Tring Astronomy

[Barry]

I had not heard of Tring Astronomy before Google brought them up as a supplier for ZWO cameras.  I phoned them on Saturday afternoon; they physically checked their stock and also checked that the camera I wanted attached directly to a SW flip mirror - by trying it.  The items were dispatched on Monday by free next day post and were duly delivered on Tuesday by Royal Mail Next Day delivery.

Excellent service, good advice and very nice people!

Barry

[dwc]

Just wanted to mention the folks at Tring Astronomy Centre, who have recently supplied me with an Altair Astro 8# Pier and a Skywatcher EQ6 Extension. Both very efficiently processed and delivered, and the Extension actually arrived overnight despite being listed as 3-5 Days Delivery. Nice to be able to drop in to the showroom for a chat as well!

[The BFJ]

Service that goes all the way to 11!

Before buying my scope I decided I wanted to actually see what I had in mind. I didn't want to part with my cash until I was sure I was getting the right piece of kit for me. Having trawled round a couple of places I ended up at Tring Astronomy. Jane, the proprietor was not only friendly and polite (always offering a tea or coffee on arrival) but also well informed and more than happy to show me what I was thinking of buying and the other options available. Once I'd decided, she ordered it immediately and it arrived as promised. As an additional service, she offered to ensure the scope was perfectly colli'd before I picked it up. It turns out it was necessary too, her partner Neil performing the task.

A month or so after I purchased my scope and a couple of X-Cel LX eyepieces, I requested the X-Cel 2x Barlow only to be informed they were unavailable. Jane offered to keep me informed by email as to when it would be in. After a month, Jane emailed to say it still wasn't in and they weren't sure when they would be but offered me the Baader 2.25x Barlow instead, recommending it as at least as good. I certainly won't argue having used it. She has also kept me up to date with the availability of the Baader Aspheric 31mm eyepiece which they are now keeping to one side for me to collect. In the intervening time, they lent me a 40mm plossl in it's place.

In between times I had an incident in which I severely jolted my scope, knocking both mirrors well out of collimation. After trying, and failing, to realign it accurately myself I contacted Jane and Neil to ask for some assistance. They asked me to bring my scope back to the shop and, in a few minutes, Neil aligned both mirrors for me and talked me thru the process so I knew where I was going wrong.

In a modern world where so many ordinary retailers are only interested in taking your money and getting you out the door, the attitude and service offered by Tring Astro is a refreshing and pleasing surprise. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Jon

[vlebo]

I dropped a client off in Tring yesterday so I popped into the Tring Astronomy Centre yesterday for a look around . Was  greeted with a warm hello by a lady who immediately asked if I would like a tea or coffee. They had a fair few scope on display from Skywatcher  and Celestron and Vixen. I got talking to a very friendly and helpful gentleman who 's name unfortunately escapes me ( I must pay more attention when people speak ) and he gave me some very helpful advice with regards to my next scope purchase which is  long overdue . I also got to have a play around with the Altair Astro Sabre Mount and was very impressed.  That with a Celestron C9.25 attached does seem quite tempting !

Overall a very pleasant and friendly experience and as they are only 30 mins from me may become a regular haunt during my travels.

[DirkSteele]

It was pointed out to me at a recent astro club meeting that if ever I was going to get the most out of the Vixen SX 2.1x42 Binoculars, it would be my two weeks of stargazing in the International Dark Sky Association Gold rated reserve in Namibia which I head to in a few weeks.  I had to agree.

I emailed Tring Astronomy this past Friday to enquire as to availability and they had received a new shipment that day.  I promptly placed an order on the website and received an immediate confirmation email.  Later that day I received another email informing me that the item had be dispatched by Special Delivery (despite paying no P&P) and it arrived Saturday morning.

Very easy transaction.  Now I cannot wait to try scanning the Southern Milky Way.

[baggywrinkle]

Visited them on Saturday to drop off a iOptron mount which needs some attention.

Jane and Neil have a very nice set up, good lot of stock on display and a very friendly welcome too.

Well worth a visit and from the mail order side there was no issues.

[baggywrinkle]

Just bought an Altair Astro Starwave 70ED kit from Tring Astro...arrived promptly but minus the rdf..sorted within the day and that RDF arrived today.

Excellent serive from a great team...nice shop too if you are in the area.

[Captain Tweaky]

Someone recently recommended the ZWO ASI120MC camera and the only supplier I could find was Tring Astronomy. Ordered online - received next day.

I had been considering one of these DSLR star tracking devices and decided to look at Tring Astro again. After a very helpful, friendly and informative phone call with both Jane and Neil, I changed my original idea from the Skywatcher Star Adventurer, that seems like a lot of equipment for the money, to the iOptron Skytracker. Theirs was supplied with a ball head and was consequently the best value available. Received next day with a couple of other small items. Very pleased now that I know I made the right choice of device.

They had the Celestron SkyScout on as a very good offer - 50% discount! As I still cannot find my way around the sky after 5 years this seemed like a good plan. Ordered one day, received the next. BUT, after having it for about 2 weeks and trying it in different places, I could not get a reading from the GPS, so I called Tring and spoke to Jane. She could not have been more helpful and understanding.

