The bearings and structure of this design are very tough. Properly balanced you can easily extend the weight load beyond the 11 lbs to at least one-third more. The key is good balance and a very sturdy tripod. Do a thorough test of balance in the range of mount movement the photograph will be taken. Take nothing for granted, do the tests. Your biggest threat to doing this is wind, chose low wind nights. Extra or larger weight will be needed, this will enable you to keep the weight closer to the mount which limits axial inertia. Weight in this position acts like a stabilizer to the mount.
Hi there, im curios to find someone using over the payload with an ED80 and how it goes. Have you tried it at all with larger, how's the balance? I want to swap the RedCat51 for a skywater ed80 (4.1kg) with small guide and scope and dslr
I’ve been watching your videos for a while, and love your content. I’ve been looking at getting into the hobby and buying the 2i for a while and was just about to pull the trigger until I saw this. I’m glad I didn’t. This looks so much more robust for not much more. I have a standard carbon fiber tripod I use for normal photography. Any idea if a standard tripod for regular photography would be sturdy enough for this?
I used a feisol carbon fiber tripod with the 2i and approx 5.5kg of gear. It worked fine for 12 months and then the metal base suddenly broke in the middle of the night. Luckily i was stranding next to my rig so I could catch it. If you use a carbon fiber tripod, don't stretch out thr legs all the way and don't use it, the tripod to help yourself back up after polar alignment. Not that I did that everytime, but I did sometimes catch myself doing it. So make sure you don't, I'm certain that it accelerated the demise of my tripod. (It's payload capacity was 38lb)
I'm still waiting for a tripod built like a surveyors tripod that has a step-on foot that lets you sink the tripod into the ground for maximum STABILITY! Why has no one ever done this!? Oh... just so people know... tripod not included meaning this is over $1000 if you get it with one.
Thanks for the review Trevor, this looks like a very promising mount. I feel like I have made it my mission in life to find the ultimate portable EQ mount, and this one definitely ticks a lot of my boxes.
Thank for the review Trevor - always enjoyable. I just pre-ordered the GTi on April 28 and am looking forward to my very first star tracker mount. Up until now, I have been using the motor drive that came with my Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ. It is a very basic motor drive, but it did help me get into astrophotography. I recently upgraded to a 70mmED doublet scope, so I am very pumped up and waiting for this mount so I can increase my exposure times and collect more data. I hope the shipping is not too delayed !
Oh my God. I've been using the star adventurer for 2 years and I've been looking for a goto for me for a year. This will be it I think. Let the research begin!
Hey Trevor!! :-D "Why are you still using a hand controller!!" LOL 😀 This little mount is so nice looking! lots of great features/upgrades to the general quality of life from a "normal" star-tracker! Loved the video, as always dude :-) Keep up the superb work!
Thanks for a great review. Very excited to buy one of these as soon as they become available. It will be a nice upgrade from the Az-Gti in EQ mode I am currently taking on my travels.
Hi Trevor, you have inspired me to start looking into space so yesterday I bought my first telescope and looked at the moon and I was so surprised at the quality. Thank you. Jackmaglon
it looks more sturdy than the non-goto earlier trackers congratulations sky-watcher on the first goto tracker looking forward to seeing how it performs another high quality video trevor . great info cheers
Respected sir, As galaxies and planets , Stars near our solar system is moving away from us in an INCREASING RATE In the expansion of universe(due to dark energy).....Will Astronomy(observing of stars planets and galactic events) become more and more difficult in future days? Thank you sir 🌟
Not sure if you reply to comments after a few months, as lots of you tubers don’t bother but …. While I agree this is great for a camera. Pushing it to have an AA+, guide scope, EAF and 2600mc… and a couple of dew straps…. Im finding it’s struggling in certain positions no matter the balance. Have you experienced this at all ?? - Alex
Great vid! Would the usb allow connection to an ASIAIR in the same way you’d connect one to a go to mount via an RS232? That would mean you could plate solve and control the goto on ASIAIR. Clear skies!
Can't wait to check this one out. I have been using the AZ-GTi in EQ for travel purposes and while it does the job ok it requires a lot of fiddling and tuning to get stable tracking. This looks a lot less janky.
Great review, thanks! I am also disappointed with the 11 lbs payload. Although it likely can handle my current gear (~6 lbs) I am looking for a Go-To mount with a bit more than 11 lbs payload so I get some room for additional gear while still being portable. I am resisting on going into a heavy/cumbersome mount.
