My first deep space shot with a $200 tracking mount actually worked

I bought this little star tracker off Amazon for like $210 and honestly thought it would be junk. Been using a tripod for years and getting nothing but star trails on anything over 15 seconds. Last Saturday I set up in my backyard in Tucson around midnight and pointed my camera at the Orion Nebula. Did a stack of 30 second exposures and when I processed it in DeepSkyStacker I couldn't believe the detail. The nebula came out pink and wispy with the dark dust lanes showing. I've been avoiding tracking mounts because they seemed too complicated and expensive but this cheap one changed everything for me. Has anyone else had good luck with budget trackers or am I just getting lucky with the clear skies here?

2 comments

2 Comments

felixb2510d ago

Cracked my phone case when I dropped it setting up my own cheap tracker last week, so I feel your pain and your triumph. Picked up a used Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer for like $180 on Craigslist and figured it would be a paperweight. First clear night I stacked 45 seconds on Andromeda and practically cried seeing actual spiral arms come through. You're not lucky, those budget mounts are way better than people give them credit for. Clear skies definitely help in Tucson though, I'm stuck in Houston where clouds laugh at my tracking attempts.

grant_ross279d ago

Clouds laughing at tracking attempts is way too real, that's Houston for you man.