- 5 stars: 109 (83%)
- 4 stars: 17 (13%)
- 3 stars: 2 (2%)
- 2 stars: 3 (2%)
- 1 star: 1 (1%)
Easy instructions plus YouTube and Pintrest images helped get me up and running very quickly.
A perfect accessory for the Nomad with having the ability to orient the phone in any way to do polar alignment through the phone. I paired this with the Polar scope and the Polar laser pointer to cover any possible scenarios or need. I cannot recommend it enough!
The MSM NOMAD tracker with Polar Laser aligner was easier to set up than I thought and it worked perfectly the first time I used it. Can't wait for more clear dark skies to try it again.
I used to use a laser to align my MSM tracker to polaris but I would often have difficulty because of objects in the way such as trees or houses. With the phone mount, this issue goes away and worked flawlessly with my phone app to get my MSM tracker alignment just right. Photo take with MSM tracker, using Phone Mount for Astrophotography, 120 seconds, 1 photo (no stacking), Nikon Z8 with Nikon Z 14-24mm S-line
This phone mount is great for using your cell phone to do your polar alignment. The only drawback is if you're using a Samsung Fold (any version) in a case. When folded it's slightly too thick for the mount to grip the phone properly without interfering with the side buttons.
It is light weight. It is quite straight forward to use the phone mount to polar align with Polaris. Using a 135mm lens to shot and was able to get some good images of the Orion Nebula. Easy and quick to charge the Nomad and the battery charge is able to last for my imaging session.
I love it because i can simply screw it on Nomad tracker and even on Fornax Lightrack 2i!
Its also great that have a rechargable battery and so small i can put it in the bag together with Nomad.
The Day Time Polar Align kit is easy to use, but it is not accurate enough to keep the sun in frame during an eclipse. Anyone want mine? Just pay shipping.
With this alignment it is far easier to find the polar star on the night sky, and in case the use of a laser is questionable, that's the way to go for polar alignment
I thought I'd just add my technique for aligning as some people have problems getting the phone lined up with the MSM. First I mount the MSM on a tripod and make sure it is level (I use the side mount method and a leveller to make this easy). Then using a bubble level app I get the phone perpendicular to the MSM on the bracket. I then use the Daytime/No Polarscope Align function in PS Align Pro to align the MSM with the Pole star (Sth or Nth as appropriate). A great piece of kit!
I don’t do polar alignment in the orthodox manner. I use PS Align Pro’s “No Polarscope Alignment” feature. I put the iPhone in the holder with the top of the phone parallel to the back of the rotator and the face of the phone parallel to the top of the rotator. I lock down the mount’s ballhead. Now the phone is parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotator. I then align with PSAlign Pro. I haven’t gone beyond two minute exposures with a 24mm lens, but this method works well for that and there’s no stooping this way!!
I bought this as a gift for a friend. Very compact and solid indeed. I did test it before giving it to my friend. I really liked the cellphone attachment. With the Photo Pils app, I was able to quickly polar align without having to have Polaris in view.
https://sandiway.arizona.edu/msm/
It it weren't for 'autofocus' and LED screen magnification, my photography hobby/career would be in real trouble. I'm not blind, but I have visual impairment due to macular degeneration and viewing things through a view finder or telescope is challenging. Now, thanks to iPhone polar alignment with PhotoPills, I can actually do some astrophotography of the Milky Way. Using the bracket to attach my iPhone to the MoveShootMove rotator, I can polar align on the phone screen, even if I can't see Polaris due to clouds, trees, houses, mountains, or bad eyes.
On three different attempts I've been able to get good enough polar alignment to shoot using a 20mm lens with exposures of 1-2 minutes to get nice pinpoint stars. I have not tried longer lenses yet or longer exposure times, so I can't speak to ultimate limitations, but for me, it's been wonderful.
I actually bought the polarscope and laser pointer along with the iPhone bracket so I have all the options, but it's possible I'll never even bother with those other two methods, at least not for Milky Way and big sky photography.
This mount is a must have in the Southern Hemisphere, used alongside the PhotoPills app alignment is a piece of cake. Very happy with the ease of setup and use
Phone Mount is very easy and quickly to set up, which I then aligned using Polar Scope Align Pro app. Tracking 30 seconds images to stack at 20mm becomes very easy.
As you can see in the product images on the MSM shopping page, the holder doesn’t align exactly with the rotator when it’s screwed on, so you have to align the phone by rotating the ball head holding it. That works fine when using PhotoPills AR to center the NCP. But be aware that there is a little bit of lateral play at the ball head (about6 degrees in each direction on my holder), so when setting up the holder, measure the distance of each arm to the rotator to be sure they are equal, otherwise your NCP alignment will be off a few degrees.
The phone mount is well made and greatly helps in polar alignment, especially as I stay near the equator and cannot see polaris and both laser and scope is useless. Now all i need is point north and set my rotator to the my latitude angle with the help of the phone.
Very easy to use product, quick setup, lightweight ideal for travel and accurate. I'm a big fan!
The phone mount is very well made, sturdy and doesn’t wobble. I’m very satisfied. One criticism I do have is the physical alignment with the tracker.
There are no locking points, scales or markings on the ball head to help find the right-angle position. Movement is completely free in the horizontal, lateral and longitudinal planes, and I had trouble achieving an exact parallel alignment between my phone and the Startracker.
The phone mount for my MSM Rotator really makes it easy to polar align. I am unable to see Polaris with a laser from my home location, so it was a big help!
The MSM has become my main star tracker among the few that I have from different brands. It is well built and prosaic, only one switch for North, off, South. I have spend hours tracking the Milky Way with no problems. I can highly recommend this little gem.