Star Adventurer Astro Pack

This mount performs exactly as advertised. I took it out for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Maupin, Oregon. I'm attaching a couple of images, so you can see what's possible with this mount. As I said, this was my first time. The first image is of Andromeda, and its two companions. The second image is of the Milky Way, with the galactic center in Sagittarius in the lower left, and Cygnus in the upper right. The North American nebula is visible as a pink patch in Cygnus. Note that there are no star trails in the images. Equipment used: SkyWatcher Star Adventurer Photo Package Equatorial Wedge (Recommended. This makes polar alignment MUCH easier.) Counterweight Kit (Recommended, especially when using heavier cameras and lenses.) Canon 6D 70-200mm IS USM L lens (for Andromeda at 200mm) 24-105mm IS USM L lens (for the Milky Way at 24mm) Imaging: 10 images each @ 30sec with ISO 1600 @ 38 deg F. Periodically, and after a few minutes, I noticed I started to get some star trails, so I re-aligned to Polaris between image sets as needed. Processing: I followed the workflow with image stacking as described on the LonelySpeck web site. I'm still learning how to optimize the images. [...] I attached images to show different configurations with the SkyWatcher. The ball mount option makes it easier to compose wide-angle shots. You don't need expensive camera equipment to take great photos with the SkyWatcher. However, I do recommend using a camera with manual settings that can take raw images. To help me align the camera to the parts of the sky I wanted to shoot, I used an Xtend-a-Sight™ Plus II bracket which attaches to the flash shoe on your camera, and allows you to add a reflex site (purchased separately). [...] I used a Sight Mark Sure Shot Reflex Sight, but any sight capable of attaching to a weaver-style rail should work. This setup makes sighting in dark skies much easier than just pointing and hoping for the best. I still took a couple of test shots to fine-tune object centering. https://www.amazon.com/Sightmark-Sure-Shot-Reflex-Sight/dp/B004TDQDF0 The sight is attached to my camera in one photo. I attached a close up image of the Xtend-a Sight with the reflex site. One final thing to note. There are 2 ways to align to polaris through the polar scope. Both ways work. One method is a bit complicated, and is described in the product manual. When done correctly, this should result in accurate alignment. The other method is easier. With the reticle positioned with 0 at the top, and 6 at the bottom (see image), you just simply you place polaris in the correct position on the reticle. The correct position of Polaris can be determined using an iPhone or Android app. The easy method will work, but it can be prone to misalignment. I used the easy method when I took my images, so that may be the reason why I had to re-align periodically.

This device is well worth the money. I will say it's not completely for the faint of heart. There is some configuration required. It's not just an "attach your camera and shoot" device. You first need to make sure your device is calibrated correctly from the factory. Checking the calibration requires pointing to a distant object in the daytime then rotating the axis manually 90 degrees to see if the axis stays aligned. What I found was the manual rotation is what introduced play into the system. So I had to do it 5 or 6 times before I realized it was as calibrated enough for my taste. The reality is you will not likely get to a 90 degree rotation in the field because it rotates so slowly. If you do need to calibrate it requires a .5 mm Allen wrench (not included). Regarding the tripod, you do want one that is very stable. I read that many times but until I set it up I didn't truly realize what it meant. It's not really about wind per say. It's more about how much play your tripod has. Meaning if you were to put downward pressure on the tripod, would it flex? Millimeter adjustments matter with this thing. It is extremely delicate. Even when turning the device on you can accidentally tweak your Polaris alignment. I do not think any photography tripod will truly qualify. Now I must admit, I do not have a very stable tripod, but I was extremely careful. I mounted the legs at a steep angle so downward pressure due to weight did not give vertical play. I did also purchase a leveling mount to place between tripod and sky watcher gear. You need to have the kit level to the ground. I think this is very important. Trying to level your tripod using the legs would be a nightmare. I bought the Astro package even though I use a dslr. I made the right choice because I can mount my existing tripods ball head onto the L bracket no problem. It also makes it easier to align to Polaris because there is a slot in the L bracket that allows you to place the LED device which illuminates your Polaris scope. Then you do not have to add your camera after the alignment, which would surely tweak your setup and give you bad results. So I would say, only buy the Astro package. Before you align to Polaris, you want to roughly level your gear, and roughly point towards Polaris. Then mount your camera to the L bracket using the ballhead and point it to your desired destination and tighten the clutch. You can point the camera in any direction you wish. It doesn't need to face polaris. It can point anywhere and this device will work. If this is your first run I'd highly recommend a wide angle lens. That way, even if your alignment is not perfect you will still get acceptable results. Next change your iso, aperture, focus, wb, and shutter to like 30 secs and snap a shot using a timer then check the rough results. If you are happy, attach your shutter control cable from your SA to your camera (you need to buy this), take camera off the timer, set your camera to bulb mode, proceed to leveling your tripod perfectly, then do the Polaris alignment. There are 2 ways to align Polaris. Easy way and hard way. Using the easy way I got stellar results :) it requires an app. I used the Android app Polar finder and set the recticle to the star adventurer setting to mimic the layout. It tells you where Polaris should be located in your scope. But to locate Polaris use Google sky map. When aligning it helps to have a green laser pointer and point to Polaris then look through the scope and verify. You will see the laser in your scope. Also make sure the cross hairs are pointed straight 90 degrees, not at an angle. Once aligned perfectly with a leveled rig make sure to your hemisphere N or S is set then turn the dial to the star. The tracker will then control your shutter at a default 140 seconds. The first night I forgot to focus correctly. The second night I got a milky way picture that was absolutely stunning. The attached picture was taken with a Canon t5i, with Sigma 10-20mm @ 10mm, 800iso and F3.5 @140 second exposure. 20 separate of these images were stacked to eliminate noise.

