Vixen Polarie

[shelltree]

Hi all,

I'm sure there have been similar posts before. I did try and do a forum wide search for any posts to do with the Polarie and found bits and pieces...but not really enough info!

I have done research elsewhere and even downloaded the manual to have a read through. All seems pretty straight forward as far as I can tell, use the polar sight hole to align the Polarie to the South Celestial Pole (I'm sure that will take a bit of trial and error :lol: ) then point to where you want to shoot, set the usual setting and the speed of the tracking and start shooting (but please correct me if I'm wrong :) ).

I'm thinking the Polarie will be a great beginner's tool for getting into astrophotography. In the past I've simply been using my wide angle lens using 30 sec exposures or doing hours of time lapse to create astro videos. I really want to expand my horizons with something reasonably straight forward and versatile so I can take it wherever I go!

Just really wanting to gather everyone's experiences using the Polarie as I'm pretty much set on getting one and if they've noticed any draw backs, things they didn't like about it etc.

Am thinking of purchasing from www.astroshop.com.au.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :D

:thanx:

[Octane]

All I can say is: do it!

I bought the road/traveller pack from MyAstroShop, as well.

If you can, see if you can get the polar scope. It's expensive, but, within 5 minutes of setting up, you can do 15 minute exposures at 17mm without any evidence of trailing.

My only gripe is the load that it can handle. Those of us with big cameras (full frame systems) are limited to probably about the EF 135mm f/2L USM as being the maximum weight. But, this is OK; it wasn't designed to be a replacement for an equatorial mount or something like an Astrotrac/Starlapse.

So far, I've only used it with the EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, EF 50mm f/1.8 II and EF 85mm f/1.8 USM. No dramas.

H

[traveller]

The other option is the ioptron sky tracker, it has a slightly heavier payload capacity and fits directly on my old Manfrotto 190 tripod.
The skytracker has the polar scope as standard and a great optional ball head. I have also seen a counter weight system for it, which looks interesting http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.290.168xv0&id=19568301599&ns=1#detail
Bo

[shelltree]

Cheers H!!! :D

I would love to be able to do longer exposures without visible trailing so will definitely consider the polar scope. It sounds absolutely baffling with all its features but I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out with a heap of tutorial videos and lots of reading! :lol:

At the moment I'm still stuck with my 60D until I can afford to make the switch to the D800. I figure though, while I can't afford to upgrade my entire system, I can get some quality polarie time in and learn the ropes of the setup :D As for weight, as you say, it wasn't designed for that and if I do really decide to step properly into the astrophotography world, there will be a bunch more equipment I'll want to buy :lol:

Until then, the Polarie seems like a wonderful start ;)

Cheers for the info, Bo! I'll do a bit of research on the Ioptron as well and see what I can come up with!

[Octane]

Oh, it's pretty easy! Put your quick release plate on the 1/4"-20 standard camera thread on the bottom of the Polarie. Put the unit onto the tripod. Point your tripod in altitude at the south celestial pole (about 26 degrees south up here in Brisbane/Sunshine Coast). Remove the compass attachment at the back of the Polarie, insert the polar scope and line up the four trapezium points of Octans on the polar scope. Remove polar scope carefully (it's a magnetic system, which is nice) and screw the compass attachment back on to the back. Screw the ball head on to the face of the Polarie. Orient the ball head so the base plate is roughly horizontal, place your camera on the plate and screw the ball head to the camera. Point your camera on the ball head which attaches to the face of the Polarie to where you wish to image, switch on to sidereal tracking and you're good to go. :)

H

[shelltree]

So simple! :)

My only issues with lining up Octans is that often times (especially at this time of year), it's behind trees by the time it's dark enough to observe. At least for backyard imaging (should be no problems when I make a trip somewhere!)

From what I've read so far on finding the South Celestial Pole, if you follow the vertical line of Crux down through the centre and draw a line down from in between Rigel and Hadar as well, the cross section is very close to the SCP. This will probably take some trial and error to perfect...

Being on acreage is great (on a dark night even at a quarter moon, I can see wisps of the Milky Way!) but there are far too many trees blocking my view sometimes :lol:

[Octane]

Shelley,

In that case, get the polar metre attachment, too. It has a built in compass and bubble level.

You set your altitude on the polar metre (26 degrees south). The unit slides on to the top of the Polarie in the hot shoe-like gizmo.

