Quote:
Originally Posted by sil
Impressive Sculptor for that tracker, is getting it polar aligned a hassle? Think I might have to replace my Polarie  |
I usually don't have a problem locating the Octans star configuration to locate the SCP, so I know basically where to point the tracker. The problem was this Nano Tracker only comes with a tiny hole that you can peer through, next to useless really but what I did on this occasion was I located Octans with some binoculars crouching directly behind the tracker.
I have many trees in our front yard so I was sighting it through some dead branches. I took note of where the SCP appeared in relation to some of those branches and then sighted the tracker to the same point. Wishfully advantageous but it turned out to be effective.
I was about to return the Nano Tracker for a refund when initial testing with a 250mm kit zoom lens produced squiggles instead of star shapes until I discovered I had not turned off the lens image stabilization switch. It was only when I turned the Nanon Tracker off and shot one at the same exposure and saw the same squiggles that I realized it was not a fault of the tracker but the lens.
I have searched the web for info and examples about using this small tracker and there isn't much out there, so I thought I would share it's potential with fellow astrophotographers to prove a 200mm focal length is not the maximum possible. I think weight is it's restriction, hence why I used a mirror lens - a pain in the butt to get good focus though.