So you want a Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI eh?
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- Опубликовано: 10 янв 2024
- Join me on my first look , my experience and my first video in a series with the SkyWatcher GTI mount. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced imager, this mount is packed with impressive go-to abilities.
Together, we'll dive into the unboxing and assembly process, including the saddle upgrade, exploring the build quality and any quirky features I've discovered along the way. I'll also share some helpful tips on what to look out for.
I'll find out just how easy it is to pair up the SynScan app and showcase some real-life examples of the incredible payload this small, portable mount can handle.
Thanks to my subscribers and thank you for 1300 subs! I am a tiny channel and I appreciate you all for following my journey in astrophotography.
Skywatcher GTI Series Playlist
• Skywatcher Star Advent...
Here's where you can find the Skywatcher GTI! this link helps to support this channel.
Astrophotography Dealers
Highpoint Scientific
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Skywatcher GTI Agena Astro
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Skywatcher GTI Carry Case
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Star adventurer GTI saddle upgrade by ADM
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Great review, thanks for sharing.
Nice video. I enjoyed it. I did like how you redone the saddle with the ADM. Great job! John
Super helpful for folks getting into the hobby. Especially me. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Well done! Solid. Thank you!
Great job exactly what I needed to see ! And very well done, sir
Glad this helped you out!
I really appreciate your tutorials... im downloading them for future reference! You do a really good job of explaining things making it seem alot easier than im thinking it would be. Im excited to be getting into this hobby.
Glad they help! This hobby is amazing!
This is the mount that I’ve had my eye on for quite a while and after watching all these reviews I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Solid review, and clear skies!
Thanks for watching this one ! Appreciate it!
I read in the fine print clear skies not guaranteed :(
absolutely helpful video, nice👍👍👍
Glad this helped out in some way and thanks for watching this one!
Great review. New sub. Still in the mirrorless camera (A74) and Rokinon 135 f/2.0. It seems to be ok with my MSM Nomad but this mount is still very tempting. Thank you!
Thanks and thanks for watching this one. I'm glad I had a chance to show it to you.
I don't have any sky tracker at all and trying to get into the astrophotography hobby. It seems like a very usefull tool to get start with. It's a very usefull video and you explain it well. Thanks for showing things like the damage that the litle bolt can do :)
Glad this helped out! Appreciate you watching this video! It's an awesome time to get into astro. If I had this option when I started I might have not gone into a full blown EQ mount so soon.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!! Thanks for watching this one I appreciate it+
I have been using my Sky-Watcher AZ GTi which I can set up in less than one minute and a 6" Schmidt Cassegrain (off a 6se). When the weather warms up, I will start using my brand new Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi so that I can gather more than 15-20 minutes worth of data.
Follow up. The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer would not work with my cell phone or my hand controller. Sad. I returned it. Broken, I suppose.
But, I still had my Celestron CG-4 mount with an Astro-Gadget motorized go to conversion kit. I cracked it out and did a SynScan firmware update and it works just fine with my telephone and SynScan application. Plus, it can handle 20 pounds, instead of 11. Though, it weighs 34.5 pounds with the counter weights. Kinda heavy.
This is great to hear. Please let me know how well it works with the 6se. I am considering the same setup and can’t find any references.
@@marshalljames6013please do NOT use a 6se with a gti. It will not handle it and not even track well
If you want to tighten up the polar scope CAP on the Star Adventurer & the GTI, heat each side of the cap up with a hair dryer. Then move each tab outward about 1/16" until it cools. The cap will never fall off again when hit with your hand. The screw for the battery door access will be lost in no time at all, they should have used a "captive" screw for that, I guess the Engineers getting the big bucks couldn't think of that.......ALSO ON THE GTI, the polar scope cap fits without batteries inserted......once you install the batteries the tabs are too long and hit the last battery so they cannot engage the detent to hold the cap in place. . I cut my tabs shorter about 1/8" and then it engaged.
i just use a covid mask as a banana hammock to keep the cap from falling off
The outside of the Dec unit is actually plastic as well, just a dimpled paint on it. I’ve disassembled it to look at the insides, and it is plastic. I still think it’s a decent mount, although I would have preferred a bit more capacity, maybe 15lbs, compared to the 11 that’s the same as the 2i.
Yea that piece was really convincing. I also think it's pretty decent for what it is so far. Thanks for the additional info for here. Appreciate ya!
I used that with an Evolux62ED+field flattener, Nikon D5300, ZWOminif4 guidescope and asi120mm mini, and ASIAIR mini, also about 8 and a bit pounds. Guided typically at 1-2”. Not too shabby for a little guy like this.
Not too shabby at all! I'm really looking forward to taking mine out!
