Mazal tov on your first steps into DSO imaging! Embrace the financial black hole 😁 Bortle 5 is amazing and you have no idea how lucky you are to have it. I have shot straight RGB from bortle 5 with amazing color reproduction (with some post elbow greese) I posted a video (th-cam.com/video/4i5bZ-FGUx4/w-d-xo.html) with some results with a light pollution filter, but you can ditch it and still get great color and detail Good luck!
You hit the nail on the head with your comments about beginner’s frustration with finding/getting my subject in the frame correctly. I stepped away from astrophotography for about a year now because I was spending half my night trying to deal with this. And having less fun and getting more frustrated. Thanks for the review and looking forward to getting one and getting back into the night!
Thank you Alyn. This answered so many questions particularly the GoTo process which wasn't obvious. Sounds like after scanning to the three stars one adjusts a star to center frame by adjusting the mount screws. And I totally agree trying to find even Andromeda in a dark sky while fidgeting with the camera mount while standing on your head is super frustrating. Thank you so much.
No, you don't adjust that by fidgeting with the mount screws. When using the GoTo function, pull up the touchpad in the app, and the arrows that need to be tapped to correct will lighten up (as long as you are close enough, within a few mm). When choosing 2 or 3 star alignment the tracker only allows you to proceed to the next star when the first is in the middle of the screen.
Great video.. but do yourself a favour!! Get the ASI Air pro and save yourself from the misery of that 1,2,3 star alignment and also that little raspberry pie acts as a laptop!! Make sure though it’s compatible with this new mount!
I live in a Bortle 6 region with a lot of light pollution and I have cataracts, so star hopping is difficult for me. So, I bought a motorized go to conversion kit for my CG-4 mount. Being elderly and feeble, I found hauling the mount and my 150mm Newtonian reflector with a total weight of 46.5 pounds to be difficult. So, I bought an Orion 130mm Newtonian and a Star Adventurer GTi, total weight 21.5 pounds. Better.
Great video! It's too funny that you, Nico Carver and Trevor Jones all released reviews on the same day. I haven't checked yet, but I'm guessing the Sky-Watcher USA channel also released a video since Friday is there weekly video day. Watching you crouch to look through your polar scope makes my back hurt. I'm assuming you're aware of Move Shoot Move's right angle adapter with a 2x magnifier. For your other subscribers, it fits the Sky-Watcher polar scope with no problem. It also has adapters for camera viewfinders. I just bought one. That is such a game changer. I've been looking at AZGTIs since last fall when Cuiv the Lazy Geek posted a couple of videos on how to adapt the AZGTI for astrophotography, but the release of this changes that. I'll have to see how expensive this is in comparison.
Excellent review, thanks! Just to point out that I think the trailing you showed on the Heart Nebula image was north-south in declination, not east-west in RA. So it wasn’t from periodic error in RA per se. The RA gear and drive was periodically pushing the mount up and down in Dec. Running the mount for several hours - even a day or two - might smooth out the grease on the gears and reduce that mechanical drift. Check your test set to see if the bad frames all have the errors in the same direction. And see if it reduces with continued use. And it does seem dumb that the screw holding the battery cover on doesn’t have a D-clip on it to make it captive.
Take my money NOW Skywatcher!!! You're right about the frustration in finding small objects Alyn! I use a Nikon 2.8 80-200 for most of my deep sky astro so I get it pointed close to my target fully zoomed out and center it that way. Once I get it I then zoom in and get final focus. This will make that soooo much easier!
Hi Alyn. Mind blown !! The ability to align via the app is fantastic ! Not sure I'll be lugging this up Pen Y Fan anytime soon but who doesn't love a shiny new toy? Thanks for sharing.
So I picked one of these up two days ago. A few initial issues. The RA axis has a lot of play. It can be adjusted by a screw hidden under the patent label. First problem solved. The built in USB port has numerous retries while slewing. I have passed this on to Skywatcher. Using the hand control port with the Synscan USB adapter works flawlessly. The mount is also quite noisy when new but a few hours of operation seem to have helped. I like the form factor. If we can get the USB issue fixed with a firmware update it will be a great mount.
I've been eagerly awaiting reviews of this ever since I saw a picture of something I first thought was an elaborate prank or april fools joke. I already have a Star Adventurer Pro 2i, a Move-Shoot-Move and an EQ6-R Pro. I've been looking for something inbetween, and up until I saw this one announced, I had my eyes set on the EQM-35 for travel/portability. I found this to be a very good and helpful review, even the sponsor of the video was interesting and very relevant. Thanks for doing this Alyn.
Hey great review. ! The tracker is perfect but the GO TO function I never been able to make it work so far. I used the 3 star alignment but it goes crazy wherever it wants. It will never go to the proper celestial object after the alignment. I am perfectly Polaris aligned , long exposure tracking works but the go to function does not work. Any suggestion what I might be doing wrong will be greatly appreciated. I'm starting to think my unit is defective:)). Thanks
Still only 5kg payload and has that mount fixing that will mark all your sleds and really is not that a sturdy fixing. If your going to upgrade a mount the why not fix the poor quality parts.
