StellarTune AZ-GTI EQ

Introducing the StellarTune AZ-GTI-EQ

Sorry, but we held off on this one for quite awhile.

It was only previously available for existing StellarDrive owners, who wanted something cheap and highly portable but with great tracking. We were badgered by some of them to do it. So we did, to see how they went and didn't get much feed back for awhile. But demand has grown as we have more of these coming through workshop, so we just had to release it. 

We love to share.

It's been a lot of fun, playing with these ourselves we have to admit, and take one to every star party.

This could be the ideal portable GOTO EQ mount for widefield, lunar and solar imaging. Add in the EQ wedge, update the firmware, and you have something that makes you wonder what the fuss is about with these small smart telescopes... 10 sec exposures in Alt-Az only. Tsk.

Once rebuilt, these little mounts will track all day unguided on the Sun, all night on the Moon and Planets, with a 102mm Maksutov for visual or image capture.

Keep it to below 400mm zoom lenses (Primes? Are you crazy???) with a DSLR, and 3-4mins are possible with very few lost frames. Polar Alignment is all, however to achieve this. But for guided imaging with a small scope 70mm or under, or a kit lens/DSLR/CMOS, you're looking at circa 0.5 ArcSec RMS, when conditions allow. 12V external power supply is recommended for refractors.

They're pretty sophisticated little mounts, with spring-loaded worm gears in both axis. Balance is key too, so you need to keep the weight sensible, and physically small as you can. While it's no AM5, it is very portable and a fraction of the cost.

A dark sky is always the best upgrade for any imaging rig. With an AZ-GTI you'll have change for a holiday, and more space in your luggage.

We fixed the RA clutch grab, and based on a custom ESSE2 lubricant solution, we can ensure smoothing tracking with every build. We also put them on our SIDAC 36M test rigs, so we can check how they run unguided, pre and post build.

Our 6 month warranty completes the deal.

PS. If a StellarDrive one of these ever comes up for sale used like in the photo, these are super-rare and a bit special as we went a bit overboard with the build, and not (yet?) in production.

Accessories and upgrades for these are also currently in testing.