Comet A3 from Brisbane

[Cyberman]

Hi all, here is my opportunistic shot between palm trees on 19.10.24. 57x 7s lights, fats, darks, dark flats. modified 600D ,nifty-fifty lens, home made tracker. Happy hunting, Rob.

[astronobob]

Very cool catch Rob, lots of tail and inti-tail for 7sec subs,,,,:thumbsup:
What style is your home made tracker,, I used to have one with a curved threaded rod, worked a treat for wides

[Cyberman]

Thanks Bob, I made my tracker by converting an old cheap celestron mount ( from astromaster EQ130) I had at home and not used for a long time. It had a DC motor drive on the RA axis that was ok for visual but hopeless for imaging. I attached a cheap stepper motor instead ( $10 from Jaycar) and control it with an arduino and motor shield. I had all these lying about and so it cost me nothing. I'll try and put a photo in the DIY section in a few days. It tracks surprising well for 30sec with a 50mm lens, Cheers, Rob
Ps I put another comet atlas photo in the beginner's section that I think is bit better and is 18mins of 5,7, and 10 sec exposures.

[astronobob]

Interesting Rob, sounds familiar, my 1st as mentioned with curved rod was a Barn-Door type tracker, my 2nd I utilised a C8 Fork mount using some 15mm ply between the fork-ends and mounting a 3-way camera mount head and a Pentax film camera with slide film.
It is cool how you can make-shift stuff, design and engineering in all its form lend towards this hobbie so much,,, good stuff.