Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer - Basic Overview 

Wish i a telescope like that

Thanks! No plans currently, but I may branch out into more star trackers in the future!

Any review on the barndoor tracker ??

I'm actually testing out a barndoor tracker right now. I might have a video on it in a month or so.

Hi Jorge, Unfortunatley, you won't be able to do an accurate polar alignment during the day, without any stars. However, it's really not necessary. As long as the star tracker has the right latitude dialed in on the base, and it's pointed up North, it should be okay for solar tracking. I recommend using an app like Stellarium to help you find North, and the North Star, during the daytime. Then you can try to point your star tracker to roughly the same spot. Once you've done a rough alignment, make sure you turn the tracking speed to Solar. From there, you should be good!

I had the opportunity to use the GTI a few times last summer. The Go-To functionality is definitely a nice addition! I also have a few students that use one and they really seem to love it! Unfortunately, I don't have enough experience with it to give a recommendation one way or the other.

Personally, I like the SkyGuider Pro a bit better. The Star Adventurer has a great declination bracket design that makes using a telephoto lens very easy. However, the tracking speed dial tends to get turned on by accident quite often. The plastic covers are junky, and the polar scope requires an external red light illuminator which doesn't work that well. It's also quite large and heavy. The SkyGuider Pro doesn't have any of these problems, but it's declination bracket design is noticeably worse than the Star Adventurers. If you want a complete comparison on all of the trackers, I've got a full review on my website: www.peterzelinka.com/blog/2018/8/which-star-tracker-should-i-get

@@PeterZelinka thanks a bunch!

Yeah, thankfully the Star Adventurer polar scope makes this relatively easy! You'll also want the Star adventurer mini console app on your smart phone, which has a polar clock utility built-in! What you want to do is use that app to find which orientation the Sigma Octans stars are currently in, then rotate your camera mount (and polar scope) until the stars are in the same position. Then you'll use the altitude and azimuth adjustment knobs to fine tune your alignment. I visually explain the polar scope process for the southern hemisphere in the Star Adventurer Full Course: www.peterzelinka.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer-full-course

Peter Zelinka Thank you Peter. Waiting for the new moon to try !!!

Christophe Jammes I'm gonna try to record a new video specifically for the Southern Hemisphere alignment, since I haven't seen a clear and concise one yet! I'll try to get that uploaded before the next New Moon!

Peter Zelinka It would be great !! Think I won't be the only one to need it !!!

Finished the tutorial today! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VKjGc-VjUFk.html

You won't want to attach your ballhead and 150-600mm directly to the circular ballhead mounting adapter. That will seriously stress the whole system. I would only use the "default" mount if I was shooting with a relatively lightweight setup and at a wide angle. The reason you'll need the bracket is to properly distribute the weight and balance of your telephoto lens. It's best to attach the lens directly to the top of the bracket, which will lower the center of gravity considerably. Check out my Star Tracker Tutorial - Deep Space video to see what I mean

You'll want to get the counterweight kit and latitude base (wedge). That should be all you need. You can remove your ballhead from the tripod, attach the latitude base and Star Adventurer. Then use your ballhead to attach your camera to the declination bracket.

Thanks Peter! Look forward to getting into this.

Correct! If you are able to take one long exposure, 2+ minutes, you shouldn't need to do any photo stacking. However, depending on your focal length, you may not be able to shoot as long as you need. For example, I can only get about 30 second exposures at 600mm, so I still need to photo stack. If you're just shooting at a wide angle though, you can easily shoot 4+ minutes and get a clean image

@@PeterZelinka thank you.

From everything I've gathered, you really don't want to go over the weight limit. I'm assuming if you put that telescope on there, you'd find it's impossible to balance it. You'd likely need to get a second counterweight, and then at that point you'd probably have so much weight on the tracker it wouldn't perform very well. However, I've never personally attached that much weight, so I can't say for sure.

I think, technically, they say it's not a good idea to use it in very cold temps. However, you should be able to. I've used my SkyGuider Pro when it was like 11F a few times. It might drain your battery life faster, but it shouldn't hurt the tracker.

Yeah, I use the original version of that lens for most of my Astro photos. The Star Adventurer can handle it no problem!

@@PeterZelinka thanks for reply 😃

Yep, you can do a lot of timelapse panning with the trackers. For example, the Star Adventurer's base goes all the way to 90 degrees. So you could have a horizontal pan over the course of your timelapse. I personally don't too much with timelapses, but if you're creative you can do some cool things!

It's definitely better! I'd recommend getting it if you've been having trouble with the iOptron one. It's a bit more sturdy, can go all the way to 90 degrees, and should turn smoothly.

Peter Zelinka Thank you. I’m going to try it.

Yes, you can see through the polar scope when the Dec bracket is attached. I wouldn't even bother with that illuminator. Just used a headlamp with a red light and shine in briefly over the front of the polar scope to see the reticle

Peter Zelinka Thank you! I was hesitating to buy the adventurer pro because of this.. I think i prefer this one over the skyguider pro because of the better designed declination bracket (you mentioned in other Videos) :-)

Check out my comparison video here on RU-vid, where I break down the differences between all the trackers. In short, I'd go with either the Star Adventurer or SkyGuider Pro. Both are good trackers, but they each have their own minor problems

Thanks for the reply! Also, what's the tripod you use in this video?

@@FarmLapse It's a Gitzo Systematic tripod, not sure the exact model number though

Great question! Realistically, that minor movement won't really matter, especially if you're shooting anything wider than 100mm. Most people are only using wide angle lenses, and even a rough polar alignment will allow you to shoot upwards of 5 minutes without star trails. However, for those shooting at 300mm+, this is definitely a concern. With the Fine Tuning Assembly installed (dec bracket), you can always double check your polar alignment once everything has been installed. Of course, you may have to rotate the entire bracket around to get the Polar Scope in the correct orientation to double check. This is a common problem with both the Star Adventurer and SkyGuider Pro. One thing that can help when using a telephoto lens is auto-guiding. This is a bit more complicated though, and it's something I'll be covering in my upcoming Star Tracker Tutorial series update - the Deep Space Course.

your are right on the wide images. It sounds like skytrackers are good for wide ones only. I face hard time to point distant objects while accurately polar aligned.

@@swapsaraf3 I've been able to capture some great images of distant Nebula and galaxies at 600mm. www.peterzelinka.com/nightscapes/hb6112409

The simple solution if you want accurate alignment with the Adventurer is to align AFTER you install and align your camera! If you use the declination bracket instead of the ball head adapter (the ball head adapter blocks the polar scope) then you can align the polar scope through the slot in the bracket. I have a 3D printed bracket I bought off a French guy on RU-vid which allows the illumination to be fitted in the slot. I also use the Canon right angle viewfinder attached using another of his adapters that I helped him design after seeing the one on his sight for the Seagull right angle viewfinder. Much better for us oldies. Just search for right angle viewfinder adapter star adventure if you want to see Phillipe's videos on it. I think he sells the adapters for around 15 dollars each.

Apologies about the stupid spelling mistakes! Just read it through and realised how bad this auto word insertion is on RU-vid. Why can't we switch it off?

Haha, down in the desert eh? I'm glad I finally made it back into the mountains on this roadtrip. Dark, clear night skies, and cool temps!