Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Review - The Best Way to Learn Astrophotography?

Awesome review!

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?

Nice review & Update. Thanks ;-)

Hi, nice video, I can track up to 600 for two minutes, also mine came with an adapter so I can use the illuminater on the bracket.

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.

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.

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

Thanks for uploading. I got the opportunity to view a rocket launch in 2018. Incredible experience. I shared a pretty cool video of the journey to my page.

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.

You might contact sky watcher. The new mounts come with an adapter the lets you mount the illuminator in the vixen rail so you don’t have to hold it.
Also
You can usually get better tracking by balancing the camera slightly heavy east or west , depending on where you are shooting in the sky.
If you balance the RA axis slightly heavy so the adventurer is always pushing against the camera load , it keeps the gears fully engaged. If you balance too evenly, it’s possible for the gear to get ahead of the worm drive, causing a slight hesitation in the rotation, that can cause elongated stars.

Personally this mount is just junk but I guess I've got no taste

eq mount moves on single axis, so how do you find those deep sky objects not directly in front ??

Great review Kyle, thanks!

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.

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.

Thank you for the excellent review!

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.

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?

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.

Can I use this skywatcher on Nikon p1000?🤔

I found my Star Adventurer does have periodic error, and that is not surprising as most low-cost equatorial mounts have this problem.

This mount is really meant for nothing more then a camera with a 100mm max.

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?

I think this will be my first tracker. I plan to shoot on 135mm so it should be more than enough. Thanks for the review!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mine broke After fr 2 weeks, Never fell down or sum idk what im doing wrong😩

Excellent review!

The intro music reminds me of 'Mouse Parade'...Check them out, you might dig them...

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!

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

Nice detailed review, thank you.

That base ruins it