Nano Tracker

[Mickoid (Michael)]

I thought I'd post this shot I took last night with my new Sightron Nano Tracker. It was just an experiment to see how far I could push the little tracker. I'll be taking it away with me when our family goes on holidays next week. The recommended payload for the Nano Tracker is up to 2kg so I had to be careful not to overload it. This is a stack of only eight 20 second subs from suburban Melbourne with a near full moon rising and high clouds rolling past so it was far for ideal conditions but I just wanted to see what it could do with a long focal length lens. The manual suggests a maximum focal length of 50mm for full frame DSLR or 35mm for an APSC.

Details are: Sightron Nano Tracker on a Manfrotto tripod with a Modded Canon 550d and a Tamron 500mm f8 Mirror lens.

I should be able to get better results from a dark sky location with more subs.

[sil (Steve)]

Impressive Sculptor for that tracker, is getting it polar aligned a hassle? Think I might have to replace my Polarie

[Mickoid (Michael)]

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.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Never even heard of that tracker before, sounds like a great little portable mount. The Sky Watcher Star Adventurer is still pretty light but probably a bit more stable.

Quite a good job with 20s subs and bad conditions (Melbourne and moon).

[silv (Annette)]

Great photo!!

How did you even find the sculptor galaxy?????????


I use the Nano.Tracker, as well, with a Samyang/Walimex/etc 500mm 5.6 mirror lens & Sony Nex-5N. Incl. the ballhead it's about 1.6kg.

So far got to a good 15 secs exposure with rough northern Polaris alignment - but not anything to show for, yet, because of LP, or/and moon, summer temperatures on the non-cooled Sony chip AND:

I never find anything! Bugger!!!

Re alignment once you're on holiday: you can stick a straight long stick into that tiny hole and look alongside that to align the tracker.
Also, if you have a smartphone and an astronomy app you can hold it parallel to the tracker case and sort of use it as a finder scope.

A finder scope... I so want one to attach to the 500mm lens!
The smartphone astro-app is a nice idea... but it takes me a really long time to fiddle with the ballhead knobs while aiming the cam and also keep holding the smartphone steady in place...

Btw: the nano.tracker is even cheaper in AUS than in Germany by ~80€.
http://www.extravision.com.au/nano-tracker.html

[silv (Annette)]

ISO 1600 13 secs
and stacked to 3 mins

[silv (Annette)]

DualLevel is the app I use to set the ballhead to the required latitude.
Just place the iPhone flat on the quick release plate and adjust ahead.

The astro app I use is Skysafari (Plus).

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Originally Posted by silv

DualLevel is the app I use to set the ballhead to the required latitude.
Just place the iPhone flat on the quick release plate and adjust ahead.

The astro app I use is Skysafari (Plus).

Annette, I don't have an iphone but maybe Android might offer a similar App. I'll look into it. I have tried something like that technique you mentioned using an App called Stellarium but I found my phone's gyro not accurate enough. I did think about putting one of my wifes knitting needles through that hole and sighting like you suggested. Good to see someone else on the other side of the world is mad enough like me to try a 500mm lens on this tiny tracker. The steppers in this unit are rather good I think to be able to handle the long focal lengths at reasonable exposures. Widefield should be a breeze for us when we use the shorter focal length lenses. We should maybe get minutes exposure rather than seconds.

The Sculptor galaxy is very high overhead at this time of year in Australia. I imagine in Germany it would be low in the south. I have taken shots of it with my 8 inch Newtonian but it's a first without a telescope, it is tricky finding it then trying to centre it in the view finder, especially when it moves after you tighten the ballhead. Thanks for letting us know at IceInSpace about your experiences with the Nano Tracker.

[silv (Annette)]

yes, minutes!!
But I didn't even test the tracker with my 12mm lens, yet.
Light pollution and, in Summer, astronomical twighlight never ending here on 54* North isn't an invitation for long exposures, aye.
But days quickly get shorter now and I'm so looking forward to spending more time out there.

So when you "found" Sculptor you just sort of knew it would be there, somewhere?
You couldn't see it through the LiveView/view finder from your Melbourne suburb, could you?

Well, I am not that familiar with the skies up here, yet.
Aiming and hoping something will turn up on the chip was my approach in my test runs. And I didn't capture anything although I should have gotten a glimpse of Andromeda or the North America Nebula which were both sort of overhead.
But nope, nothing.

NOW I've just ordered the Finder Scope solution for my setup: a 14cm Arca Swiss compatible plate for my ballhead with 2 1/4" screws and a Baader RDF to mount lens and RDF side by side.

Astro twilight ends at 9.11pm on Thursday. Ha! Andromeda, here I come!

[sil (Steve)]

Originally Posted by silv

Aiming and hoping something will turn up on the chip was my approach

Thats my general approach shooting on tripod, sit and watch the sky, compare to skysafari and guess where my target is behind the light polution then point the camera. sometime i lay a laser pointer along the top of my lens and the side to try to make sure its pointed where I hope. Then I lock the remote to take shots and pray After seeing some great shots here of the Helix Nebula I want it in my collection so this approach got me a set of shots the other night and browsing through them Helix is in there, images are at home sorting by quality then I can start my stacking etc Unfortunately Polarie doesn't like the weight of my camera so I still mostly just use a tripod but I think if the skies clear i might try helix with another camera on polarie.

Good luck with Andromeda, badly want to shoot that but never yet had a good chance to try. I think when its above the horizon here its at the height of street lights and tree tops for me, so that'll need a good set of circumstances for me to catch.

[Mickoid (Michael)]

[QUOTE=silv;1271929]So when you "found" Sculptor you just sort of knew it would be there, somewhere?
You couldn't see it through the LiveView/view finder from your Melbourne suburb, could you?QUOTE]

I knew the Sculptor galaxy was in the vicinity of a recognizable group of stars, so I point the camera around that locality and take shots until NGC 253 appears in the field of view. It may take several shots and much frustration, especially with locking in the camera once I'm there but eventually, through sheer perseverance I'll get it in the center of the FOV.

There is no way, especially in light polluted suburbia, I can see it through the view finder or Live View - it's just not that bright. If fact with my eyes I can just make out bright nebulae like M20 through the viewfinder. I can locate NGC 253 with averted vision from Melbourne suburbia through 11 X 80 binoculars but it's still very hard to see. That's why I like astrophotography, the camera sensor can reveal all these wonderful hidden treasures that are so difficult to see with our limited night vision.

I'd love to see your shots of the Andromeda galaxy using the Samyang mirror lens and Nano Tracker with your new PA accessories, good luck with that and hopefully you can post some of your results here on IceInSpace. M31 is very low above the northern horizon from Melbourne and this time of year is probably the best chance you'd get to see it at all. Obviously I'd require a location with an unobscured view of the northern horizon, I've had good views of it from north Queensland but that's a long way from Melbourne.