My $200 Star Tracker lasted exactly 3 clear nights before the motor died

I saved up for months to buy a star tracker for my DSLR so I could get those long exposure shots of the Milky Way. First night was amazing, got some real nice images of the Lagoon Nebula. Second night the tracking started drifting after about 30 minutes. Third night the motor just hummed and wouldn't move at all. Cost $200 and now it's a paperweight on my desk. Has anyone had any luck with those cheap trackers on Amazon or should I just save for a proper Sky-Watcher?

2 comments

2 Comments

sethc124d ago

@wade558 did your cheap tracker have any issues with the internal wiring shorting out? Curious if that's a common problem across all the budget ones or just a few bad batches.

wade5584d ago

Yeah I went through basically the exact same thing with a $180 tracker last summer. The motors in those cheap ones are just not built to handle any kind of weight, even just a DSLR and a kit lens. If you're handy with a soldering iron you might be able to swap the motor out for a better one, but honestly the time and frustration aren't worth it. The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer or the iOptron SkyGuider Pro are the real deal, they'll last you years even if you beat them up a little. Save up for one of those and you won't be buying another tracker for a long time.