Date | Event |
Pre-2003 | Andrie van der Linde always had an interest in nature. His interest started with ferns (Pteridophyta) and at one stage he was the Vice-President of the Fern Society of Southern Africa. He was also editor of the FSSA’s journal (Pteridophyta) in which he authored numerous articles. During this time, he also contributed articles to the Veld and Flora (Botanical Society of Southern Africa) as well as one article published in Custos (National Parks Board).
He also nursed an interest in Astronomy and has wonderful recollections of Halley’s comet (1986) and the total solar eclipse of 4 December 2002 observed from outside Messina. He had access to a 60mm refractor during this time. |
2003 | The Mars close approach of August 2003 fuelled his interest in astronomy and it is in this period that he imported the first telescopes. The telescopes were late for the Mars event, but he learnt a lot about the import process and pitfalls. |
2004 | People who heard about his success, requested him to import telescopes for them as well. He realised that there was a market for affordable telescopes in South Africa and founded Eridanus Optics CC late in 2004. |
April 2005 | Participated in ScopeX 2005 and sponsored the first prize for the ATM category. |
August 2005 | Website launched |
October 2005 | Started reselling Orion telescopes and products. |
November 2005 | First ‘newsletter’. This was the first attempt to provide star hopping instructions to deep sky objects (M31 – Andromeda galaxy). The popularity and style improved in subsequent issues. |
2006 | First Advertisement in Sky Guide Africa South. |
February 2006 | Became dealers for JMI Telescopes. |
April 2006 | Became dealers for William Optics. |
April 2006 | Became dealers for Kendrick Astro Instruments. |
May 2006 | Participated in ScopeX 2006 and sponsored the first prize for the ATM category |
July 2006 | Became dealers for Astronomik (deep sky filters). |
July 2006 | Become dealers for Garrett Optical (Astronomy binoculars). |
July 2006 | Become dealers for Software Bisque (The Sky planetarium Software). |
September 2006 | Participate in ASSA Symposium 2006. Sponsored prizes for the event. |
October 2006 | Become involved in SAASTA’s Astronomy Quiz and sponsored selected prizes for the winning school. |
February 2007 | Become dealers for Baader Planetarium. |
March 2007 | Become dealers for GSO. |
April 2007 | Participate in ScopeX 2007. Once again we sponsor the first prize in the ATM category. Baader Planetarium sponsored 10 sheets of AstroSolar Safety film that were donated to the Bloemfontein branch of ASSA. We had a Lucky Draw at the event and awarded the following prizes: <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Baader Planetarium Hyperion Zoom eyepiece (Value R1895.00) <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->The SkySix student edition (Value R495.00) <!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->GSO Red dot finder (Value R95.00) |
June 2007 | Dark sky weekend in the Waterberg is a big success. |
October 2007 | Sponsor the website of the Waterkloof high school concert orchestra. They won the Gauteng concert orchestra championships as well as the National championships. |
October 2007 | Become dealer for Imaging Source (CCD cameras for astronomy) |
October 2007 | Continue involvement in SAASTA’s Astronomy Quiz and sponsor selected prizes for the winning school as well as all schools participating in the final round. |
Other | Andrie van der Linde is a qualified electronic engineer [BEng(Hons)(Electronic)(Pret)] and has over 20 years experience in a high technology field. He has more than seven years exposure in the electro-optical field. |
| Andrie van der Linde participates as judge in the Science expo in most of the Gauteng North finals for five years. He was also a judge in the National finals in 2004. |
| Andrie van der Linde is a member of the national body of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA) since 2004 as well as a member of the Pretoria branch of ASSA (since 2004) and the Cape Centre (since 2006). |
