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The AstroTrac TT320X - New Version "X" Out Now
The TT320X is now even lighter, and even more accurate with Solar & Lunar tracking, improved drive mechanics and a longer polar scope arm for even easier setup (as if it wasn't easy enough already!).

Note: Package prices are available with the new Kendrick Firelite DSLR Camera Cozy, FireLite Micro Controller and a beautiful German Hardwood Tripod (call Altair Astro for a quote to save on the AstroTrac, German Hardwood Tripod, and Kendrick RRPs respectively)

Ever wanted to get outside, and take some long exposure sky images with your digital camera, or observe with a small telescope, but didn’t feel like lugging heavy equipment around and spending ages setting up? The AstroTrac TT320X is designed to allow anyone to take stunning long exposure photographs of the night sky with a standard camera and tripod. Due to it's high quality design and accuracy, the AstroTrac TT320 is a 2008 Sky at Night Hot Product Award winner.

The TT320X tracks the motion of the stars for up to 2 hours with high accuracy, eliminating the usual star trails in fixed long exposure images of the night sky. This allows the exposure to build up over a few minutes, revealing the deeper structure and beauty of the sky. It reveals fainter star clouds, with richer colours, invisible to the naked eye. It’s the perfect product for anyone interested in wide field imaging with a camera and lens, a spotting scope, or telescope. Because it’s small and portable enough to fit into your camera bag, you can take it anywhere you can take a camera and tripod, without the weight, awkward shape, and inconvenience of an equatorial mount - yet equivalent or better accuracy. Read the full AstroTrac review.
Astrotrac products: Price Ex. VAT: Price Incl.
VAT & UK Shipping:
AstroTrac TT320X incl. Illuminated Polar Scope - order this if you already have a tripod & heads. £Call £Call
AstroTrac DSLR Camera Cozy Kit The above kit, incl. Polar Scope, German Hardwood Tripod (more stable than aluminium yet incredibly light), Kendrick FireLite Camera Cozy with DSLR "micro" dew controller system. £Call £Call for package price
German Hardwood Tripod Only Wood is more stable and more beautiful than aluminium, and it attracts less moisture in the field. These tripods are beautifully made and surprisingly light at 2.4kg with a 30kg load carrying capacity, 74cm folded length, and 57-120cm height range. Includes a stable flat head and a standard photo tripod thread for photography use. £Call £Call for package price
Tele Optic Giro Mini Mount Head to mount the camera on the AstroTrac. More stable than a ball head, and with the added advantage you can use it with the Tripod only for astronomy or bird watching because it's a smooth Alt Azimuth mount in it's own right. £Call £Call package price
To sum it up, the basic advantages are:

- 5 min setup time
- extreme portability
- outstanding stability & quality
- low error tracking for cameras and telescopes
- use standard photo tripods & heads
- works in both hemispheres

Quick setup & easy to use: For visual observing or wide field astro photography, you simply centre the Pole Star (Polaris) within the polar scope (described below). Polaris is a very bright star visible due north, and a 5 min setup time is easily achievable. The TT320 features an integral polar scope arm, which is compatible with a wide range of polar scopes using our adaptors. For high accuracy tracking, critical with focal lengths of 200mm or more, we recommend the drift align method.

Ultra portable: At about 1.3kg and about 18 inches long, the TT320 folds neatly into carry-on luggage, and most camera bags.

Use standard photo equipment: With standard 3/8” photo threads on each side, all you need is a photo tripod, a photo tripod head* to tilt it on the polar axis, and another pan/tilt head to point your camera at the sky. That means you can use your existing standard photo equipment to get up and running quickly and easily. See the FAQ below for recommendations.

Accuracy, Stability and quality: Precision CNC machined to the highest tolerances, the TT320 is equivalent to a 24” diameter worm gear. Preloaded bearings are used, to provide smoothness under load. Correctly balanced, the TT320 will carry a surprisingly large load of 10kg. Aluminium and stainless steel are used throughout for lightness, strength and corrosion resistance. Polycarbonate shields (also used for bullet proof glass), protect the drive mechanism from damage. The motor and screw are custom made in the US to specification, for a tracking resolution of 0.3 arc seconds. 

Worldwide use: If you cross the equator, simply unfold the TT320 drive panel anti-clockwise for the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise for the Southern Hemisphere.

For visual observing too: Why not use the TT320 for smooth viewing comfort at higher powers! Just use an Alt-Azimuth mount, such as the Stellarvue M1, with standard 3/8 threaded base to fit most tripods. Imagine having this level of portability, but with tracking too!

Join the AstroTrac user group to exchange tips and experiences with other AstroTrac TT320 owners. Click here to join the AstroTrac group

AstroTrac Frequently Answered Questions:

Q: What tripods and heads are recommended for wide field lenses 14-200mm? Using a geared tripod head beneath the TT320 allows you to make fine adjustments while looking through the polar scope for accurate polar alignment. For basic use with wide lenses, we recommend reasonably stable models such as our AstroTrac Tripod or any camera field tripod with a 3/8th inch thread on top with a Manfrotto Junior 410 Geared Head for camera and lens use (3kg), or if you prefer, the Manfrotto 405 Pro geared head (takes up to 7.5kg including the TT320). For mounting the camera and wide lens on top of the TT320, you can just use Ball or pan/tilt tripod heads from various manufacturers, as long as they're stable enough to support your equipment weight. When in doubt, please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Q: What tripods and heads are recommended for wide field use with 200mm or longer telephoto lenses and refractor telescopes? For better results with telephoto lenses or a ultra-portable refractors (e.g. the Stellarvue 90mm Triplet Apo) we recommend the Stellarvue Heavy Duty Field Tripod for more stability, and better vibration dampening properties. Instead of a standard ball head you can use the Stellarvue M1 mount head to go on top of the AstroTrac. You will still need the Manfrotto Geared head between the tripod and AstroTrac, but the added bonus if you choose the Stellarvue mount system, is that you can use the Heavy Duty Tripod and Stellarvue single or dual mount head for high power visual observation of land and sky targets at up to 180x. This saves money, and reduces the amount of equipment you need to carry.

