Star Tracker Buying Guide | 2021 Edition 

I really appreciate your honest views on things based in experience of multiple people in your classes and your own. I also enjoy your calm and clear voice.

Just found this and your channel....very impressed. Love the demeanor and your easy to follow no fuss approach...its making it easy for me to get more comfortable with the concepts. I'll be watching more. Thanks!

Thank you, Peter, for this video. Just the sort of review I needed to see; you give credit where it's due, but you also give the blunt truth when pointing out the faults of each tracker. Very helpful. Thank you.

Great, that answered 6 questions but gave me 10 more ... Why don’t these manufacturers learn from each other ??? !!! ???

Thanks Peter, I love your objective approach and that you share both the major and minor pros and cons. This helped make my decision a lot easier. Thanks!

Really well done. Thank you! I just got the MSM and have yet to take my first picture due to clouds, cold, and snow. So I watch a lot of your excellent videos and will now take a look at your course. Thanks again.

Just got an iPolar for my SGP. Can't wait to try it out!

Sorry, forgot to say otherwise I love all that you've done, people, support Peter, and buy his courses, a great amount of information, very affordable, especially when on sale.

Thanks for the review Peter, interesting, I just ordered a star tracker. Your review was very helpful.

Absolutely awesome videos, Peter. Thank you! I plan to take your course.

I certainly agree about the use of the iPolar to do the alignment. Living in Australia and close to major light pollution makes visual alignment more than difficult. Works fine for me, as does the tracker itself.

Thanks for the video Peter . I have had a star adventurer for about 4 years - best value for money astro gear I have bought. Its seems to be very popular in my local astro society as a few have bought one and some saying they are out of stock with suppliers. For what its worth the issues I have had with mine are 1) Big clutch in the mount can get so stiff it is very difficult to unlock 2) there was a little movement in the mount due to smoe play in the gearing - there is a small allan key bolt on the mount that you can tighten to solve this. 3) the hex screws on the base of the wedge need some movement for the Az bolts to move but then need tightening afterwards and being black with a black key make it difficult and fiddly. 4) The batteries are really good - last a long time (as long as you avoid accidently switching on with the dial) . Its not hard to keep 4 spare AA batteries in your bag - I always include spares for mount and finder illuminator. 5) polar scope illuminator is terrible, small and no real on/off so only way to stop battery draining is unscrew the cover until there is no contact with battery. Yes, the plastic bits are poor and 5 years after its disappointing they have not been improved at all. The polar scope cover is a waste but I have not lost the battery cover yet. otherwise, I have never had a night with it where I have not been able to use any pictures - I have used 18mm and 300mm lens on a DSLR as well as a DSLR on a 61mm refractor - all good. If you are interested in a portable EQ , GOTO mount, look at the Skywatcher AZ GTi - has option to upgrade firmware to work in EQ mode and just need to add a wedge , counterweight and bar

Thanks for sharing. I've just started out with astro photography as far as milky way for now and considering a star tracker. I find your comments most use full as I know absolutely nothing about them. Thank you.

You hit the nail on the head with that "it can take you up to an hour to find the object". That resonates with some true pain, but also good learning experiences. I definitely exceeded that trying to find the Pavo globular cluster in a 300mm lens. That's when I realized (at about 1am) I could just set my ISO to max and take short photos while hunting instead of dropping 30s frames for every guess (followed by going inside to the computer, remember what I saw, looking at Stellarium, being completely baffled, going out again... almost give up... repeat). This will probably come up unexpectedly in a future therapy session.

Excellent work Peter! Now I am officially following you!

A big advantage of AA batteries: you can get some at every outpost gas station of the world.

I got a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini about 6 weeks ago. Got the full kit with wedge base + counter weight, and it's a pretty slick piece of kit. I've had few chances to fully utilize it but have managed a couple decent sequences. My advice with it: read the manual (especially if its your first tracker), use fresh batteries each outing (used nearly dead batteries once and tracking suffered), and get comfortable with to how the wifi works as that's the only way to use it (so make sure your phone/tablet has a good charge).

Well done 2021 update Peter. I have the SkyGuider Pro and have been really happy with it so far. I have to update the base eventually - However, I don't use it that much since I do most deep sky stuff using larger telescopes. I do like using it when I go on vacation though. - Cheers

Great review. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot!

Thanks Peter for the video! I may be in the minority by having purchased this after owning a larger go to mount for the past year. But I’m looking for a small tracking mount for field trips another longer distance excursions. I’ve had some experience with these and know that they do a pretty good job. Certainly not as well as a dedicated go to mount, but good enough for some decent pictures and dark skies. Best of luck to you!

