Spirit Of Tasmania 2 Tracking

[Jule Kue]

Theredesigned SkyGuiderTM Pro mount head is more compact, small enough to fit on your palm, better precision, silent tracking, built-in rechargeable power source, ST-4 guiding port and camera trigger port. The improved precision polar scope maintains a fine engraved reticule, now features adjustable illumination with different brightness levels. Using with our iOS app, quick and accurate polar alignment is just a joy. The DEC mounting bracket allows you to balance a heavy camera and/or lens better, or even mount a light telescope. The optional 8408 hand controller allows you to check the Pole Star position for the polar alignment, slew the mount, adjust the guiding rate, change the mount settings and control the camera trigger.

The SkyGuiderTM Pro features four tracking rates, 1X or sidereal, 1/2X for sky and landscape combined, solar and lunar. All 4 tracking rates work in both northern and southern hemispheres. We have also added a quick slew mode with both forward and reverse to help quickly reframing your image without disrupting the cameras position.

The DEC mounting bracket package, which includes DEC mounting bracket, counterweight shaft, counterweight and Vixen-type dovetail saddle, makes the SkyGuiderTM Pro mount suitable for a heavier camera/lens system, even a lightweight telescope.

Firstly what does a star tracker or equatorial mount do? It compensates for earths rotation by rotating on the same axis as the earth just in the opposite direction, giving the ability to photograph night sky objects without star trailing, breaking rules such as the 600/500 rule mentioned in my Basic Nightsky Photography tutorial and allowing much longer shutter speeds.

The iOptron SkyGuider Pro is available in two kits, the kit I own and am reviewing here comprising of the set above. Camera mount, Altitude-azimuth base), AccuAlignTM dark field illuminated polar scope (installed), micro usb charging cable, padded carry bag, Declination mounting bracket w/ camera mounting disk, 1.35kg counter weight and counter weight shaft that sells for approximately $840AUD I have these for sale here at Photo Gear Pro.

And a kit that includes iOptrons iPolar a smart electronic polar scope that connects to a laptop and helps with polar alignment that sells for $1159AUD, I can order these in through Photo Gear Pro for anyone interested.

Because a lot will be interested in how the SkyGuider Pro compares to the Skywatcher Star Adventurer I will add a few quick comparisons throughout this review and a quick comparison between the two. From a build quality point of view both are very solid units both bodies made of metal but there are a couple of things I do not like on the Skywatcher Star Adventurer. The cover over the battery has a locking tab at one end that with long term use is likely to be a weak point and break, the polar scope has a plastic cover that also has a couple of small tabs that could wear out, the polar scope illuminator is a seperate plastic part that clips in that could easily be lost.

The mount can be set up in a number on ways, for a light payload under 1.5kg. A DSLR or Mirrorless camera can be mounted directly to the SkyGuider using the included camera mounting block and optional (sold separately) ball head.

You would of noticed that the mount does not come with a tripod. It is designed to be mounted on top of any tripod. I use a Benro Travel Angel, a Benro Mach 3 and also the metal tripod from iOptron designed for the mount, this tripod from iOptron is actually a great cheap option at just under $200AUD, but any solid tripod that can handle the mount, camera and lenses weight will be fine to use.

Size this is a big deal for me the SkyGuider Pro fits in my camera bag with the rest of my gear meaning just one bag to carry where as I have a seperate bag to carry the Star Adventurer, the Star Adventurer is quite a bit bigger as you can see in the comparison image above. This also means for workshops I can carry four or five SkyGuiders in the one bag! The interesting thing here is that although the SkyGuider is smaller than the Star Adventurer they both have the same pay load rating so you are not giving up ability by going with the smaller mount.

I then level the whole set up using the spirit level on the base of the SkyGuider and set the latitude on the base. To find your latitude you can use an app like Polar Finder or the iOptron Polar Scope app for apple. I then use a free inclinometer app on my phone to adjust my latitude using the latitude knob on the wedge by placing the edge of my phone on the battery compartment of the SkyGuider and adjust the wedge to my appropriate latitude, 38. I would also adjust the azimuth knobs to get the SkyGuider to more accurately point to that middle point between Hadar and Achernar. I then add my declination bracket and counter weight, this is your rough alignment done, note I say rough. This is the point where I would use the built in polar scope to precisely polar align my mount.

