Tips on modifying your Star Adventurer 

I bought a Minolta right angle viewer for a SLR and glued a plastic film canister to it. Cut open one end. Slides over polar scope! Works great!

Hi Bob, I watched many videos about same topic, you are one of the few nails down a great explanation to pass from theory to practice. Great work!

This is absolutely exceptional, thank you Sir!

Nice video! I had already watched Kamils video and watching yours as well really helps. Thanks.

I wasnt expecting to hear banging Psytrance when i clicked this video! Nice one! ;-D

Excellent video. I'm a newbie to astrophotography. I just purchased this tracker. Your are SO right about the base. My problem is with the azimuth control knobs. Precision they are not! I turn the knobs forward, nothing happens. I turn them both backwards, nothing happens. They just snug up quickly and the platform doesn't turn. I loosen the set screws and the platform turns in a herky-jerky fashion. Can't believe one has to loosen set screws just to adjust the azimuth. Once the screws are loosened even slightly, the entire base is sloppy on that axis. Tech Support was of no help. Their comment to me was: "it just a basic tracking platform"; I guess implying that it's low budget, made like crap and not to expect too much from it. That was my take-away from that comment. I hope the 2i body performs better. That battery cover, really! Doesn't seem like it would've been a technical challenge to design a cover that doesn't come off so easily. I believe I'll look into your suggestion regarding the William Optics base. Thank you sir!

Great! Thanks a bunch for the tips!

Good vid! I rigged up a mount for a phone that allows me to use Stellarium as a go to pointer. I'll have to do a vid for it. I completely agree on the WO wedge, pinching a few pennies right now to try to work it into my kit!

Thanks so much for making this video. I definitely learned so much. Commenting for the algorithm.

Outstanding job of explaining something that is less than intuitive for someone just starting out such as myself. Thank you very much! Just got my Star Adventurer and had some success with the more obvious objects like Orion and the Pleiades but recently attempted M51 but instead of the Whirlpool Galaxy, I spent the night photographing the binary star Cor Caroli.. Ha! Live and learn as they say. Today with the help of your video, I think I learned something. Next chance, I'll attempt your well instructed method of using my printed declination scale and HA chart to find it.... hopefully.

Great tips. Thank you! I had seen Kamil's video on printing the scale. One thing I would add to your instructions and his is to make sure it's prints the correct size. The instructions give some guidance, but there's room for error. The way I worked it out was, like you, first find the 90 degree points around the perimeter, and I marked and notched them with a utility knife. Then I wrapped blank paper around and marked on the paper. Then I measured those marks and rescaled the image into a Word document with the ruler guides, making sire the 0, 90 and 0 degree marks lined up where I calculated them to be. I particularly appreciated your tip about the polar scope illuminator. I have the tape, and I also bought a 3D printed glow in the dark insert, which works really well, but I'm anxious to try to fix the illuminator... if I didn't toss it. I liked your solution on modifying the mount on the dec bracket. I had done something similar by mounting a panning base with an Arca clamp, but it was a bit bulky. Yours is a lot more trim. I'd like to find something like that, but stick with my current overall solution - I attached a Leofoto quick change receiver, so I can still use a panning base, or I can install an additional ball head or two-way head if I want. It makes for a more modular design and I can easily poach from my other camera gear without having to screw and unscrew things. I've had the William Optics EQ base on my wish list for quite a while. The clutch on my Sky-Watcher base got stuck and I couldn't tighten it, so I switched to a heavy duty two-way tilt and pan head with 5 degree markings for tilt. However, I recently came across another video where one guy showed how to create and insert plastic shim washers into the Sky-Watcher base so that you don't get that movement you talked about, but it also solved my problem of the clutch being stuck, so I have use of it again. It always perplexed me why that clutch and its innards are plastic, while the rest of the base is all metal, except for the spirit level. Very odd design. Thanks again! Very informative.

Excellent tutorial 😊

Another good tip from my photography is to hang a backpack full of rocks off of the tripod, this will make it almost "tripod leg kick" proof. Also makes for an even sturdier platform. I also use an angle finder from my Minolta film cam that lets me look more comfortably and MoveShootMove makes the bracket, also MSM makes a laser kit for the Star Adventurer. great tip on the Williams Optics EQ base, I really do not like the Star Adventurer base at all. So many good ideas!!! I need to get a move on. Cheers!

