Rant: My star tracker battery died 45 minutes into a 2 hour shoot...

I finally got a clear night after weeks of clouds here in Portland, drove 90 minutes up to Larch Mountain, set up my whole rig, and then the battery on my Star Adventurer just gave up. I had charged it the day before, I swear, but maybe the cold got to it or something. I spent the next hour just sitting there looking at the stars with my naked eye while my camera sat useless on the tripod. Honestly, it was kind of nice in a weird way, but also super frustrating. Now I'm wondering if I should get a bigger battery pack or just buy a whole new tracker. Has anyone else had this happen where their gear just fails at the worst possible time?

2 comments

2 Comments

logansullivan21d ago

Saw a guy on CloudyNights swear by those USB power banks for this exact problem.

zarak1821d ago

Logan's right about USB power banks. I picked up a 20,000mAh one after my first mount failure and it's been a lifesaver. The cold definitely saps battery life faster than you'd expect. You might not need a whole new tracker if that is the only issue.