The quick start guide that comes with the SkyGuider Pro has pretty good instructions on how to precisely polar align your mount for both Northern and Southern hemispheres, but you can read that info here if you like iOptron Quick start guide.

After polar alignment attach your camera, and lens to the declination bracket using the camera mounting disk and balance it all by shifting the counter weight. NOTE Make sure you tighten the knobs on the camera mounting disk.

The iOptron SkyGuider pro is a great quality, highly capable, small star tracking mount that will open up new photography opportunities for those wanting to step up from shooting just your standard milky-way core astro images from a tripod.

It opens up the possibility to shoot with longer lenses and explore more of the the night sky, capturing subjects like Rho Ophiuchi, the Carina nebula and so much more, along with allowing photographers to capture cleaner more detailed images of the milky-core to create those composites and blends that are so popular right now. In short the iOtron SkyGuider Pro will help you explore more when it comes to nightsky photography and help increase the quality of your images.

The iOptron SkyGuider pro is a no nonsense easy to use and set up star tracking mount. It is a robust, small star tracker that is easy to store and easy to carry in the field, the fact that you can just carry it in your bag is fantastic for those that like to get away from the car or hike into interesting location, this is a big deal for me personally.

If you found this review useful and you would like to buy an iOptron SkyGuider Pro please consider supporting this site by purchasing one from Photo Gear Pro By purchasing from my store Photo Gear Pro you are directly supporting the content you find here on Nightscape Photographer. Subscribing to Nightscape Photographer, sharing the tutorials, blogs and reviews you see here also really helps with organising new reviews and content, as always your support is really appreciated, thanks!

A picture may well tell a thousand words but what if that picture is tweeted, shared and liked? Could social media help engage the community with local wetlands? Could it assist in crowd sourced tracking of environmental change?

How can we incorporate social media in tracking this post-fire recovery? Perhaps it could even play a role in boosting the spirits of the local community seriously impacted by bushfire? The recovery of communities is as important as recovery of the environment. A recent study has highlighted the importance of social networks in the community and perhaps opportunities to share interactions with the environment through social media would provide further opportunities for engagement.

Another great example of crowd-sourced tracking of the potential environmental change is the Witness King Tides program. The program is coordinated by Green Cross Australia and calls of members of the community to submit photos taken during king tide events (the highest of the spring tides each month) to help generate an indication of what may happen in the future with sea level rise. There is a wonderful collection of photo albums here from across Australia.

This idea of a crowd-sourced collection of photographs tracking tidal events has been tried in the past. Most notable was a collection of photos contributed to by over 250 people taken during a major tide event in 2009. A useful document was produced by NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. It highlights an important issue in relation to potential impacts of sea level rise. The first wave of impacts may not be catastrophic but they will be disruptive.

This approach has been adopted bytThe City of Manduarh in Western Australia with their Tidal Image Mandurah Project. The community has been asked to take photos at key locations with a view that images of tidal events such as storm surges, high tide and erosion will help track change. Nothing too fancy in these locations either, just a strategically placed spray painted blue camera!

There are some great examples of interpretive signage around our local wetlands. There is also a shift in thinking from traditional interpretive signage to take advantage of new technologies so why not include social media to engage visitors and local community further? Perhaps social media networking should be included in wetland management plans?

A simple addition of a bracket and details on sharing photographs could easily be incorporated into local signage as it is installed and/or updated. As well as tracking changes in vegetation growth in and around constructed and rehabilitated wetlands, the encroachment of mangroves into mudflats or sandy shores along urban estuaries could be a focus too. Of course, storm events and unusually high tides could be documented too. An added bonus would be if some rare or unusual wildlife popped up in photographs.

There are plenty of other ways social media can assist environmental conservation and rehabilitation. Pozible and Landcare have recently announced the launch (and called for the submission of proposals) of a new global crowdfunding partnership called The Landcare Environment Collection, an opportunity to showcase and support the crowdfunding campaigns of environmental groups in Australia and around the world.

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