I sent the item back and they were going to check it and see if the only other one they had in stock was any better. It was but only marginally and Neil was quite upfront and honest about it. He gave me the option of trying the marginally better one from stock or have a refund without any pressure or sense of obligation at all. I took the refund and the amount was registered and the return postage also refunded to PayPal within half an hour.

I shall use Tring Astro as my first port of call in future because I know they care, they are very easy to talk with and they can be trusted to look after you - what more can you want?

[mountainmadman]

Over the last month or two, I have been in contact with Neil and Jane at Tring Astronomy centre which culminated in a visit to their showroom a couple of weeks ago.  I had been in contact with them regarding two queries.  Firstly, upgrading the tripod for my SkyWatcher 150p with the better and much stronger steel tube legs.  Following an exchange of emails, I called the shop and placed the order direct with Jane.  Two days later the new tripod turned up in perfect condition. 

The second query started off with me looking for a new Dobsonian telescope.  Again, via an exchange of emails, I was helped extensively by Neil.  So, before placing the order, I decided to take the 5 hour round trip to visit their showroom.  Both Neil and Jane were there to give us a well needed cup of coffee on arrival and a very friendly welcome.  It was a pleasure to visit the showroom and be in an environment where all you receive is good, honest advice with no pressure whatsoever.  That visit resulted in me placing an order for a SkyWatcher 300p dob and a dual speed focuser.  Neither were in stock in the showroom, but I wasn't in any hurry to get the items.  Two days later I had a phone call from Jane to inform me that my new scope would be with me on the Thursday.  It arrived as promised, no fuss.  Also, to inform me that the focuser was out of stock with SkyWatcher and that it will be several weeks before that would be available.  Again, not in any particular rush for the focuser, and the fact that I've come to trust these people implicitly, I was happy to be kept informed and wait out the time for it to be delivered.

Honesty and trustworthiness - that's all I ask from any retailer or supplier, and it comes in bucket loads from the folks at Tring Astro.  I wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending them to anyone.

Cheers!

[damnut]

Pete & I went down to Tring Astronomy centre  for a cuppa(!). This is his text ..Just swapped round our names so that it reads.!

Had a great day out yesterday, visited Tring Astronomy Centre with Pete Sullivan from EMS. Jane and Neil are very friendly just as stated on their website. They were officially closed today, but very kindly opened up specially for us after I phoned them yesterday. We were greeted with a coffee which was very welcome after 120 miles on the road. They have a large and very well stocked showroom with a large variety of scopes and accessories, something to interest everybody. Imager, visual or beginner, they have the largest range of tackle on stock that I have seen in any shop to date. They have a huge range of bins and spotters right from Celestron through Hawkes, up to top of the range Swarovskis. They have just about every type of scope from good quality starter scopes, various ED and apo refractors, a large full range of SCTs and Maks on goto, pretty much all of the very impressive Altair Astro mounts and scopes including a nice 10" carbon fibre truss RC, and an interesting range of eyepieces. They had various dobs including a lovely £3500 truss 18" that had me seriously considering my credit card limit and thinking of folding the back seats of the car down.

I purchase a Baader Q-Turret and 22AH Tracer lithium battery pack. They had the turret in stock, but the battery was somewhere in transit via UPS, ETA sometime today, which they would post on to me later. We had a second coffee whilst drooling over all the goodies like kids in a candy store, and then asked their recommendation where we could have lunch. They suggested we leave the car and walk several hundred yards up the road to the Robin Hood Inn, and we'd just come all the way from Robin Hood country Had a great lunch and walked back to find UPS delivering my battery, so that went in the boot.

Jane and Neil confirmed that they occupy the very same shop that David Hinds had years ago, before he went online only as Celestron UK. I vaguely remember visiting him there back in the 1980s.

Came back up the motorway and decided to go into Nottingham for refreshments in the cafe at Waterstones with some interesting books.

Tring Astronomy Centre is well worth a visit however far you have to travel.

Maybe this is the equivalent to shoe and bag shopping for the ladies .

 

[DirkSteele]

I have decided to travel very light to this coming Astrocamp in Wales in September so the large and heavy Maplin power pack I use for dew prevention was out.  Decided to give a Tracer Lithium Polymer battery a go.  Placed an order for one with Tring Astronomy Centre on Tuesday 11^th at around 10am.  I received a confirmation email immediately acknowledging receipt of my order.  At 1:30pm the same day I received another email confirming dispatch of my order and that it would arrive the next day with the option to change delivery date if I was not in to sign for the package.  The following morning I received another email and text confirming the delivery window of 10:44 to 11:44.  Package arrived at 10:59am.  25 hours from order to being in my hand.  A smooth and easy transaction.