Great review, thank you for your hard work.

Outstanding review! Well done. Love your channel!

Awesome.. fantastic info especially for people who are new to tracking stuff

Hi Peter, Great video. Very informative. I bought the MSM last summer, and have been very happy with the results. Based on your review, the SA seems the bettet next move. The issues you raised will be more easily solved.

Just getting into this part of the Hobby this Vid was pretty useful!! Thanks,

im not an astrophotography enthusiast but i had to sub because of the calmness and assurance in your voice

Peter, thank you for your good perspective😄

Awesome vid man, I'm currently using a MSM with a fuji xt3 and 2x converter on the xf100-400. That gives me 1200mm (ff equivalent) and I'm getting pin sharp images 5 of 8 exposures on average. If you're using a light setup like my fuji, I highly recommend the MSM

Great review and comparison

Really helpful, thank you!

I had the Ioptron skygudier pro in the past, now i bought the Star adventurer 2i and got much better experience, the build feels better, i also tested up to 5 kg with an 127/1500 maksutov with success

I agree with the Sky Guider Pro battery cover falling off too easily. However, I found that heating the little tab holds the cover on with a lighter and bending it a tiny bit was enough to give it a rock solid fit. It shouldn't be necessary, but its very easy to fix.

Southern hemisphere DSO astrophotographer here using a Sky Guider Pro. I'll second what Peter says about the iPolar. Makes polar alignment a breeze. And yeah. You'll need a laptop. But, since you've got that laptop - you can use platesolving to help get aligned to your target, if using a telescope. Not as convenient as a GoTo mount by any stretch, but the test-shot / platesolve / adjust heading workflow isn't too onerous if you get set up right.

make your own tracker: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-riM_LpRXPT8.html

I've been wanting to buy the Skywatcher for months now... Love the features it offers

I use the laser trick on my iOptron for wide angle. Just point the polar scope near Polaris and point a pen laser through the viewfinder and line it up. Works like a charm.

Good channel man, I follow. But, same trackers as older versions of this video. I want to see comparisons with new models on market like Omegon LX3, Orion Starshoot Astrotracker, Star Adventurer 2i

Well done, thank you for being so forthcoming on the pros and cons and issues with each.

Just getting into astrotophogy wo wow wow this is sooo cool!!!!

Just wanted to say, if someone - like me, doesn't have an external intervalometer, the star adventurer 2i can be used as an intervalometer through the app, so wifi is a good feature in that scenario.

I don't know why, but star trackers got extremely expensive lately. The iOptron skyguider pro was 499€ back in August/September 2022, now (January 2023) it's over 700€ everywhere.

The flimsy battery cover isn't great. But I'll always prefer AAs over inbuilt lithium batteries. In my experience lithium batteries die completely if left unused for a few months. AAs can (and should) be removed when storing the gear, and carrying extras is very easy. I recommend Eneloop - not the "lite" version, but the standard variety. No need to go with the pro version.

Would have liked to see these compared to skywatcher az-gti in equatorial mode

The problems with accurate framing caused by using a ball head can be alleviated by using a gear head instead. I have a similar problem with my macro photography, in that it took so long to get the shot lined up the insect had moved on. There are only two options really and I went for the Benro because of its price. There are loads of reviews on this platform.

Thanks for going to the trouble of making these videos, they're very helpful. I just bought a big, heavy (200-600mm) camera lens, what unit do you advise will, working well, carry the weight with ease. Hearing all the negative points... is there a better option/s?

I am always amazed at the technological poverty of these small equatorial mounts like the micro-USB ports. In 2021 I would have hoped to see the arrival of USB-C mounts, with automatic upgrades, auto-setting like the Stellina mounts with the help of GPS. It seems that Benro is launching itself on the market but that it is still reserved for the "wide angle".

Don’t quite agree with iPolar. I’ve got the iPolar version of the SkyGuider Pro. I would say if you have a laser pointer as well, then you don’t need to take a laptop with you for Milky Way photography. Just place the laser on top of your SkyGuider Pro and use the laser to find Polaris, your alignment is done so easily, laptop is definitely not needed. For deep space photography I take my laptop for auto guiding anyway. The advantage of iPolar with SkyGuider Pro is that you never need to crunch and look into that small polar scope anymore, I personally find that extremely comfortable …

Great comparison, thanks Peter. I currently use the MSM, as you say it is not great for DSO. I do like that it doubles as a rotator though with the clever flash triggered system which ensures the unit is perfectly still for the exposure. Being Southern Hemisphere I find good polar alignment a real pain and have started look I ng at Alt-Az Goto tracking options. Some are claiming pretty impressive accuracy these days, just wondering what your opinions of these are?