I have preorderd this mount. As of now it is due to be delivered at the end of May. However, due to lockdowns in China and tight container capacity I wonder if it will not be heavily delayed.
Definitely my next target for deep sky. It is really frustrating doing it with the MSM just because it is not built for DS. So thank you very much for the review and good luck with your next steps into DS :)
Hi Alyn, I read some of the comments and I agree with most. I have received my S/W GTi last week and I agree with you about the cover. I filed the tags to make them deeper it helped but not enough I may file some more off. When I started in hobby I thought the same of the eye piece screws if I drop one I may never find it, so I looked around on web and found a company called Element 14 and they have got a range of thumb screws that will fit the eyepieces, and fortunately if you get one the right size it will fit the battery cover 3mm x 5mm x 0.5. (there is a 0.7mm also) There are washer faced thumb screws which is one of the types I got and I could use if I loose my cover screw. Cheers Robert Aust'
Hope you’re feeling better. Thanks for the review. I have a Star Adventurer 2i. I was thinking of adding a GOTO mount. Now I have another option. Thanks.
That looks awesome for deep space, with app control do you need cell reception? I usually shoot in dark no service areas. Hope you’ll feel better soon for finish your shot
I always felt the thing missing from the star adventurer was goto - like you, I found it difficult locating and framing small objects with it. In the end I went down the AZ GTi road with a sky watcher wedge and asiair guiding - for me it was a transforming step. So this mount is probably 12 months too late for me , otherwise my name would be on the waiting list. Its definitely an option for lightweight goto astro imaging. (I think newbies may find some of the alignment process frustrating at times) It is good to see skywatcher address some of the issues from the original star adventurer - the screw on the battery cover is better than that rubbish black clip but as you said, the screw seems easy to lose. The polar scope cover still seems to be rubbish , but not a deal breaker. The built in wedge and polar scope illuminator are welcome improvements. I use the AZ GTi on battery power sometimes and that takes 8 batteries and easily copes with a session or 2 but its still better to externally power it so I guess this will apply to this mount as well. (Interesting the expected time on the star adventurer was 72 hours with 4 batteries but half as much, 36 hours with double the amount of batteries - shows how much more the extra motor on the extra axis can take out of the batteries) Nice to see you using the solar charger up by the rocking stone :-)
I have been struggling for months to figure out how to use my GTI. This video made it look so much easier. I can’t wait to try it tonight. Thanks for the great info.
I’m assuming that the EQ mode of ASIAIR pro will work with this…it did with its predecessor! I modded Az-GTi for equatorial mode, the downside of the AZ-GTi is that it has no polar scope. But…ASIAIR has a polar alignment function so that’s ok. And I use it with skywatcher 72 ED, ASIAIR and autoguiding. What I like about this new Star Adventurer GTi is the build quality, the goto, abs built-in polar scope. I may get one, tempting.
From my balcony I can't see the celestial star*. With the multiple star fine tune option am I going to skip this* alignment procedure once and for all?? Lovely device 😍
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🔭 The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is a telescope mount with Wi-Fi and Go-To capabilities, making it easy to control and track celestial objects using a smartphone. 01:22 🌌 The device has motors for both right ascension and declination, allowing precise movement and tracking of telescopes and cameras. 02:18 💡 The built-in polar scope illuminator in the GTi is a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Star Adventurer Pro. 03:29 🔋 The device can be powered using 12-volt DC or eight AA batteries, but there's a concern about a detachable thumb screw that could potentially be lost. 04:52 ⏳ The GTi offers a battery life of up to 36 hours on continuous tracking, making it suitable for extended astrophotography sessions. 06:20 🧳 The device can be powered using a portable power station like the Jackery Explorer 1000, which provides additional USB ports for charging other devices and a 1000-watt AC outlet. 08:22 🌟 Setting up the GTi involves polar alignment, balancing the device, and choosing stars for alignment using the SynScan app. 10:46 🌠 The Go-To capability of the GTi makes it easy to align and frame celestial objects, eliminating the need for manual star-hopping. 15:07 📷 Despite limited testing due to unforeseen circumstances, the GTi showed promise in astrophotography, with potentially improved tracking performance compared to the Star Adventurer Pro. 19:47 🌌 The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is suitable for both beginners and seasoned astrophotographers, offering portability and Go-To capabilities. Made with HARPA AI
Whenever I try to do any of the star alignment function my GTi likes to try and do a full 180 and then hits the hard stops.. Is there a way to reset the home first so it stops doing that? It's so far off from where the stars should actually be..
