Newly acquired Astrophotography mount

I enjoy astrophotography, and one of my main tools is my AstroTrac TT320. The TT320 is a lightweight, easy to set up, and very accurate tracking mount. I was fortunate to own one of the first three TT320 mounts in the US. I have since become a constant user of the TT320. Recently, Richard Taylor, owner of AstroTrac notified me that he would soon be releasing an updated version of his mount, called the TT320X. I immediately put in an order for one, and it arrived from the UK the other day. It has a host of new features, such as solar and lunar tracking, to go along with sidereal tracking (stars). It has been redesigned to carry a 50% increase in load capacity. There were other improvements made as well. I am looking forward to testing out this new mount, and you will see the results here on this blog in the future, as well as my astrophotography website at:
www.darkskyphotos.com

The image above shows the two mounts. The one on the left is the new AstroTrac TT320X. The mount on the right is the AstroTrac TT320. The AstroTracs are the silver long arms with the tracking system at right angles to the arms at the bottom of the arms. Simple, yet elegant.
In case anyone wants to know, the camera on the left is a Canon 40D, with a Sigma 300mm f2.8 telephoto lens. The camera on the right is a Canon 30D, with a Tamron 300mm f2.8 lens.

The image above shows the two mounts from the side, so you can see the design layout of the AstroTrac TT320 mounts. The small telescopes facing upward on each mount are the polar alignment scopes. These are used to align the mount with the north so the unit will track the cameras to counteract the rotation of the earth. Improper alignment of the mounts results in poor images with stars trailing through the photograph.