Point your tripod roughly south and pointing towards the south celestial pole. Make minute adjustments to your tripod until the bubble on the polar metre is level and you're pointing to true south (magnetic south minus declination). That will get you pretty close to the pole without ever needing to see Octans. The advantage of this method is that you don't have to slide the polar scope in/out and thereby ruining your alignment. :)

H

[shelltree]

http://www.astroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-022A2

Is that it? :D Very nifty indeed!

Would it be worthwhile still getting the Polar scope as well as the polar metre? I'll still be able to use the polar scope if I go to a dark site but from home the polar metre will have to do!

[Octane]

That's the one.

Yeah, I got the whole lot.

Being able to use the polar scope when you can see the south celestial pole is so easy. Using the polar metre takes a bit longer, but, obviously has its benefits for when you can't see the pole. :)

[shelltree]

Fantastic! :) Thank you so much H, you've been an immense help!

I have a feeling I might be buying one this weekend..... :D

[Octane]

Oh, if you do go the polar scope route, make sure the unit is tracking at sidereal rate when looking through the polar scope trying to align on Octans!

Also, make sure that when you're imaging that you're not running at 1/2 rate, but, actually sidereal rate. One night, I wasn't paying attention, spent a good while getting my polar alignment right, and, for some reason I must have turned the dial, switching modes. I came back 15 minutes later to find I had eggy stars. I accidentally flipped to 1/2 rate and not sidereal rate!

H

[Octane]

You're welcome. :)

I might actually set mine up in the backyard next week when the Moon is in a favourable position and get some images at zenith. It's been packed away and hasn't been used since I moved up here!

H

[shelltree]

Hahaha, I have a feeling I'll be making all kinds of awesome mistakes to begin with! Thanks for the heads up!

Good idea :D Always good to get back into it after a dry spell. I feel like its been forever since I went on a trip somewhere for astrophotography. So much harder now being single, it's not so easy (or safe) to drive to the middle of no where and sit in the dark :lol:

[alocky]

Here's a link to an image I managed at 180mm focal length with the full frame D800 - well in excess of the quoted limit. The key was careful polar alignment - I use a 2" extension tube from my box of adapters over the drive ring on the front of the Polarie and hang the camera and lens off this by the strap while I'm using the polar scope. This allows the flexure in the tripod and head (I use a manfrotto geared head ) to be accommodated. On a good night it can get 2-3 minutes per sub frame.
Cheers,
Andrew.

http://www.astrobin.com/47941/

[Octane]

Andrew,

That's a great idea! Any idea where I could get one of those adapters?

H

[shelltree]

Goodness gracious, that's a stunning shot Andrew! A really great idea too. I will keep it simple for now and gradually work my way up as I make progress with the setup :D

[Poita]

Hi Shelley, you are welcome to borrow my Polarie if you want to try one before buying one.

I can't get out much these days so you are welcome to borrow it for a month or so.

Cheers

-Peter

[Poita]

Any 2" extension tube works a treat, I do a similar thing to account for the weight.

[shelltree]

Hey Peter,

Thank you so much for the offer :D How would we go about getting it to and from each other though? I seem to be a fair while away from you!

I think I'm pretty much set on the Polarie now. I have been for awhile but it was great to get some helpful info as there were a few things that truly boggled my mind on how it worked (okay, more than a few! :lol:). But if there's a way to use one beforehand, to be positively sure, I'm all for it! :)

[alocky]

Thanks H and Shelly for you kind words! It's just a 2" extension tube for a 2" focuser I had in my box of bits, you could just as easily use a short length of pipe from bunnings with a couple of suitably placed set screws in one end. When I get home I'll post a picture. If you have a 2" Barlow you could unscrew the lens and use the body of that too.
Cheers,
Andrew

[Octane]

I do have a 2" Bintel ED barlow doing nothing. I don't think it's ever been used and I've had it for about 6-7 years, lol.

Would love a photo of how you've set it up.

Thanks, guys.

Also, that's a wonderful picture you got of Rho Ophiuchus. It makes me sad because I'm not going to finish my mosaic that I started 3 years ago, this season. :~(

H

[Derek Klepp]

Get that Polar compass that sits on top for a quick setup.Actually ring Steve up at Astrshop he is very personable an knows his products.These are extremely well made and very accurate in terms of internal gearing.I mount mine on a 055 Manfrotto tripod not necessary but it's good to have a sturdy tripod when it's windy.Also remember to set the switch off Southern Hemisphere(green light). Good luck they are a great piece of kit

[Poita]

I've heard a rumour that Australia Post can handle these kinds of dilemmas :P

Just PM me an address and I can send it up next week.
Cheers

-P

[shelltree]

:lol: Just wasn't sure if you wanted to entrusted Australia Post with your Polarie was all! :D

That is extremely kind, Peter and I would be most happy to take you up on that offer! I will send you a PM shortly :)

[alocky]

Here's a picture of my method of 'pre-loading' the Polarie while polar aligning, as promised.
Cheers
Andrew.

