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What is a good portable tracker mount?

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I upgraded my Polarie with the new upgrade kit, takes the load capacity up to 6kg. My Tak FC-76DCU rides comfortably for visuals and lunar photography.

One thing I learnt, the tripod I used with the plain polarie is not sufficient, so I changed to a bigger CF tripod with larger leg diameter.

FWIW, I'm using it here in the low latitudes (6.5 to 10 deg South)

Vixen makes an AP-SM compact mount, same 6kg load (same motor as Polarie), but it's expensive although it looks nice for travel.
 
kewlguy said:
I upgraded my Polarie with the new upgrade kit, takes the load capacity up to 6kg. My Tak FC-76DCU rides comfortably for visuals and lunar photography.

One thing I learnt, the tripod I used with the plain polarie is not sufficient, so I changed to a bigger CF tripod with larger leg diameter.

FWIW, I'm using it here in the low latitudes (6.5 to 10 deg South)

Vixen makes an AP-SM compact mount, same 6kg load (same motor as Polarie), but it's expensive although it looks nice for travel.
Click to expand...
I'd need to see reviews of the more expensive Vixen mounts. I had a Vixen Sphinx mount I bought a long time ago when it was a fairly new product. It was a piece of junk and had no better tracking than my Meade LX90 which of course is really only a visual scope.

Vixen have redeemed themselves slightly with me with the very handy Polarie mount.

Greg.
 
Last edited:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
kewlguy said:
I upgraded my Polarie with the new upgrade kit, takes the load capacity up to 6kg. My Tak FC-76DCU rides comfortably for visuals and lunar photography.

One thing I learnt, the tripod I used with the plain polarie is not sufficient, so I changed to a bigger CF tripod with larger leg diameter.

FWIW, I'm using it here in the low latitudes (6.5 to 10 deg South)

Vixen makes an AP-SM compact mount, same 6kg load (same motor as Polarie), but it's expensive although it looks nice for travel.
Click to expand...
I'd need to see reviews of the more expensive Vixen mounts. I had a Vixen Sphinx mount I bought a long time ago when it was a fairly new product. It was a piece of junk and had no better tracking than my Meade LX90 which of course is really only a visual scope.

Vixen have redeemed themselves slightly with me with the very handy Polarie mount.
Click to expand...
I have indeed heard over the years that a number of users were unsatisfied with the Sphinx. Most because they didn't like the Starbook part. But Vixen's previous GP-DX with Skysensor 2000PC, which I have been using for 15 years, was a very good product with excellent tracking and a very capable GoTo (including an effective PPEC). Hard to find now, of course.
 
Alen K said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
kewlguy said:
I upgraded my Polarie with the new upgrade kit, takes the load capacity up to 6kg. My Tak FC-76DCU rides comfortably for visuals and lunar photography.

One thing I learnt, the tripod I used with the plain polarie is not sufficient, so I changed to a bigger CF tripod with larger leg diameter.

FWIW, I'm using it here in the low latitudes (6.5 to 10 deg South)

Vixen makes an AP-SM compact mount, same 6kg load (same motor as Polarie), but it's expensive although it looks nice for travel.
Click to expand...
I'd need to see reviews of the more expensive Vixen mounts. I had a Vixen Sphinx mount I bought a long time ago when it was a fairly new product. It was a piece of junk and had no better tracking than my Meade LX90 which of course is really only a visual scope.

Vixen have redeemed themselves slightly with me with the very handy Polarie mount.
Click to expand...
I have indeed heard over the years that a number of users were unsatisfied with the Sphinx. Most because they didn't like the Starbook part. But Vixen's previous GP-DX with Skysensor 2000PC, which I have been using for 15 years, was a very good product with excellent tracking and a very capable GoTo (including an effective PPEC). Hard to find now, of course.
Click to expand...
Yes the earlier mounts do have a good reputation. The Sphinx had one axis was stiff and tight and did not rotate properly. The Starbook was OK but a bit gimmicky. It was the fact the basic mount would not track accurately enough.

Greg.
 
Astrophotographer 10 said:
Alen K said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
kewlguy said:
I upgraded my Polarie with the new upgrade kit, takes the load capacity up to 6kg. My Tak FC-76DCU rides comfortably for visuals and lunar photography.

