Lego Star Tracker V4 Test 3 - Tonight Was A Good Night

Yes, I Bought Batteries

Hopefully, I'll never repeat that mistake again.  And on that note, I think I'll pop my batteries into my charger right now just to be sure.  Anyway, I had to wait about 3 days before getting back out again but that gave me a little time to make another little adjustment.

Basically, I added a linear actuator to my base to be able to adjust the angle of the tracker.  This way, I should be able to really dial in the polar alignment.  Hopefully with this change, I'll get a lot more tracking time tonight.  Once again, I'm going to shoot Cygnus and I'll be looking to shoot 60 second exposures.

 

Lego Star Tracker V4 Test 2 - I'm A Moron

Beautiful Skies, Dead in the Water

This was supposed to be the post where I tell you all about how I went out and took perfectly tracked photos with my DIY Lego Star Tracker.  Yeah, well, that isn't going to happen because I'm a moron.

In my excitement to get back out, I never even thought to check the batteries in my Lego Boost Controller.  Yep, I got all set up, turned everything on and then 4 minutes later ... kaput.  Being a Sunday in Poland, the shops are all closed so that's going to make for a short night.

Ah, oh well.  Forecast says we may have clear skies again in a couple of days.  Maybe now I have some time to make a few more adjustments.  Oh, and of course a run to the store tomorrow to get rechargeable batteries.  We'll see, but that's all for now.

Lego Star Tracker V4 Test 1 - Ten Long Days

The Clouds Just Wouldn't Quit

I really wasn't kidding about Krakow weather.  It hasn't been terribly bad over the past 10 days, just completely overcast.  Not a happy situation when I'm itching like mad to get outside and test the latest version of my tracker.

Well, the down time was at least well spent.  I started investigating what I could do to better control my camera while tracking and decided to check out the Astro Photography Tool (APT).  Not that I need any additional challenges when I finally do get outside, but this might be able to help as I'll be able to view my images as they're being taken and make adjustments on the fly rather than waiting until I get back inside.

Lego Star Tracker V4 - Design Modifications

Time for New Ideas

 

The results from my first tracking session were very encouraging.  Of course the results are far from where I want them to be or even need them to be.  But despite the images, I learned that the tracker did something.  And something is always better than nothing. 

I have no illusions that this is going to be a high performance piece of precision equipment.  But it's really neat to think about something, build it, and have it work ... kind of.  And besides, everything I'm learning right now and in the future with this project is teaching me basic principles that will be extremely useful when I am finally ready and can afford to purchase a commercial tracker.

Time to get cracking on the big reconstruction!

Lego Star Tracker V3 Test 1 - Sizzle or Fizzle?

A Brief Window of Opportunity

To my great surprise, the weather folks got it right.  There was a brief window of opportunity for me to get out and test my tracker.  I didn't really put a lot of thought into what I was going to photograph as my goal was just to point the camera in a direction and see how things go on the tracking front.

So, I got out, got aligned, got focused, and got started shooting.  So was I dancing or crying?  Did the tracker sizzle or fizzle?

Where do I even start?  OK, I got some results.  But at the moment I have a lot more questions than I have answers.  

Eh, let me take you through what happened and explain where this leaves me with this project.