The mode dial lets you select the tracking rate of the mount. I have listed all of the numbered areas of the mount below. Not the greatest solution, if you ask me. My favorite thing about the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer is the declination bracket and controls. I use it on a wholly inadequate Benro A350EX … The SAM comes in at eight pounds down from the 10 pounds for the Star Adventurer. What I got was the astrophotography kit which is the basic mount, equatorial wedge, and declination L bracket with worm drive slow motion. Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer iOptron SkyTracker Pro iOptron SkyGuider Pro. This is useful to adjust the composition without manipulating the clutch. I just bought the a Star Adventurer and it comes bundled with an adaptor now for the polar light…. Page 1 of 2 - Sky Watcher Star Adventurer first light - posted in Mounts: I purchased one of these a few days ago from The Widescreen Centre in London. As mentioned in Peter Zelinka’s detailed review of the mount, the mode dial can be easily switched on in your camera bag by mistake. The Auto Guider port is where you plug the ST-4 cable to guide the Star Adventurer (only in right ascension). One of the strengths of the StarAdventurer is its ease of use: Setting up the Star Adventurer is reasonably quick, once you get used to the process. Don’t you wish for more? I’ve recently downsized from an 8” SCT and gone with two portable rigs. The one I had from FLO for review I've opened up to see what Skywatcher have done internally. Also, I’m a few hours almost directly west of you. The included adapter is handy to have but I feel that some owners will wonder why the wedge will not fit on their ¼” thread tripod if they haven’t removed it. The Pleiades Star Cluster. And it’s free! That said, it is great for you to try out the Star Adventurer. Iv’e managed to stack 50 x 90 sec exposures of M51 (Whirlpool galaxy) and came out with a great result from a city location. In this video I review a portable tracking mount, the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. The mount tracked perfectly and gave very nice round stars. A lightweight portable aluminium tripod with handy accessory tray, ideal for the Star Adventurer Mini photo mount. I have to get a cls filter though because the light polution here in the netherlands is just aweful. Telescopic leg sections can be extended and clamped in any position using the integral leg locks. The Star Adventurer Pro with the fine-tuning mounting assembly and counterweight attached. What were the reflective safety ‘rings’ (I think they were called) on the tripods and extension cords? At the Members' Viewing Night at Stockport Observatory on the 9 th of January, I tried out my new Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, a compact, versatile mount for wide field photography.. Thanks for the review. I agree with you completely about the many strengths and few weaknesses of this unit. As you know, when it comes to astrophotography, your tripod and mount must be extremely secure and solid for successful results. The combination of flexible tracking rates, qu… Review in Astronomy Technology Today by Gary Parkerson (Read Full Review)"With the introduction of Sky-Watcher's Star Adventurer system, the growing selection of portable tracking mounts just got bigger and more interesting. If you click a link on this page, then go on to make a purchase, we may receive a commission but at no extra cost to you. I must admit, I have not used this feature because I am rather comfortable with my own intervalometer I’ve been using for years. The Star Adventurer Pro has a beautiful little scope in it, and it works great, but you need to attach an external clip to illuminate it. This was the first time I had successfully set it up with drift aligning and guiding. It can also help a Sky-watcher equatorial mount user to do polar alignment with the polar scope. The DEC bracket makes it very easy to attach your camera or telescope to the mount. The basic photography kit is great for short focal length, wide angle photos, but for longer focal of 200-300mm I would recommend getting the Declination "L" bracket and counter weight, (As in photo below). The main difference, though, was in the paint job: the first models were black, then red, and now are painted in white. A common complaint is that removing the batteries proves to be challenging. Svbony SV134 Equatorial Mount Multi-Purpose Micro-adjustment Star Adventurer for Astrophotography Telescope Spotting Scope Binocular Monocular 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 £79.99 £ 79 . Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Astro Package. Use this app to program the camera mount for astrophotography and time-lapse photography. https://astrobackyard.com/sky-watcher-star-adventurer-pro-review I use the iOptron Sky Guider Pro and find that using a red dot finder in my camera’s flash hot-shoe is a great aid for locating targets with a longer lens. Ill stick at that for a while but am interested to know if anyone has experience of using it with a scope. The description in the manual is unreadable. Adjusting the Star Adventurer’s (or any other EQ mounts) Alt/Az controls is a quick and easy process once you get used to it. This is the official companion app for Star Adventurer mini (SAM) and Star Adventurer 2i camera mount manufactured by Sky-Watcher. Canon 6D 70-200mm IS USM L lens (for Andromeda at 200mm) 24-105mm IS USM L lens (for the Milky Way at 24mm) It works fine, it’s just a bit finicky to get right. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great design and it works fine. Almost everyone I talk to complains about the imprecise adjustments and flimsy design. This is an adjustable-height tripod that is also compatible with AZ-GT series and AZ5 Sky-Watcher mounts. By doing so, I was able to get 180sec subs @300mm with perfect round stars. Ive gotten my polar alignment down and best have achieved up to 60sec exposures at 400mm. As with all of the gear I review on AstroBackyard, I was not paid to endorse this mount or any other Sky-Watcher product. I must say, I now realize why everyone was so upset that I did not mention the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro when I discussed the topic of star trackers as a whole. Between adjusting the height of the dovetail bar on the mounting platform, and the counterweight itself, you should be able to really balance your load evenly. With my setting, I have achieved exposure times of « only » 30-45 sec without star trailling (full format camera) with a polar alignement that coud probably be slightly improved, as well as the stability of the tripod. If you find that the configuration including your original photographic tripod is unstable, you should look into the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Tripod. For more, visit www.skywatcher.com The fine-tuning mounting assembly with the ¼” screw is absolutely fantastic. Keep up the good work! Having someone like you who is familiar with so many products do a sensible review is really fantastic for the astrophotography amateurs like me. Just use a planetarium app on your phone, or desktop computer to get an idea of where the object you wish to photograph lies. A lightweight portable aluminium tripod with handy accessory tray, ideal for the Star Adventurer Mini photo mount. Going to try the Veil Nebula with it and the Orion Nebula when it climbs up the sky during winter. The Star Adventurer Astro Package is an ultra portable equatorial mount kit ideal for small telescopes or for astrophotography with camera lenses up to 200-300mm in focal length. Sky-Watcher has now entered the arena with its Star Adventurer DSLR mount, and a great looking thing it is too. The simplest polar alignment procedure can be summarized as: If you are in the Southern hemisphere, you have to use Octans, a relatively faint constellation. Your article is motivating me and so far I share your impressions. I see a new lightweight tracker MSM has an option to use a laser pointer for polar alignment. However, if you’re in the market for your first star tracker, I think you’ll be absolutely thrilled with the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro – just make sure you get the complete package (Pro Pack!). Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro manual (PDF), Choosing a Telescope for Astrophotography (My Top 5 Choices), Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro First Impressions (Video by Dylan O’Donnell), Star Adventurer User Discussion and Setup Photos (Cloudy Nights Forum), Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro Photo Gallery (Flickr Group), Choosing a Star Tracker for Astrophotography, Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro (First Impressions), AstroBackyard | Astrophotography Tips and Tutorials 2021, Dovetail L-Bracket with DEC Fine Adjustment, Time Meridian Indicator Calibration Screw. I own both a red and a white model, and I don’t see any difference in their performances. This is our detailed SkyWatcher Star Adventurer review. The built-in polar scope on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro. Affordable, portable camera tracker mounts are a fantastic way to start, because they are not overly complex, and can provide promising results in a short period of time. The polar scope illumination is accomplished by clipping in a small red LED light on the front of the polar axis. Thus far, I have enjoyed using the Star Adventurer Pro with my 250mm RedCat 51 refractor most. Today my tracker makes confident three-minute exposures with an equipment weight of 3.8 kg. Star Adventurer Mini, Latitude Base, … I bought this pack almost a year ago and find it a great setup for my T3i and 100-400mm L lens. The Star Adventurer fits in almost any photography backpack or bag, making it very easy to travel with. I’d say those stars look pretty round, wouldn’t you? Review - SkyWatcher Star Adventurer. Technical/Customer Support If you have questions about your Sky-Watcher USA product please contact our Technical/Customer Support Department. The setup I used for the review. Instead of breaking your nails, get a plastic knife like those used by toddlers, and you will have no problems. Amazon.com : Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack – Motorized Dslr Night Sky Tracker Equatorial Mount for Portable Nightscapes, Time-Lapse and Panoramas – Wi-Fi