The Star Adventurer (SA) was my best investment ever for starting Astrophotography. I would also highly recommend the Polemaster for very accurate Polar alignment (PA) that eliminates all the foibles of the SA polar scope. You can achieve almost perfect PA within 1-2 minutes max. Also, autoguiding will increase the performance amazingly. I have managed 7 minute exposures at 250mm and normally 4 minute-5 minutes with a 600mm Tamron Lens. So the SA can really allow you to capture some amazing galaxies and nebulae as a fraction of the cost.
Just an FY I You can use your small reticle with the declination mount on. Included in the kit was a small clip piece that attaches to it and then can be placed on the front of the mount.
Good Video, I just ordered a SA to try a bit of AP. I doubt the SA uses zero backlash gears so you could be experiencing back lash in the gear train which, if the camera and weight are perfectly balanced, COULD cause jitter while tracking (think bump the gear, take up the slack, bump the gear...). Try slightly putting more weight on the east side (either weight or camera) and don't place the camera directly over the tracker. That SHOULD take up any slack in the gears and smooth out its motion IF that's the cause of your 30-50% successful longer exposures. If that helps some try the west side, and use whichever works best IF it helps. Machinists always consider backlash when machining to improve accuracy since most lathes. mills... don't have zero backlash gears due to their added expense. Hope this helps.
That is wobbling all over the place! If you put a strap and a bungee cord over that mount and attach it with a fair bit of tension to a weight or water bottle on the floor it'll help a lot. Hanging things will blow in the wing. Also putting in sheltered spot and tripod legs not extended is good, the mass is lower and it's a lot more stable.
Excel review. 1) For tripod, they also sell one dedicated for that purpose. 2) I have been able to push more than 1 min subs with my AT60ED telescope which is 360 mm focal length BUT as you said it's a hit or miss. I keep mine under a minute. 3l What is that plate you got to attach under the camera? I like to get one myself l. Rest of the points were dot on. Illuminated reticle, Latitude adjustment knobs etc.
An excellent review. Have had my star adventurer for 7 months now. Usage restricted by many cloudy nights. I use the Skywatcher 72ED Telescope at 420mm and am having some difficulties with exposures beyond 40 seconds. If I push to 60s or beyond I’m throwing away around 30 subs out of 120 for the reasons you mention. All in all, I love the setup but understand that higher focal lengths has its limitations. Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🤝 Just as an edit - I do have the gear mounted on a Skywatcher 3/8” stainless steel tripod which I’m sure helps enormously because everything is very very stable
Stability is key! And yes the Star Adventurer has limitations beyond a certain point, that’s where getting GEM is the way to go but it still does great for beginner adventures! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Great review, Kyle! Agreed on the tripod: a photographic tripod is not intended to provide the level of stability that an astronomical tripod might give you. I have this tracker but haven't used it yet. it will ride on a SkyWatcher telescope tripod with an adapter plate to allow the Star Adventure to connect. You lose some portability with that, but I'm hoping it will let me use a a longer FL scope.
Yeah the legs you put it on make a big difference on how the SA operates, I think choosing stability over portability is a smart move if you’re serious about the image! The weight is still so much less than a GEM either way! Good luck with your setup!
I'm really not sure why everyone says you can't use the red dot with declination plate. Yes you can! There's a piece of plastic that comes with the pro pack and you just put that on the declination plate and then attach red dot to that and you're good to go.
Good video Kyle. I regularly use mine with a full frame DSLR at 400mm focal length unguided for 60sec without any problems. I have heard that some of these mounts are send out from the factory with pinched gears which may explain your tracking issues. Clear skies.
Great review!I have the same setup with the Redcat 51 and a Canon EOS Ra and I have been amazed with what it can capture.I do have the newr model of the Sky-Watcher with WiFi so no Intervelometer needed.
I have had my StarAdventurer for a 3 months aproximately and I can say that there is 2 Keys points in order to have good results: 1. The polar alignment, 2. The stability of the tripod. In my case I reach until 60 seconds(50% of the shoots) with a DSLR APSC camera and the Evostar 72ED.
My advise to anyone thinking about getting this mount - It’s a great little piece of kit and certainly got me going with this hobby. However, having used it for the last year I found I quickly outgrew it once I started adding telescopes and guiding. As others have said this mount is designed for lower focal lengths. Personally I would save up and get the gti (or second hand EQ 3/5), the go to capability for a novice will be a lifesaver when trying to navigate the skies, something I found frustrating when star hopping at a fixed 600mm focal length. Polar alignment and balance is key to getting good results from the mount.
I just got mine a month back. I did manage to get a 180 sec exposure a few times with my 360mm focal length f6 apochromatic refractor. I do admit the kind of tripod I am using as well as the one you show do have stability issues. Ideally testing it in a pier like set up would clear the doubts. I am yet to get deep into sessions with this. Just carried out Andromeda and Pleiades.
Natarayan, good morning, I just wrote to Kyle, on the subject, I am a beginner in this fabulous world of astrophotography. Maybe you could help me. I already have a 6 "ORION SKYVIEW DELUXE 750mm and 4.9 reflector, I guess the SA wouldn't support it, you tell me, but could I use the SA with that telescope's tripod? I also saw the SvBony 503 at a very good price 80 mm, I don't know if the SA would support it, it's actually 3 questions, thanks for your patience and keep it up, greetings from Argentina.
