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View Full Version here: : Yay.. the Polarie has arrived :)


Omaroo
11-09-2012, 02:45 PM
Thanks Mike, for putting me on to Steve at My Astro Shop, who sent me a Vixen Polarie on Friday. Two day turnaround - very nicely done MAS! :)

Can't wait to give it a burl tonight - conditions pending. It's going to be great to get outside and take wide fields without having to lug that bloody G11 about. The back is not was it used to be... :(

I've seen some top notch efforts with these from the various users who have one here on IIS. Progress reports to come. Can't wait to try the 75mm (150@35mm) f/1.8 on the OM-D.

iceman
11-09-2012, 03:35 PM
Nice one Chris, I think you'll love it.

Looking forward to your results with it.

Omaroo
11-09-2012, 03:45 PM
Thanks Mike - looking forward to it myself. You've managed some spectacular shots with yours, so I can't wait to give it a rip. My back yard isn't exactly Cape Leveque, but what they hey! :thumbsup:

tlgerdes
11-09-2012, 07:11 PM
It will be good to see some sky time from you Chris.

h0ughy
11-09-2012, 07:24 PM
did you get the full kit with the polar scope Chris

gregbradley
11-09-2012, 07:29 PM
Good one Chris.

I ordered one this morning.

I was impressed by the many fabulous shots on this site using one and the simplicity of use.

Greg.

Omaroo
11-09-2012, 07:55 PM
Cheers guys , and good on you Greg :) I think they're selling quite a few from what I can see.

David - no - just the basic kit. Tonight I set up and just used my trusty Suunto compass set to TN (11 deg offset) and an inclinometer to 34 indicated degrees. It's as coudy as heck out and the oval down the road has megawatts of light coming from it but I'm looking at round stars in most corners at 3 minutes at 24mm. I'll hop out to our darkish-sky site tomorrow night and drift align with the OM-D's reticle-equipped monitor at 14 mag. Should be interesting.

Out of interest - do you have the scope, and if so how do you find it? I have issues with Sigma Octans and polar scopes.

JB80
11-09-2012, 08:49 PM
There is an accessory called the Polar Meter which may help if you don't want the polar scope. I'm reasonably certain it will work in the same way for the southern hemisphere and it does look like it will give more accuracy over the built in meter.

Basically does what you are already doing with your compass an inclinometer.

http://www.vixenoptics.com/mounts/35511.html

It does seem to be available in the US via OPT corp, not sure of anywhere else though

Omaroo
11-09-2012, 08:54 PM
That looks like the ticket Jarrod. I heard about and even saw it before, but haven't looked closely until now. Ordering now.... :thumbsup:

h0ughy
11-09-2012, 09:03 PM
i wouldnt be without mine Chris. i use the compass and level to get rough alignment then put in the polar scope to finish it off

JB80
12-09-2012, 02:23 AM
It does look alright, I have the polar scope for mine but I think this will come in handy for those times when you may not have a view north or south to align by or even in daylight for tracking the Sun or Moon.
Even a rough align with a Polarie is pretty good, not perfect but still useable.

Shame I can't find a European dealer yet, if I order from the US I'd be expecting the real cost to be closer to $100 maybe more.

lacad01
12-09-2012, 12:49 PM
Nice one :thumbsup: Seems these beasties are selling like hot cakes. I ordered one from MAS yesterday so looking forward to having a crack at some wide-fields. Will be going away to NSW mid north coast next week so hope I can get some nice beach/coastal nightscapes in while away :)

Omaroo
12-09-2012, 10:18 PM
Great stuff Adam :) I was speaking with Steve today and he's seeing quite number walk out the door recently.

Here's the first half-decent session that i've had with it.

OM-D, 90 secs, 12-500mm kit lens @f/4.5 at ISO1600. These are single frames. Over the weekend I intend to take dozens of subs in properly dark conditions. Can't wait to give this setup a proper go.

iceman
13-09-2012, 04:41 AM
Very tidy indeed Chris!

dannat
13-09-2012, 06:04 AM
Last night Greg Walton at the ASV monthly meeting had a polarie, he has built a counterweight arm for the Polarie, the original camera mount is removed, it has a hole in the middle so you can leave the polar scope intact & you can rotate the counterweight arm so it is easier to position the camera.
He had test images with a PST & ED80, I didn't get a photo unfortunately

I just got my polarie, here is a link to a 60 sec shot at f2.5, 12mm on mu 4/3 GX1
MW polarie (http://www.mu-43.com/attachments/f88/10770d1347362540-astrophotography-m4-3-what-have-you-got-mw_jpeg_12mm-f2.5.jpg)

Omaroo
13-09-2012, 06:55 AM
Thanks Mike. Can't wait for dark skies this weekend. These were taken in simply atrocious light conditions.

astronut
13-09-2012, 07:05 AM
The Forest, this weekend Chris?:)

Omaroo
13-09-2012, 07:12 AM
Just Friday evening at this stage John. I don't, unfortunately, have time to stay overnight. :( If I do, you guys don't get a Prime Focus this month.

gregbradley
13-09-2012, 07:19 AM
What store is MAS?

Greg.

dannat
13-09-2012, 07:30 AM
My astro shop MAS (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/)

I got mine from Bhphoto, they had a special & post was pretty cheap

Omaroo
13-09-2012, 07:34 AM
It's run by Steve Massey, Greg. Great to deal with.

Omaroo
13-09-2012, 07:37 AM
What do you do for warrantee?

Poita
13-09-2012, 02:40 PM
The difference between B&H and MAS is about $70 at the moment for the base Polarie, and nearly $190 cheaper if you are getting it with the tripod.

