My Astrotrac Advenuture

Got a few hours of clear skies last night.

Managed to polar align in pretty much 3 mins.

Again I have been sticking to my target of M45, really because its very easy to find

For me the weak point on this system is the ball head. I find it difficult to move it around and position the target.

Im thinking I might invest in the Astrotrac wedge and move the gear head into the ball head position. the slow motion controls will make things better I think.

I tried a 72mm William Optics APO on this set up also. And again the ball head let me down. It was slipping badly. In fairness I did expect this. But if I buy an expensive large L series lens i wonder if i would have issues.

Lastly, and this maybe just me, I freely admit that my knowledge of the night sky is not brilliant, I find myself missing GOTO.

I have compiled a list of 5 targets I would like to shoot over the next few months and feel I may waste a lot of time in looking for them. Not having a finder-scope is a loss I feel.

I have seen on TS website that you can get an adapter for the flash seat on a camera to fit the clamp type red dot finder. Its not expensive and might help me a lot.

Anyone experienced this kind of problem ?

Astrotrac Wedge arrived. Its a very solid looking bit of kit. Less than 24 hours between ordering and delivery! Kudos Stephen!

Now if the sky would just clear.

Picture added. The wedge makes this set up very stable, and allows me to put the gear head under the camera.

I can't tell how well it works but I've seen a number of examples of relatively substantial loads being put on an Astrotrac:

www.hkastroforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=22460

wow, that is serious weight.

Looks like thats a different machine head than the Astrotrac one. Im not surprised. Its more expensive than the Wedge!

Aye, it's described here:
www.astrotrac.com/Default.aspx?p=head

Nice one Dave,

'But if I buy an expensive large L series lens i wonder if i would have issues'

I don't think so, I have a Canon 70-200mm L lens and it is quite heavy, I have never had a problem with slippage or balance yet, but I do agree that the ball head is not ideal

Keith..