Excellent video. One thing that confused me was that you seemed to mention how much better star adventurer was at fine tuning than sky guider pro and the poor quality issues etc with sky guider pro yet you recommended sky guider pro.

Really informative video Peter, just what I was hoping for. Many many thanks

Well, you mentioned the lack of a wi-fi connection on the SkyGuider as a potentially significant room for improvement, but consider this feature as a minor improvement on the Star Adventurer 2i. Actually I got the latter, and I think it is quite handy to manage the camera itself through a phone app. Regarding the light weight for balancing the setting, you can slide the equatorial head: this allows to balance almost anything within the weight limit of the Star Adventurer. On the other hand, I fully agree on the crappy battery cover and the lack of a main power switch. I also keep a battery off to avoid accidental switching on. Maybe I could insert a microswitch just after the battery pack.

I like the simplicity of move shoot move

I have the Fornax LighTrack II and it work well, was hoping you talk about it for this 2021 edition..maybe for 2022 :)

Peter, it surprises me that few people that cover or review the SWSA discuss its inclusion of the graduated calibration dials. While daunting at first, these dials can be used to calibrate the initial vertical alignment of the reticle. This includes calibration _after_ the DSO is framed and slewed to (i.e. when the reticle is no longer aligned vertically). These graduated dials can be used along with apps like Polar Scope Align Pro (by Dimitrios Kechagias, iOS only sadly from what I can tell) to easily re-calibrate alignment without having to slew back to the "home" position such that the 0 and 6 are aligned in the vertical. While such calibration may be overkill, if you lack a Sky Guider it's a great way to improve alignment. Even if you do, it's only going to vastly improved guided alignment. The Light Explorer YT channel covers this in his excellent part 1 of his "COMPLETE Setup Guide for Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer" (in his case the 2i version). I myself have yet to try any of this out, I'm still trying to decide between SGP and SWSA. I've give a good deal of weight to the pros/cons you've made for both these scopes and I feel with some adjustment some of the SWSA can be mitigated, which along with these calibration dials give it a slight edge given the SGPro's issue with fine tuning and the DEC axis. 1) I came across a hack that may alleviate the reticle illumination: thin glow in the dark tape placed inside the tube at front and recharted with a bright light can give hours of usability. 2) Good (but cheap) Gaffer tape can hold the battery plate without leaving residue or just powering with a small 10k milli amp hour battery bank. It could be me, but the various issues with the DEC axis of the SGP are pushing me to the SWSA. IMHO, out of the box and possibly beyond if you improve it with the same WO gear, has an edge over the SGP in all but weight and bulk given some of these the calibration features noted above the more robust clutches, DEC axis, and wedge. Thoughts?

Great video, really informative. But now I have the same problem I have when buying a PC, should I go for one of these or an entry level GOTO, especially given once you have bought the WO add ons the prices are starting to look similar (point taken on ease of use and portability).

Just a small correction, the plastic screws on the MSM aren't 3D printed. They're just standard nylon screws. This is to keep from scratching the anodized finish on the tracker. 😉 Also, one advantage of the MSM you didn't touch on was its ability to do timelapse. Worth mentioning for anyone considering it.

Just put it in your backpack. It will fit nicely, don't worry! Oh, and don't forget to put in a stable enough tripod tooo!

I upgraded my base on the ioptron as well

Top tip with batteries , take one battery and turn it up side down in battery case . One battery is on plus + -Minus ( oppersite way round ). This means you can leave all the batteries in the battery case but it won't turn on untill the battery is turned back . No more accidents with your connection worries . I had this problem till one day I was trying to turn on my touch . When I figured out why it was not working I realised this idea. Feel free to share the idea .Then when you are ready open the case turn the battery to it's correct position . I do this with all my touches now. You never have to worry about them being turn on and empyting by accident. Or taking the batteries our and forgetting to put the batteries back in. Simple but works . Like me .Thanks I am starting night photography again but not sure which system I will go for . One thing the Nikon Z 24 +200 is light I have tried its ok it's worth a look at because it's light weight and reasonably sharp. In honestly ...I replaced it with the Nikon Z 70 .200 f 2.8 .... Also be worth thinking about is the new the two times converter for the z range . It only works on the certain lense namely the z 70-200 s f1.8 ..... I have used it and would surjest that the 1.4 tele converter may well be worth its weight in gold for that extra reach . The 2 X s one is ok but no where near as good has the smaller 1.4 converter. Worth a review do you think of the 1.4 Tele converter ? .. like I said the new Tele converter don't work on 24 -200 z Cheers for the review .it's still give a reasonable account .