[andyc]

Hi Shelley, I see you're about set on the Polarie, but I thought I'd share my Skytracker experience with you. Bottom line before you read any more is that from what I've read, the Polarie is a better-made mount than the Skytracker, but Skytracker is what I have! I've been using the Skytracker for a few months now, and having a lot of fun with it. If you want, you can look at my photo albums via my sig to see what I've managed with it - imaging Pluto at 250mm, or some decent 100mm and 250mm shots are possible (with stars detected to 17th/18th mag at a dark site). The polar scope is a massive plus with the Skytracker - my set-up time is minimal (5-10mins max) with the polar scope and "Polar Finder" app, and then the alignment errors are much less than the periodic error in the drive. Azimuth alignment is poor on the Skytracker but my tripod compensates for that.

I recall reading that the periodic error of the Polarie is quite a lot less than the Skytracker, though I'm not sure where I read this (another forum somewhere). That might be quite a big thing in Polarie's favour. At the moment I'm limited to 2-minute exposures @250mm (EOS 60D), and I'll reject >50% of those shots due to PE trailing. at 100mm with 3-minute exposures, I'll reject <33% of frames due to PE. I don't reject many frames at all for polar alignment errors.

I imagine that either mount might suit your purpose, and they're a lot of fun to play with!

[shelltree]

Thank you so much for that info Andy :D That really does help a lot!

Peter has generously offered for me to borrow his for a little while to see how I fair with it and make my final decision. Yes, I have heard many good things about the Polarie and it seems to be the leader by far. I am very excited to give it a try, I have been looking at the Polarie's dreamily for almost a couple of years now, about time I take the plunge! :lol:

[shelltree]

P.S Just checked out some of your images and I see you have used the 100mm macro lens for some with your 60D, I was thinking of using the same thing :D

That and my 17-50 Tamrom f2.8. Will all be a lot of trial and error but I'm very excited about giving it a go!

[andyc]

I'd definitely recommend the 100mm macro, and a few others have complimented the sharpness of the astro images out of it. Part of the inspiration of picking that lens was Jerry Lodriguss' positive opinion of it for astro imaging - his canon list (http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/LENSES.HTM)is worth a look for a small idea about lenses for astro work. It also fitted my plan for some macro work... the macro quality isn't bad either I suppose :lol:

[gregbradley]

The other way you can align the Polarie is drift align it. I bought a cheap Ebay digital inclinometer and would use it to set the angle of the Polarie to my latitude.

Then I pointed the Polarie at what I thought was close to the south celestial pole. I would take an image with a longer focal length lens like 180mm.

I would see if stars were round in 30 seconds. If they were elongated (usually were) I would move the Polarie a bit more towards where I thought SCP was. I take another image, and check - are the stars rounder or more elongated? If rounder I knew I moved the Polarie closer to the SCP and would move it a bit more. If worse its the other way so I would move it in the opposite direction. Do this 3 or 4 times and I would be able to get 5 minutes at 180mm with round stars.

Polar alignment scope is much better and quicker though if you can see Octans stars.

You need a dim torch to be able to illuminate the reticle in the polar scope that has to align with the Octans stars.
Greg.

[Octane]

Or, just wave your iPhone in front of it with one hand. :)

Andrew, thanks heaps for the picture. Makes perfect sense. :)

H

[coldknights]

Hi there are always different options

http://ca.skywatcher.com/_english/02_mounts/02_detail.php?sid=68

Do some research on it and check out there Facebook page !
Hope this helps.

[Octane]

That looks great, Cathy.

Slightly less portable, I guess, but, much better for heavier gear.

The price is very good, too!

H

[shelltree]

Thanks again to everyone who responded with advice. I am swimming through all the information and trying to soak it all in :D I really do appreciate everyone's input!

Peter has generously offered to post his to me so I can try it out. I will have a much better idea once I've used the Polarie a bit. I will let you all know how I go!

Cheers.