Astrotrac tt320

Hi guys,

Anybody seen this piece of equipment ( www.astrotrac.com/prj104/html/104_3.htm ) in real life? What are your thoughts about it?

I don't own a scope and thought about the Astrotrac as an alternative, since I would like to take astrophotos using my Nikon dSLR and lenses.

The Astrotrac looks attractive due to its light weight and ease of use. But I do think it is expensive.

Mikkel
SAC

Hi Mikkel,
We saw that at astrofest earlier this year, its a nice piece of equipment but I do agree that it's fairly expensive, to be honest if portability wasn't an issue then you might find a full equatorial mount is cheaper.
If you are travelling light, then it might be the way to go.

I know a guy in the UK mainland with one and he says it really works very well but at the price its set at I'd have to agree with Dave, buy an equatorial mount.

Hi Mikkel.
I was very impressed with the demo I saw of it at Astrofest.
At first I thought it was gimicky but now I'm convinced it's a solid
piece of kit.
Perfect for taking on a plane and lets be honest,
If you are trying to get long exposure tracked wide field shots you
are going to be traveling on a plane.

I was tempted to order one last month but I'm going to wait until
after Christmas for a few reasons.

Firstly, there is a new design coming out then with a better polar alignment holder.
Secondly, the price should come down!
I've seen as much as 100 euro in the difference on some online stores
so I reckon I'm gonna play the waiting game.

S&T gave one to Nick Szymanek to product test and he found it
excellent and now prides it as a new piece of gear.

So I guess if you don't want to go hauling a big heavy EM around its a good buy.
If not get a good Mount.

Either way I'll be getting one next year.

For portability, it would seem to be ideal. Saves on the bulkiness and weight of a GEM.

BTW, how does it attach to a tripod? Does it only attach to the tripod head or can it attach itself to the screw at the top of the tripod legs (i.e. where the head normally attaches onto the tripod legs)?

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to think some more about it. At half the price, I would have bought it. But on the other hand; maybe at half the price it wouldn't work at all.

Frank; The kit got updated in July it appears, and I actually believe that the price went up. So the price difference you have seen may be early vs. late version!? Plus, the version without the polar scope is £99 cheaper than the version with the scope. See www.altairastro.com/astrotrac.htm

Michael; It has 3/8" threads on both sides for mounting onto tripod, preferably using a geared head, and for attaching a ball head for the camera. You'll probably need an adapter or two (3/8" to 1/4"). See www.astrotrac.com/prj104/html/104_334.htm