Just realized my cheap star tracker cost me 4 hours of my life

I bought a $150 star tracker off Amazon last summer thinking it would save me money. After 4 hours of trying to get it aligned properly for a shot of the Orion Nebula, I gave up and went inside. The next night I borrowed a friend's Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer and had it working in 10 minutes. Has anyone else wasted an entire night fighting junk equipment?

3 comments

3 Comments

drews5522h ago

Did you actually read the manual and watch any setup videos first? I bought a similar cheap tracker and had the same problem until I realized I was skipping steps because I thought I knew better. The cheap ones just take more patience to dial in, they aren't plug and play like the expensive stuff. Once I actually spent 30 minutes learning the specific quirks of mine, it tracks fine for 2 minute subs no problem. Most people give up too fast because they expect the same experience as a $400+ tracker.

shanes6619h ago

Funny how that applies to everything from grills to software these days.

william_craig723h ago

Man, I feel your pain. I spent five hours with a Celestron unit that just would not cooperate, ended up packing it all in and missing the whole night.