Picked up my Televue Apollo 11 Commemorative eye piece this morning from Bintel
Beautifully presented box with a commemorative medal stamped with a serial number , eye piece has serial number as well
Can’t wait to use it in my 12” Goto dob when we eventually get some clear skies along the east coast of NSW
Only 6 were issued to Australia (Bintel) from Televue, Bintel have one on display in their Sydney showroom , I have one and there are 4 others somewhere around the country
A very happy, lucky and proud owner of a unique astronomical eye piece
Cheers
Pics taken on iPhone and sent via iPhone , correct orientation when viewed in iPhone
When viewed on laptop or Desktop they are sideways
Sorry about that but I use my iPhone 99% of the time
Any other comment ?
Just arrived back down at my weekender to clean up a bit after the fire devastation on the south coast
Looks like most of the coastal areas and hinterland along Southern , Central and mid north coast NSW will receive some welcome rain on Thursday through to Monday in the order of 10 to 20mm , not enough but NSW will take anything at the moment
Testing of my Apollo 11 eye piece will have to wait at least another week or so
Keep you posted
I ordered mine from Agena astro as it was out of stock when i checked the Bintel website.. and now their website says they have 1 eyepiece left.. annoying!.. my apollo 11 is stuck in melbourne customs... has been in customs for the past 11 days.. i bet they are calculating the duties to charge.. never really thought about duties till i started googling why a parcel might get held in customs.. any idea what the duties would be? Or if duties apply in this case at all? I was going through the customs webpage that says collector’s pieces are exempt? Will this apply here? And what happened to all the talk about Australia-USA free trade? Never had problems with orders from China.. Perhaps i should take my complaint to Mr.Trump!
I never trust stock levels on suppliers websites , I always call or go to store and enquire. I rarely purchase from OS websites too , had to many security issues over the years
I guess I was lucky as Bintel had another 3 allocated at a later date , I bought one , someone else bought one and they kept one for the store on display
Don’t know much about duties, probably the most important thing is you finally receive your eye piece in good condition
Good luck and enjoy !
This eyepiece is double the cost of the Docter 12.5mm and doubt very much it’s in the same league as cutting edge Zeiss technology that has gone into this eyepiece, They are not meant to sit in a box not being used and that has nothing to do with a green eyed monster called jealousy as I own eyepieces at the highest end of the game it just amazes me how people would pay over 2k for an 11mm eyepiece for its collectibility, Just my opinion so don’t get all hot under the collar it’s just how I see it when for a tad over that price I bought a Tak FC100DF,3035 FT R&P focuser,K-Aztec rings and other accessories it just doesn’t make sense.......
I chose to buy this eye piece for many reasons, definitely not to expect a $2000 view
Some of the reasons are as follows ( not in order )
1/Historical ( 50 year anniversary of 1st lunar landing )
2/Al Nagler was involved with NASA and the lunar module simulator window optics, Televue founder and former president of the company, I have great respect and admiration for “Uncle Al”
3/ Limited edition ( only 300 made on the planet )
4/I grew up through the Apollo era and witnessed all the launches and landings on my parents black and white TV . I was a space kid
5/My Aunt in the US worked for a NASA contractor and would send me NASA and Apollo memorabilia during the late 60’s and early 70’s
6/ I can pass this commemorative eye piece down to my kids and grandkids in the future ( I have 4 kids and 3 grandkids with probably more to come ) something to remember me by and may be of some value in 30 or 40 years time who knows
7/ Its a beautiful optical instrument and beautifully presented
8/ The cost ( although outrageous for some ) didn’t concern me at my stage in life
I didn’t specifically buy this eye piece as a financial investment for the future
It’s a unique, historical, quality eye piece and I’m going to use it to compliment my existing swag of current Televue eye pieces. If it’s worth something in the future when I’m long gone then my kids and grandkids may benefit in some way ( that makes me happy )
My Aunt who worked for a NASA contractor in LA during the Apollo Program sent me quite a bit of Apollo memorabilia when I was in senior primary and junior high school including an unmarked first day cover stamp of Apollo 8 “Earth Rise”.
The Apollo 50th anniversary 1ounce gold coin sounds inviting
Thanks for the advice