Capture sharp night sky images despite long exposure times with the Sightron Nano Tracker from Starfield. This battery-powered mini mount attaches to a tripod and rotates your camera to compensate for the rotation of the earth, so you can make multi-minute exposures without star trails or streaks. The remote control can set speeds including sidereal, moon tracking, sun tracking, and 50x high speed. You can also use one-half sidereal speed to make images with both the sky and the landscape below.
The Nano Tracker has a 1/4"-20 hole on one side for the tripod and a 1/4"-20 stud on the other for your camera. Using a ball head on the tripod helps point the camera the right way, and using another between the Nano and the camera makes it easier to use the polar alignment peep hole. The device is powered by two AA batteries in the hand controller. It can also run on an optional USB-B mini cable plugged into the controller.
- Compact and lightweight, the tracker has an integrated stepper motor and steel-brass wheel gear
- Hold the outer drive wheel firmly when attaching a ball head to ensure the teeth are not stripped when tightening it in place
- Polar alignment is vital for good tracking and the Nano Tracker has an integrated zero-magnification sight hole, which is useful for the sighting on Polaris
- Some tripod heads may lie a little close to it, so a second ball head is useful to provide more space for looking up through the sight hole
- The tracking module houses the gear system and stepper motors, and has a 1/4" threaded screw for attaching a ball head and camera on the top plus a 1/4" thread for attaching the module to a tripod
- A sight hole and hand controller socket complete the module
- The front of the hand controller has two sliders and a simple power button
- The left slider sets sidereal rate (1x) or half sidereal (0.5x), while the right slider offers northern or southern hemisphere selection
- Requires three AA batteries, which fit in the rear of the hand controller and provide a 5-hour runtime
- Power can also be supplied by an optional mini USB cable providing 5V, 0.5A power