I see that you are using the Sony 100-400mm on the SA-GTI. (1) What's the Sony camera you are using to shoot the DSO? (2) Have you ever (made a video) explaining why you did not go for a Sony 200-600mm? Is it because of the higher f stop at 600mm? (3) What is the ASIAir on the table at 14:50"? I was looking at the new ASIAir Plus but it does not support Sony mirrorless. (4) Can you make a video explaining how you setup the autoguide system to reduce periodic error? I am also a Sony user, and would like very much to know how you solve the problem of using a Sony system with the GTI. Peter Zelinka, Nico, and AStrobackyard have other (nice) cameras/systems (e.g., RAD) they can use with the ASIAir Plus, but not we Sony users. 😔
Alyn 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
My Star Adventurer GTi came today. While trying to figure out how it works, I found the battery compartment and dropped the little screw holding the cover on. I was in my living room, but it still took 20 minutes to find.
I just purchased the mount and tripod. How do you employ auto guiding? How do you adjust brightness of the polar scope I can’t seem to find it in the SynScan pro on my phone, thanks
I got one a short time ago, and am still trying to figure out how to use it step by step...Im using it with a Celestron C5 as a prime lens and Nikon D5500. I want to know however, is it possible to lock onto any moving object like a plane, helicopter, ufo etc and have it follow it??
The feature they are still missing is where you can view Polaris on the phone and overlay it on the polar alignment ring where it belongs without contorting to actually view it through the center of the tracker.................
Very impressive little mount. I’ve been looking for a mobile set up I can take when we go camping. The Go To capability is a game changer because I refuse to use star hopping. Great video Alyn
There are two 'reviews' right now here on YT about the SAgti. This one here really is a review, the other is just enternainment and advertisement. So: Thumbsup for Alyn! Great job. Great that you pointed out the PEC@16:35 It looks quite similar to the iOptron smartEQ, which is is used for years now (2 axes, GoTo, portable, affordable, 8x AA batteries...). So a nice, but not tecnically new product (beside the app).
i have a SA 2i and AVX already , should i get it or not? if i have to get it i have to liquidate one mount to fund it. so please advise as im not elon musk or bill gate , hehehehe
Well after watching your video and the other 2 videos (Astrobackyard & Nebula Photos) yours was the most informative of how things work with this new tracker. Can't wait to get mine.
Yes the pain of finding the target on a zoom once you’ve got it in a round about polar alignment ha this piece of kit looks awesome. Class content as always dude
Thank you for putting it in kg and not pounds lol. Keen astrophotography guy my current heq5 is to heavy as I have back n legs issues. Can you attach the zwoasi plus to it?
I finally got my GTI a few weeks ago. This weekend has phenomenal weather for late October in Wisconsin USA, 70 degrees and. CLEAR! your video is the first one I found that just uses the mount and syncscan APP on a smartphone, without confusing everyone. Others are using a computer with Ascom or an ASiair etc. Modeling the waters. I just want to start with the basics. Doing the 1,2,3 star alignment is what I needed to know how to do! THANKS! Your awsome Alyn.
@@arthurwiegman5512 I posted this comment 4 months ago. I think it was ordered in June, and showed up late September, or October. By the way, I'm now working on getting the asiair (which took about 3 months, backordered) to receive.
Hi Alyn. Useful video. Regarding the Sky Watcher I have a question: The Manual says that the RA and DEC clutches must be disangaged when balancing equipment. ¿The RA and DEC clutches must remain disgangaged all the time even when we already have pointed to an object?
Great video! But now I have to ask: SERIOUSLY?! You don't have a telescope? What a waste, with all the night-sky-knowledge, photography-experience and night-photo-processing-skills you have?! Although your 400 and 600-mm-lenses are already kind of telescopes ... But please get yourself like a SC 8'' or something similar, you will have so much fun! Greeting from Switzerland
Hi, I have a question. I am interested in astrophotography, but I can not polar align, because I have a view at the west (between 250 and 20 degrees, and the north is just to the side of my flat. Is it still worth getting this? not sure how I can get it to work
The SynScan pro app has an all star align function to polar align if you can’t see north. There a way to do this in NINA also if you control the mount with a laptop.
Can I just ask - having a bit of difficulty getting started (I'm sure it's all user error!!) - I set it up as detailed facing true north, get it polar aligned through the polar scope, all balanced etc. Turn it on & connect the app. Then try to get it to slew to a star for single star alignment (e.g. Betelgeuse). And it moves to completely the wrong place, no where near where I want it to go. And the arrows on the app won't make it move. And the reset alignment isn't highlighted as an option. I think I must just be doing it wrong ... any ideas? I've tried reinstalling the app.
