Reviews and Testimonials
AstroTrac serves a broad audience of photographers, astrophotographers and visual observers, with our unique TT320X mount and DSLR imaging expertise.
Well known AstroTrac owners include: Nik Szymanek, Robert Reeves, Don Goldman, Mike Unsold and Sebastian Voltmer.
Our success is well documented, not only in the paragraphs that follow, but in esteemed publications - read the official reviews:
A Few Success Stories From AstroTrac Owners
Story 1: Achieving More with Less
Gain Lee
Huddersfield, England
Gain Lee
Escaping light pollution
Living in a heavily populated and immensely light polluted part of the UK, any deepsky photography has always involved a journey to locations far away from home (my nearest being my local national park, the Yorkshire Dales at a distance of 55 miles, to various far flung sites around the world). This along with the packing and transporting of a mass of weighty oversized equipment, and not to mention the long setup and pull down times has always made me think that this pastime is more an extreme sport than a relaxing hobby. The answer was to find a lightweight, compact and quick to setup system which would deliver the required results; With the AstroTrac, I feel I’m close to realising the ‘Dream’.
M13 Globular Cluster in Hercules
at 1100 mm focal length
(Click to enlarge) © Gain Lee
Up and running in minutes
Using the AstroTrac is easy. Whilst all those around me are still setting up their scopes and cameras, I’m already looking at the fruits of my labour on the back of the camera. Within minutes, I’m up and running making exposures several minutes in length using various lenses ranging from my 15 mm fisheye for all sky panoramas to 4 inch APO refractors (540 mm focal length) for a more closeup view. Another added boon is drive allows me to use my refractor or solar scope for visual astronomy by keeping the target centred in my eyepiece at high powers of magnification.
The Coma galaxy supercluster at over 300 million light years away (Click to enlarge). NGC 4565 is easily seen at bottom right.
AstroTrac Deep Field
Using my Canon 5D DSLR, Canon EF 200 mm f2.8 L lens and AstroTrac TT320 combo, I took a 3 minute exposure in the region of the Coma galaxy supercluster and was surprised to see what could be picked up in a single frame. With the lens stopped down to f4 and camera set to 1000 ISO.
Armed with this very portable setup assembled from widely available off the shelf consumer products, I was astonished at how easy it was for me to capture galaxies at over 300 million light years distance from Earth.
Story 2: Two months ago I sold everything. Four weeks ago I bought an AstroTrac.
Phil Lowe
Leeds, England
Phil Lowe
By the end of last winter I was ready to pack it all in
I have always had an interest in photography and astronomy. Photography was always hands on but astronomy was never much more than an evening’s viewing of Sky at Night.
Twelve months ago I purchased an 8 inch SCT with all associated hardware to enable auto-guiding for astrophotography.
I live just south of Leeds in the north of England so clear skies are rare. Added to that I don't have the luxury of a home observatory.
By the end of last winter I was ready to pack it all in. What was supposed to be a relaxing hobby seemed to have turned more into a chore which was full of frustration and disappointment. With such a limited number of clear nights I became sick and tired of battling with the cumbersome setup and the complexity of setting up auto-guiding with its many perils. So much so that the amount of actual imaging I achieved I could count on one hand.
M13 Globular Cluster in Hercules
(Click to enlarge) © Phil Lowe
It was so easy I almost felt like I was cheating
Why not I thought? I had read good things and also watched Richard's demo on youTube so I decided to take a leap of faith.
Two nights ago I had my first clear night and I managed to take this photo of M13. This was the first time I ever saw M13 let alone photograph it. I was absolutely gobsmacked! The AstroTrac took less than 5 minutes to setup AND polar align. I was imaging in less than 10 minutes. It was so easy I almost felt like I was cheating.
AstroTrac does exactly what it says on the tin! - I mean aluminium (aircraft grade). Worth a mention also I think - its also great for visual work! (not to mention I had a lot of change from selling my SCT etc.!).
