Instruction Manual
Northern Hemisphere & Southern Hemisphere
Omegon® MiniTrack Quattro NS
English Version 11.2021 Rev. A, Art.-Nr. 69307
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The Omegon® MiniTrack Quattro NS
Congratulations on the purchase of the Omegon® MiniTrack Quattro NS. This mechanical mount will give you hours of fun.
It is the ideal companion for the beginner, intermediate and advanced amateur who is looking for a compact and carry-on
mount solution. It’s simple design and mechanical quality makes the MiniTrack Quattro NS a unique tool for wide-field
astrophotography. It can work everywhere on the planet, i.e. both in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
1. What’s included?
A- Hex Key;
B- Polar finder;
C- South arm;
2. MiniTack’s features.
We recommend knowing the different MiniTrack’s Quattro NS
features.
Side A components:
1- 3/8” thread for ball-head;
2- Polar finder scope;
3- Polar finder holder;
4- Plastic retainer;
5- Body;
6- Thumbnut (two);
7- Winding-knob;
8- Alignment through-hole;
9- Spring retainer.
Side B components:
10- Timer screw with washer;
11- Screw slit;
12- 3/8” thread for tripod;
13- ¼”thread for tripod;
14- Spring post;
15- Spring;
16- Spring castellations;
17- Vixen-style dovetail;
18- Locking bolt.
3. How does the MiniTrack
Quattro NS mount work?
The MiniTrack Quattro NS
“follows” i.e. tracks the
apparent movement of the
night sky. The NS stands for
Northern and Southern
Hemisphere as the mount is
capable of tracking the sky
on both earth’s hemispheres.
The sky “rotates” roughly
around Polaris – the
northern Star – in the
Northern Hemisphere and
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around the South Celestial Pole (or SCP) in the southern hemisphere. In order to successfully track, the mount must point
Attention!
Please release the tiny locking bolt (#18) before using the Minitrack Quattro NS!
Locking mechanism: please release the locking bolt before
use otherwise the winding-knob will be locked!
either to Polaris or to the SCP. This is called setting the mount in station. The mount sits on a tripod head allowing a certain
degree of inclination. Usually the inclination corresponds to the latitude of the user’s location. Besides that, a ball head is
required so that the camera can be easily pointed to the desired object. Then wind-up the built-in timer and you are ready
to go!
4. How to mount the MiniTrack Quattro NS?
4.1. The MiniTrack Quattro NS is compatible with any ¼” or ⅜” tripod plates.
Set the mount to the tripod’s plate (not supplied) as shown. Make sure that
the mounts is set so that the inclination can be adjusted if necessary.
4.2. Make sure the mount is parallel to the adapter base. This is important
because the inclination needs to be fine-tuned to set the mount in station.
Check “how to set the mount into station” in 5.2. (for the Northern
Hemisphere)
4.3. The mount is supplied with
a locking mechanism. It is
important to lock the mount
first before attaching the ball
head. Use the supplied hex-key
(A) to tighten the Alignment
screw (#18) so that it protrudes
the Alignment through-hole (#8) as shown below. Now
that it is locked you can thread the 3/8” threaded ball head (not included).
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4.4. The ball-head must be securely fixed. Make sure to tighten it well. All
Centre of gravity: the setup’s
centre of gravity plays a major role
for accurate tracking. Please make
sure to determine where the
centre of gravity is and use an
additional (not supplied) Arca
Swiss-type of dovetail if necessary.
the weight from the camera will rest on the ball-head. Besides that, a wellfixed ball-head ensures that there will be no slippage during long-exposures.
At this point, it is important that the ball-head knobs are also tight. This
prevents movement when installing the camera.
4.5. Install the tripod plate (included only with the ball-head version) to the
camera. Make sure the adapter is square to the camera base and well tighten.
4.6. Set the camera (with the adapter) to the ball’s-head base. Make sure to
tighten it well. Please notice that the ball-head has two additional knobs. One
fixes the ball’s-head position in azimuth (360 deg) while the other fixes the
ball’s-head pointing direction (in altitude). These two degrees of orientation
allows the user to point to any desired object in the sky. Make sure both are
well tighten before installing the camera. Release the knobs – just slightly – to
allow pointing the camera to different directions.
Please note that good balance is a required for a proper functioning mount.
How to balance the camera on the ball head?
The centre of gravity must always sit on an imaginary line to the centre of the
ball’s-head base, as shown below. If that is not the case, please use a dovetail
system to achieve this.
