Vixen Polarie U Star Tracker

• POLARIE U Star Tracker for sharp sky images
• Small and lightweight tracking, perfect for travel
• Five different speeds for tracking and ST4 Autoguiding port (RA only)
• Excellent for timelapse shots
• Shutter release possible via a Smartphone
• Built-in bubble level and directional scale for time lapse
• Upgrade up to 6.5 kg load capacity possible with optional accessories
• High quality manufacturing - Made in Japan
• Dimensions: 88.5mm x 72mm x 110.5mm
• Weight: 575g

The POLARIE U is an ultra-compact automatic star tracking device that can be easily transported.
In addition to the functions of conventional star trackers, which track a camera for a long exposures, accurately tracking the regular movement of celestial objects, the POLARIE U has a speed adjustment function, which allows it to be used as a panning mount too for time lapse photography.

Using a smartphone, you can control the shutter release intervals of the images. Through the communication between the smartphone and the POLARIE U Star Tracker, you can control the exposures and take beautiful, sharp pictures of the stars and the Milky Way without getting any star trailing.

The Star Tracker is very small and light weight, making it ideal for mobile use or air travel.

The Vixen POLARIE U Star Tracker in detail:

Star-scape photography (stars and landscape).
A silhouetted landscape on earth is photographed together with the starry sky. The beauty of a landscape and the starry sky can be shown together on one photo. POLARIE U opens up a wonderful foreign world of star-scape photography and makes this possible for both beginners and advanced photographers.
Conventional telescopic astrophotography photographs a relatively narrow area of the sky. Star-scape photography mainly uses a wide-angle lens and takes impressive photos in which stars, and other celestial targets such as the majestic Milky Way and landscapes are combined. The possibilities of the compositions are endless and a completely new kind of landscape photography opens up.

Weight reduction of more than 20% and improved load capacity.
The structure of the original POLARIE has been completely changed. The distance between the two bearings that support the rotating shaft is about four times the distance of the previous model. This leads to a higher load capacity despite the weight reduction of 20%. The maximum load capacity is 2.5 kg (approx. 2.5 kg at 10 cm from the centre of rotation) when used for wide-field astrophotography. The maximum load capacity is increased to 6.5 kg (approx. 2.5 kg at 10 cm from the centre of rotation) when a POLARIE Multi mounting block (optional) and a dovetail slide rail DD (optional) are combined. In addition, used in vertical configuration, the POLARIE U can reach a load capacity of 10 kg (approx. 10 kg 10 cm from the centre of rotation) for time-lapse photography and is therefore suitable for heavy camera equipment.

Settings via Smartphone
Communication between tracker and smartphone via the Vixen Polarie U App enables various settings via smartphones or tablet. For star/landscape photography, the speed is selected in user-defined mode, and for time-lapse photography, settings for interval time, exposure, and rotation speed can also be easily programmed.

Five different speeds:
Star-scape photography (half star speed). This setting is intended for displaying a landscape together with the starry sky. The stars are not tracked exactly, but slower in order not to blur the landscape in the foreground. This way you get beautiful images of the landscape and the starry sky.

Wide Field Astrophotography (Star Speed)
When this mode is selected, the POLARIE U follows the stars at the same speed as the daily movement of the stars. In this mode, widefield long time exposures of comets, nebulae, star clusters and the Milky Way are made and tracked precisely.

Solar Tracking (solar speed)
For recording solar eclipses over a long period of time.

Moon Tracking (moon speed)
For recording lunar eclipses over a long period of time.

Custom Mode
This allows you to set the POLARIE U to the desired tracking speed. The initial setting is four times the star speed. If you want to change the setting for a different speed, a smartphone or other wifi device and application software are required.

Shoot-Move-Shoot Mode
It is possible to stop the movement of the camera during the exposure and restart it after the end of the exposure. It is also equipped with a camera connector (shutter release) that controls the camera shutter during shooting with SMS or interval shooting. If the camera in use is connected with the cable release, the settings can be easily adjusted using a smartphone. A Wi-Fi connection is required when using this feature. An additional cable is required to connect the camera and POLARIE U together.

Autoguider port
Commercially available autoguiders can be used with the POLARIE U (Usable only in R.A.).  An important new feature over the original Polarie - attach a small Guidescope, or Off Axis Guider and autoguiding camera to your main camera and use the standard ST-4 protocol port to guide the Polarie U in Right Ascension, ensuring absolute accuracy of tracking (requires additional separate computer, or standalone guider). 

FEATURES

•     Speeds: Sidereal rate, 0.5X star speed, sun, moon. North / South hemisphere compatible
•     Worm gear: RA gear rim with 144 teeth (58.4 mm Al alloy)
•     Screw: 9.8 mm brass
•     RA and DC axis: 40mm, aluminium alloy
•     Motor drive: electric motor drive with impulse motor (stepper motor)
•     Load capacity: 2.5 kg standard, 6.5 kg with special accessories, 10 kg with fast motion
•     Wi-Fi function for Smartphone
•     Direction finder tube: 8.9 degree field of view without magnification.
•     Power supply: USB Type-C or 4x AA batteries
•     Dimensions: 88.5mm x 72mm x 110.5mm
•     Weight: 575g