-1

Spent $400 on a 'pro' star tracker that couldn't even handle my basic DSLR

The thing drifted so bad during a 2-minute exposure that my Andromeda shot was just a blurry streak. Anyone know a solid, cheaper mount that actually works?

4 comments

4 Comments

brooket4324d ago

Pat's right about alignment, but my old barn door tracker worked fine for years with just a watch and a string.

pat_murray5325d ago

Man, that's rough. Honestly, the polar alignment might be the real issue, not just the mount itself. A bad alignment will ruin any tracker, even an expensive one.

eric_adams1124d ago

A watch and a string for a barn door tracker. That's a level of patience I just don't have. I get annoyed if my polar scope takes more than five minutes. The idea of doing math with a piece of twine to track stars is honestly shocking. It makes my little alignment struggles seem pretty silly.

taylor.william25d ago

Ever spend like an hour trying to get a perfect shot only to find everything trailed? Pat is totally right. I fought with my tracker for weeks blaming the gear. Turns out my polar alignment was just a tiny bit off the whole time. That small error gets worse the longer the exposure goes. Once I really nailed that alignment down, it was like a whole new piece of equipment. Makes all the difference.