As well as a telescope for my newly found hobbies of astronomy and astrophotography (which by the way still hasn’t arrived yet and I ordered it back at the start of January and its now May as I write this blog), I have just received an Ioptron skytracker Polar Pro.
It is
basically a compact, motorised one axis mount which precisely tracks the stars as
they pass overhead of you. It has a maximum payload capacity of 6.6 pounds; weighs
2.5 lbs and is made of die-cast aluminium covered by ABS plastic. It has an
internal battery (2000 mAh) which is rechargeable using a micro USB cable and
it has 4 tracking speeds.
And when I
mean compact, I really do mean compact. It fits in my hand and my camera bag
with no problem.
Well packaged
it arrives in a padded bag. It is a snug fit. I struggle to get it in and out
but I guess that means it won’t shift around!
Unpacking the
kit, I discovered the mount, an alt-azimuth base, a brass 3/8 and ¼ inch
threaded ball head mount plate, a charging cable and the polar scope. People will
also need a ball head to mount their camera to the tracker. I just used one I
had off my Joby Gorillapod.
I’ve spent a
couple of hours fiddling around with it working out how to set the latitude
angle and also how to alter the horizontal plane as well and I think I have
these worked out now. The polar scope has proved troublesome. This little scope
has a scale reticule inside it which you use to line up the tracker with
Polaris in the night sky. Sadly, my reticule seems to be a 90-degree angle to
what it should be which does my head in when trying to do the simple alignment
adjustments needed. I have contacted Rother Valley Optics and Ioptron to see if
one of them can send me a new one.
I have yet to
have a clear night where I can now get out and use it but I am assured by
various astrophotography groups I subscribe to that I should now be able to
take longer exposures of the night sky without any star trailing and that I
should be able to capture images of distant nebulae and galaxies.
I’m rather
excited by this prospect. Anyway, the kit is coming with my Camera gear every time
we now travel in Bryony (our motorhome) or Arwen (my 14’ cruising
dinghy). I have the dark skies of Norfolk and North Wales beckoning me in the
next few months along with planned voyages around the Fowey, Fal, Helford and
Tamar rivers!
And now you
can see why we have gone to the trouble of up-plating Bryony! It was the
tow bar, the e bikes, the bike rack, the telescope and the camera gear wot did
us in. Maggie would like to point out that when we recently went through all
the stuff we could ditch out of Bryony, all she had that was her’s …. were her
clothes and ………. a tiny 12v hair dryer!
I am still
trying to live this down!
On Arwen, I
haven’t yet decided whether to take the telescope in the boat. I am still
trying how to keep it safe and waterproofed during a capsize. However, the
tracker will come with me on each overnight trip now.
I will let
you know how I get on with the tracker. This could be the start of a new
interest group: ‘motorhoming astronomers!’
Clear skies,
live long and prosper motorhoming buddies, and fair winds to all you sailors.
Steve
What are
my initial impressions of the tracker?
Pros: Seems lightweight, portable, easy to
put in camera rucksack. Fits on my standard photographic tripod. Has a good
padded travel case. Construction seems solid. Well designed. Procedure to align
tracker with Polaris seems straight forward from the videos I have watched thus
far. Can be used in either northern or southern hemisphere – so will be taken
on our future international travels as well. Easy to adjust. The associated app
for locating Polaris works well. The motor is soundless, very impressive. There
are four speeds – one for tracking night sky; one for night sky with landscape
included; and two others for sun and moon tracking.
Cons: without the optional counterweight stem,
then the payload is only 2.4lbs which is basically a DSLR and 50mm lens max so
o telephoto lenses on it without the counterweight. Need to take all straps off
your camera so they don’t catch the polar scope. Similarly make a little bag to
hold your intervalometer so that it can be velcro’d to a tripod leg. That stops
the cable from catching anything as the mount rotates.
If you would like to know more about how he tracker works, these videos should help
Very tempted to get one of those - plus a counterweight so can put long lenses on it as otherwise it would only really usable with wide angles.
ReplyDeleteDoes the camera have to be forward of the mount? In particular, can you mount via the foot of the lens so the camera is behind the mount?
Who did you order via?
Hey JP - how are you - safe and well in these strange times I hope. I'm not quite sure I follow what you mean by mounting the foot of the lens so the camera is behind the mount. I can only mount the camera the way it shows. You can alter the angle of latitude(Tilt) so that the camera's centre of gravity is as central as possible but even that is slightly limited because the latitude axis goes to 60 degree one way but only 45 degrees or so the other. It would be worth looking up Peter Zelinka's videos on how he uses his for that answer. He does a good long one about setting this particular model up.
ReplyDeleteI got mine from rother valley optics - however it came with the wrong polar scope and although I have contacted them and they have promised to sort this for me - I haven't heard back from them yet since that promise five days ago. i have emailed them again to get an update on what is happening. Another team to try is first light optics - but they seem to have a huge number of delays getting their stock - I am still waiting on my telescope from them ordered in first week of January. I accept that it is due to circumstances beyond their control though.
Large lenses have an adapter that allow it to be attached to the tripod. This is helpful as this can be set at the centre of balance of the camera + lens. If the camera is attached to the tripod with a heavy lens on it then it will be unbalanced and put stress on the mount or cause it to slip.
ReplyDeleteHowever I've seen videos when people have attached V or Z brackets on the mount that would give space for the camera to be behind the tracker. See this vid as an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTI5lkekjbs
He uses two trackers - the Move Shoot Move one (seems to be aimed at wide angle lenses) and the Star Adventurer Pro (which can handle heavier lenses)
Does seem to be all sorts of delays at the moment - astrophotography seems to be a popular lockdown hobby!
Certainly is. Got the z on order. Had a successful night last night with bigger ball mount. Just got to learn how to do things now in affinity photo
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