For the tip 1.. I never thought of unscrewing the battery cap.. I always keep it at minimum brightness and worked well with no issues... Tip 2. Higher the tripod, more stable should be... So is better to keep it low when on lose ground or a cheap tripod.. Tip 3. Yeah, that's not ideal, but it does the job well for one time usage per session.. and is already included in the Pro pack! Tip 4. I always use a tripod ball-head between the camera and the tracke .. so much easier to work with...

Holy speaker-breaking intro batman. Maybe you might wanna turn that down?

Fantásticos consejos

I decided on a slightly different approach to setting declination. You already have part of it here, in your video--you need only a panoramic base that has degree markings. The one I have has 4 dots, 90 degrees apart. After doing a polar alignment, I get my camera roughly pointed at the celestial pole, and set the panoramic base so that 90 degrees is indicated. I then loosen the RA clutch and take a 10 second exposure while swinging the camera for most of a circle. The image will tell you where the RA center is. Then I use the fine adjustment knob to get the center of that circle as close to the center of the image as possible. And then leave it for the rest of the session. After this, I use the panoramic base to set declination, and hour angle to set RA. Then I refine polar alignment. My panoramic base has markings every 2.5 degrees, which is close enough that I've gotten my image in frame on the first try at 400mm focal length (400mm on a DX Nikon camera is about 3.3 degrees by 2.2 degrees FoV).

Great effort on this video. I have the SA mini and will be working on how to attach a smart phone with an astro finder feature to the mount. I think AstroHopper will work for Android and for iPhone, Pushtocam and FinderCam. I have made a video on both and am quite sure both will be great in finding your target.

Mega!!!

Wedge or Mount Base Fix -- I took apart the base and in the clutch found two different plastic washer thicknesses, one was 0.01" the other was 0.02". I added another 0.01" made out of plastic(mylar) to the short side and now the clutch is fixed, does not have the spring over when tightened down. If you measure the gap between the two white pieces it is about 0.785", and the thickness of the black piece with the gear teeth is 0.744" which leaves 0.041" for the plastic washers. From the factory one washer is 0.01" thick looks like mylar, the other is 0.2" looks like polyethylene, adds to 0.03" thick but leaves 0.011" of slack. To fully clamp down the clutch has to go another 0.01" and pushes the black part over, causing the misalignment. I cut the washer out of thin (0.01") sheet mylar, it doesn't have to be pretty, then put it in, the washers add to 0.04" with 0.001 slack and now the problem seems entirely gone. I used a little tape to pre-position the washers onto the black part, while inserting it back into the white part, and brought the washer hole down on the other side with a pen. So I think it is a factory error, a wrong size washer. I also put two wraps of teflon pipe tape on the three adjustment screws, as they were still side to side loose when fully in, indicating over etching on the Alu part. Smooth as silk and tight now. I left the main screw alone. If you can adjust the height with the clutch fully on, then you probably have an undersized washer.

where did you get the Williams Optics base? I didn't see it on their site..but I may have missed it.

Hi Bob, If you use the SAC (Star Adventurer Console) app could you use manual control on the ascension to set the desired angle? It appears to display the angle accurately and while the 12 hour scale breaks down into 2º increments per minor division, the manual control lets you advance in .01º increments so it should be resolved enough.

The illuminator. I have not managed to strip the threads but find unscrewing the cap still leaves it on. I simply put a thin plastic washer under the battery when not in use. Sorted, simple works. Polar telescope. A right-angle viewer removes the need for a neck-truss or chiropractor. The wedge. Mine is one of the first series red Star Adventurers. I have practically no slop in the altitude lock screw. Did they change something? The date wheel can be rotated to set the Dec. It can become quite loose and too easily rotated. Don't rely on it staying in the right place. The zero marker can be reset on one Allen grub screw. Conventionally it is used to set your easting position. The use of the Dec dials is in the manual. The graticule is held in place and centred on three Allen grub screws. Remove the eyepiece and loosen one slightly to rotate it with a lens spanner. Because polar alignment apps show 0 at the top and it is important to get Polaris at the right place on the rings. This makes alignment easier when you are imitating a bat. Check the graticule is not off centre by aiming and rotating, but aim it downwards (tripod, ball head, and target, daylight) because the graticule can fall out if the three screws are loosened when facing up.

Hey. I am back with another question. I am gonna give it another go, trying to sort out the goto upgrade. At 11:20 what ball head did you use to get that component that you added for better declination adjustment? What screw did you use?

Awesome vid, with the date dial etc I’m confused why you actually even need it, I’m in Australia, and if I’ve polar aligned with with octans/ sharp cap what’s the dial used for ? Cheers!