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All texts, illustrations and symbols are the property of nimax GmbH.
5. Northern Hemisphere configuration
How to identify Polaris?
Polaris is not the brightest star on the sky but still easy to identify. Look up
to north and try to find the Big Dipper (constellation). This is a very
recognisable constellation. Polaris is about six times the distance and
direction of two of it’s brightest stars – Merak and Duhbe.
5.1. Alignment with Polaris
Point the mount to the Polaris. It is not important to be exactly
aligned with the Polaris– a rough alignment is fine. Upon installing
the supplied polar finder (B) we will look in more detail on how to
have the star in the centre of the polar finder (B) field of view.
5.2. To align the mount to Polaris with more precision slide the polar finder (B) to the polar finder holder (#1).
5.3. Peek through the polar finder (B) and centre Polaris in the visual field.
Turn the tripod’s fine-adjustment levelers to do so. Please read the
following section for more details on how to correctly use the MiniTrack
Quattro NS and the importance of correct balance.
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6. Balancing the MiniTrack Quattro NS on the East hemisphere (applies only for Northern Hemisphere configuration).
How to determine if the timer is not able to push the setup?
Listen to the timer ticking without any load. Compare that sound to when the setup is assembled. Is there a huge sound
difference? – i.e. the timer is not as loud as it should be – then the spring tension must be adjusted.
The ticking tempo should be around 135 bpm. Adjust the spring position to the “+” sign side to accelerate tempo or to
the “-“ sign to slower the tempo.
Note: Several Apps are available to count tempo. We suggest to use one to better determine the exact tempo.
The built-in timer pushes the
photo setup to track the night
sky. If the setup’s centre of
mass is slightly off to the West
side of the hemisphere, the
generated arm-moment helps
the timer to track the objects,
this is good. However, the
opposite, i.e. if the setup is
more off-balanced to east side
it may happen that the timer
will have difficulties to push
and track conveniently. For
that reason the built-in spring
system acts as a counterweight and gives an extra help to the timer by
adding additional push force.
6.1. Tensioning the spring.
For setups, slightly off-balance use the first positions. You can feel that the spring is not under a lot of tension. Use the
spring at its highest tension only for heavy setups and strong unbalance. See below how to choose the spring’s position.
Please avoid unnecessary spring tension as this might alter the timer’s clock tracking rate!
6.2. Pointing East. When the
weight of the camera setup
tends to rotate the ball-head
in an anti-clockwise direction,
the spring should be
tensioned to one of the
numbered teeth, based on
how strong the imbalance is.
By tensioning the spring in
position 5 (worst case
scenario) a weight of up to
4kg can be balanced – i.e.
pointing to the Zenith
with the camera body
towards the east in respect to the ball-head.
6.3. Pointing South. The spring can be completely disengaged (position “0”) or let it work at idle (position”1”).
6.4. Pointing West. Aiming towards West, especially if there is a strong imbalance, it could happen that the timer
“accelerates” because of the load in favour of the movement, for which the “R” tooth has been added, which allows to
compensate also this unbalancing type, by braking the rotation motion (last figure on the right – top).
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All texts, illustrations and symbols are the property of nimax GmbH.
7. Southern Hemisphere configuration
The south hemisphere configuration is to be used below the
equator. In the southern hemisphere, the sky “rotates” on the
opposite direction. For that reason, it is necessary to add an
additional arm (C) to the mount and invert the sense of the
timer’s movement.
7.1. Release and remove the two thumbnuts (#8 Side A).
7.2. Release and unscrew the timer screw with washer (#10)
using a Philips-style screwdriver (not included).
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7.3. Push the winding knob (#6) away from the arm in
order to slide the arm to the left – please push it slightly
only and make sure the spring preventing this movement.
7.4. Remove the winding knob (#6) and the timer screw
and washer (#10) as shown.
7.5. Turn the winding knob (#6) 180 degrees form it’s
original position (up-side down) and screw back the timer
screw and washer (#12 Side B) but do not tighten it yet!
7.6. Place the South arm (C) and adjust it to the arm so
the it is placed between the winding knob and the timer.
Make also sure that the two protruding studs and the
arm’s thru holes are aligned. The Winding knob should
move freely and be easily adjustable to the South arm’s
teeth.
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7.7. Push the assembled arm back to it’s original position.
Make sure to keep the winding knob remains “up-side
down”.