The Star Watcher Star Adventurer 2i seems to be a decent tool for tracking heavenly objects. The instruction manual that came with it is not organized in a way that is easy to understand. It is published in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE but was created (or translated) by a person who lacked an understanding of how to convey the way one is to operate the device. It took a lot of trial and error to get the get the device to track the sun across the sky.

Ived used 2x, 1st when i bought it in april and last night in oct, tracked the very first time, but now it doesnt, if u google ull see others with tracking issues specially because of the app mode, mine at first wasnt tracking at all in anymode unless i had the snap cable connected to my dslr, i did a factort reset and firmware update and now it will not track no matter what, if in app mode it will track if i manually press the degree button in the app, but it will not track at all, it will still take pictures because the snap cable is connected but no matter what it will not track now, I most certainly do not recommend this because it isnt user friendly, i spend a long night setting up to find out it was all useless, my problem may not occur to you but for the price its a super gamble u will be taking, i learned the hardway and im very disappointed since i cant track anything anymore

I havent tested this gem to the fullest but this thing looks promising . Paired with my sturdy tripod it takes great night images. Great to go tracking mount. Works with 70-200mm but avoid putting ballhead on it youll end up figuring out how to balance it.. Love it

It’s pretty good for amateur astrophotography, it’s very light weight and is a good price compared to other star trackers.

After building a barn door tracker and having a lot of fun learning about astrophotography this is an obvious next step. I'm now taking even more beautiful photos with perfect round stars. Even have started exploring time lapse videos using the latitude mount and panning horizontally. I have big plans for this tracker and can't wait to put it full use. Excellent build quality, rechargeable AA batteries last more than a full night and with a little practice polar alignment is a breeze and just takes a couple of minutes. You can "calculate" the alignment with the built in dials fairly easily, or use a simple app on your phone. Clear skies.

I purchased this with hopes of tracking the sun. I wanted to love this, but this tracker wasn't easy to figure out - it has a pretty steep learning curve. Even though the manual is written in English and is grammatically correct... it still didn't make sense, and doesn't get into the nuts and bolts of specific functionalities - in particular, the various tracking modes, especially the solar mode. One thing I wanted to know is how each mode works, especially the solar mode! I had to resort to a bunch of YouTube videos (most of which were pretty unhelpful). I aimed this thing at polar north, did the calibration, etc but for the life of me, I could not get this thing to keep the sun centered in my view finder frame. I wasn't even sure if it was working, so did a test where I set it to solar mode, and video'ed the tracker using my phone's time lapse mode to see if it was MOVING at all in solar mode. It didn't move a millimeter. When I switched it to a different mode (star) the movement did show up in my phone's timelapse. So maybe I had a defective unit. I just ultimately got fed up and ended up returning my unit. I'll consider purchasing this again when I have more time to dig into how it works; I may also end up purchasing a different solar tracker entirely.