Spent a couple of nights camping on the Astronomy field at Cherry Springs State Park (an IDA location) in north central Pennsylvania. Accuweather predicted a "9" for Wednesday, 18 October, and they were right. This is a stack of 8 images processed in Photoshop CS3. Nikon D700, Nikkor 300mm f4, ISO6400 for 90 seconds mounted on an Ioptron Skytracker Pro.
Dean

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Buy it! I always look for factory referbs. A real human has put their hands on it, put it through its paces, cleaned and packed it just for you. And it comes with a warranty!
Dean

Bingo!

Only a couple of sessions so far...both competing with a big moon and light polluted skies...see here
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-455608-1.html
Tracking results have exceeded expectations, even at 200mm and one minute exposure.

Hoping to get to Cherry Springs State Park near Galeton Pa (best dark sky area within 500 miles) during the New Moon.

Will share results.

Dean

bwana...Wow, sounds like you got way more than a passing grade if you are still "looking up" 50+ years later! Neat stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Dean

dlmorris...upscale, using a curved threaded rod adds an additional construction challenge. Good for you! Besides looking cool, your tracking accuracy will be better than mine. I downloaded a 5 second beeping timer into my IPhone to keep me on track. The Telrad is a good little gadget, not only as a Polar alignment aid, also helps find celestial objects. Sky and Telescope has a scaled Telrad reticle printed in their Sky Atlas that is designed to help us navigate by "star hopping".
Dean

Thank you...the Polar Alignment graphic was made using the night sky centerfold from a Sky and Telescope magazine as a template. I used different size drills, trying to represent the magnitude of the stars. Drilled about 1/8" deep and filled them with "glow in the dark" paint from the local craft store.
Dean

Prior to purchasing the Ioptron Skytracker Pro, http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-455608-1.html, I fabricated a Barn Door Tracker from plans that I found on the internet. http://barn-door-tracker.co.uk/ Up to this point, 22 second exposures were my max before star trailing reared its ugly head. I'm using a 24mm Rokinon on a full frame Nikon D700 for my wide night sky photos. Great fun building and learning...especially about neat things like "sidereal", "right ascension", "declination", Polaris and the Celestial North Pole. First light results were impressive to me. Stars stayed round and crispy when I did a good job focusing and aligning. Alignment became easier and results improved after adding the Telrad Finder Scope ($40). Instead of using wood to build the "doors", I used some leftover 6" wide PVC Decking. Works great, looks nice, doesn't warp and can be "whittled" with regular woodworking tools and techniques.

The attached image of the belt area and M42 in Orion was made with the barn door in January. I used my Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 lens on the D700. The lens was set to 135mm, f2.8. ISO is 1600 and exposure is one minute. I made 12 images, 8 made the cut and were stacked in Photoshop CS3 for noise reduction.

Dean

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Yes, an eye on the scope is required to accomplish polar (CNP) alignment. I have my (lightweight travel) tripod height set as low as practicable to maximize stability. I take a knee (on an 18" square of carpet) to do the alignment, then get up and move to align the camera on target, again on a knee. Then back to the polar scope to verify and tweak alignment, on a knee again. Set the intervalometer, hit the "go" button then retreat indoors and drink wine. After the imaging session (40 minutes or so) I return to the rig to check results...if I can remember where it is.

I believe that if you own a sturdy tripod, you could set the height to a level to minimize bending/squatting/kneeling...and get awesome results.

Dean

I like it...
Dean

[quote=dlmorris]Nice to see your results. I'm heading to OPT...

I do not know about a hand controller or auto guider option for this unit...the Ioptron Skytracker Pro was released last summer (?). There is a $2.00 app available that insures spot-on alignment to the Celestial North Pole based on your physical lat/lon and altitude. The polar scope has a lit (adjustable brightness) reticle that matches the image on the polar app making alignment quick, accurate and easy. Pretty cool. I hope to make a trip to Cherry Springs (our dark sky State Park near Coudersport Pa.) during the new Moon next week and give it a workout.

Thanks...I'm enjoying the challenge. Lots to learn...I'll be back!

I've finally had opportunity to point this gizmo toward the stars. The image of the Rosette Nebula/NGC 2244 was made on April 12th so there was lots of competition from the Moon. I have the counterweight kit installed.

Nikon D700
Nikkor 70-200 f2.8

Imaged 200mm @ f2.8
ISO 2200
90 seconds

6 images stacked in Photoshop CS3...it is over-processed but the tracking results exceeded my expectations. Im anxious to gain more experience with this affordable tracker.

Dean

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I love these airborne anglers. This is a juvenile Brown Pelican.
Dean

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Most folks (especially me) generally dump critter images that feature the "east end"...butt...this is all I've got. To me, this is what "fly away" looks like. My brother keeps reminding me..."if you can't fight it, feature it!"

Female Red-breasted Merganser near Gulf Shores Alabama.

Dean

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