[DirkSteele]

A follow up on my recent transaction with Tring Astronomy Centre.  Hit by a bit of bad luck, the Tracer Powerpack failed to charge and with no additional Tracer charger I was unable to determine if the problem lay with the charger or the Powerpack.  I discovered this on Saturday (15th) afternoon so dropped a quick email to Neil at Tring explaining the situation.  He replied quickly apologising and offered to send a replacement immediately and arrange a courier to pick up the faulty unit.  He email again Monday (17th) morning to confirm dispatch and informed me he had tested the unit before sending.  I received an email and text notification this morning (Tuesday 18th) detailing a 10am-11am window for delivery.  Package arrived at 10:05am.  Any retailer can be struck by a faulty item but how it is dealt with is the real indication of how good they are.  The response was exactly what I would hope for and leaves me a satisfied customer.

[DirkSteele]

Having read some very helpful reports posted on SGL by Shaun (aka Pig) I decided to take the plunge on the new iOptron Az Pro mount.  I contacted Tring Astronomy Centre to let Neil know about my interest.  He informed me they had recently sold out but a new delivery was expected shortly and he would hold one back for me.  Last week he contacted me to let me know they were incoming.  I confirmed my desire to buy one so he sent me an invoice last Thursday.  I requested a delay in dispatch until Monday 15^th as I was traveling for a few days.  The package was sent Monday with tracking and arrived in one hour delivery slot on Tuesday.  Nice easy transaction.  Now I have to hope it has not come wrapped in clouds when I open the boxes!

[StargeezerTim]

I felt sure I wrote a review a few months back, but its not here so I write again!

I have used Tring Astro for a couple of years. I bought a mount from them over a year ago and a scope and a few bits and bobs a couple of months ago. Their prices are competitive and delivery is free.

Their service is excellent. Neil and Jane are helpful, friendly, not at all pushy and seem to value the principles of customer service. I feel they they value my custom and feel looked after by them. As an example, I recently queried the stars I was getting in my images from the scope and reducer I bought from them. Neil was very helpful and sent pics I provided to the Manufacturer for feedback etc. He replaced the reducer in question (free delivery, delivered next day), and as spacing was an issue, provided me with a complimentary set of spacers. Brilliant service! 

The showroom is packed with equipment. Its well over an hours drive from my home but I do look forward to my visits to Tring and Tring Astro. They provide coffee and a wc and a warm, friendly welcome.

I would heartily recommend this supplier!

 

[admin]

58 minutes ago, StargeezerTim said:

I felt sure I wrote a review a few months back, but its not here so I write again!

You are mistaken, you have not submitted another review for Tring Astro.

Prior to this you posted only one other review (it was for Telescope Service) 30th July 2015. 

[cloudsweeper]

An item I recently bought developed a fault, so Neil of TAC asked me to return it.  After inspection, he decided he would replace it as soon as new supplies came in.  I was informed when this happened, and the new item was sent out straight away and arrived the next day.  Excellent service!

Doug.

[DAVE AMENDALL]

Hi all, Shopped around on Thursday for an NEQ6 Synscan mount. A number of suppliers have no stocks. Managed to locate one at Tring Astronomy which I ordered at 2pm. It was delivered on a next day basis and I received it at 10 0clock this morning by DHL free shipping at a total  cost of £999. You could'nt do better than that. Well done TRING ASTRONOMY................Dave

[Cjg]

Tucked away on a business park in Tring, you’ll find an Aladdin’s cave of Astronomy!

I’d met Neil and Jane the owners at the Star Party’s in Cwmdu, and had chatted over their display of Altair Astro Scopes last year.  

Emailed over last week an enquiry for a quote for the Altair ED 125 and a Sabre mount ( the mount is made here in Norfolk, so an extra incentive ) and finder.  The quote came back the following morning, a discount off the scope price and I think the other prices were rounded down in my favour. Phoned, paid and agreed to collect the followwing week (yesterday), as I wanted to see how the Sabre mount was put together.

Neil had put my purchased ready to go, but had set aside a Sabre mount to show me how they fitted together and set mine up for me. 

I’d also asked about a case for thre Scope; Neil and Ian at Altair sourced a slightly used aluminium / wooden one for me, that was ‘no charge’....superb customer service.

Great sevice, great pricing, Jane makes a fab cuppa, and Buster their dog is friendly too.

Well worth the trip from Norfolk. 

Chris

 

[DeanCJ]

Since January whilst they have been discounted by various suppliers, I have been building a collection of Vixen SLV eyepieces. On Monday, to complete my collection I ordered a 20mm SLV from Tring astronomy centre, it arrived Wednesday via Royal Mail 48. Upon opening the box I found not a 20mm but a 9mm (in a 20mm box). I immediately phoned Tring, and after a quick check they returned my call and had found the 20mm in a 9mm box ( the last one in stock) and would post it out immediately at no cost to me. The 20mm arrived the following afternoon via Royal Mail guaranteed next day with a lovely note and pre paid return label.

 I know most, if not all suppliers would probably do the same but considering the very difficult times we are all living through, I find their service absolutely fantastic and cannot recommend them enough.

[seven_legs]

Ordered a Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian mid afternoon on Friday was delivered by Monday 2pm.  

So nice to buy from a dealer and they do not charge for delivering. 

Great service, thanks🙂