Newly arrived to my blog? Want to know more about me before you dive into my posts? Why not visit the home page first and start your exploration from there:
https://undersouthwestskies.blogspot.com/2025/01/welcome-to-my-new-astronomyastrophotogr.html
And welcome.
Welcome to 'UnderSouthWest Skies'. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find the experience worthwhile. This blog post has been written from my own 'beginner perspective' after doing lots of reading on various basic astronomy and astrophotography topics of interest to beginners. In getting my head around it all, I may have got odd bits slightly wrong; but, like you, I am on a leaning journey, so please forgive any unintentional errors. Also, just because I have gone down a particular road regarding equipment, it doesn't mean that I have chosen the 'CORRECT' route!
Meanwhile, clear skies to you. Take care and thanks for visiting Steve aka PlymouthAstroBoy
This blog post appeared on my www.wherenexthun.blogspot.com around 2019. I was just thinking of starting a new learning passion - astronomy and astrophotography. With budget constraints, this was all I could afford at the time. Anyway, here was one of my first posts about using it.
Doing astronomy and astrophotography from a motorhome - using an Ioptron Skywatcher Pro
As well as a
telescope for my newly found hobbies of astronomy and astrophotography, I have
just received an Ioptron Skytracker Polar Pro as well.
It’s basically a compact, motorised, one axis mount which precisely tracks the stars as they pass overhead of you. It has a maximum payload capacity of 6.6lbs, weighs 2.5 lbs and is made of die-cast aluminium covered by ABS plastic. With an internal battery (2000 mAh) which is rechargeable using a micro-USB cable, it has 4 tracking speeds (1x sidereal, 1/2x for sky and landscape, and then solar and lunar. They can all work in both hemispheres which is great as I travel a lot. There are also forward and reverse slew modes). On one charge it should go 24 hrs! I haven't used it in the cold but I suspect that not using AA batteries as well may prove to be an emerging issue in the future - we will see.
And when I mean compact, I really do mean compact. It fits
in my hand and the bottom compartment of my camera bag with no problems.
Well packaged, it arrived in a padded bag which was a snug
fit. I struggled to get it in and out but I guess that means it won’t shift
around!
Unpacking the kit, I discovered the mount, an alt-azimuth
base, a brass 3/8 and ¼ inch threaded ball head mount plate, a charging cable
and the polar scope. People will also need a ball head to mount their camera to
the tracker. I just used one I had off my Joby Gorillapod [although since
originally writing this post I have now bought a Joby Gorillapod 5lb ball head
which is much more suited to the task].
I’ve spent a couple of hours fiddling around with it working out how to set the latitude angle and also how to alter the horizontal plane as well. The polar scope has proved troublesome though. This little scope has a scale reticule inside it which you use to line up the tracker with Polaris in the night sky. Sadly, my reticule seems to be at a 90-degree angle to what it should be which does my head in when trying to do the simple alignment adjustments needed. I have contacted Rother Valley Optics and Ioptron to see if one of them can send me a new one [Ioptron never got back to me – great customer service, eh? RVO’s however, immediately told me to send it back and they would fix it for me. In the end, I have just lived with it and trained my brain to ignore the 90-degree twist].
The alt- azimuth base is a bit of an issue. I don't find it that precise and it feels slightly flimsy if I'm honest. I suspect this will be an issue that irritates me.
Having used it a few times now, I have discovered it is a clever bit of kit. It is relatively easy to set up and I can do it now in ten minutes.
For a really detailed review and tutorial on how to use it, I found Peter Zelinka gave me the best advice and insights: https://www.peterzelinka.com/blog/2018/4/ioptron-skytracker-pro-review
Also very insightful - Trevor Jones - https://astrobackyard.com/ioptron-skytracker-pro-review/
I can take longer exposures of the night sky using one of
the four tracking modes available. Star trailing has been reduced. Sadly, I
suck at post processing and this is where I will need to concentrate my efforts
over the next few months!
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And now you can see why we have gone to the trouble of
up-plating Bryony! It was the tow bar, the e bikes, the bike rack, the
telescope and the camera gear wot did us in. Maggie would like to point out
that when we recently went through all the stuff we could ditch out of Bryony,
all she had that was hers …. were her clothes and ………. a tiny 12v hair dryer!
I am still trying to live this down!
If you are out and about in your motorhome or waiting for
yours to arrive, stay safe, take care out there and have fun. I will let you
know how I get on with the tracker (and the telescope). This could be the start
of a new interest group: ‘motorhoming astronomers!’
Clear skies, live long and prosper motorhoming buddies!
Steve
This is the equipment that I use for my basic
astrophotography:
Canon 50 mm F/2.8 prime lens
Canon 24mm F/2.8 prime lens
Intervalometer
The Ioptron Skytracker Pro
M45 Pleiades or ‘The seven sister’s Bright stars surrounded by blue space dust
clouds
Ioptron Skytracker pro with Canon 800d 200mm lens at F/5.6 ISO 800
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