New Toy


February 26 2013

Today my new toy arrived. An Astrotrac! Speedy delivery from FLO saw it land on my desk at 9:00 this morning the day after it was dispatched.

I have been a little frustrated with how long it takes to set up my EQ mount and get going and it will be a while before I am in position to think about a pier and obsy. That, combined with some local holidays around the UK coming up (to places which promise dark skies) I decided to get something that was more portable, and also easier to set up to get me back out imaging.

I had looked at various items such as a Polarie and GPDX after advice from various people but settled on the Astrotrac as it satisfied my thirst for well constructed kit but also had increased capacity over its closest rivals.

So what can I say? The Astrotrac is indeed a very slick piece of engineering. Two aluminium arms are connected by a precision screw which gives up to two hours of sidereal tracking. An illuminated polar scope allows accurate polar alignment, now all I need is some clear skies.

A slight hiccup with a dodgy illuminating module and no instructions but this was quickly resolved by FLO with no quibbles.

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