7.8. Push the arm to the timer and the winding knob
against the teeth. Use a Philips-style screwdriver (not
supplied) to fix it in place. It is important to not
overtighten the screw as it may damage the timer and its
performance.
9.1. Tensioning the spring.
For setups, slightly off-balance, use the first positions as shown (image to the left). You can feel that the spring is not under
a lot of tension. Use the spring at its highest tension only for heavy setups and strong unbalance. See below how to choose
the spring’s position.
Please avoid unnecessary spring tension as this might alter the timer’s clock tracking rate!
9.2. Pointing West. When the
weight of the camera setup
tends to rotate the ball-head
in a clockwise direction, the
spring should be tensioned to
one of the castellations,
based on how strong the
imbalance is. By tensioning
the spring in position +5
(worst case scenario) a weight
of up to 4kg can be balanced
– i.e. pointing to the Zenith
with the camera body
towards the west in respect
to the ball-head.
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9.3. Pointing North. The spring can be completely disengaged (position “R”) or let it work at idle (position”1”).
How to identify Crux?
Crux is a constellation with the shape of a kite. If align the head and the
tail of the kite an count 4.5x to the tail you get a rough position of the
south celestial pole (SCP).
Quick overview of what is needed to setup the Quattro!
1. Thread the ball-head
2. Release the locking pin
3. Place the mount with the ball-head to the tripod’s base
4. Place the camera to the ball-head making sure that – the camera setup is balanced in regards to the ball head!
5. Install the polar finder
6. Peek through the polar finder to set the mount in station (precise alignment)
7. Rotate the winding knob.
8. Frame the camera
9. Check tempo (metronome)
10. Adjust spring position so that the tempo is correct
11. Start shooting!
9.4. Pointing West. Aiming towards West, especially if there is a strong imbalance, it could happen that the timer
“accelerates” because of the load in favour of the movement, for which the “R” tooth has been added, which allows to
compensate also this unbalancing type, by braking the rotation motion (last figure on the right – top).
10. Aiming to South Celestial Pole (SCP)
10.1. Identify the Crux constellation near the SCP. Align the stars as shown in the figure and count 4.5x it’s distance in the
same direction to find the SCP. Upon installing the supplied polar finder (B) we will look in more detail on how to have the
star in the centre of the polar finder (B) field of view.
10.2. To align the mount to the
SCP with more precision slide
the polar finder (B) to the polar
finder holder (#3)
10.3. Peek through the polar
finder (B) and check if the polar
finder is pointing to the region
of the sky as shown before. Turn
the tripod’s fine-adjustment
levelers to adjust if necessary.
Please read the sections on how
to correctly use the MiniTrack LX
Quattro NS and the importance
of correct balance before using the mount.
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All texts, illustrations and symbols are the property of nimax GmbH.
11. Calculating maximum tracking time. The MiniTrack Quattro NS is designed to carry setups up to 4 kg and track during
Time (min) = 100 / Objective focal length (mm)
Objective focal length
Maximum recommended exposure
24mm
4 minutes 10sec
50mm
2 minutes
60mm
1min 40sec
100mm
1 min
60min. This is important to know because setups exceeding this limit may considerably reduce the tracking quality and
total tracking time. Something to notice is the objective’s focal length. Wide-field objectives (low focal length) allow for
more exposure time. Rule of thumb: one can calculate the tracking time without star trailing by using the following
formula:
11.1. Example.
Camera + objective = 3.8 kg; Objective’s focal length 50mm.
This is within the specifications of the mount. We should expect to achieve 100 / 50mm = 2 minutes of tracking without
any problems.
What if the weight exceeds the carrying capacity or if we use more exposure time than the recommended?
Then we will see some star trailing becoming more evident. It may be necessary to try different exposure times to better
judge which one better fit each setup.
12. Resources. For more information please refer to on-line content such as videos. There is also a very active facebook
group (in Italian) about the MiniTrack LX with hundreds of followers and many contributions. The inventor, Mr. Cristian
Fattinnanzi is also a member of this group and would gladly give some information and tips on how to use this mount.
Main language is however Italian.
Minitrack LX
https://www.facebook.com/groups/445728915521396
Omegon Minitrack - deutschsprachig (german)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/509726696204211
Official Omegon MiniTrack LX group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/249999025912701
13. Features.
Carrying capactity: 4 kg
Balancing: using spring system (no counterweight)
accepts ball heads with 3/8” photo thread.
Total tracking time: 60 min
Polar finder: included
Hemisphere: Northern and Southern (NS version)
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