Omegon MiniTrack LX4 Quattro NS Set With Ball Head

MiniTrack LX Quattro: astronomy photos that succeed

The Omegon MiniTrack Quattro is a mini-mount for astrophotography using wide-angle and lightweight telephoto lenses. This will allow you to capture fascinating images of the night sky - even if you haven't had anything to do with astrophotography until now.

This astrotracker is purely mechanical, without batteries - and now also takes heavy cameras and lenses weighing up to 4 kilograms. But there's even more to it: the MiniTrack Quattro has been redesigned from scratch and is now better than ever. For successful astrophotography that's addictive.

The highlights at a glance:

Successfully and effortlessly capturing the night sky
No need to recharge: functions using a mechanical system, independent of battery and power cables
Wind up the mechanism and get going immediately
Perfect for wide shots of the starry sky and telephoto lenses
Fits in every backpack: the perfect mount for travelling - wherever the road takes you.
The special advantages of the MiniTrack LX Quattro:

Even stronger: the new MiniTrack now takes even heavy cameras up to 4 kg
A needle roller bearing ensures smooth running - for better-tracked images
Newly developed spring system: the stronger spring system replaces a counterweight and reliably guides cameras even with heavy one-sided loads
CNC body: the MiniTrack consists of a piece of machined aluminium - high quality, stable, the perfect companion on every trip
Optical polar finder for exact alignment to the celestial pole
Simple conversion for astrophotography in the southern hemisphere
Simple to assemble: built-in Vixen GP-style plate - no additional rail needed
Better astronomy photos when travelling or at home

Now bring home not only holiday snaps but also impressive astronomy photos from your travels. It's easier than you might think. All you need: a tripod, the MiniTrack, a ball head and your camera. Reduced to the essentials, it has just one mission: good astrophotography that everyone can manage. Here's how it's done...

60 minutes of mechanical tracking

The MiniTrack has a mechanical heart - there's no place for electronics here. The accurate clockwork precisely guides your camera. Wind up the MiniTrack like an analogue clock and the tracking is activated. This mount never fails, even at sub-zero temperatures. Your new mount keeps a cool head, even with telephoto lenses. It is not without reason that this wide-field photography expert has conquered the hearts of amateur astronomers.

The smallest counterweight in the world?

The MiniTrack Quattro has a completely new spring system. It's not a counterweight, but it works like one. It ensures that the LX Quattro remains as compact and travel-ready as ever. It's simply got better and stronger. The spring directly drives the axle and guides your camera like a strong and precise arm.

Tip: an ideal tracking speed is reached when the mechanism ticks at 130-135 times per minute. You may need to adjust the spring tension, depending on the weight of your camera. We recommend that you measure the ticks per minute with a TapTempo BPM app for smartphones. These apps are created for the music industry and are supposed to automatically measure the tempo of a song. But you can use such an app to measure the MiniTrack's speed.

Needle roller bearing: track the stars precisely

The MiniTrack's integrated needle roller bearing performs the same role as power-steering in a car: It runs as smooth as silk. This is exactly what is needed, because the MiniTrack tracks the stars smoothly and precisely even when carrying heavier loads.

Looks great, inside and out: CNC housing made completely of aluminium

A real eye-catcher: The body of the MiniTrack Quattro now consists of a single piece of aluminium. No corners have been cut here, which makes this model even more stable. Whatever you demand from your MiniTrack, it will accompany you up mountains or on your travels and will succeed in every astronomy adventure with a smile.

High load-bearing capacity of 4 kilogrammes

The MiniTrack has now become fitter and can carry cameras weighing up to 4 kilogrammes. At the same time, our developers have kept the old and proven form. So the MiniTrack Quattro still fits in any bag. Have you always wanted to use a large and particularly fast lens? Until now, unfortunately it was always too big - but now it's possible.

Find the celestial pole more precisely

Simply use the optical polar finder to find the celestial pole. The MiniTrack comes with a holder and a polar finder, as also seen on large mounts. This makes it even easier to align the MiniTrack for images with point-shaped stars.

Fits on every photographic tripod

The MiniTrack has two connectors: for the tripod and for your camera or a ball head. Attach the mount to your photographic tripod as usual using a 1/4" thread, and align the MiniTrack as required. On the other side, attach a ball head using a 3/8" thread.

GP plate for mounting

Simply attach the MiniTrack to a polar wedge. You don't need a prism rail. A GP Vixen-style plate has been incorporated into the body. Here everything is fully integrated and you no longer need to waste time on screws or spanners.

And if you want to mount the MiniTrack onto a tilt head? There is an integrated 1/4" and 3/8" thread for this purpose.

Invented by Cristian Fattinnanzi, further developed by Omegon

The MiniTrack was developed by Christian Fattinnanzi from Italy. Together with the inventor, Omegon has further developed the MiniTrack and realised it technically. It is now a perennial favourite and is used by thousands of astrophotographers all over the world. To ensure consistently high quality, we manufacture the MiniTrack exclusively in Portugal, where it is assembled and tested by our specialists.

With this fully mechanical mini-mount, you can take astronomy photos in no time at all. No power. No charging. No batteries. Just take photographs. Anytime, anywhere.

Scope of delivery:

MiniTrack LX Quattro
Optical polar finder
Polar finder holder
Insert for the southern hemisphere
Kugelkopf
SPECIFICATIONS
Capacity
Fits ...Camera tripod
Operating temperature
-20 - 60
Max. additional load capacity (kg)
4
Special features
Tracking on DEC axisno
Tracking on RA axisyes
Equipment
Tripod <p>without tripod
Pole finderyes
Ball headyes
General
MaterialAluminium
TypeMount
Type of buildCamera mount

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

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