Just tried my Skyguider Pro for the first time tonight. My biggest gripe is... I polar align, then attach the bracket and camera, and everything goes out of alignment. The bracket, scope, and clutch move as one, so in order to realign, I have to awkwardly twist the camera until the light comes back on. At that point, I basically need a third hand to hold the clutch in the right position while twisting the knobs.

I have the sky adventure and purchased the Williams base, got 100 for the one that came with it...🤣, but I cannot agree with the issues, one, I always take out the batteries during transit, so it won't turn on, and two, if you use a intervalometer you have to have batteries, so be a Boy Scout and be prepared. Also, the Battery cover on mine is so darn tight that it doesn’t come off without a reasonable amount of force. With a bigger lens, I purchased an additional rod and tapped it out to fit the toe saver screw and now the counter weight is extended by another 30 inches, which makes all the difference in the world. All in all, its great compared to the iOptron. The little red light for polar alignment I keep in a bag with an extra battery (CR2032) and it has a dimming option which really helps at dusk when Polaris isn't very bright. Just my two cents.

Hi Peter, thanks for the video, very informative. Quick question though: I noticed that there's a lack of astrophotography content using the Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi mount. I've been looking into getting an equatorial mount and I'm wondering if there are any reasons why I shouldn't go with the AZ-GTi over a star adventurer or a skyguider. Wouldn't the go-to capabilties be worth the minor price difference? Is there something I'm missing? Thanks!

Peter, thanks for the videos, it has really helped me learn where to spend and not to as I'm a total beginner in the hobby. I current own the Rokinon 135/f2 & Star Adventurer Pro 2i, love the lens BTW but I want to get a little closer to DSO like Orion, Andromeda, etc. I was looking at the Redcat 51 but I'm also looking at the Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 Lens f/Canon, would it be beneficial to go with the lens vs the scope to have a bit more focal length for the price? Right now I have no plans of going all out with an EQ mount as I want to stay small and easy to really learn how to use my camera and applications. Eventually I'm going with the either the ASI Air system or a Ras Pi and use Astroberry or Stellarmate & a auto guide. I also would like to be able to use my camera and lenses for daytime use for distant landscape shots. Thanks in advance, clear skies.

Thank you for the info. What must we do in the Equator line, we don't have polaris or the octant for the alligment? Thank you.

What tripod are you using for the Skyguider Pro?

Very nice in-depth overview. I'm a complete beginner and for that reason, I'd probably be better off starting with the MoveShootMove according to your blog. Given that I would enjoy the experience and challenge I'd rather use a longer 100-400 telephoto down the road. Wide-angle lenses or a lens that would not exceed the 6-pound weight limit of the MoveShootMove would really not do anything other than the milky way? Am I correct?

After watching, I'm surprised Peter gave the final recommendation for the Sky Guider Pro. He went on and on about the negatives fo the SGP and spoke much more positively of the Star Adventurer Pro.

Thanks for this comprehensive video. I just started out this hobby so sorry if this is a stupid question. But what if you can't auto track to polaris and instead just use a random star or maybe just the star you're looking at?

You should've talked about pricing as well. It's important as much as the features that each device has.

Peter, do you have experience with the Vixen Polarie Star Tracker?

Thank you for your reviews. What type of tripod do you recommend for the Move Shoot Move? Thank you!

Thank you for the useful Information Mr Zelinka.Always enjoy your talks I have question. MARTIN Pyott showed skywatcher Avant AzEq mount with telescopic pictures through eyepiece and, attaching a starquest RA stepping drive with Autoguider Jack(RAS Quest). So will this hold slightly bigger telescopes(114mm reflector) and camera at eyepiece and take long exposure films as well and also watch DSO through a telecope before shooting picture. . Please give your opinion. And comparing with you another video on attaching small telescope camera and guide scope to your Star trackers. Thank You in Advance. Excuse me for this becomming a long message.

Benro Polaris Smart electric tripod head maybe the best star tracker for 2021. I pledged for the Astro Edition already.

Peter, great AND honest reviews...as always. It looks like you are using the RADIAN tripod for your Sky Guider and Star Adventure. Do you have issues with the base not locking down tight enough? I get me Sky Guider polar aligned and then move my camera to frame the shot only to notice the base has slipped just slightly off polar alignment. I was thinking of a layer of electrical tape around the circumference of the base to give it a little more to grab onto.

It's funny that the AA batteries in the Sky Watcher Adventure were a negative for you. I bought a used Adventure Pro and one of the best features is no internal LiPo battery to have worn out after 5 years of use. I can use fresh rechargeable AA's or a new (and cheap) external pack to power it. I purposely avoid used items with non-replaceable batteries because often they are being sold because those batteries are toast. I have a cheap multi charger that can charge single cells (important to be able to charge 3 cells for headlamps etc) of NIMH or LIPO and love either AAA/AA or 18650 powered devices.