Will it track the moon say for the May and November 2022 lunar eclipse from before start to the end a all night affair. Using the Sony 200-600mm with a 2x teleconverter in APS-C mode for a 1800mm Moon filling the frame. I did the January 20, 2019 Lunar Eclipse manually in +/- 20 degree temp and keeping it in frame was very difficult as it moved in the sky especially at midnight when the camera is pointing almost straight up and you have to be on your knees to see the LCD. Lesson learned just use 600mm for you get stars also. To do the moon SS/ISO the same (125) and get sharpest use f/8 to f/11 after manual focusing. You can capture a shot manually at 1800mm but you will still get movement if looking at 100% or zooming a result on camera, but increasing SS/ISO can reduce. But for the videoers this looks like a deal just need some SD cards, this will last in Florida from 9:32 PM to 2:50 AM, 5 1/2 hours. Just add info Sony 200-600mm at just 600mm can capture the moon just hand holding it is just that stable. Just remember settings when it starts to go dark best to use bracketing on a tracker.Am sure Alyn will have better details soon! Alyn I Pray you get better your knowledge is needed every month!!!
Hi Alyn, some weeks ago my skywatcher Az-GTi got a damage, now i bought the SAGTi. Last Night i could test it with autoguiding and DuoNarrowband filter. I get pinpoint round stars taking 300sec Subframes. The guiding error in both axes are between 0.67-1.25 arcseconds. I can highly recommend guiding.I`m looking forward to the next La Palma holiday with hat mount, aashootimg under good conditions. Chears Jörg always clear skies!
OK so the Star Aventurer sold a lot of units and so many new APers got fed up with AP due to no Goto judging by the numbers of SH units on the market. It will sell loads....BUT.....for detailed AP it won't cut it I'm afraid....why????...it's payload is far too low....Serious AP needs good guiding/tracking and in reality any AP mount for imaging usually only works well with 0.5 to max 0.75 of the specified load capacity which makes 2.5 to max 3.8 kgms of imaging gear which is a non-starter for AP....it will be fine fir MW type images but true DSO....save up and get a decent mount...if you really get into AP...you will so so quickly realize that the mount is the single most important part of any AP setup...this is a toy I'm afraid and like all toys you will outgrow it very very quickly....buy once only cry once
I love my SA. But for a $300 upgrade, this looks great (sell my old one for $350, buy this for $650). Or get the whole setup with tripod for only another hundred bucks. Beefy yet portable. Illuminated PA reticle. Go To controls. Totally worth the money. With that said, got to keep an eye on what iOptron is doing.
Excellent review Alyn.....I have a Nikon DSLR and several fast Nikkor lenses, plus an old heavy weight Bogen tripod and an ASIAIR. The GTi seems a perfect fit. Thanks!
Great review Alyn! Looks like your location for testing it was a lot nicer than mine.
Still watched from start to end Nico 😉
No, my friend, you make Astro fun and easy. RIP legend 🌕☀🌟❤
Mazal tov on your first steps into DSO imaging!
Embrace the financial black hole 😁
Bortle 5 is amazing and you have no idea how lucky you are to have it.
I have shot straight RGB from bortle 5 with amazing color reproduction (with some post elbow greese)
I posted a video (th-cam.com/video/4i5bZ-FGUx4/w-d-xo.html) with some results with a light pollution filter, but you can ditch it and still get great color and detail
Good luck!
What an excellent mount!
You hit the nail on the head with your comments about beginner’s frustration with finding/getting my subject in the frame correctly. I stepped away from astrophotography for about a year now because I was spending half my night trying to deal with this. And having less fun and getting more frustrated. Thanks for the review and looking forward to getting one and getting back into the night!
Thank you Alyn. This answered so many questions particularly the GoTo process which wasn't obvious. Sounds like after scanning to the three stars one adjusts a star to center frame by adjusting the mount screws. And I totally agree trying to find even Andromeda in a dark sky while fidgeting with the camera mount while standing on your head is super frustrating. Thank you so much.
No, you don't adjust that by fidgeting with the mount screws. When using the GoTo function, pull up the touchpad in the app, and the arrows that need to be tapped to correct will lighten up (as long as you are close enough, within a few mm). When choosing 2 or 3 star alignment the tracker only allows you to proceed to the next star when the first is in the middle of the screen.
Great video.. but do yourself a favour!! Get the ASI Air pro and save yourself from the misery of that 1,2,3 star alignment and also that little raspberry pie acts as a laptop!! Make sure though it’s compatible with this new mount!
I live in a Bortle 6 region with a lot of light pollution and I have cataracts, so star hopping is difficult for me. So, I bought a motorized go to conversion kit for my CG-4 mount. Being elderly and feeble, I found hauling the mount and my 150mm Newtonian reflector with a total weight of 46.5 pounds to be difficult.
So, I bought an Orion 130mm Newtonian and a Star Adventurer GTi, total weight 21.5 pounds. Better.
Great video! It's too funny that you, Nico Carver and Trevor Jones all released reviews on the same day. I haven't checked yet, but I'm guessing the Sky-Watcher USA channel also released a video since Friday is there weekly video day.
Watching you crouch to look through your polar scope makes my back hurt. I'm assuming you're aware of Move Shoot Move's right angle adapter with a 2x magnifier. For your other subscribers, it fits the Sky-Watcher polar scope with no problem. It also has adapters for camera viewfinders. I just bought one. That is such a game changer.
