I finally ditched my $300 star tracker after 8 useless outings

I grabbed a cheap motorized mount last spring for some deep sky shots from my backyard in Tucson, but the drift was so bad every single 2 minute exposure came out with trailed stars. I spent more time polar aligning and troubleshooting than actually capturing anything, then found out the motor gears are known to strip after light use. Anyone else had better luck with a manual barn door tracker or should I just save up for a proper equatorial head?

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caleb_thomas9310d ago

Wait, the gears actually stripped out on you? That's wild, I thought those cheap mounts at least lasted a season before dying. I've heard so many people rave about them as a starter option, but hearing about the drift on top of the gear failure makes me glad I never pulled the trigger on one. Honestly, for the price of fixing and tweaking that thing, you're probably halfway to a decent used EQ head already. Maybe just bite the bullet and save up, because fighting with gear is the fastest way to kill the hobby for good.