Dropped $150 on a star tracker mount that barely worked for one clear night

I got so hyped about getting longer exposures with my DSLR that I bought this budget star tracker off Amazon back in February. Took it out to a dark spot near Ellensburg and spent 2 hours trying to get it to polar align right with just the little scope it came with. The thing kept drifting after 30 seconds even with perfect setup, and the motor made this grinding noise that scared off a coyote. I wasted a full moonless night fiddling while my buddy just stacked shots using a tripod and got sharper results. Called their support and they said I needed to buy a $60 accessory battery pack that still wouldn't fix the wobble. Returned it finally but lost $30 on shipping back. Has anyone else had luck with those cheap trackers or should I just save up for a real one?

3 comments

3 Comments

faithg261mo ago

Used to tell myself those cheap trackers were good enough for learning. Changed my mind after borrowing a friends Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer for one night. The polar alignment on that took maybe 5 minutes and I got 2 minute subs without trailing. Made me realize I wasted months fighting with junk instead of just saving the $200 extra.

patriciamoore5d ago

Spent six months with a Celestron NexStar trying to get 30 second exposures. Every clear night was frustration city. Borrowed a friend's Star Adventurer for a weekend and had sharp 3 minute subs within ten minutes of setting it up. The difference between a proper tracker and those cheap ones is night and day. I sold my Celestron that same week and ordered a Sky-Watcher. Sometimes you gotta learn the hard way that bad gear is just throwing money and time away.

the_ruby1mo ago

Had an iOptron SkyTracker that sounded like a blender full of rocks after one trip. The manual had a diagram that looked like it was drawn on a napkin.