Yeah, the 11 lbs kind of surprised me too - but if you watched the SW launch video, they loaded it up with MUCH more weight (C6!) and it performed well!
I have both the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer and SAM with all the mounting accessories. I use ASI for polar alignment and tracking. I spent more time aiming at my target. This will definitely cut the time on set-up and more time getting more frames.
I'm totally new to this. I'm trying to confirm the function of a couple of knobs. Is the "ALT Lock" supposed to be locked after adjusting? What does the "AZ adjustment" do?
Only eleven pound payload. My rig takes it right to the limit. Unsure I want to be limited… maybe I continue to wait for the right goto mount deal. Lol.
I really enjoy your videos Trevor! ??Question?? What does “payload” mean exactly? Does it mean just camera/scope accessories? Or total weight combined including the counter wt and shaft, camera/scope accessories etc? Thank you Trevor!!! I also enjoyed your bird photo shoots, i learned a lot!
I run my mount with the svbony48p with all my Asiair equipment weight at 8.6lbs and it has been petty good so far. But I do have the newer one with two counter weights.
Great review! I was just trying out my new SA 2i this last week and thinking how much better of an experience it would be with dec control and goto capability. I should have waited and bought this instead!
Thank you for the useful content. I have a question. Do you think that this would work for a 102 mm svbony 503 (9lbs) for VIEWING only as a goto and tracker without breaking?
I just received a GTi. I'd like to know how you are mounting your camera? I have a Fuji XT-3 that I'd like to pair with a Fujifilm 70-300mm for the April 8th eclipse. Any links would be appreciated.
Can you show us how the camera plugin works ? I believe that you can connect a camera and Gti triggers the camera ???? Can you verify this. Cheers Frank
Would this pair well with the William Optics Triplet APO Refractor and the William Optics 50mm Guiding Scope piggybacked? The OTA and guide scope only weighs 6.05 lbs combined. But I also have to consider my camera, autoguider, etc.
Does anyone use an ED80 with this? Hows the payload if slightly over? Wanting to change out the redcat51 and try an ED80 with small guide scope (30mm) and aso mini guide cam. Stuck between this and the EQ35i. (Im deaf so some tutorials are hard with no transcribe). Thanks for the video, they're always great
Hi, im thinking about running the Skywatcher GTI with the ZWO Aslair plus and guide scope. Would it be worth it or should i just get the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i WiFi Pro? or any other star tracker you'd recommend? any advise would be grateful. Thanks
Trevor, there are times when I hate you (not really)... I'm on a limited budget and bought the AZ-GTi (configured in EQ mode)... so missing the polariscope.. and have then had to do all sorts of weird and wonderful laptop connections to get plate solving PA connected to my DSLR. Then saw that this was coming out (available "Summertime" in UK from FLO and others) that was bad enough when id already gone slightly over budget, now seeing your video.." anyone want a AZ-GTi ? and guess I'm also gonna have to sell a kidney!" great review though!
I see not the important difference or better revolution, between Star Adventurer GTO and EQ3 GTO. In my Opinion the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTO ist a new EQ3 Mount. Clear Skies Felix
Hi Trevor - Thank you for posting this review. It has been helpful. Pls can you advise that how did you bolt your lens on the mount. I understand that you used a vixen style dovetail plate by William Optics. But how did you fix/bolt the lens on the dovetail plate. Is there any recommended brand of screws that you would advise us to use?
Mr astrobackyard there is a comet named c/2021 o3 PanSTARRS coming this month 19- may 6 peak in April 22 visible all over the world minmum magnitude of 4.92 got the information recently
Hey have you heard anyone run a payload a bit over 5kg max on the GTi? I wanna run mine with a GSO 6”Ritchey-Chrétien (5.4kg) plus a dslr 0.5 so 6kg all up.
Thanks for this informative video. I think it has swayed me to this product. I'll be using a Canon Mirrorless APS-C camera. I haven't seen a video yet utilising a mirrorless thought. Any problems that you know of? With the App that you use, is that supported on iPhone and what was the name of it please, I missed it in the video. Thank you!
I don't understand the need for this product. The eqm35 is just as portable and more capable payload, tracking accuracy, it is modular... if the selling point is that this thing can be controlled via WiFi then you're probably also considering talking to cameras, guiding, etc, at which point I am pretty sure you will choose something else like the ASIAIR or a small PC. This mount solves nothing.
