Quote:
Originally Posted by silv
and don't buy the polar scope. you won't need it in the southern hemisphere.  |
It's been a while since I've done any sort of AP (not that I did much to begin with), why is that again?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeroID
Could also build a barn door tracker, save heaps !! Just search the threads and you will find out more
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Yeah, I tried making a barn door mount and failed miserably. I don't really have the time or patience for fiddly woodworking and setting up circuits for stepper motors etc.
I really want something "out of the box" that will just work. It needs to be quick to set up, easy to take down and portable(ish). I need to be able to chuck it in it's box/case, drive to a location and set up, take it down etc. I won't be trekking or hiking with it. Ideally something that won't become useless if I decide to get a telescope and take it all a step further as well. I'll be shooting with 200mm - 300mm lenses (I have a 500 somewhere too) so not sure if you would consider those "widefield". For longer exposures, would units such as the Astrotrac and Polarie work well? Or would it be difficult to track at that focal length? I have a few shots of Eta Carina so that would be my "test target". I'd be mainly shooting nebula, but I might stray into other areas too?
EDIT: I've been reading about the Polarie in more detail and it seems like a great unit, but perhaps it's a bit "too portable" - I.e. only really good for widefield, won't really take much of a scope. I've sort of ruled that one out for now, and looking at the Astrotrac Celestron CG-5 and the Astrotrac TT320X-AG. However, I am not sure what exactly is needed to be completely up and running with these units. I have the camera and a decent tripod (with a 6kg rated ballhead).
Something that I can control from the PC (I'm a nerd!
) would be good as well - My desktop PC is about 8m from the area where I normally shoot from, when I'm out I'd just use a laptop.