeing Myer devoting a big section of their store at Level 4 or 5 selling those mainly red/white tube Tasco telescopes (at least red tube on Tasco’s packaging box), and even Coles was selling 50mm Tasco red tube refractors. Dick Smith also belt out a 40mm dull brown red tube refractor telescope to cope with/cash in the Halley fever. The icing on the cake for a refractor then for me was the 80mm equatorial Tasco on display at the shop front at Michael’s camera store (corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth St selling close to $900 from memory).
I still remember Astro Optical hanged a small 6 or 8 inch tin Moon map globe on their shop window at 200 Bourke, eventually they had to stick a sign saying “not for sale” as they obviously had so many people asking about it!
Back then, Astro Optical were big in selling a line of Vixen refractors and reflectors, they are dream instruments for me.
Eventually, in the early 1990s, I saved my money, bite the bullet and splashed and bought my 60mm F700mm white tube Skymaster refractor on a yoke mount with wonky wooden mount legs from Astro Optical. By then it moved to a shop front underneath Southern Cross Hotel in Bourke St (now dismantled and replaced with the new Australia Post building).
I still have the scope, instruction manual, packaging box, outer carton box, and THE Astro Optical receipt, a whopping $220 I paid for it! Now I can buy the same/similar thing second hand (with aluminium legs) on eBay for $10-20…! Keeping this frac as a memento of my wonder years…The shop keeper at Astro Optical told me they threw away the three crappy eyepieces that originally came with the scope and replaced with 9mm and 25mm Kellner eyepieces instead. I asked if I can also have the original eyepieces but he said he threw them out. He did warn me about the wonky legs that came with this batch of 60mm scopes, but I was going to buy my brand new frac no matter what.
I also asked him about the stopped down 6 x24 finder scope and he pulled out a 30mm white tube finder scope, another unreachable dream unit for me then…but, although things were harder to get then, you treasure them more. Certainly I still appreciate my 60mm frac as much as my larger fracs. Each has its place and function, accepting its limitation as a 60mm frac, I love the unmatched text book perfect diffraction rings from my 60mm fracs, and the grab and go with ease option they offer.
Last I saw Astro Optical was when they moved to an arcade at Flinders St, Melbourne in the late 1990s. Still decent units being sold there then.
Astro Optical has an everlasting place in my astronomical memories…an era when the sun was warmer yellow and the sky ever more blue. I miss those good old days and Astro Optical……time always flies too quickly…..sad....
Kind regards,
Bill
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