That's basically my rig but my camera is asi485mc, with the same guidescope with the asiair plus....but no field flattener.
i think in terms of performance it equals AZ GTI eq mod with wedge
More gti videos please, its cloudy here :(
I have one releasing on the 16th
I used it for more than a year very actively. It developed severe backlash in both RA and DEC. Every second night after that I had to tune the backlash which is pain in the......now I have harmonic drive mount
Did you carried it around with weight installed ?
Try putting the polar scope cover back with the batteries installed ...
Yup, that annoyed me, simple oversight. It doesn’t fit with batteries installed.
I'll give it a try!! Thx
there is a new one called EQ AL55i Pro and i think it is better than GTI because you can load up to max 10 kg and you have all also the same quality
Hi
Can you confirm if the ADM saddle would fit also the Star Adventurer 2i Wifi ? And is that saddle compatible with the L-shaped mounting assembly ?
Hello! You might want to contact ADM on that. It doesn't state that specifically.
Hi, I aso have the S/W S/A GTi, great little mount, I am going to put my PST40 solar scope on it for some solar viewing and photos, I can also fit my ED80 on it too for some day time moon viewing.
You mentioned about the polar cover popping off all the time, well problem solved, heat the tags a small amount DONT get them TOO HOT or you will have a molten disaster. You may have to trim the edges of the tags if you get them too hot. I now have to apply pressure to get the cover off. It only takes a few seconds to get them hot enough to bend. I accept no responsibility for a molten mess.
I asked SkyWatcher what the led lights mean and the comments are below.
Cheers Robert Aust'
A single flash per second means the Wi-Fi is broadcasting.
A double flash means you're connected to the Wi-Fi.
Solid light means you must be connected to a computer
or the Wi-Fi is not broadcasting.
Notes from SkyWatcher USA
Nice! Thanks for the add here! I'm sure it will help others too. Appreciate it!
Hi there! New subscriber here.
I've got the SA/GTI here bought it soon after initial release. Used it a few times.
I have to say I've been unhappy with the early version.
Had better success with the AZ/gti. My SA/gti just sits in the corner now.
In my opinion the early version SA/gti suffers from low quality assembly bugs.
Hoping the newer SA/gti will work much better for astro.
I hope so too. Looking forward to putting it through its paces when the skies clear. Thanks for watching this one and welcome to the channel!
Now I need to go back and look through my box, because I SWEAR mine came with a straight USB-B end, and I was just thinking the other day, that I need a right angle USB cable.
It appears the second generation of these mounts are shipping with two counterweights. This mount probably has the fix SW applied to each axis. They added a nut for the screw holding the worm gears. You can confirm this by simply taking the plastic front cover off. I would be great if you could and let us know. I'm on the fence again getting one of these again. If there's a nut that the screw goes into, then the other axis will have it too. How well it holds the worm in place remains to be seen. I had the first generation and the axis developed backlash right away without those added nuts.
I'll check when I get a chance later today!
@@astronotnathank you.
took a few pics DM me on instagram I can share them with you
@@astronotna Messaged.
Well... did it have the nuts!? I'd love to know. I have the version with the double counter weights.
Is there someone here that has overloaded the mount (over 11lbs with guidescope) and what where your guiding results? I have seen similar mounts to this that claim 11lbs for imaging and 22lbs for visual, so 11lbs seems to me like the 50% mark.
I have mine loaded with aprox. 9lbs payload and I am getting about 0.3 total error in PHD 2. (I am having a brainfart and cant recall what the default scale is in phd arc min or seconds, persumably min)
Great video...I have the older original Skywatcher AZ-GTI modded for EQ. Since you have ZWO gear, how would adding an ASIAIR, EAF, and Svbony guide scope to a small refractor get along with ASIAIR's app operating the Skywatcher GTI mount?
My other option is to shell out big bucks for an AM3 or AM5. Thanks for your thoughts, Michael
Thanks for watching this one
Asiair plays nicely with all of those. Just direct plug in to USB is all it takes if you so desire. The asi air has 4 USB ports and 2 additional if you have a asi camera. On my sct rig I have an EAF, EFW, guidecam, imaging cam and mount all running off the air.
@astronotna Thanks for that excellent response. I'm guessing you mount your SCT on your AM5. Another question, please: What's the least expensive 2" light pollution filter for Bortal 8 Arlington, Texas skies that actually works? I'm not spending $300 on a filter.
