Altair Astro

When I first started as an amateur astronomer I looked at all kinds of scopes and companies. After extensive comparison, I ended up making Altair Astro my first choice, purchasing everything from Altair - for two reasons - solid quality of build and committed customer service. Can’t recommend highly enough.

The guys at altair are very knowledgeable and always happy to help. I’ve had some top notch equipment from there, it’s my main goto place when I’m looking for a new bit of astro kit !

For some time I have been considering a front end energy rejection filter for my narrowband solar imaging. The scope I was using was the Altair Astro 102 ED-R, which has proved an excellent instrument in every way. I was unaware that Altair actually sold ERFs. The ones I'd looked at from other firms either had severe limitations, or they were good but didn't come with a cell. Fortunately I stumbled upon a forum which mentioned Altair. I got in touch and the staff couldn't have been more helpful. They were unsure whether they had one in stock which would fit and were even willing to make special screws for the housing if that was necessary. However, there was one in stock which fitted the 102 and it was dispatched forthwith. The specifications are excellent as it is a triband filter which I can use for both my calcium-K and hydrogen alpha imaging. Not only that but it is superbly made with a lightweight plastic cell designed not to distort the highly accurate optics. I would highly recommend these. And the price is decent also. So 5 stars it is!

I have had good experiences with this place until recently, when I bought a piece of equipment which has proved unreliable after a few months. The support to resolve the issue from both the manufacturer and Altair petered out without fixing it, leaving me with a 3 month old focusser that is both expensive and only intermittently reliable. Update 8/2/21-Have emailed them again following response from owner below.

We went in for advice on a second hand telescope we had bought. The owner was extremely helpful & very knowledgeable. He gave us plentiful advice & had the missing parts in store. We will certainly go back if we need anything more. Excellent service which cannot be faulted. Gus, the dog, was a plus!

Altair are the only astro company I'd trust. You can always measure a company by the sort of support you receive when things go wrong.The Altair team offer the best support of any company I've dealt with

Staff are excellent and very helpful. High quality Telescope. Must visit or attend one of Altair event.