Ioptron Skytracker Help

[twelly27]

Hi all

I got my skytracker a couple of days ago and tried it out last night, but abit confused with how to use it, I set it up and tried to align it, I had to physically mover the tripod to get Polaris in the right place is that right? And when I wanted to take pics of Cygnus and Cassiopeia but to do so I had to rotate the entire silver ring the ball head is attached to, is that the wrong thing to do? Any help would be good as I ave chance to got back out with it tonight

Thanks

Chris

[dph1nm]

No, you don't need to move the tripod. You should adjust both the azimuth and the altitude using the skytracker itself. Turning the knurled knob adjusts the altitude. To move in azimuth you release the smaller knob then grab the body of the skytracker and move it round relative to the base - I must admit I find this movement a bit coarse, but it is possible to line up with a little practice.

I don't know what ball-head you have, but the top of  mine rotates relative to its base (and has a couple of locking screws), so you don't need to touch the silver ring.

NigelM

[twelly27]

I have the proper ioptron ball head, and what I mean is on the proper ball head there's a gap that the head can alot into to face the camera forwards, I had the have that part round the side to be able to take pictures of Cassiopeia and Cygnus, if you know what I mean

[dph1nm]

The slot should rotate on the ball-head - no need to move the silver ring.

NigelM