I've been looking at AZGTIs since last fall when Cuiv the Lazy Geek posted a couple of videos on how to adapt the AZGTI for astrophotography, but the release of this changes that. I'll have to see how expensive this is in comparison.
Thanks Alyn. Not sure if I missed it or not but have they announced a price?
For 750$ id just go with a better mount
Excellent review, thanks! Just to point out that I think the trailing you showed on the Heart Nebula image was north-south in declination, not east-west in RA. So it wasn’t from periodic error in RA per se. The RA gear and drive was periodically pushing the mount up and down in Dec. Running the mount for several hours - even a day or two - might smooth out the grease on the gears and reduce that mechanical drift. Check your test set to see if the bad frames all have the errors in the same direction. And see if it reduces with continued use. And it does seem dumb that the screw holding the battery cover on doesn’t have a D-clip on it to make it captive.
Take my money NOW Skywatcher!!! You're right about the frustration in finding small objects Alyn! I use a Nikon 2.8 80-200 for most of my deep sky astro so I get it pointed close to my target fully zoomed out and center it that way. Once I get it I then zoom in and get final focus. This will make that soooo much easier!
Thanks
Hi Alyn. Mind blown !! The ability to align via the app is fantastic ! Not sure I'll be lugging this up Pen Y Fan anytime soon but who doesn't love a shiny new toy? Thanks for sharing.
This is what excites me about it as I struggle to align the sa1
Balance a touch east heavy with the counter weight. This keeps tension on the gears which eliminates much of the play in the gears.
I guess east heavy since everything rises that side hmm nice tip ima try it out instead of trying to get impossible perfect balance
The Benro polaris interests me, direct drive brushless motors rather than geared, that should stop periodic error
So I picked one of these up two days ago.
A few initial issues. The RA axis has a lot of play. It can be adjusted by a screw hidden under the patent label. First problem solved.
The built in USB port has numerous retries while slewing. I have passed this on to Skywatcher. Using the hand control port with the Synscan USB adapter works flawlessly.
The mount is also quite noisy when new but a few hours of operation seem to have helped. I like the form factor. If we can get the USB issue fixed with a firmware update it will be a great mount.
There’s suppose to be a firmware fix for the USB dropping. Have you updated to the latest firmware?
Hi Bill, yes I did the update and that fixed the USB dropping. It so working quite well now 👍
thanks for the review, very useful, take care in getting over COVID.
It's great. I know how frustrating it is to try to frame deep sky objects, even at 200mm.
I've been eagerly awaiting reviews of this ever since I saw a picture of something I first thought was an elaborate prank or april fools joke. I already have a Star Adventurer Pro 2i, a Move-Shoot-Move and an EQ6-R Pro. I've been looking for something inbetween, and up until I saw this one announced, I had my eyes set on the EQM-35 for travel/portability.
I found this to be a very good and helpful review, even the sponsor of the video was interesting and very relevant. Thanks for doing this Alyn.
Hey great review. ! The tracker is perfect but the GO TO function I never been able to make it work so far. I used the 3 star alignment but it goes crazy wherever it wants. It will never go to the proper celestial object after the alignment. I am perfectly Polaris aligned , long exposure tracking works but the go to function does not work. Any suggestion what I might be doing wrong will be greatly appreciated. I'm starting to think my unit is defective:)). Thanks
Still only 5kg payload and has that mount fixing that will mark all your sleds and really is not that a sturdy fixing. If your going to upgrade a mount the why not fix the poor quality parts.
I have preorderd this mount. As of now it is due to be delivered at the end of May. However, due to lockdowns in China and tight container capacity I wonder if it will not be heavily delayed.
Definitely my next target for deep sky. It is really frustrating doing it with the MSM just because it is not built for DS. So thank you very much for the review and good luck with your next steps into DS :)
Hi Alyn, I read some of the comments and I agree with most. I have received my S/W GTi last week and I agree with you about the cover. I filed the tags to make them deeper it helped but not enough I may file some more off.
When I started in hobby I thought the same of the eye piece screws if I drop one I may never find it, so I looked around on web and found a company called Element 14 and they have got a range of thumb screws that will fit the eyepieces, and fortunately if you get one the right size it will fit the battery cover 3mm x 5mm x 0.5. (there is a 0.7mm also) There are washer faced thumb screws which is one of the types I got and I could use if I loose my cover screw.
Cheers Robert Aust'
This particular video made me ur fan ❤ eagerly waiting for the more vlogs on astrophotography with tips like these.....plss bring it fast..
Hi Alyn .... informative video, thank you. Does the Adventurer GTi alignment software accommodate Southern Hemisphere?
Hope you’re feeling better. Thanks for the review. I have a Star Adventurer 2i. I was thinking of adding a GOTO mount. Now I have another option. Thanks.
That looks awesome for deep space, with app control do you need cell reception? I usually shoot in dark no service areas.