Am folliwing you for some weeks now and am planning to build a setup alike your 2020 setup. Having only worked with a manual altitude/azimuth mounted refractor, my head is not really able to process equatorial mounted scopes. Actually it's driving me nuts. Stars rise in the east, and go via south, to set in the west, like sun moon and planets. When you polar align your skyguider pro it's pointing north and so does the scope. How to point the scope south? I am sure its possible, i just cant do it in my mind... Could you perhaps make a video explaining this construct?

It looks like the SkyGuider Pro has been redesigned a bit. Are you familiar with any of the changes? Also, do you think it would be possible to use a Move-Shoot-Move wedge base with this tracker rather than the one it comes with (unless they redesigned that as well)?

Hello Peter, I recently subscribed and have seen some of your videos. It is not clear to me which star tracker(s) is best for the Southern Hemisphere? I live in Peru and we are between the equator and 20ºS. Thanks for your videos!

What about the the Vixen Polarie? It would be helpful to see a head to head comparison against the MSM, which is about the same size and price. Also, can the MSM battery be replaced, or does the whole unit brick when the battery eventually dies?

"You could spend the whole night troubleshooting random problems and never even take a photo." That's only if you're really lucky, or have great equipment, and you've been at it for years. It is quite possible to spend many nights and never get a usable exposure. Happens all the time. I mean, I think "astrophotography" is just an ancient word for "profoundly frustrating." ;^)

There is also the Skywatcher AZ-GTi GoTo WiFi Mount which is extremely popular and it is the same size as the SkyGuider Pro

There is a Mac version of the IPolar software but it hasn't ported over very well. It's jerky and slow to refresh and there's no zoom facility in the UI like there is on the Windows version.

I wonder could you use the star adventurer camera counter weight with the star guider? kind of make a hybrid of the two?

Love your stuff Peter! .....Question please Sir: I want an inexpensive compact guiding head to attach my 20-60 85mm APO spotting scope for simple grab'n go visual astronomy with my grandsons. I'm currently considering a Sky Watcher AZ GTi head for my camera tripod. Thoughts please? Thanks, Michael

thanks very informative video, question what power laser pointer are you using? I ask as I'm reluctant to use one given I live near a fairly buy aircraft route.

Where can I look at a Polar Scope for S Hemisphere (S Africa ) Peter?

Was the SW Star Adventurer the very latest 2i WiFi version? I believe this has just been released.

What about even lighter and simpler - Omegon LX2/3?

Hi Paul question. What computer software do u recommend to use when doing sky photography. Where I can hook my telescope up to the computer.

These days with mirrorless you get previously unimaginable weight longer lenses. 70-200 for 1kg or under. There's even an 800 mil for 1.2kg(albeit F11) which is about the same weight of that Nikon wide angle setup. I'm going with the msm.

Looks like you were at Vermilion Cliffs?

Hi Peter, please what tripod are you using for the Skywatcher?, i really appreciate your tripod recomendation. Thanks.

what do you think about Benro Polaris compared to these trackers? Benro Polaris claimed tracking is much sharper or these trackers track it better? Benro claimed the accuracy is up to 0.0025 ° (9 arcsec)..

What? No love for the Fornax?! :)

Cool vid, back ground looks like northern az.

If I had a star tracker and closed the aperture down to f/4 or f/5.6, would that negate light pollution? I live in a city with no access to the countryside :/

10:36 -- could you pls give a link to this piece? Thanks.

I seem to be running into a problem in trying to track down a particular Star Adventurer tracker. I was looking for the one that has 0.5x, 2x, 4x, 6x, and 12x for time lapse photography use other than astrophotography, to hopefully get more bang for the buck. Here's the thing. Everybody seems to be showing photos with those options in the dial, but on reading more closely, you find out its the newer 2i model with wifi, which doesn't have those options in the dial. Support has suggested that's what I want, and that I'd use the app to do that. But I think he's reading me wrong. I don't think it can do that. I don't want the tracker to control my shutter speed, or delay, or whathaveyou. I'll do that with my intervalometer. If I have to. I think I've narrowed my choice down to the 2i, and I'll just hunt for a specialized tracking motor JUST for time lapse use. ANYWAY... I guess after all that verbiage my question is: Do you know which exact model has/had those panning options available, and if they stopped production of that model or something? Thanks! Todd Sherman Gainesville, FL

could you please give me the product link that you suggested finally?

I don't like aa batteries because I don't carry any spares?