Story 3: Grab-and-Go Dark Skies
Goran Strand
Froson, Sweden
Goran Strand. © Danne Stenbaeck
Jump in the car and go
My experiences so far with the AstroTrac TT320 are very good.
The single most important thing for me choosing the AstroTrac was portability. I have a Newtonian reflector with a beefy mount that makes a perfect couple in my basement and they really seem to like it down there. Now with the AstroTrac, I'll just grab my photo bag and my tripod and jump into the car to head for a dark location, away from our city light pollution.
I've made a 10 meter long power cable so that I can take power from my car's cigarette lighter outlet. The setup is straight forward and easy.
First I was using a normal photo head but now I've bought a Manfrotto 410 geared head and that's makes the polar alignment so much easier.
If you’re in a hurry it takes about 5 minutes to get it all together and start shooting. For me, doing a careful setup and polar alignment, it takes about 10 minutes.
During my last photo session I managed to get very good 2 minutes exposures with a focal length of 700 mm, so the tracking is very exact.
It's all about, actually getting out taking pictures
When taking the M31 photo I was using my Nikon D300 camera body with a 300 mm/f2.8 lens attached with a 1.7x teleconverter giving me a 510 mm f4.8 lens. With 1.5x crop factor of the Nikon D300 its equivalent to a 700 mm f4.8 lens with excellent performance. The total weight of the camera, lens and converter is approximately 4 kg and the AstroTrac handles this without a problem.
I'm very satisfied with my AstroTrac and since I'm often heading for remote dark locations, it's the perfect companion for producing great astro images, and that's what's it's all about, actually getting out taking pictures.
If you're looking for a portable solution for taking great astro images, you've just found the solution!
Story 4: Star Parties, Holidays and Vacations
Frank Ryan
Ireland
Frank Ryan Jnr
The perfect proving ground
I received my AstroTrac TT320 the day before flying to Greece to the EAE Mount Parnon Starparty.
I didn't have time to do a test run or to familiarise myself with the unit before
the trip and this concerned me somewhat as I made my way to the airport!
At 1420 meters altitude and miles away from any hint of light pollution, the site was the perfect proving ground for the unit.
As night fell and the observing site began to bustle with the arrival of the Greek
starparty attendees, I began to set up the AstroTrac using a Manfrotto
tripod with Manfrotto 410 geared head (on which the AstroTrac sits) a
standard ball head with a Canon 350D camera and Tokina AF 12-24 mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX lens attached.
Set up was ridiculously fast and I was Polar aligned and ready to shoot in only about five minutes!
Again this had me concerned....could it really be this simple?
After power on, the unit purred out to the ready position and beeped confidently to let me know it was ready to go.
The Summer Milky Way and Dob. Mt. Parnon Greece. © Frank Ryan Jnr 2008.
My jaw hit the floor
My first shot was a 10 minute tester to see was everything working ok. After I closed the shutter and looked at the preview image on back of the camera my jaw hit the floor! This AstroTrac is the business!
I spent the next 3 nights of the starparty pushing the unit to the limit in terms of
accuracy and durability and was not let down.
Because of it's curious and innovative design, the Astrotrac attracted quite a lot of attention at the starparty.
The Lagoon and Triffid Nebulae. Mt. Parnon Greece. © Frank Ryan Jnr 2008.
Star of the star party
After a detailed inspection and my demonstration, one seasoned Greek astro imager quipped: " they really do pack a bunch of hi tech design into a small piece of equipment....very impressive!". It quite quickly became the 'star' of the star party.
The AstroTrac is for anyone who wants a compact, reliable and well designed tracking platform that is easily transportable. I took mine in my hand luggage. Although the
x-ray operators at airport security each way asked what it was, having a
recent copy of an astronomy magazine with an advert for the AstroTrac allayed
any fears on the part of customs.
To sum it up, the AstroTrac is a modern design classic. Every now and again a piece of equipment or technology comes along and makes everyone sit up. Well, this is one of those products.
Contact us to start a success story of your own.