Hope you’ll feel better soon for finish your shot
Great question - I am wondering about that myself!
the unit has built-in wifi so no cell service needed!
@@barrera1943 what wifi would it connect to tho if I’m somewhere I can’t get hotspot from my phone?
@@NatanielsArt direct connect from unit to phone
I always felt the thing missing from the star adventurer was goto - like you, I found it difficult locating and framing small objects with it.
In the end I went down the AZ GTi road with a sky watcher wedge and asiair guiding - for me it was a transforming step. So this mount is probably 12 months too late for me , otherwise my name would be on the waiting list. Its definitely an option for lightweight goto astro imaging. (I think newbies may find some of the alignment process frustrating at times)
It is good to see skywatcher address some of the issues from the original star adventurer - the screw on the battery cover is better than that rubbish black clip but as you said, the screw seems easy to lose. The polar scope cover still seems to be rubbish , but not a deal breaker.
The built in wedge and polar scope illuminator are welcome improvements.
I use the AZ GTi on battery power sometimes and that takes 8 batteries and easily copes with a session or 2 but its still better to externally power it so I guess this will apply to this mount as well. (Interesting the expected time on the star adventurer was 72 hours with 4 batteries but half as much, 36 hours with double the amount of batteries - shows how much more the extra motor on the extra axis can take out of the batteries)
Nice to see you using the solar charger up by the rocking stone :-)
I have been struggling for months to figure out how to use my GTI. This video made it look so much easier. I can’t wait to try it tonight. Thanks for the great info.
I’m assuming that the EQ mode of ASIAIR pro will work with this…it did with its predecessor! I modded Az-GTi for equatorial mode, the downside of the AZ-GTi is that it has no polar scope. But…ASIAIR has a polar alignment function so that’s ok. And I use it with skywatcher 72 ED, ASIAIR and autoguiding. What I like about this new Star Adventurer GTi is the build quality, the goto, abs built-in polar scope. I may get one, tempting.
Like always, like your video!
Excellent
Best Regards
Willi
Wish you a quick and complete recovery!
For the screw put a rubber o ring on it inside 👍
Hey :) Hope everything is ok. This is what we need Alyn. Ahh this will be so good to have. Looking forward to get it in the mail :)
Cheers
From my balcony I can't see the celestial star*. With the multiple star fine tune option am I going to skip this* alignment procedure once and for all?? Lovely device 😍
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 🔭 The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is a telescope mount with Wi-Fi and Go-To capabilities, making it easy to control and track celestial objects using a smartphone.
01:22 🌌 The device has motors for both right ascension and declination, allowing precise movement and tracking of telescopes and cameras.
02:18 💡 The built-in polar scope illuminator in the GTi is a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Star Adventurer Pro.
03:29 🔋 The device can be powered using 12-volt DC or eight AA batteries, but there's a concern about a detachable thumb screw that could potentially be lost.
04:52 ⏳ The GTi offers a battery life of up to 36 hours on continuous tracking, making it suitable for extended astrophotography sessions.
06:20 🧳 The device can be powered using a portable power station like the Jackery Explorer 1000, which provides additional USB ports for charging other devices and a 1000-watt AC outlet.
08:22 🌟 Setting up the GTi involves polar alignment, balancing the device, and choosing stars for alignment using the SynScan app.
10:46 🌠 The Go-To capability of the GTi makes it easy to align and frame celestial objects, eliminating the need for manual star-hopping.
15:07 📷 Despite limited testing due to unforeseen circumstances, the GTi showed promise in astrophotography, with potentially improved tracking performance compared to the Star Adventurer Pro.
19:47 🌌 The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is suitable for both beginners and seasoned astrophotographers, offering portability and Go-To capabilities.
Made with HARPA AI
Whenever I try to do any of the star alignment function my GTi likes to try and do a full 180 and then hits the hard stops.. Is there a way to reset the home first so it stops doing that? It's so far off from where the stars should actually be..
I see that you are using the Sony 100-400mm on the SA-GTI. (1) What's the Sony camera you are using to shoot the DSO? (2) Have you ever (made a video) explaining why you did not go for a Sony 200-600mm? Is it because of the higher f stop at 600mm? (3) What is the ASIAir on the table at 14:50"? I was looking at the new ASIAir Plus but it does not support Sony mirrorless. (4) Can you make a video explaining how you setup the autoguide system to reduce periodic error?
I am also a Sony user, and would like very much to know how you solve the problem of using a Sony system with the GTI. Peter Zelinka, Nico, and AStrobackyard have other (nice) cameras/systems (e.g., RAD) they can use with the ASIAir Plus, but not we Sony users. 😔
Alyn 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
You can add a star washer to the battery cover screw.
I'll buy it for the Alyn Wallace price. Get in touch Skywatcher.
My Star Adventurer GTi came today. While trying to figure out how it works, I found the battery compartment and dropped the little screw holding the cover on. I was in my living room, but it still took 20 minutes to find.