One thing I learnt, the tripod I used with the plain polarie is not sufficient, so I changed to a bigger CF tripod with larger leg diameter.

FWIW, I'm using it here in the low latitudes (6.5 to 10 deg South)

Vixen makes an AP-SM compact mount, same 6kg load (same motor as Polarie), but it's expensive although it looks nice for travel.
Click to expand...
I'd need to see reviews of the more expensive Vixen mounts. I had a Vixen Sphinx mount I bought a long time ago when it was a fairly new product. It was a piece of junk and had no better tracking than my Meade LX90 which of course is really only a visual scope.

Vixen have redeemed themselves slightly with me with the very handy Polarie mount.
Click to expand...
I have indeed heard over the years that a number of users were unsatisfied with the Sphinx. Most because they didn't like the Starbook part. But Vixen's previous GP-DX with Skysensor 2000PC, which I have been using for 15 years, was a very good product with excellent tracking and a very capable GoTo (including an effective PPEC). Hard to find now, of course.
Click to expand...
Yes the earlier mounts do have a good reputation. The Sphinx had one axis was stiff and tight and did not rotate properly. The Starbook was OK but a bit gimmicky. It was the fact the basic mount would not track accurately enough.

Greg.
Click to expand...
I am using a balanced Vixen Polarie now (actually a pair of them). Use focal lenght up to 240mm and a load of about 2 kg. Got the kit from Vixen - not cheap but works well at least for me. Smoother tracking when balanced.

My Astrotrack is used for heavier loads or longer focal lenghts but this one has to be reset after about two hours - the Vixen can do a full rotation uninterrupted. The Fornax tracker seem very tempting if the Astrotrack kneels.

Also us a Vixen SXP mount, lovely in all ways. This is the latest generation mounts from Vixen. Pricier than the chinese alternatives but better build quality.

The so much belitteled and talked down Starbook is a gem - love it - can cover all the sky without an external computer and can pinpoint any coordinates within a few arc minutes. Use coordinates for finding those obscure non Messier, NGC and IC objects.

Vixen has found a home here and we live a harmonic life! :-D
 
Trollmannx said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
Alen K said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
kewlguy said:
I upgraded my Polarie with the new upgrade kit, takes the load capacity up to 6kg. My Tak FC-76DCU rides comfortably for visuals and lunar photography.

One thing I learnt, the tripod I used with the plain polarie is not sufficient, so I changed to a bigger CF tripod with larger leg diameter.

FWIW, I'm using it here in the low latitudes (6.5 to 10 deg South)

Vixen makes an AP-SM compact mount, same 6kg load (same motor as Polarie), but it's expensive although it looks nice for travel.
Click to expand...
I'd need to see reviews of the more expensive Vixen mounts. I had a Vixen Sphinx mount I bought a long time ago when it was a fairly new product. It was a piece of junk and had no better tracking than my Meade LX90 which of course is really only a visual scope.

Vixen have redeemed themselves slightly with me with the very handy Polarie mount.
Click to expand...
I have indeed heard over the years that a number of users were unsatisfied with the Sphinx. Most because they didn't like the Starbook part. But Vixen's previous GP-DX with Skysensor 2000PC, which I have been using for 15 years, was a very good product with excellent tracking and a very capable GoTo (including an effective PPEC). Hard to find now, of course.
Click to expand...
Yes the earlier mounts do have a good reputation. The Sphinx had one axis was stiff and tight and did not rotate properly. The Starbook was OK but a bit gimmicky. It was the fact the basic mount would not track accurately enough.

Greg.
Click to expand...
I am using a balanced Vixen Polarie now (actually a pair of them). Use focal lenght up to 240mm and a load of about 2 kg. Got the kit from Vixen - not cheap but works well at least for me. Smoother tracking when balanced.

My Astrotrack is used for heavier loads or longer focal lenghts but this one has to be reset after about two hours - the Vixen can do a full rotation uninterrupted. The Fornax tracker seem very tempting if the Astrotrack kneels.

Also us a Vixen SXP mount, lovely in all ways. This is the latest generation mounts from Vixen. Pricier than the chinese alternatives but better build quality.

The so much belitteled and talked down Starbook is a gem - love it - can cover all the sky without an external computer and can pinpoint any coordinates within a few arc minutes. Use coordinates for finding those obscure non Messier, NGC and IC objects.

