Sky & Telescope - October 2022 - 65

turn impressive starscapes into stunning
masterpieces. The Polarie U can do
that and more.
Fit and Finish
Roughly fist-size, the Polarie U is
smaller and lighter than most of the
lenses I routinely have in my camera
bag, so it's an easy accessory to carry.
There are threaded sockets on one side
(for equatorial mounting) and one end
(for lime-lapse panning) that attach to
tripods with either a 3
/8 × 16 or (using
the included adapter) a ¼ × 20 mounting
screw. Each mounting surface also
has a thin adapter plate designed to
connect with quick-release tripods
using the Arca Swiss Standard, which
in my experience isn't very common
in the U.S. market. There are, however,
numerous adapters available from camera
stores that attach to any tripod style
and accept the Arca plate.
The business end of the Polarie U has
a movable mounting block with a ¼ × 20
screw typically used for attaching a usersupplied
ball head for holding a camera.
Two large thumbscrews allow rotating
and locking this mounting block to
the Polarie U's motorized shaft. Other
external aspects of the unit are shown
pPowered by four AA batteries or externally via its USB Type C port, the Polarie U is easy to
operate. The on/off switch also sets the tracker's rotation direction for use in either the Northern or
Southern Hemispheres, while the Mode button cycles through the various tracking rates, which are
shown on an illuminated display. The ½ rate runs at half the sidereal tracking speed and is favored
by some starscape photographers to split the apparent trailing equally between the sky and foreground.
C indicates the user-set custom rate for speeds up to 10× sidereal (2½° per minute). The
" smartphone " button turns on the unit's Wi-Fi so that it can connect with the app, as described in
the text.
in the accompanying photographs. The
tracker is powered by four, internally
housed AA batteries that will run the
unit for about seven hours according
to the manual and verified twice by my
own tests using standard Duracell batteries
on mild nights. There's also a USB
port that is only used to power the unit
from an external source that outputs
4.4 to 5.25 volts DC and is rated for a
maximum draw of at least 0.3 amp. It's
worth noting that this is a USB Type C
port, and while I couldn't find any USB
cables with a Type C plug that weren't
already permanently wired to 12-volt
power supplies among my plethora of
USB stuff, you can easily find the right
one on the Internet.
One of the first things that caught
my eye when unpacking the Polarie
U box was the user manual - it's 60
pages long and highly illustrated with
pThe Polarie U is smaller than many of the lenses in the author's camera
bag. And while his significantly larger and heavier Takahashi Sky Patrol
at left has a declination axis and slow-motion adjustments (and was
considered by many to be the gold standard of camera trackers in the
1980s), the Polarie U easily outperforms it for the all-important tracking in
right ascension.
pThe heaviest camera setups tested by the author benefited by using a
simple bar such as the one seen here made from scrap aluminum to offset
the ball head and better balance the camera on the Polarie U's rotational
axis. It was also far easier to polar align the setup with the Sky-Watcher
equatorial base, pictured on a small pier in his observatory. Also shown is
the cable that operates the camera shutter via the Polarie U app.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * OCTOBER 2022 65

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Sky & Telescope - October 2022

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