App Camera Control – Long Exposure Imaging : Camera & Photo What is you drop/keep ratio when exposing 1.5 minutes subs with the SWSA at 400mm equivalent? I’ve now got a bahtinov mask so that should sort my focus problem and I intend to to underexpose a few shots next time to get some detail in the core. 2 months ago 1 Would this scope attached to a Canon 60D (755g) be too much weight? Also, I think there is something at play if you are getting some trailing in a 90-second image at 300mm. Skywatcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM) Review The Star Adventurer Mini is Skywatcher's ultra-portable approach to an astrophotography and timelapse platform. The polar scope is where you look to perform the polar alignment. Thanks for your very thorough and detailed review of the Star Adventurer Pro (SAP) Trevor. The previous version of this mount was black and red, which would have matched the RedCat a lot better! All star trackers are largely designed the same, with a polar scope going through the tracker, and a camera mount on the front . For me, that means adjusting the altitude control knob so that 43 degrees north is set. Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. What software do you edit your videos in? One for standard time-lapse photography and a second for astrophotography. The dovetail bar and declination bracket that comes with the Star Adventurer is probably my favorite feature of the mount overall. Extra Features. That means finding the location of the object and the constellation that it is in, so you have a point of reference when your outside. For stable version see 1.19.0. He is most interested in deep sky photography with low budget equipment and in helping beginners along their journey under the stars. But you shouldn’t have to upgrade the base for reliable results. The tracking capabilities of a mount depend on the precision of the gears and the precision of the polar alignment.The Star Adventurer has a periodic error that is fairly low for the kind of mount, meaning you can get a good accuracy even with longer exposures and relatively long focal length. The Star Adventurer has a maximum payload of 5kg: this is quite high for the size of the mount. For example, in the northern hemisphere, the Pleiades star cluster is very easy to locate in the night sky, even in a light-polluted area. Mine came with the north south alignment indicator turned about 15 degrees from the alignment of the declination bracket and I can’t figure out how to adjust it. The new 2i version now … It would make a lot of sense to read this in conjunction with my earlier (and similar) review of the larger Skywatcher Star Adventurer. This will be your go-to setup for astrophotography, and you will probably use the Star Adventurer in this configuration most of the time. Once you’ve spotted its location, you simply use the RA and DEC controls of the Star Adventurer to “frame-up” the object using your camera lens or telescope. Reviews & ratings: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack MFR: S20512. In reality, you could probably get away with tightening these screws by hand. Star Adventurer Pro + William Optics RedCat 51. This ensures that I achieve the perfect balance when mounting a small refractor and DSLR camera on top. The Andromeda Galaxy. Once you go beyond wide angle lenses, tracking accuracy still limits you to quite short exposures but a lot can be achieved with this portable 'track and stack' approach. This version is the smallest of the bunch and can handle a maximum payload of 6.6 pounds. Star Adventurer/Star Adventurer Mini . Thanks! Review Summary. Before going into details, let’s first have a quick look at the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer technical specs and at the Pros and Cons of this tracker. Thus I would say 1’ could be the ultimate exposure limit for that mount. The main body of the mount is metal, and the core components like the mode dial, adjustment knobs, and polar scope are solid and secure. De rien mon ami. Q&A (4 questions, 6 answers) Questions & Answers . It fits on most astronomical, photo, or video tripods via its 1/4″ and 3/8″ adaptor. If you are constantly on the move and mostly interested in starry landscapes and star fields, the compact and fully mechanical Omegon Minitrack LX3 tracker is worth considering. I borrowed Peter Zelinka’s tip regarding polar alignment and downloaded the free Star Adventurer Mini console app. The Star Adventurer can attach to … Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. The azimuth screws on either side of the wedge base are simple and easy to adjust. Looks like clear skies tonight. I need to borrow your bag of magic tricks! After using iOptron star trackers for deep-sky astrophotography exclusively, it was time to see what all the fuss was about. Experimental version. The main unit can be mounted to a tripod in two different ways. Once you are polar aligned, you can dial the mode dial to 1X celestial tracking rate, which will match the apparent motion of the night sky. Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Photo Package Customer Reviews. The operation and movement were very smooth, although it was a little choppy in one or two places. Although I always bring a spare set of AA batteries with me when traveling with the mount, it would be a shame to run the batteries dry by accidentally turning the mount on. Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Motorised Mount – Astro Package. At the Members' Viewing Night at Stockport Observatory on the 9 th of January, I tried out my new Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, a compact, versatile mount for wide field photography.. As a preface, it’s worth noting that I use this mount for astrophotography exclusively, and I am in the northern hemisphere. However, I am sure some people would reject a higher number of subs to achieve a sharper final image. My native language is Russian, it happened so) I have been using this tracker since 2015, now I can say that just out of the box it will work with restrictions. "It's the perfect companion for minimalist visual observing, wide-field astrophotography and time-lapse capture." Pricing is sub $500 for the pro pack and I think it is a great deal. So how does the Star Adventurer Pro compare the SkyGuider? The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro is an extremely popular portable star tracker designed for astrophotography. Star Tracker Vs Equatorial Mount: What To Buy? To fit a camera to the Star Adventurer 2i, either a tripod Ball Head can be fitted (not supplied) or to the supplied Dovetail L-Bracket. I personally am jealous I don’t have an awesome youtube channel and get to try out all this cools stuff! Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020 Style: Single Verified Purchase I used this wedge for about two years, and I've just recently purchased a William Optics wedge to compare it to. SkyWatcher Star Adventurer Photo Package Equatorial Wedge (Recommended. However, to “lock” the azimuth position down, you’ll need to use an Allen key to tighten the bolts down all the way. The Star Adventurer Astro Package is an ultra portable equatorial mount kit ideal for small telescopes or for astrophotography with camera lenses up to 200-300mm in focal length. The star adventurer has a maximum capacity of 5kg, the scope seems to be 2.47kg. The simple device runs on a small battery and can be switched on and off. My knees and neck fell much better since I applied 3D printing to asrophoto materials. This makes polar alignment MUCH easier.) I think some people over react in the comments section. This is the first piece of astrophotography equipment you should consider, and the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer is one of the most highly regarded trackers among amateur astrophotographers. If your interests lie in wide-angle nightscapes or Milky Way photography, chances are a ball head is your best option. As for any mount, the longer the focal length, the more visible the tracking errors become, and you will reject a larger number of frames than when working at short focal lengths. For me, this is often a large nebula or galaxy, but it could be anything from a star cluster to a comet. I am wondering if the CLS could not directly give a result similar to a Ha file used as a luminance layer blended with sparate RGB layers. Buy Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Tripod featuring Adjustable 25 to 44.75" Height, Standard 3/8"-16 Mounting Thread, 1.25" Anodized Aluminum Legs, Low-Profile Twisting Leg Locks, Large Center Accessory Tray. Polar align means that the mount has to be aligned to the celestial pole. If you own a DSLR camera and a sturdy tripod, the Star Adventurer Pro opens up the world of astrophotography to you. I am a absolute beginner in astrophotography, but amateur photographer since thenths of years. While the illuminator fits in the Star Adventurer body, you need the adaptor to mount it on the declination plate. I have to say though I’m shocked that you were able to image M31 with the Redcat and that skinny mount! SkyWatcher Star Adventurer PRO is one of the most highly regarded trackers among amateur astrophotographers and won’t cost the earth. AKA TicTac Jac (youtube ID). My aim is to get the best images possible of nebulae with that equipment (maybe later on upgrading the tracker to a skyguider/skywatcher adventurer and the lens for a small refractor such as the WO Z61 that you highly recommend). I agree that the polar scope is the weakest part of the package. The AstroTrack (together with the optional head, wedge and polar scope) was rather pricy last time I checked. Thanks again for all you do to keep us informed and motivated. The iOptron SkyGuider Pro wins in the polar scope department. Introducing the new Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i, the most advanced star tracker in its class. After readings your papers on the use of Ha filter, I have a question relative to which filter to use with the newly aquired Canon : a Ha or an Astronomik CLS (cutting pollution wavelengths, with good transmition of O and H bands). Full-grown equatorial mounts are superior to star trackers in many ways, offering better accuracy with heavier equipment and a computerized GOTO system to let you frame your target with ease. Also, the AA battery compartment is very tight and swapping batteries with just your fingertips can be a pain.