Vixen has found a home here and we live a harmonic life! :-D
Click to expand...
I saw that Polarie upgrade kit. Wow, are they kidding? It costs 4X the cost of the original unit!

I have narrowed down my search.

I considered the Skywatcher Sky Adventurer which is great value but periodic error of 50 arc secs - wow, I may as well image from a rocking boat!

The Fornax LighTrack ii seems a good choice. 107 minute limit is the pain. But the claimed 1 arc sec periodic error is amazing.

I came across these high end Japanese mounts Unitec Swat 310 and 350 and Toast.

7 arc sec periodic error which is high end.

Greg.
 
Astrophotographer 10 said:
The Fornax LighTrack ii seems a good choice. 107 minute limit is the pain. But the claimed 1 arc sec periodic error is amazing.
Click to expand...
After using an AstroTrac tangent arm tracker, I find reframing pretty easy when comparing the viewfinder/screen view with a recently tracked photograph.
 
Astrophotographer 10 wrote:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
I saw that Polarie upgrade kit. Wow, are they kidding? It costs 4X the cost of the original unit!
Click to expand...
Did you read that thread I posted earlier? The OP made his own version, I am sure for a fraction of the price Vixen wants, and loads it nearly to 6 kg, including the counterweight. My point was that you may be able to do the same and go a lot further with your Polarie than you think. Might be worth a shot before sinking serious coin in a high-end alternative.
 
Alen K said:
Astrophotographer 10 wrote:
Alen K said:
I saw that Polarie upgrade kit. Wow, are they kidding? It costs 4X the cost of the original unit!
Click to expand...
Did you read that thread I posted earlier? The OP made his own version, I am sure for a fraction of the price Vixen wants, and loads it nearly to 6 kg, including the counterweight. My point was that you may be able to do the same and go a lot further with your Polarie than you think. Might be worth a shot before sinking serious coin in a high-end alternative.
Click to expand...
Sorry Alen I have now. I can see how the Polarie would go longer with the arm being balanced especially if you were using a long lens.

Reading the reviews of the LighTrack ii. It sounds good but it seems limited to 2-3 minutes at 200mm. So to use a 300mm lens it would need to be short exposures.

It may not be the tracker either but the surrounding attachments that flex.

As always with mounts achieving round stars at a longish exposure time is not easy.

The Unitec Swat has me interested as it has a range of high quality accessories that I can see would help handle this flex issue with a lot of these mounts.

Gee this all makes the Sky Adventurer seem like incredible value.

Greg.
 
RudyPohl said:
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
Click to expand...
What length exposures can you achieve unguided with what focal length?

I am looking to use a 250 or 300mm lens and would like to be able to get up to 5minutes but perhaps I should aim lower and go 2 minutes round stars at 300mm F5.6.

I have high end mounts with accurate auto guiding but that would mean mounting them piggyback and the main camera not imaging just the piggyback and that would be unproductive. I could go 1 hour with round stars with that setup unless something flexes with the lens.

Greg.
 
Anyone have any experience with these?

Loading…

www.unitec.jp.net

Best to open with Chrome so you can use google translate.

In a nutshell:

SWAT350 better than 7 arc secs periodic error, large worm and gear 210 teeth,

very well made, a large range of high end accessories for levelling, attaching, polar scopes, autoguiding adapters.

Expensive. A fully setup one costs around US$1200.

Toast TP-2 Pro:

Around US$900

Better than 7 arc seconds accuracy, seems similar to Unitec Swat. Unitec makes adapters to allow use of their accessories on the Toast.

There is a concept model which seems a dream. Fully auto polar alignment, built in electronic level, built in electronic compass and GPS. Not on the market as far as I can see - called Toast Pro Delicious.

Loading…

toast-pro.com

It seems looking through a few of these mounts galleries that up to small refractors like a Takahashi FS60 or one was using a Tak 85 FSQ can work with short exposures.

It seems none of these mounts will do a 10 minute x 300mm or more focal length exposure without issues with trailing stars.

So leverage the low read noise of modern digital cameras and do lots of shortish exposures up to about 2 minutes and stack.

Greg.
 
Astrophotographer 10 said:
RudyPohl said:
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
Click to expand...
What length exposures can you achieve unguided with what focal length?

