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The Tracker III An Integrated Imaging Platform |
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| From $394 | Buy Now (select components in the Shopping Cart) | ||
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| Flip
Mirror - The View Port
"sees" what the camera
sees. You see the target live through your own eyepiece. This is a critical function for all
cameras because at night, you can't
see anything through the viewfinder of a Digital SLR or Film SLR.
If your using a CCD, you need long exposures to see dim objects. Focuser - Focus live through your own eyepiece in the view port. The eyepiece can be precisely par focal with the camera using the helical (threaded) focusing cells in both the view and guide ports |
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| Off-Axis Guider - Any deep space
photo of 30 sec minute or more should be guided. The guide port is used to search for a guide star in a 360º
region around the target that is a completely
separate field of view from
the target to imaged. The
Tracker provides xy-positioning control of the guide star without moving
the target from the center of the camera frame. It is critical to be able to see both the target and the guide star. These are two separated fields of view. Both must be centered independently of each other. This requires two separate eyepieces. |
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Guide Port Eyepiece |
View Port Eyepiece |
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Guide Star Acquisition - Once the target is focused and centered in the view port eyepiece (indicated by the green circle in example below) , one then looks through the guide port eyepiece to begin the guide star acquisition. The initial guide port view (indicated by the #1 blue circle) will probably not contain a sufficiently bright guide star. To search for a brighter guide star, without moving the target from the center of the camera field, rotate the entire Tracker body on the telescope adapter while looking through the guide port eyepiece. The adapter does not rotate. It remains fixed to the telescope. As the Tracker is rotated, the field of view in the guide port eyepiece sweeps around the outside of the target field. In the example, a bright (yellow) guide star is observed when the Tracker has been rotated to position #2, but the star is off-center. This ends the rotation. To center the star, slide the guide port out a few mm. to position #3. The star is now centered, and the you are ready to begin the exposure. |
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Tracker Rotation : The Tracker rotates 360º for guide star search and positioning. Camera Rotation : The Camera adapter rotates 360º for image composition. This rotation is independent from the Tracker rotation. Slack-free Rotation is achieve with the Quick-Disconnect grooved adapters shown below |
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| click on image to enlarge | |
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The "AT2" 2 inch adapter connects to 2in. focusers
The "ATF2" SCT adapter (shown with optional focal reducer) threads on to the rear cell of all Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
All adapters are interchangeable. |
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| Focal Reducers: An optional "RLS" f/6.5 focal reducer is available as a removable insert for the "ATF2" SCT adapter as shown above. The RLS fits inside the ATF2 to minimize back-focus requirements. The Meade or Celestron f/6.3 focal reducers may also be used, but cause greater vignetting than the RLS due to the difference in lens design and the smaller clear aperture (only 41mm). |
| Newtonian Telescope Adapters: These are a special light weight, Ultra-Low Profile Focusers (ULPF) adapters for Newtonian and Schmidt-Newtonian (SN) telescopes that have limited back-focus. The ULPF shown is designed for Meade SN's, and is shown on an 8in. LXD-55 Schmidt-Newtonian. | ||
| It replaces the upper portion of the rack & Pinion focuser, The original focuser base remains in place, The original focuser is interchangeable with the ULPF by simply removing the 4 screws in the base. |
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Camera Adapters: 6 different camera adapters are available. all are interchangeable, |
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| Specifications | |
| Weight = 14 oz. (470g) includes Tracker, AT2, and ACR adapters (set up for an DSLR, or SLR) | |
| Minimum Back-Focus = 3.85 in. (99 mm) | |
| Body Diameter = 3.5 in (89mm) cylindrical portion only | |
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Materials/Construction: Machined, lightweight, high impact formulation of PVC. Rugged 1/4 inch wall |
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| Comparison: Tracker III vs. Mini-Tracker | ||
| Tracker III | Mini-Tracker | |
| Minimum Back-focus | 3.85 in. (99 mm) | 2.75 in. (70 mm) |
| Weight | 14 oz. (470 gr) | 11 oz. (300 gr) |
| XY-Guide Star Control | yes | yes |
| Guide Port - Off-Axis Guiding | yes | yes |
| Guide Port - Helical Focusing | yes | yes |
| View Port | yes | Optional |
| View Port - Helical Focusing | yes | yes |
| Quick-Disconnect, Interchangeable Adapters | yes | yes |
| Internal f/6.5 Focal Reducers | yes | yes |