ASTROTRAC :-)

[JemC]

Hi all

for the last few weeks i have been contemplateing buying something i could use as a portable\quick setup,
something i could use with just the camera or small refractor,

it had to be something that could be set up quite easily, quick and easy to throw in the car, and have a reasonable load capacity given what it was to be used for,
and not going to break the bank :-)

so after a little reading/research and looking through some of the threads and comments on SGL i decided that i would look at the following 3

1 Skywatcher star adventurer

2 Ioptron skytracker v2

3 Astrotrac

so after comparing these for about a week (not long i know) i was pretty much convinced that the Astrotrac was a non runner really based purely on its price,
however it had a nice load capacity and i had yet to find anything negative about it so it was not ruled out completely.

Now to cut a long story short, i was browsing on ABS and low and behold on there was a second hand Astrotrac up for sale (listed 3 days prior)...do i or don't i went through my head
well i do was the reply i gave myself,

so I quickly fired an email off to the seller asking if it was still for sale and waited (as it was quite late)

Next morning there was a reply from seller.. Yes still for sale, great i thought, so after a couple more emails asking for more info\pictures and contact number, the seller
happily obliged and sent everything i asked for and asked that i ring him later that day when home from work,

On ringing him and speaking he came across as quite knowledgeable about astronomy and the different type of equipment used, which made me feel at ease in the fact that I was dealing with someone genuine.

So we agreed a sale and i would become the proud owner of :

Astrotrac TT320X-AG

Astrotrac wedge

Astrotrac Polarscope

battery holder come power lead

additional cable with cigarette socket connector

£400 + postage

Now in possesion of tracking number...Status "in progress"

so by at least Monday I should be in possession of it :-)

sorry to waffle on but i'm quite excited and not really got anyone else around me interested in astronomy to share it with.

I  think I deserve a take away

Regards

[Alien 13]

Lovely, the Astrotrac is realy in a class of its own and can better allmost any mount when they are used unguided which is what you need for a portable set up.

Alan

[rowan46]

congrats nice buy and a very good  price

[Scott]

Astrotrac TT320X-AG

Astrotrac wedge

Astrotrac Polarscope

battery holder come power lead

additional cable with cigarette socket connector

£400 + postage

That is a real bargin mate. I paid £300 without the wedge. you're gonna love it

[davedownsouth]

Good price, and the wedge it a great bit of kit, makes polar aligning really easy. By the time you get it the moon should be setting a bit later so you should get some great shots, providing that cloud stays away.......

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[akgray]

Good to know it's going to a good home ;-)

[Scott]

I store mine in a flight case. be sure to get a short length of pipe lagging/insulation for your polar scope. It's the archilles heel of the astrotrac

[JemC]

Good to know it's going to a good home ;-)

Hi Andrew

Now I'm really happy knowing you are a member of SGL

Hope you are not offended by anything I put

Regards

[JemC]

I store mine in a flight case. be sure to get a short length of pipe lagging/insulation for your polar scope. It's the archilles heel of the astrotrac

20150226_170156.jpg

20150306_210802.jpg

Looks like a future purchase is on the cards

Regards

[akgray]

Of course not. Its a good bit of kit but I need something more portable to take to the deserts of the USA. Looking at the Star adventurer now I have more cash which the wife doesn't know about :-)

[Scott]

I noticed you're coming to sglx. I'll bring a piece of lagging for your polar scope .

[frostynixon]

Congratulations on your astrotrac! I think you made a very good deal

I bought mine used a week ago for roughly 300 pounds without the wedge. But i`m still very happy with my purchase. It is a masterpiece of engineering with phenomenal accuracy.

[JemC]

I noticed you're coming to sglx. I'll bring a piece of lagging for your polar scope .

auspom

that's very much appreciated, thank you

[JemC]

Hi all and good evening

Well I'm a happy chap  the Astrotrac that I recently purchased has arrived, Thanks Andrew

here is what came nicely packaged

so after I had fed and watered myself and rest of the family I just had to have a play and assemble it

Now I just had to nip out before the rain returned and have quick play, all I can say is what a brilliant piece of kit, pity about the polar scope, I think I will struggle with that,

I did a rough polar align but was struggling as I say with the polar scope, found it a little hard to actually see any stars through it as it only takes a little touch to dislodge it

1st image is 60 sec unguided 2nd image is 120 sec unguided

these could probably be better I know, but I can't wait until I have a little more time to play about with it

Regards

[StuartJPP]

A good buy, I am sure that you will get your money's worth out of it. A great bit of kit at a great price.

[doobyduck]

Looks great! If you ever get bored and fancy selling it on  (I wish!)

[Scott]

I use the adventurer wedge purely because I couldn't afford the AT one but damn, the at one is a beautiful piece of engineering. If your wedge turns red at sglx, it wasn't me......honest

[frostynixon]

I have my AT now since two weeks. Up to now I use the Manfrotto Junior head as polar wedge which I'm not 100% happy with. Mine has quite some play and seems a bit wobbly which results in an orientation change when I do something with the camera (eg press shutter button). This means that my PA gets misaligned on touching the camera. For wider fields of view that's not a big deal, but already at 200mm and 5 minute exposure this can lead to trailing stars. Long story short: I think you really got a good deal especially considering the wedge is also included. I will also get one in the future

[JemC]

Hi all

thanks for your comments,

I must admit the whole setup is absolutely fantastic, if I was to gripe about anything it would be the polar scope, this I feel could have been better considering the craftsmanship of everything else,

the slightest touch and it drops out :-(

I also having only used it briefly find it difficult to actually see Polaris through it ( but that could just be me) maybe when it is fixed more secure it might be different,

I am currently using it on my Ravelli Apgl4 tripod with a ball head purchased from Astroboot, it looks and feels quite solid when setup,

I'm going to try my Celestron travel scope 70 on it  as this has a tripod fitting attached, just need the weather to be a little more favourable .

Regards

[davedownsouth]

I also having only used it briefly find it difficult to actually see Polaris through it ( but that could just be me) maybe when it is fixed more secure it might be different,

I also find this, and I do not understand why it is .  When I polar align using my ZEQ25 or CEM60, it is really easy to tell the difference between Polaris and any of the surrounding stars, but with the Polar scope on the Astrotrac, it is difficult to definitively say that I have chosen the correct star as Polaris.  I have always had (and I do mean always) really good tracking when using the Astrotrac (nice round stars at the longest exposure I have tried with a 50mm lens (9 minutes)), so I guess I have been choosing the correct star as Polaris, but it is a little frustrating

[JemC]

Well, just had a clear spell so tried the travel scope on the astrotrac,  not good, quite a bit a flexure, turns out the small tripod bracket thing on the scope is to small to use this way once the camera is attached, to much weight on focus end.

so I need to find some other way of attaching scope, if I can find something that is going to be quite solid and provides more support to the scope I think it should produce some decent images,

open to suggestions