I am looking to use a 250 or 300mm lens and would like to be able to get up to 5minutes but perhaps I should aim lower and go 2 minutes round stars at 300mm F5.6.

I have high end mounts with accurate auto guiding but that would mean mounting them piggyback and the main camera not imaging just the piggyback and that would be unproductive. I could go 1 hour with round stars with that setup unless something flexes with the lens.

Greg.
Click to expand...
I am not sure you'll gain much by going to 5 min. The setup you have in mind-300mm f5.6 will very likely overexpose the stars at 5min even at base ISO. So unless you use a very dark scope, 5 min is overkill. Also, you'll heat up the sensor with 5 min exposures quite a bit faster than 2min+ 20sec of rest. Not to mention the risk from satellites, planes, UFOs potentially ruining even bigger portion of the data.

I found for my setup the optimal exposure time to be 2min at 300mm f4. I use ISO 800 since that's the second gain value and seems iso-less afterwards, so no added penalty from read noise if I push in post.
 
aramgrg said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
RudyPohl said:
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
Click to expand...
What length exposures can you achieve unguided with what focal length?

I am looking to use a 250 or 300mm lens and would like to be able to get up to 5minutes but perhaps I should aim lower and go 2 minutes round stars at 300mm F5.6.

I have high end mounts with accurate auto guiding but that would mean mounting them piggyback and the main camera not imaging just the piggyback and that would be unproductive. I could go 1 hour with round stars with that setup unless something flexes with the lens.

Greg.
Click to expand...
I am not sure you'll gain much by going to 5 min. The setup you have in mind-300mm f5.6 will very likely overexpose the stars at 5min even at base ISO. So unless you use a very dark scope, 5 min is overkill. Also, you'll heat up the sensor with 5 min exposures quite a bit faster than 2min+ 20sec of rest. Not to mention the risk from satellites, planes, UFOs potentially ruining even bigger portion of the data.

I found for my setup the optimal exposure time to be 2min at 300mm f4. I use ISO 800 since that's the second gain value and seems iso-less afterwards, so no added penalty from read noise if I push in post.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that response I would have to check at what point my lens would blow out stars etc. I have used a step down ring to lower the F to about 5.6.

I currently am using that lens on a FLI Microline 16200 which has a full well capacity of about 40,000 electrons which is similar to the Sony A7riii I think. QE is similar as well. I do not blow out stars in 10 minute exposures. But I will find out as I have not really used the 300mm on my full frame mirrorless cameras yet in an astro shot.

Either way shorter exposures are no problem because these cameras have such low read noise shorter exposures makes more sense as tracking issues are more the issue not read noise.

What mount are using to get 2 min 300mm F4 images with round stars? On an APSc?

Greg.
 
Astrotrac is working on a high-end portable equatorial mount (AT 360). The original AT 320 does well enough with lightweight 400mm lens/camera (2 kg total). Polar alignment is probably the hardest and most crucial step, at least for me. I haven't been anywhere where I would be able to test it for more than 30 - 60 sec exposure sub - light pollution.
 
Astrophotographer 10 said:
aramgrg said:
Astrophotographer 10 said:
RudyPohl said:
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
Click to expand...
What length exposures can you achieve unguided with what focal length?

I am looking to use a 250 or 300mm lens and would like to be able to get up to 5minutes but perhaps I should aim lower and go 2 minutes round stars at 300mm F5.6.

I have high end mounts with accurate auto guiding but that would mean mounting them piggyback and the main camera not imaging just the piggyback and that would be unproductive. I could go 1 hour with round stars with that setup unless something flexes with the lens.

Greg.
Click to expand...
I am not sure you'll gain much by going to 5 min. The setup you have in mind-300mm f5.6 will very likely overexpose the stars at 5min even at base ISO. So unless you use a very dark scope, 5 min is overkill. Also, you'll heat up the sensor with 5 min exposures quite a bit faster than 2min+ 20sec of rest. Not to mention the risk from satellites, planes, UFOs potentially ruining even bigger portion of the data.

I found for my setup the optimal exposure time to be 2min at 300mm f4. I use ISO 800 since that's the second gain value and seems iso-less afterwards, so no added penalty from read noise if I push in post.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that response I would have to check at what point my lens would blow out stars etc. I have used a step down ring to lower the F to about 5.6.

I currently am using that lens on a FLI Microline 16200 which has a full well capacity of about 40,000 electrons which is similar to the Sony A7riii I think. QE is similar as well. I do not blow out stars in 10 minute exposures. But I will find out as I have not really used the 300mm on my full frame mirrorless cameras yet in an astro shot.

Either way shorter exposures are no problem because these cameras have such low read noise shorter exposures makes more sense as tracking issues are more the issue not read noise.

What mount are using to get 2 min 300mm F4 images with round stars? On an APSc?

Greg.
Click to expand...
I use fuji APS-C. 2min f4 @iso 800-1600 pretty much all the time.
 
NancyP said:
Astrotrac is working on a high-end portable equatorial mount (AT 360). The original AT 320 does well enough with lightweight 400mm lens/camera (2 kg total). Polar alignment is probably the hardest and most crucial step, at least for me. I haven't been anywhere where I would be able to test it for more than 30 - 60 sec exposure sub - light pollution.
Click to expand...
OK thanks. Yes polar alignment does really require darkish skies. Especially in the southern hemisphere as the Octans Trapezium stars are not that bright and are a little bit hard to find.

I notice the better mounts have polar aligment adjustment wedges so you can fine tune the movements. I find with my Polarie on a Manfrotto tripod its hard to control the movement so the stars lineup exactly with the reticle in the polar alignment scope.

So a fine control type wedge would be a big help there.

Toast Technology have a prototype TP-2 Delicious which has electronic polar alignment using GPS and a very nicely made levelling base with fine controls. If they brought that to market I think I would be all over that. Less than 7 arc seconds of periodic error (very low).

Greg.
 
Astrophotographer 10 said:
I find with my Polarie on a Manfrotto tripod its hard to control the movement so the stars lineup exactly with the reticle in the polar alignment scope.

So a fine control type wedge would be a big help there.
Click to expand...
I use a Manfrotto geared head on a sturdy tripod. Precision movements help me to get very good polar alignment every time.
 
I get the impression that the Astrotrac 360 is meant to be a light to medium duty GEM that is modular, composed of two independent drive units, and that the full telescope mount can be quickly disassembled and one or both of the drive units can be used as a tracker. So, if you wanted a GEM for an 8" astrograph at home, and a pair of trackers for field use with camera/lens, you could get both set-ups in one. The big question is, how good is the GEM? And how many people would be interested in such a dual use setup?

How good is a friction drive?
 
NancyP said:
I get the impression that the Astrotrac 360 is meant to be a light to medium duty GEM that is modular, composed of two independent drive units, and that the full telescope mount can be quickly disassembled and one or both of the drive units can be used as a tracker. So, if you wanted a GEM for an 8" astrograph at home, and a pair of trackers for field use with camera/lens, you could get both set-ups in one. The big question is, how good is the GEM? And how many people would be interested in such a dual use setup?
Click to expand...
They are also sold as a one module camera tracker (my choice).

My hope is that this unit will work as a hassle free solution that is easy to carry and can be polar aligned quick, and works well for focal lengths up to about 400 mm.
NancyP said:
How good is a friction drive?
Click to expand...
As soon as I get one, we will know.
 
Last edited:
Magnar W said:
NancyP said:
I get the impression that the Astrotrac 360 is meant to be a light to medium duty GEM that is modular, composed of two independent drive units, and that the full telescope mount can be quickly disassembled and one or both of the drive units can be used as a tracker. So, if you wanted a GEM for an 8" astrograph at home, and a pair of trackers for field use with camera/lens, you could get both set-ups in one. The big question is, how good is the GEM? And how many people would be interested in such a dual use setup?
Click to expand...
They are also sold as a one module camera tracker (my choice).

My hope is that this unit will work as a hassle free solution that is easy to carry and can be polar aligned quick, and works well for focal lengths up to about 400 mm.
Member said:
How good is a friction drive?
Click to expand...
As soon as I get one, we will know.
Click to expand...
Magnar,

There are also alternatives to the Astrotrac.

Unitec Swat 350 and Toast TP-2 promote better than 7 arc seconds of PE and can be autoguided as well.

Not cheap though but they are small and light but solid.

Greg.
 
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