Astrotrac images.

[Theninjagecko]

Can people post their astrotrac images, hi focal ones too if you have them. Im thinking about getting one over an eq6 pro but worried how the astrotrac copes at hi mag. I was going to get the full monfreeto kit then later get the pier and wedge to enable a bigger apo.

Thanks for your images.

[Psychobilly]

A forum search for astrotrac will throw up a lot of threads with atrotrac images in them...

Coco, Beyondvision and a few others use them ...

Peter...

[brianb]

Im thinking about getting one over an eq6 pro but worried how the astrotrac copes at hi mag.

Seriously .... the AT doesn't have the weight carrying capacity of the EQ6 but OTOH it's a hell of a lot lighter! In practice, and if using camera tripod & heads with the AT, they will limit its performance not the unit itself. I've used the AT quite successfully with 300 mm f/2.8 (~4 Kg with camera) but that's about its limit in my setup, the offbalance load is threatening to topple the tripod. Would probably be fine with a lightweight 500mm mirror lens if you can control the focus drift. You might get more out of the AT (at cost) by using a sturdy wooden tripod like the Berlebach plus a "top of the range" geared head (Manfrotto 400) below to adjust alignment & your choice above to aim the camera.

IMO the AT is great for wide field stuff, also for providing a drive for small solar scopes (like the PST); if you want to do DSO imaging at focal lengths over 500mm then you need something meatier, though carting it around is going to be much more of a chore.

[Theninjagecko]

The full monfretto kit has the geared head i think. whaty about their new wedge and pier system. load capacity isnt what im worried about at the minute, its the accuracy of it at hi focal lenthes.

[NickH]

Totally and utterly different beasts, the Astrotrac is a portable tracking solution for wide field work mainly. The EQ6 is a high load capacity mount, with goto, and autoguide capability..

If you want portability and field imaging, the astrotrac will fit in your handluggage on a plane..

If you want to do serious deep sky imaging with autoguiders and high mag stuff...the EQ6 is the way to go.. and accuracy is (with autoguiding) pretty much as good as it gets until you spend some big big money on a mount..

autoguiding an EQ6 is very easy too...

[Dangerous-Dave]

Scott, there is no reason to be afraid of autoguiding! Even if the AT tracks perfectly over "serious" exposure times and focal lengths, you are dependent on the mount to deliver perfect tracking so must drift align it - much more faff than setting up autoguiding.

There's a reason people are using GEMs and autoguiding for serious deep sky imaging - it works! Kevin (BeyondVisions) uses an Astrotrac a lot, but you will noticed he uses an autoguided Orion GEM for his CCD work.

[Dangerous-Dave]

Totally and utterly different beasts, the Astrotrac is a portable tracking solution for wide field work mainly. The EQ6 is a high load capacity mount, with goto, and autoguide capability..

If you want portability and field imaging, the astrotrac will fit in your handluggage on a plane..

If you want to do serious deep sky imaging with autoguiders and high mag stuff...the EQ6 is the way to go.. and accuracy is (with autoguiding) pretty much as good as it gets until you spend some big big money on a mount..

autoguiding an EQ6 is very easy too...

Ignore my post - what he said!

[Theninjagecko]

lol thanks guys, think im just going to buy an eq6 pro and a van.. lol

[Beyond_Vision]

The new pier for the Astrotrac is a very nice bit of engineering with the ability to fit the Astrotrac and the pier feet head etc inside of the pier. It is a very different beast to an EQ6 as it's forte is as mentioned is portability with high accuracy. If you intend to image away from home at dark skies locations or abroad it is second to none. If you are imaging at a fixed location I would go for the EQ6 for the exact reasons Nick gives.

The Astrotrac is mostly intended to be used for short focal lengths. I have only used it up to 300mm but it has been used quite sucessfully by other people at much longer focal lengths. I have seen it carry a large 4" inch APO to good effect. The new pier will make it better to use at long focal length as the optional counter weight bar will make balancing heavier scopes easier.

If you look at the end of the following thread I have made a list of links to images I have done. Most of them are less than 70mm focal length but the Comet Lulin was taken with a WO66SD and 0.8x focal reducer a 320mm focal length

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-widefield-special-events-comets/83907-lyra.html

Regards

Kevin

[NickH]

Crikey that Lulin shot is a stormer!

[Beyond_Vision]

Thanks Nick

Regards

Kevin

[arkturas]

I have the EQ6 and the AT,

The AT is great for portability, but for the longer focal lengths like 400mm you need to have the P-alignment spot on!, otherwise you have to reduce your exposure times to counter sidreal blur.

The AT is fairly forgiving at the shorter focal lengths but you still need some level of Polar alignment to achieve a decent exposure time, (when I’m being lazy at Polar Alignment, I couldn’t get more than 3min with a focal length of 17mm.)

In my opinion the EQ6 is the better buy, it may not be very light but its pretty solid, there is also a huge community out there to support the various mods.

However I think these two instruments are in different classes all together, and cant really be compared.

Want something to take with you on holiday get an AT.

want something to last you the next 10yrs+ get the EQ6

Have a look at my blog most of the pics are with the AT, they arnt the best images you have ever seen but it should give you an idea as to what the average Joe can achieve.

Hope this helps.

[Theninjagecko]

Thanks for all the advice guys.