I bought mine in MidApril. It’s now July 22 and I’m still waiting for it. I just know if I cancel my order, I’ll find out that they’re being shipped. So… I wait. And wait. And wait.
when it says 11lb max capacity, using my Canon R5 & 500mm f4 Mk1 Lens comes it at 10.5lb - would the performance / stability be less than stellar at this extreme limit?
Hello my friend At night we see stars so even without a polar star we can align the starwatcher gti and generally every tracker. What do we do on the day we would like to track the sun? Since the only object we see is the sun. How to setup ? Thank you
Greetings Trevor. Do you know if Pole Master makes an adapter for the GTI as yet? Love the videos, always learning something from you. Thank you so very much and God bless.
Great video as always. I recently bought the GTi for my wife. Am struggling with how to implement "Go To". In your video it looked like you were using a phone app and instructing the mount to go to Sirius. The footage looks like there is the mount and just a camera body and lens. Do you need a tracking scope and a Pc to implement GO TO, or does the mount simply go to the Dec and RA coordinates?
I just ordered the GTi. Not sure why I am nervous about the purchase. I guess it is since this is my first dive into more serious astrophotography. I am excided and eventually will work my way up to a telescope and higher end mount. I wish I didn't have to drive 4 hours to get away from serious light pollution. I envy that you can do this in your back yard.
I wonder if a small radio telescope dish (2.6 feet 12 lbs? )could be mounted on the star watcher... or it could be nicknamed the stare-watcher for long monitoring? 🤣 thank you. 😎
Hey did you manage to find that snap cable. Do you know what snap cable to buy to use with Sony A7C camera (type c port). It seems nobody is able to make it work. I cannot find a cable in first place.
Hey man. Do you think it will hold the Celestron Astromaster 130? If not, then I just gonna buy the Star Adventurer 2i and will use it with my mirrorless.
How does this compare to the eqm-35? They seem fairly similarly priced. I am kind of considering one of these two but it is like 2x the price of the 2i pro pack so I might just go back to that.
Worst roll-out of a product I've ever seen. For all who pre-ordered the latest word now is beginning July. If it slips after that I'm canceling my order.
That 11 lb payload limit is a deal breaker for me. It makes no sense since i already have the 2i which has the same payload. The goto is not worth the price. Besides, doesn't the plate solving on the asiAir kinda already do that for you? If the asiAir knows where its at, why would you need goto? I guess if you don't have the asiAir or any other means of tracking the night sky then the built in goto is ok .. still the price and payload limit ruin it for me no matter what...
I have the 2i and love the idea of being able to guide Dec as well. However, here in the southern hemisphere, fine polar alignment is a pita. If only the they had a package with an electronic polar scope like the iOptron Skyguider Pro. I won't be upgrading until there is an option that allows me to polar align without fuss.
Is it true that this mount cannot counterbalance a lighter setup? I only have a mirrorless camera and a 135mm lens, I'm wondering if this setup is too light.
I need some help please! I'm trying to use my startracker with a DSLR camera in my backyard but it never seems to have the polar allining done right. I also cannot see any stars through the polar scope and it might be that polaris is covered by a tree. Whenever I "go to" it points at a completely wrong spot
Great video as always. But it does seem like you overhype the mount. I've heard others express problems with it, and it seems like you see none. Almost like this is a paid ad. Would love to hear more pros and cons in your next review. Clear skies!
But only 5kg payload. Still a poor saddle bolt style fixing which marks you gear. So no better than the az-gti which is goto and probably far cheaper. So no real improvement for astrophotographers.
Thanks for this very informative video. As an amateur radio operator, I was wondering if in addition to tracking stars it could track the International Space Station and other various satellites?
After you polar align then turn on live view on the camera, should Polaris be in the center of the live view screen or off center according to the position in the app? Thanx for the info.
You should check out Bruce sees all channel you guys are both into sky watching you guys would probably be emailing each other your kindred spirits of the skies.
Hi, I was wondering why the manual states to not carry the whole assembly (mount + tracker without telescope)? Is there a real reason or are they just cautious?
Hey Trevor, have you ever set up a permanent allsky camera? I just built one and it runs on a local web server. It automates a lot of stuff that would otherwise be a hassle. I built mine specifically to capture meteors nightly. When meteor showers happen it’s nice to just leave a camera recording and not have to worry about missing anything or worry about weather. If you don’t have one, I recommend it.
One of the other reviews here shows that the mount will not balance at all on RA with a light weight payload either with or without the counterweight implying that the supplied counterweight is to heavy for a light payload. Was that your experience?