If I was getting the base model, I reckon I would go local.

mbaddah
13-09-2012, 03:25 PM
Nice one Chris! I still have yet to test my Astrotrac :( If I come down to the Forest tomorrow evening we can do a direct comparison :D

h0ughy
13-09-2012, 04:57 PM
hope it works well for you. if you do set up side by side you will notice that about the same time you need to reset and rewind- his polarie will be flashing at the top signalling a low battery. the trade off is that you can go all night on a set of batteries but Chris will have to change the Polarie ones roughly every 2 hours - especially if it is cold.

nice looking test shooting Chris :thumbsup:

Omaroo
13-09-2012, 05:09 PM
I'll be there Moh - Friday evening for a few hours :) See you there!

I won't be running AA's for very long. I have a 12,000mA USB battery pack coming - should go for a while.

mbaddah
13-09-2012, 07:53 PM
Great to hear Chris! I'll leave straight from work, so hopefully should be there around 7ish. Unfortunately I won't be able to bring the SDM though :(

Omaroo
13-09-2012, 09:20 PM
Very cool :) I should be there around five I guess. If you're not SDM-ing it, what are you? The Zambuto?

mbaddah
13-09-2012, 10:27 PM
Unfortunately I sold the Portaball :( I'll be coming with just the camera and binoculars.

Omaroo
15-09-2012, 12:37 AM
Pity you couldn't make it Moh - the sky was brilliant. As good as I've ever seen it at the forest. :( Maybe tomorrow...

Here's one from tonight - a quick 75 secs at ISO1600 with the Polarie set to "1/2" rate, which slows down the tracking speed to half - the theory being that you don't track the sky or the horizon perfectly - you track halfway between. This gives you a sky and horizon only slightly blurred.

Second one - ISO400 for 300 secs at f/5.6

A quick test.

mbaddah
15-09-2012, 08:16 AM
Chris they look spectacular! Tracking looks real good for 300secs, i'm impressed :D

How did you align the Polarie? I tried using my iPhone's compass and inclinometer for the astrotrac. Either the software is inaccurate or my setting up?

Omaroo
15-09-2012, 09:18 AM
I don't use my phone Moh - I use a Suunto compass off the end of a fibreglass spirit level (which extends the edge a couple of feet away from any ferrous parts) with mag dec set to 12.5 degrees E and a good inclinometer. I have a Polarie-specific polar scope coming this week which will give me even better alignment.

Now that I've managed to spend time to carry out some basic exercises to determine what the best setup is with this totally new camera, I'll be able to spend productive time to actually take better images. :thumbsup:

mbaddah
18-09-2012, 01:17 PM
I purchased a Suunto M-3 Global compass today :) It has a built in clinometer too. I'll pop into bunnings sometime this week to see if I can buy a spirit level made from non-ferrous metal, then give the astrotrac another whirl hopefully with better luck.

Did you get the polarie-specific polar scope yet?

gregbradley
18-09-2012, 09:01 PM
[QUOTE=mbaddah;895544]I purchased a Suunto M-3 Global compass today :) It has a built in clinometer too. I'll pop into bunnings sometime this week to see if I can buy a spirit level made from non-ferrous metal, then give the astrotrac another whirl hopefully with better luck.

Where did you buy the Suunto from?

Keep in mind a polar scope will be useless in the day as far as I am aware.

Greg.

h0ughy
18-09-2012, 09:23 PM
[QUOTE=gregbradley;895704]

well you should be setting up in the wee early nightime hours;)

mbaddah
18-09-2012, 09:44 PM
[QUOTE=gregbradley;895704]

I purchased it from Paddy Pallin

http://www.paddypallin.com.au/sydney

gregbradley
18-09-2012, 09:52 PM
I purchased it from Paddy Pallin

http://www.paddypallin.com.au/sydney[/QUOTE]

I don't see the clinometer model. Is it there? How much did you pay?

There is a US Site REI that is selling them for about $56.

http://www.rei.com/product/787189/suunto-mc-2-pro-compass

Although this is the accessory I would prefer:

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1287-18244

And perhaps the polar scope.

Greg.

OzEclipse
19-09-2012, 08:32 PM
I just purchased a digital clinometer on ebay for $26

http://tinyurl.com/8g46bpv

Reads to 0.1 degrees and has a spirit level on top to find level before calibrating. I only just got it so not sure how accurate it is.

For a compass, I'm going to machine a shaft that fits in the polarie polar hollow shaft with a T-ring on the end. I'll attach my dlsr with the digital compass display from the GPS to set polar axis azimuth.

It only indicated to 1 degree but then that's only as good as most compasses anyway.
joe

gregbradley
21-09-2012, 11:28 AM
I got the same inclinometer.

I ordered a digital compass with altimeter for about $16. Gotta love ebay.

Greg.

Omaroo
21-09-2012, 11:46 AM
It was sent Tuesday, so hopefully my polar scope arrives today. I was going to look at the Vixen compass/inclinometer, but I have them already. The polar scope has got to give the best alignment short of drifting. Can't wait for another week or so and I also receive a Rokinon 7.5mm fish eye for the OM-D. That should give some speccie vistas. :)

gregbradley
21-09-2012, 03:23 PM
Sounds hot. Milky Way shots here you come!

How did the L rig work out?

Greg.

Bassnut
21-09-2012, 05:21 PM
Chris. Does the Polarie look remotely hackable, have you looked inside it?

Omaroo
21-09-2012, 06:23 PM
LOL... it's under warranty, and until that ends I'll respect it. It has no high-speed slew or anything else apart from 1/2, sidereal, lunar and solar rates. Maybe, I don't know :shrug:It's nicely constructed though - I'll tell you that. There are no externally evident screws or anything. I'd suspect you'd go in through the battery compartment, but I'll resist trying to find out just yet. :lol: