What is a good portable tracker mount?

Astrophotographer 10 · Feb 23, 2019

I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

Alen K · Feb 23, 2019

This fellow seems to have done pretty good loading his Polarie to the max and that was before he added a counterweight, which apparently allows even more weight: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/...trophotography-vixen-polarie-and-tak-fs-60cb/.

Rudy Pohl · Feb 23, 2019

Hi Greg,

Here's the kind of luck I've had with the Star Adventurer: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rudypohl/albums/72157686047522814

Cheers,
Rudy

DMcGarvey · Feb 23, 2019

I am hearing great things about the Fornax Lighttrack II. It is said to have phenomenal tracking accuracy. Personally I use an AstroTrac TT320X-AG but I don't believe they are in production anymore, but there may be used ones available. Both of these would provide the ability to track accurately with 300mm lenses, or even slightly longer if you're willing to shoot subs in the 30-45" range.

elgol20 · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

get the lighttrack ii

Lyle Aldridge · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

It looks to me like you got a good list of the options in a reply to one of your earlier posts. The Fornax LighTrack II seems to be the gold standard these days. It's capable of auto-guiding, but no one forces you to use that feature, and it seems to fit your budget. The Astrotrac seems to be the other real competitor to the LighTrack.

As I've mentioned in a few prior posts, however, a regular tracking telescope mount, like the Skywathcher HEQ5, Orion Sirius EQ-G, or iOptron ZEQ would be my recommendation at your price point, unless you're planning to take it backpacking or flying with it. And even though I enjoy walking as much or more than lots of others, I've never understood why one would combine it with astrophotography. You can't walk any closer to the stars than you can drive, and unless your walking for days on end, it's really unlikely that you can walk to any darker skies than what you'd have at the place where you started walking.

Astrophotographer 10 · Feb 23, 2019

Lyle Aldridge said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:

I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

Click to expand...

It looks to me like you got a good list of the options in a reply to one of your earlier posts. The Fornax LighTrack II seems to be the gold standard these days. It's capable of auto-guiding, but no one forces you to use that feature, and it seems to fit your budget. The Astrotrac seems to be the other real competitor to the LighTrack.

As I've mentioned in a few prior posts, however, a regular tracking telescope mount, like the Skywathcher HEQ5, Orion Sirius EQ-G, or iOptron ZEQ would be my recommendation at your price point, unless you're planning to take it backpacking or flying with it. And even though I enjoy walking as much or more than lots of others, I've never understood why one would combine it with astrophotography. You can't walk any closer to the stars than you can drive, and unless your walking for days on end, it's really unlikely that you can walk to any darker skies than what you'd have at the place where you started walking.

I found a few more. They cost more but seem very nice. Japanese made high quality.

Loading…

www.cloudynights.com

Uniswat 200, 310 and 350 and Toast TP2 mount.

Cost is hard to see as the site is in Japanese but the 200 is about 110,000 Yen and the 350 about 132,000 Yen. So around Aussie $1500 landed.

The toast tp2 is around 90,000 Yen. So about $1300 or so landed.

7 arc second accuracy and full range of high end accessories. Expensive but perhaps worth it? LighTrack sounds good but 1.5 hour limit is a bit off putting.

Someone made a remark about LighTrack 11 are good if you can keep dust off them. They use a friction drive - is that prone to going off with dust and dirt?

Greg.

rnclark · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

My portable setups: Fornax Lightrack II or Astrotrac

I am liking the Fornax better--better in wind. Tracking accuracy is technically better than most things out there. The plot on their web page, http://fornaxmounts.com/lightrack-ii-mount.html#parentVerticalTab1 shows +/- 1 arc second over 8 minutes. My experience so far is tracking is limited only by polar alignment. I have yet to see a great polar scope on on any mount under $2K. I usually use my 300 f/2.8 with TCs and Canon 7D2.

Roger

Astrophotographer 10 · Feb 23, 2019

rnclark said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:

I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

Click to expand...

My portable setups: Fornax Lightrack II or Astrotrac

I am liking the Fornax better--better in wind. Tracking accuracy is technically better than most things out there. The plot on their web page, http://fornaxmounts.com/lightrack-ii-mount.html#parentVerticalTab1 shows +/- 1 arc second over 8 minutes. My experience so far is tracking is limited only by polar alignment. I have yet to see a great polar scope on on any mount under $2K. I usually use my 300 f/2.8 with TCs and Canon 7D2.

Roger

Thanks for that. Are you finding the 107 minute limit an issue or is that plenty of time?

Greg.

W5JCK · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

I use my Skywatcher Star Adventurer with APS-C and FF at 400mm a lot and get good results out to 30 sec and decent results out to 60 sec. By "results" I mean keepers. Vibration is an issue with any tracker, and the SA is pushing itself to the limits with my 400mm so at 60 sec there will be 40-50% of keepers, but mostly keepers at 30 sec. I don't autoguide.

The SA has some minor design issues, but they can be overcome with practice. Mostly just remember to keep all the connections tight. It is very easy to align, and that is the main reason I purchased it.

rnclark · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
rnclark said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

Click to expand...

My portable setups: Fornax Lightrack II or Astrotrac

I am liking the Fornax better--better in wind. Tracking accuracy is technically better than most things out there. The plot on their web page, http://fornaxmounts.com/lightrack-ii-mount.html#parentVerticalTab1 shows +/- 1 arc second over 8 minutes. My experience so far is tracking is limited only by polar alignment. I have yet to see a great polar scope on on any mount under $2K. I usually use my 300 f/2.8 with TCs and Canon 7D2.

Roger

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Are you finding the 107 minute limit an issue or is that plenty of time?

I haven't gone more than about an hour of total exposure in years. astro gallery

So no, I do not find the limit a problem, especially considering what a small lightweight and portable device the Fornax is, yet still amazing tracking accuracy, therefore it is well worth the compromise to me. And on the occasion where I do hit such a limit, it is pretty simply to rewind (the fornax is much faster at that than the astrotrac) and reset the frame. It gives and excuse to dither.

I recently did hit the limit on my Seagull Nebula image where the last 3 frames were at the limit and trailed, but I had only planned on an hour and got 62 minutes.

Without such a portable tracker, traveling thousands of miles would be pretty difficult with a much heavier and bulkier equatorial mount. And if I am set up in a location, and need to move, the setup is light enough to pick up and move, even with one hand.

Roger

elgol20 · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
rnclark said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

Click to expand...

My portable setups: Fornax Lightrack II or Astrotrac

I am liking the Fornax better--better in wind. Tracking accuracy is technically better than most things out there. The plot on their web page, http://fornaxmounts.com/lightrack-ii-mount.html#parentVerticalTab1 shows +/- 1 arc second over 8 minutes. My experience so far is tracking is limited only by polar alignment. I have yet to see a great polar scope on on any mount under $2K. I usually use my 300 f/2.8 with TCs and Canon 7D2.

Roger

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Are you finding the 107 minute limit an issue or is that plenty of time?

Greg.

Greg, I really like my LT ii for travel, too. You can easily go up to 400mm with it for 2 or 3 min exp time. I got mine from here with the wedge and the polar scope, which work fine. You may want to put some angle-thing on top like Roger has. Since the gimbal head does not work too well I also tried this with the 400mm:

though nothing to do with being mobile anymore. The angle I designed myself

--
Best regards
_____
Stefan

rnclark · Feb 23, 2019

elgol20 said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:

rnclark said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

I am looking at upgrading my portable mount so I can use a 300mm lens on a full frame mirrorless with round stars at 30-60 second exposures.

It may need autoguiding but perhaps not.

Weight would be around 2 kgs.

I was looking at a Skywatcher Adventurer which seems pretty cheap, comes with a polar alignment scope and counter weight and shaft and I believe can use an autoguider.

What other alternatives would you suggest?

My Vixen Polarie is fine with lighter lenses up to 100mm but beyond that and longer exposures its starting to go outside its abilities.

I don't mind spending $1000-1500 as it will get a lot of use and I don't want cheap and nasty and mediocre results. I would prefer not to autoguide as that is power supply, computer, guide scope and a guide camera.

Greg.

Click to expand...

My portable setups: Fornax Lightrack II or Astrotrac

I am liking the Fornax better--better in wind. Tracking accuracy is technically better than most things out there. The plot on their web page, http://fornaxmounts.com/lightrack-ii-mount.html#parentVerticalTab1 shows +/- 1 arc second over 8 minutes. My experience so far is tracking is limited only by polar alignment. I have yet to see a great polar scope on on any mount under $2K. I usually use my 300 f/2.8 with TCs and Canon 7D2.

Roger

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Are you finding the 107 minute limit an issue or is that plenty of time?

Greg.

Click to expand...

Greg, I really like my LT ii for travel, too. You can easily go up to 400mm with it for 2 or 3 min exp time. I got mine from here with the wedge and the polar scope, which work fine. You may want to put some angle-thing on top like Roger has. Since the gimbal head does not work too well I also tried this with the 400mm

On my article about portable trackers, you can see a leveling wedge on my astrotrac (e.g. Figure 7a), but that is mainly for doing nightscapes. Figure 7b shows the Fornax with no wedge between the Fornax and gimbal mount.

For deep sky astrophotos, I prefer no wedge for the tripod head. That makes for a more compact setup, and the axes on the gimbal head follow RA and Dec. It also makes it easier to image near the zenith (at most latitudes). The weight of the camera is offset of course, but I have not had any issues including with my 300 f/2.8 at latitude 20 degrees where the camera weight is very offset.

Note the thickness of the Fornax arms--quite thick so no vibrations compared to the Astrotrac.

Roger

aramgrg · Feb 23, 2019

I've tried ioptron sktracker, astrotrack and fornax lightrack. I settled with the later and have no regret. I get easy 2 min at 300mm with no trails on an 3.8 micron sensor. I use celestron's polar scope, star adventurer wedge and a 5v to 12v converter. Certainly the skytracker pro or polarie for that matter is much more portable, but much inferior in terms of tracking.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aramgrg/

No account anymore · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
What other alternatives would you suggest?

I am looking forward to tests the not yet launched AstroTrac 360, one module with a sturdy bulb head for compact and lightweight short to medium telephoto tracking.

astrotrac.com

Any thoughts about this product?

rnclark · Feb 23, 2019

Magnar W said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:

What other alternatives would you suggest?

Click to expand...

I am looking forward to tests the not yet launched AstroTrac 360, one module with a sturdy bulb head for compact and lightweight short to medium telephoto tracking.

astrotrac.com

Any thoughts about this product?

The very high cost--is that worth it?

No account anymore · Feb 23, 2019

rnclark said:
Magnar W said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

What other alternatives would you suggest?

Click to expand...

I am looking forward to tests the not yet launched AstroTrac 360, one module with a sturdy bulb head for compact and lightweight short to medium telephoto tracking.

astrotrac.com

Any thoughts about this product?

Click to expand...

The very high cost--is that worth it?

Depends on what it can replace. A powerful lightweight and portable package with very precise tracking and no need for a heavy battery or AC connection, laptop computer, autoguider, etc., would be a dream for me.

Astrophotographer 10 · Feb 23, 2019

Magnar W said:
rnclark said:

Magnar W said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

What other alternatives would you suggest?

Click to expand...

I am looking forward to tests the not yet launched AstroTrac 360, one module with a sturdy bulb head for compact and lightweight short to medium telephoto tracking.

astrotrac.com

Any thoughts about this product?

Click to expand...

The very high cost--is that worth it?

Click to expand...

Depends on what it can replace. A powerful lightweight and portable package with very precise tracking and no need for a heavy battery or AC connection, laptop computer, autoguider, etc., would be a dream for me.

Yes that would be a dream for a small scope or lens setup.

This is what I am looking at. The Polarie is really good enough for say arbitrarily up to 100mm and a few minutes if precisely polar aligned.

I read some periodic error results. Sywatcher Adventurer is around 100 arc secs (terrible) Polarie is 40 which is also terrible but not as terrible.

A high end top mount is under 7 arc seconds and if autoguided with periodic error correction some go down to around 3 with the very best around 1.

LighTrack 11 is supposed to be 1 arc seconds tracking which is a helluva claim. Normally a 1 arc second mount is US$15K or more(of course with a payload of 80kgs or so).

That friction drive, I wonder if its prone to dust, dirt etc getting on the wheels and causing spikes in the tracking as it bumps over a bit of dirt.

Greg.

aramgrg · Feb 23, 2019

Astrophotographer 10 said:
Magnar W said:

rnclark said:

Magnar W said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

What other alternatives would you suggest?

Click to expand...

I am looking forward to tests the not yet launched AstroTrac 360, one module with a sturdy bulb head for compact and lightweight short to medium telephoto tracking.

astrotrac.com

Any thoughts about this product?

Click to expand...

The very high cost--is that worth it?

Click to expand...

Depends on what it can replace. A powerful lightweight and portable package with very precise tracking and no need for a heavy battery or AC connection, laptop computer, autoguider, etc., would be a dream for me.

Click to expand...

Yes that would be a dream for a small scope or lens setup.

This is what I am looking at. The Polarie is really good enough for say arbitrarily up to 100mm and a few minutes if precisely polar aligned.

I read some periodic error results. Sywatcher Adventurer is around 100 arc secs (terrible) Polarie is 40 which is also terrible but not as terrible.

A high end top mount is under 7 arc seconds and if autoguided with periodic error correction some go down to around 3 with the very best around 1.

LighTrack 11 is supposed to be 1 arc seconds tracking which is a helluva claim. Normally a 1 arc second mount is US$15K or more(of course with a payload of 80kgs or so).

That friction drive, I wonder if its prone to dust, dirt etc getting on the wheels and causing spikes in the tracking as it bumps over a bit of dirt.

Greg.

Using it for 1.5 years now, probably under 100hours of use, most in winter, -5-20C,never noticed a glitch. Although last time both battery packs died(forgot to tape the handwarmers to those) and the camera shutter got stuck close(-28C, -40 with windchill), but the tracker still worked. Setup was 300mm 2.8 sigma lens, so around 6pounds of load with everything.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aramgrg/

Astrophotographer 10 · Feb 23, 2019

aramgrg said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:

Magnar W said:

rnclark said:

Magnar W said:

Astrophotographer 10 said:

What other alternatives would you suggest?

Click to expand...

I am looking forward to tests the not yet launched AstroTrac 360, one module with a sturdy bulb head for compact and lightweight short to medium telephoto tracking.

astrotrac.com

Any thoughts about this product?

Click to expand...

The very high cost--is that worth it?

Click to expand...

Depends on what it can replace. A powerful lightweight and portable package with very precise tracking and no need for a heavy battery or AC connection, laptop computer, autoguider, etc., would be a dream for me.

Click to expand...

Yes that would be a dream for a small scope or lens setup.

This is what I am looking at. The Polarie is really good enough for say arbitrarily up to 100mm and a few minutes if precisely polar aligned.

I read some periodic error results. Sywatcher Adventurer is around 100 arc secs (terrible) Polarie is 40 which is also terrible but not as terrible.

A high end top mount is under 7 arc seconds and if autoguided with periodic error correction some go down to around 3 with the very best around 1.

LighTrack 11 is supposed to be 1 arc seconds tracking which is a helluva claim. Normally a 1 arc second mount is US$15K or more(of course with a payload of 80kgs or so).

That friction drive, I wonder if its prone to dust, dirt etc getting on the wheels and causing spikes in the tracking as it bumps over a bit of dirt.

Greg.

Click to expand...

Using it for 1.5 years now, probably under 100hours of use, most in winter, -5-20C,never noticed a glitch. Although last time both battery packs died(forgot to tape the handwarmers to those) and the camera shutter got stuck close(-28C, -40 with windchill), but the tracker still worked. Setup was 300mm 2.8 sigma lens, so around 6pounds of load with everything.

Thanks for that. It seems the best option for a tracker at the moment.

Greg.

What is a good portable tracker mount?

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Veteran Member

Forum Enthusiast

Senior Member

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

No account anymore

Guest

Senior Member

No account anymore

Guest

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Keyboard shortcuts