I have Jackerwy 500 (14 pounds), and was thinking about 200 or 300, just to carry less weight.
I just purchased the mount and tripod. How do you employ auto guiding? How do you adjust brightness of the polar scope I can’t seem to find it in the SynScan pro on my phone, thanks
I got one a short time ago, and am still trying to figure out how to use it step by step...Im using it with a Celestron C5 as a prime lens and Nikon D5500. I want to know however, is it possible to lock onto any moving object like a plane, helicopter, ufo etc and have it follow it??
Very nice and interesting video.Also very informative about star adventure GTI
Does anybody know if there will be a Skymax127 + SA GTi bundle?
The feature they are still missing is where you can view Polaris on the phone and overlay it on the polar alignment ring where it belongs without contorting to actually view it through the center of the tracker.................
Very impressive little mount. I’ve been looking for a mobile set up I can take when we go camping. The Go To capability is a game changer because I refuse to use star hopping. Great video Alyn
There are two 'reviews' right now here on YT about the SAgti.
This one here really is a review, the other is just enternainment and advertisement.
So: Thumbsup for Alyn! Great job. Great that you pointed out the PEC@16:35
It looks quite similar to the iOptron smartEQ, which is is used for years now (2 axes, GoTo, portable, affordable, 8x AA batteries...). So a nice, but not tecnically new product (beside the app).
Lol, gee, wonder who the other reviewer is…I do agree though!
Rip....😢
This or the 2i for a total noob? Will the extra features get in my way, or be useful if i go for tracking?
Really excited by this little mount! Superb overview Alyn! :-)
Just buy hope it’s coming Oktober 4 but I don’t have a stand or tripod just a head
another great vlog! glad you are feeling better, you look so happy!
He'll my Meade Lx85 Gt dose the same things by the way nice gt mount
i have a SA 2i and AVX already , should i get it or not? if i have to get it i have to liquidate one mount to fund it. so please advise as im not elon musk or bill gate , hehehehe
Hey guys, I have the SA 1 and I struggle to polar align it. How much easier would this be to align?
It wouldn't be any easier, if you want easier polar alignment then hook your unit up to an ASIair.
@@ringod123 thank you
Could this Star Adventurer GTi have love with MAK150 ?
Can it be programmed to track the ISS?
How could I consider ordering one if I don't even know the price? 🤷♂️
589 euros
$649 dollars
I've had a Jackery for awhile now. Did you get the two solar panels with it? As others here I'm on pre-order. Thanks for the video.
A P.S. to this post after ordering and being told that this was coming in May I now got an email saying mid to late June.
Well after watching your video and the other 2 videos (Astrobackyard & Nebula Photos) yours was the most informative of how things work with this new tracker. Can't wait to get mine.
Yes the pain of finding the target on a zoom once you’ve got it in a round about polar alignment ha this piece of kit looks awesome. Class content as always dude
Didnt know periodic error was a thing. Worm gears should fix that i think?
Feel better Alyn 🙏🏽 Really enjoy your videos
My Star Adventurer 2i arrived this week😕 Wonder if I can send it back as I think I'll be getting this, if the price is right...
Gud luck with that.....
Good review Alyn. Get well soon!
what does this mean for the southern hemisphere, easy accurate alignment?
Hi! Can we control it with eqmod+asiair ? Thanks :)
Thank you for putting it in kg and not pounds lol. Keen astrophotography guy my current heq5 is to heavy as I have back n legs issues. Can you attach the zwoasi plus to it?
For us Americans too lazy to Google a conversion, we are looking at about 11 pounds max payload.
What's the model of the Jackery you using here?
Does the mount have the capability to move it azimuth by the base?
Where in the UK can you obtain this Skywatcher mount?
very nice presentation, what app do you use to operate the device? thanks
I finally got my GTI a few weeks ago. This weekend has phenomenal weather for late October in Wisconsin USA, 70 degrees and. CLEAR! your video is the first one I found that just uses the mount and syncscan APP on a smartphone, without confusing everyone. Others are using a computer with Ascom or an ASiair etc. Modeling the waters. I just want to start with the basics. Doing the 1,2,3 star alignment is what I needed to know how to do! THANKS! Your awsome Alyn.
How long did you wait from purchase to delivery?
@@arthurwiegman5512 I posted this comment 4 months ago. I think it was ordered in June, and showed up late September, or October. By the way, I'm now working on getting the asiair (which took about 3 months, backordered) to receive.
If you want to only find objects StarSense does it all automatically.
How do you balance it if you are just using a camera and lens?
Hi Alyn. Useful video. Regarding the Sky Watcher I have a question: The Manual says that the RA and DEC clutches must be disangaged when balancing equipment. ¿The RA and DEC clutches must remain disgangaged all the time even when we already have pointed to an object?
Unfortunately, Alyn is no longer with us. He passed away last March.