Thank you so much for the wonderful introduction. I watched it a couple times, and I very much appreciate your effort on making this video. May I ask, does the motor turn on when the dialpad is turned to astrophotography mode with celestial/solar/lunar tracking? Is there any other step needed if I choose not using the APP mode with WiFi? Thanks!
Great review with pros and cons. I like my Star Adventurer but agree that it could be improved. I add a couple of 2.5 pound weights to my tripod to increase stability.
This is a good review of this product. It’s obvious that you are well versed in astrophotography. I started in 1973 with my 8” Celestron, Nikon FTN camera, and many hours sitting behind the eyepiece tracking a star with a joy stick. The technology has come a long way since my days. I have some questions if you don’t mind. 1. I’m using this tracker for the 2024 eclipse. I have a tripod, leveling head and fluid head. Do I need the fluid head? If so, does it go between tripod and drive, or drive and camera? I have a Nikon Z7 II and a Nikon 400 mm lens. I plan on taking a series of exposures from 1/1000th to 4 seconds for HDR images. 2. I have the Nikon App to control the camera from remote. I’m hoping to get all my exposures within 10 seconds without touching the camera. What do you recommend here? Basically I’d like your advice on how to set it up. I’m polar aligning during the day so that’s one factor. It should work ok over my 10 second window. Can I remove the fluid head on the tripod? Keep the leveling head and mount the drive directly to that? Thanks for your help. Paul
Thanks for the kind words, Paul! 1. If I'm not mistaken, you will want to use the tracker directly to the tripod. No fluid head or leveling head is required, if you can mount directly to the 3/8th screw that's probably best. Check 2:26 2. As far as setup goes, that all sounds good. No experience with the Nikon app personally but I am sure it will serve you very well for the eclipse. I would say try your best to get an accurate polar alignment as tough as it may be. At 400m you may get some drift, even at 10 seconds you may have to adjust depending on the drift of your polar alignment. I personally have never photographed an eclipse before so its new territory for me as well! Good luck sir!
Nice job on the review. I just ordered one yesterday. You mentioned some concerns about the included wedge. Have you thought about upgrading your wedge to the William Optics High Latitude Vixen Style Base Mount?
Thank you much! I have definitely considered it. Looks like a useful upgrade but I’ve been able to get by without it! I have refrained on spending on stuff to save up for a true GEM, which I now have. 😍
@@georgemuller5882 I ain't found any in stock anywhere but I did order one after searching around for ages from FLO (First Light Optics) but as everywhere else there is a big wait for them... I am 29 days and still waiting for it to arrive. They stated 30-40 days when I purchased it (Probably because of COVID) but I checked thier website earlier this week and it now states 20-30 days so you may wanna give that a try? Hope that helps ;-)
@@astrophotographyuk Yeah it seems most everything is backordered to some extent. The pandemic makes it a bit of a lottery unfortunately. I ordered my star tracker last spring and I have hardly seen it in stock since. :(
I'm at 40 latitude; if the wedge dial faces south (the plate north as I turn the dial) and the camera north, if I set the dial to 40 the camera will be 50 degrees up. So do I set the wedge dial at 50 to get the camera down to 40 degrees up from the ground?
Been looking for such a review. Thanks! Just a quick question, do you think it would do well with a 600mm lens? How long exposure time do you think I would get from such a setup?
That’s a great question. There are a lot of variables! Some people claim to use those focal lengths just fine on the SA, but in my experience you will need VERY stable sticks, and your polar alignment needs to be spot on. If you autoguided 600mm shouldn’t be an issue but, unguided at 600mm can be tough to get anything above 30-60 seconds. Like I said there’s a ton of variables and I’m sure it’s possible one way or another, but as a beginner I found 250mm to be a good starting point in terms of difficulty and still getting useful data. Something to keep in mind is when you’re just getting started it’s best to give yourself as much help as you can get to help ease the learning curve, wider FL are much more forgiving. I would start wide first before going deep! Good luck my friend!
It actually has more than one axis! One axis is referred to as ‘RA’ which is Right Ascension, the other is ‘Dec’ or Declination. It’s similar to GPS coordinates, and can cover the entire sphere of the night sky!
Hello Kyle, the video is spectacular and very educational and enjoyable. I have a beginner question: I want to buy an astrophotography kit. I already have a reflector of 6 "ORION SKYVIEW DELUXE 750 mm and 4.9, I suppose that the SA would not support it, you tell me, but could I use the SA with the tripod of that telescope? I also saw the SvBony 503 at a very good price 80 mm, which I don't know if the SA would support it, it's actually 3 questions. Thank you for your patience and keep it up. Greetings from Argentina.
Hey Mario! Thanks for the kind words my friend I’m glad you enjoyed it. More to come soon. The Orion Reflector your mentioned would unfortunately be too big for the SA. You can push the weight capacity of the star tracker a fair bit, however that scope it much to big and you would need a bigger GEM! I recommend getting a wide field refractor for the star tracker or just run a camera lens! That’s the draw of getting a bigger mount, you can use bigger scopes and therefor go deeper into space 🤩 I did a video about beginner deep sky imaging rigs on my channel if you’d like to get more info on this type of gear. Hope this helps!
@@KJsCosmos Thanks Kyle for advising me. Do you think a SkywatcherEQM-35 Mount would easily support the 6 "Orion? Thank you very much and sorry for my English.
