As a 100% mobile astrophotographer I like to test and review portable mounts and portable tracking units (I owned AstroTrac TT320X in the past). Since my ultra-mobile setup (for catching all sky timelapse videos and possibly meteor showers) weights only about 135 gramms including lens (!) I decided to give a Sightron’s nanotracker unit a try. Another reason was that unlike from AstroTrac it doesn’t have a 2 hour tracking limit. Since the purchase on 6th December 2013 I have used the unit 3 times, once on 13th December 2013, once on 8th August 2014 and for last time on 28th August 2014.
Here’s what you find in the box:
Sightron nano.tracker tracking unit package
First quick test took place on 13th December 2013 (Friday) using Canon EOS 600D with 50mm Zeiss lens. The tracking unit was VERY ROUGHLY polar aligned (just guessing).
50mm LENS, center crop, very rough PA, 60 seconds
Second test took place on 28th August 2014 using Canon EOS 600D with 17mm Tamron lens. The tracking unit was, this time, better polar aligned through the „sight hole“ only.
17mm LENS, center crop, sight-hole PA, 6 minutes
In the meantime, on 8th August 2014 I have used it for some all-sky timelapse testing:
Sightron nano.tracker IN ACTION
As I prefer not to worry about running out of power during a night I have improved the hand controller by adding an ordinary „jack“ connector instead of using 3×1.5V batteries (that possibility was preserved).
power input from a DC to DC step down converter
For an easier polar alignment I have let a friend of mine to build me a custom made holder for the nanotracker unit. It looks exactly like depicted on following image. The idea is to use it along with stronghold tangential assembly from Baader that serves like an ALT/AZ wedge.
custom made holder for nanotracker placed between the wedge and nanotracker body
Summary
- nice, small, compact and reasonably precise tracker
- not for higher payload, the Canon 600D with a simple lens weighing over 1 kg (without ball head) is quite a lot!
References
http://www.sightron.co.jp/