Q: How do I use it? Just flip open the drive and a green light displays, showing you’re ready to start. To start tracking, simply press the Play button. The unit beeps and the status LED flashes green as it starts tracking. During the last 10 minutes of tracking, the unit beeps and the flashing speeds up to alert you. After two hours, tracking stops, and the LED lights red. To reset the unit ready to start again, press Rewind. The LED flashes red while the unit rewinds for a few seconds, then lights green again on reaching the start position. The LED brightness and beeper volume buttons have 5 positions, including off. With 4 simple buttons the AstroTrac is very easy to use in the dark. In fact, it’s the easiest tracking device we have ever used, period.

Q: How does the AstroTrac TT320 work? The AstroTrac drive uses a patented mechanism to turn the telescope on the polar axis of the earth, at exactly the same rate the earth spins. The AstroTrac package comes with a specially designed Polar Scope which is a tiny telescope, showing an illuminated star map against the sky background. By lining up the dots on the map with bright stars near the Southern or Northern pole (such as Polaris in the Northern Hemisphere), good polar alignment can be achieved in a minute. That’s why we recommend a geared tripod head, so you can make small adjustments to get things lined up - but actually you can get pretty good alignment using a standard camera tripod head it just takes a little more time. The more accurately you align the Astrotrac on the Celestial Pole, the better the tracking accuracy. For super accuracy, and very long exposures, you can use the drift align method.

Q: How do order? Altair Astro usually have the AstroTrac in stock. You can order an AstroTrac TT320 with Illuminated Polar Scope with your card now, or contact us to order on the phone.

Q: Where can I see the Astrotrac TT320? Altair Astro will have the Astrotrac in stock at our Norwich shop. Pop over for a demo!. We will be exhibiting with Astrotrac at UK Astrofest in Kensington London and at the Kelling Heath Starparty which is on twice per year in Norfolk.

Specifications:
 Weight: 1.3kg
Load capacity: 10kg (22lb)
Operating voltage: 12v DC
Operating current: less than 0.25 A !!
Size: (stowed) 4450x75x40mm

 
Click the orange buttons above for a demonstration.

The TT320 in use on a 3/8 thread camera tripod,
Manfrotto 410 geared head, and standard ball
head.

The constellation Sagittarius, Atlas Mountains,
Morocco 2007. Canon 20D 18mm wide angle lens
2mins exposure. Thanks to our customer, Martin
Stirland! Martin managed to get his AstroTrac up to
4000 feet altitude with ease - a feat we can't
recommend with a heavier Equatorial mount!

The AstroTrac TT320 in it's it's stowed configuration
ready for travel.

Ian Knight, Altair Astro retail manager and Richard
Taylor AstroTrac inventor, demonstrating at European
Astrofest. We're proud to have been involved in the
Beta testing of the AstroTrac TT320 product, and we
really feel it will help make astro photography easier
than ever for the outdoor photographer. We also wish
we’d had one of these at the recent solar eclipse or
mercury transit…

A close-up of the TT320 control panel showing the
four control buttons: Track, Rewind, Volume,
and Brightness.

AstroTrac inventor Richard Taylor at European Astrofest
2007 in London, with his patented pride and joy, folded
and ready for travel.

Here's Ian Knight, the friendly face of Altair Astro, trying to
make off with a demo unit at European Astrofest 2007.
Power requirements:
The long drive arms of the TT320 allow a small motor to drive a relatively large load. This reduces the power requirement such that the unit only pulls around 0.2 amps maximum at 12 V. With this low current draw, a typical 12 V, 7 Ah lead acid battery will provide almost 35 hours of running time! The low power requirement also means a much smaller battery pack such as the one provided will give you all the power you need for a typical night's viewing. The 12 V DC in jack socket is conveniently located on the back of the TT320, ensuring the power cable is kept well clear of hands, arms and equipment in the dark. A power lead is supplied with the TT320, with DC plug at one end and a standard cigarette lighter plug at the other, compatible with most rechargeable leisure power packs, or small battery cell packs. If you use your own power pack, we strongly recommend that you fit it with a 1 A fuse.

This table gives a rough guide to TT320 running time with popular 12 V lead acid, NiCad and NiMH battery packs:

Battery Capacity in (mAh): Approximate TT320 Tracking time:  
7 mAh 35 hours
1.1 mAh 5
 
Polar alignment and operating the Astrotrac TT320:
 

The AstroTrac TT320 has a built in polar arm into which a polar scope locates to make polar alignment quick and easy. For transportation and storage the polar arm tucks away neatly between the drive arms. The polar arm has convenient markings to show which way to un-stow in the northern and southern hemispheres.

The polar arm rotates and clicks every 15 degrees, allowing the polar scope to be positioned with a unobstructed view of the Celestial Pole, clear of cameras or telescopes. Astrotrac Polar alignment is quick and easy, usually taking about a minute. Alignment is quicker with a geared head tripod.

 

 Simply insert the polar scope through the polar arm. Rare earth magnets ensure alignment. Rotate the polar scope until the reticule is aligned with the outer polar stars. Then use the geared or pan tilt tripod head to make fine adjustments aligning with the celestial pole.

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