18:16 where did you get the reminder sticker that is on the mount, with yellow and green and white blocks? I can make out "Object Calculation Positive -" but i cant make out the rest.

4:52 LMAO....i didnt even know you had to turn the battary cap to turn it off. I just always have turned the brightness down to 0. I thought the ON and OFF arrows were just to let me know how to remove the cap.....yep, a regular einstein here.

i have seen on ebay a fiber optic attachment that clips on to selection dial the red light runs from the dial through the fiber optic to an attachment that clops in to front polar hole. no batteries

Hi Bob : I’ve followed your tutorial from which you create the ‘chart’ and as you mention, my two start points are different to yours. My start point is 29th May and the 2nd point is 27th November (183 days) after rotating the RA 180 degrees. I have the printed scale taped to the declination head. Now I look at your chart (which is specific to your mount if my understanding is correct) and it has 73 days as reference points starting from point 1 and ending at point 2. Obviously not all of the 183 days are included. How do I superimpose ‘my dates’ against the relative hour angles? I note that you skip dates and move either 2 or 3 days. I think you may have an error in your chart (you have 29th May twice!). I’m lost now, unless I enter each of my dates separately and enter the corresponding hour angle for each date I pick. Are you able to assist me?

hi Bob, i have from Feb 6 to aug 8 wich is a 183 days. but when i calculate the chart my self only HA from 0 till 0.30 is the same. in your chart the diffrence in days between HA 0.30 and .40 is 3 days but i have 2. why is that. my calculation: 0.40 / 0.0394 = 10.152284264 ≈ 10 days 6+10=16 Feb and on the .30 HA i had Feb 14th i don't know if i did something wrong or not but can you please explain?

Hello Bob. Great video! So, my dates are different. I got 0 = Jully 12 and 12 = Jan 10 Why does it seem as though everyone is getting different dates? If you set the marker to 0, and you are simply leveling the green bar, shouldnt they be the same? Also, if I pull up your chart in excel and enter my 2 dates, will it populate the rest of the dates automatically?

Why don't companies like Star Adventurer offer Right Angle Viewfinders for their Polar aligners?

Nice video and very informative. But when you started replacing the base with a Williams Optics one it made up my mind not to buy this mount. If I have to go to those lengths and expense to fix silly design shortcomings then it's best to go for a more thought out mount e.g. GTi. That's not a judgement on your excellent video though just a fact.

When i finished filling in the chart with my numbers, it didnt end exactly on my 12 hour date, of Jan 10th. In fact, the 12 on the chart was Jan 14.... Is that ok?

Hasn't anyone come up with a right angle finder for polar scopes? Or a cheap video camera to do same? Anyway the problem with raising your tripod to look through the polar scope is that it will catch more wind and pick up vibration easier.

What method did you use to figure out the dates? also, you said you did yours in 10 minute increments, yet i am not able to get the dates to match up.

I've tried your RA chart using my numbers Start date 11/18 to 5/17 I can't get it to work RA is way off. I entered my dates on your chart and I still can't get working. Any Ideas on what I might be missing

7:08 Im sorry....did you just spin that head around??? Sir, i need to know how you did that...

Hi Bob.where can I download your Chart?

Tried so hard to get the formula..... COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME AND OFFER ME A TABLE WITH MY DATES? For my unit, 0 is Jan 10th, and 12 is June 12th

Tried it… my values on the scale are completely different from yours… is this normal????

Please keep your background music at the same level, or preferably, at a lower than your voice track.

What can I say... First, your video close-ups are just too shaky. If you go through the trouble to hack your Star Adventure for more stable mounting and alignment, you should apply some stability practices to your videography as well. Secondly, your Star Adventure mount is slightly out of focus throughout the whole video. Considering this is a video about the Star Adventurer, it should fill more that 1/6th of your video frame. The Star Adventurer is only reason everyone is watching this video and yet it is literally the smallest item in the video frame. Thirdly, there is some sort of overhead glare washing over everything or maybe your camera lens is dirty. It is hard for me to watch you talk about precision astrophotography mounts when there is on precision in your how-to video. This is probably why you have 12K in views but only 361 likes. You lost me at the shaky video footage. Considering I see that you took the time to edit this video, you could've edited in more stable footage with sharper close-ups too. You will probably delete this critique from your video feed, and that's okay, but I hope you apply my criticisms to your future video products.

i have just ditched the clutch screw and replaced with a regular screw with locking nut, i just dont release it and stays with same high friction, its still adjustable