Tried a star tracker for my camera and ended up with a completely ruined first night

I got a used Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer from a guy on Facebook Marketplace for $150 last week. I set it up in my backyard in Tucson and spent like an hour just trying to get the polar alignment right through that tiny little scope. But I made a MASSIVE mistake - I didn't tighten the clutch on the ball head enough before I started my first 2 minute exposure. So the camera slowly slid down during the shot and I got these crazy blurred streaks that look like alien signal lines across the whole frame. I was so mad I almost threw the whole rig in the trash. But then I realized it was my own dumb fault for rushing setup and not checking everything twice. Has anyone else had a star tracker session go completely sideways because you skipped one little step?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellac9716d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain so hard because I did almost the exact same thing with my iOptron SkyGuider Pro like two months ago. I spent forever getting the polar alignment dialed in (those little scopes are the worst) and then I got too excited and forgot to lock down the declination bracket properly. So my camera just slowly sagged over the whole 3 minute exposure and I ended up with these weird curved star trails that looked like someone was drawing with a shaky hand. I was so furious I actually kicked my tripod leg (which of course made everything worse). The worst part is it was totally my own fault too, just rushing because I wanted to beat the moonrise. But hey, at least now we both know better for next time, right?

the_beth16d ago

And the worst part is you stare at that ruined photo thinking "if I had just spent ten more seconds..." I've done the same thing with my tripod head not being torqued down, except it was a 5 minute exposure and the camera just did a slow death spiral the whole time. Now I have a little checklist I run through before every exposure, like a pilot doing a pre-flight check. It feels silly but it beats kicking your tripod and scaring the neighbor's cat at 2am.