Alyn Wallace-GTI
So you don't need to aim at the polaris to do the polar alignment?
Do we have to do the basic polar alignment?
Great video! But now I have to ask: SERIOUSLY?! You don't have a telescope? What a waste, with all the night-sky-knowledge, photography-experience and night-photo-processing-skills you have?! Although your 400 and 600-mm-lenses are already kind of telescopes ... But please get yourself like a SC 8'' or something similar, you will have so much fun! Greeting from Switzerland
My passion lies in Landscape Astrophotography. I'm saving deep-sky astrophotography (and protecting my wallet!) for retirment :)
Hi, I have a question. I am interested in astrophotography, but I can not polar align, because I have a view at the west (between 250 and 20 degrees, and the north is just to the side of my flat. Is it still worth getting this? not sure how I can get it to work
The SynScan pro app has an all star align function to polar align if you can’t see north. There a way to do this in NINA also if you control the mount with a laptop.
Can you share the link to the steel tripod that you use?
Alyn, can this be used if off grid?
I just tried to order a GTi and none are available
Barry
Just heard about your passing…rest easy in the stars hermano 🤍
Can I just ask - having a bit of difficulty getting started (I'm sure it's all user error!!) - I set it up as detailed facing true north, get it polar aligned through the polar scope, all balanced etc. Turn it on & connect the app. Then try to get it to slew to a star for single star alignment (e.g. Betelgeuse). And it moves to completely the wrong place, no where near where I want it to go. And the arrows on the app won't make it move. And the reset alignment isn't highlighted as an option.
I think I must just be doing it wrong ... any ideas? I've tried reinstalling the app.
Sorry I moved to Istanbul and haven't used the thing since the time of this video to be honest. Try contacting Skywatcher.
Awesome background for review!
hang on, i can connect it to stellarium on my laptop?! sign me up!
Thanks for a great review. Looking forward to getting one of these.
Will it track the moon say for the May and November 2022 lunar eclipse from before start to the end a all night affair. Using the Sony 200-600mm with a 2x teleconverter in APS-C mode for a 1800mm Moon filling the frame. I did the January 20, 2019 Lunar Eclipse manually in +/- 20 degree temp and keeping it in frame was very difficult as it moved in the sky especially at midnight when the camera is pointing almost straight up and you have to be on your knees to see the LCD. Lesson learned just use 600mm for you get stars also. To do the moon SS/ISO the same (125) and get sharpest use f/8 to f/11 after manual focusing. You can capture a shot manually at 1800mm but you will still get movement if looking at 100% or zooming a result on camera, but increasing SS/ISO can reduce. But for the videoers this looks like a deal just need some SD cards, this will last in Florida from 9:32 PM to 2:50 AM, 5 1/2 hours. Just add info Sony 200-600mm at just 600mm can capture the moon just hand holding it is just that stable. Just remember settings when it starts to go dark best to use bracketing on a tracker.Am sure Alyn will have better details soon! Alyn I Pray you get better your knowledge is needed every month!!!
What telescope are you using?
Hi Alyn, some weeks ago my skywatcher Az-GTi got a damage, now i bought the SAGTi. Last Night i could test it with autoguiding and DuoNarrowband filter. I get pinpoint round stars taking 300sec Subframes. The guiding error in both axes are between 0.67-1.25 arcseconds. I can highly recommend guiding.I`m looking forward to the next La Palma holiday with hat mount, aashootimg under good conditions. Chears Jörg always clear skies!
OK so the Star Aventurer sold a lot of units and so many new APers got fed up with AP due to no Goto judging by the numbers of SH units on the market. It will sell loads....BUT.....for detailed AP it won't cut it I'm afraid....why????...it's payload is far too low....Serious AP needs good guiding/tracking and in reality any AP mount for imaging usually only works well with 0.5 to max 0.75 of the specified load capacity which makes 2.5 to max 3.8 kgms of imaging gear which is a non-starter for AP....it will be fine fir MW type images but true DSO....save up and get a decent mount...if you really get into AP...you will so so quickly realize that the mount is the single most important part of any AP setup...this is a toy I'm afraid and like all toys you will outgrow it very very quickly....buy once only cry once
drill a small hole in the thumb screw on the battery cover and attach a small cord tether to the main body.
I wonder if you could use a lens cap keeper? Wouldn’t have to drill a hole.
I love my SA. But for a $300 upgrade, this looks great (sell my old one for $350, buy this for $650). Or get the whole setup with tripod for only another hundred bucks. Beefy yet portable. Illuminated PA reticle. Go To controls. Totally worth the money.
With that said, got to keep an eye on what iOptron is doing.
Excellent review Alyn.....I have a Nikon DSLR and several fast Nikkor lenses, plus an old heavy weight Bogen tripod and an ASIAIR. The GTi seems a perfect fit. Thanks!
Many thanks for this Video. At the moment, I must wait 2-3 days for - MY - Star Adventurer GTI.