Yep definitely on the AM5 or EQ6. You have lots of choices there. I personally have had good experiences with these. UHC has the most aggressive cut off but you might have some color correction to do after. CLS is the most natural but a tad weaker filter. Just take lots of shorter exposures try 2 minute subs first and see how it goes. Take you flat frames too! If you want to splurg LPRO is great too
SVbony CLS
amzn.to/49BOeUh
Optolong CLS
bit.ly/4bTYlVW
Optolong UHC
bit.ly/42ZacOq
Optolong L-PRO Filter
bit.ly/3TcmjEt
Thanks so much....I'm also considering the Svbony dual band SV220. Your thoughts, please. Michael
Havent tried it at all so im afraid I can't comment on it. Sbony filters seem to be pretty decent for the price tho. I also think Zwo has a dual band filter in that price range too.
Thanks for the review. Is there a particular tripod you would recommend using with this mount?
Glad it helped! I'm afraid I only have experience with the tripod like the one it comes with for the star adventurer. Works pretty well honestly. I know there are some carbon fiber models out there but they are almost the same price as the mount!
Thank you for responding back. My plan is to image the April 8th eclipse from C1-5 minutes through C4+ 5 minutes. I'm confident that the mount/tripod will easily handle my Fuji XT-3 with a Fuji 100-400mm lens. But will the mount/tripod combo play nice with a Lunt 60mm H-Alpha Modular Solar Telescope DS? The weight of a double stacked Lunt and eyepiece is just about 9.5 pounds. I'm not expecting you can answer that specific question. :) But it is something that concerns me. I like the portability that this rig offers. @@astronotna
I dont see why it wouldn't. as long as it is balanced properly you should be good there. That wieght is within spec.
Does the ADM logo on the saddle being upside down bug you like it bugs me?
Omg! Yes!!!!!
Well it's "just" $89 ...
Great review!!! I have an older canon 600 mm f4 L IS USM that weighs 12 1/2 pounds. And use a Sony S7 R2 with adapter that weighs about 2 pounds. Total weight 14 1/2 pounds. How strict is the 12 pound max, or is there another tracker in the same price range that can handle 15 pounds. Also I read the effective focal length is 500 mm.
If anyone could give me some advice on my options I would appreciate it. I’m just starting to get into deep sky and this is the set up I’m stuck with for now.
Thanks!
Hello there! You definitely don't want to be over the payload specs here. However at 15 lbs I would suggest a skywatcher eqm 35. It's just a little bit more in price but has a 22 lbs payload. You might also want to look at the zwo am3 as well. Hope this helps!
I was thinking of buying a tracker solar eclipse. Do you know if this can be used for that?
I've heard of people using it for that. You can modify the tracking rate through the app and the app will also slew to the sun I'm sure it's adequate
You can, absolutely! It’s tricky to set up for polar alignment during the day, but you can use a good compass (on your phone, for instance) for alignment. The app will make you answer a math question to enable “go to sun”, but if you do that and use solar tracking, you’re good to go. Don’t forget your solar filters!!!
Hello Sir can yoi please tell me the Height of the tripod?
Can i put it in trolley luggage bag while travelling from UK to India?
Collapsed it is 27 inches
🇨🇦
Do i leave both clutches engaged or disengaged while not in use?
Depends. If I am handling it I will disengage the clutch. I just leosen it to not cause unnecessary strain. I don't think it matters just preference.
@@astronotna thank god for that lol :)
@@astronotna ty for this
What telescope are you using?
In this video william optics zenithstar Z73
Why do you say it will work with an iphone as well? Have you tried to do so? I have tried, and the phone detects the wifi signal but refuses to connect. (I can connect with my imac, with no trouble). The shop told me that it is a common problem but could offer no solution. Apple says it is not their fault. The manufacturers have not replied to my request for help. After searching the internet It seems that I need a dongle to be able to connect, or alternatively buy a hand controller. Either way, it is an expensive fix!
It worked with my iPad with no issues. Skywatcher claims it will work with IOS. It is why I mentioned it. Have you contacted Skywatcher like call them? They have always been helpful when i called. Sorry you are having issues my friend. Hope you get them sorted soon. I agree no fun dealing with that!
@@astronotna i have contacted Skywatcher, but have had no reply.
So sorry buddy!!
@@astronotna I have found a solution - use Bluetooth! In the app settings > connect settings, select BLE instead of Network. I don't understand the difference between the two, but it now works perfectly.
Nice man! Glad you got it sorted!
I've got this guy and have only had it perform an automatic meridian flip once. It has never done it since.
Any ideas?
I'd also love to see what settings y'all are using for guiding on it.
and what maximum shutter speed in seconds did you use with a 7 kg load
Depends. What focal length , sensor size are you shooting at? Also is this unguided?
full frame, 1500mm
@user-pd3id8ob2q at that focal length you probably under 30 seconds unguided. You will want to auto guide if you are doing deepsky. You could get serious minutes from doing so. I'm assuming you are doing deepsky.
Great review, thanks for sharing.
Your welcome and thanks for watching this one!