A Barndoor Tracker used in the Libyan Desert

 

This Barndoor Tracker was designed and build for this trip into the Saharan Desert. A small DC-motor turns the upper part (camera mount) in pace with the stars via a M8-screw @ pitch 0,5 mm. A handheld switchunit was used to finetune the tracking (tangenterror).

A polarscope aligns the device. It is then used as a guiding telescope. The system was good for 30 min of exposure, before it needed to be reset, due to potential imbalance. A 35 mm and a 16 mm lens was used, with excellent results on Fuji Provia 400 ASA.

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