My mini AP rig: WO Star71 + SW Star Adventurer + A7s
I thought I'd share my experiences putting together a travel rig for AP using the Skywatcher Star Adventurer mount in case anyone else has had similar thoughts.
TLDR: It works well if balanced properly and PA is good. Guiding worked reasonably well but isn't absolutely necessary for short exposures. I guess the proof is in the images and while I certainly won't be getting rid of my proper setup I'm pretty happy with the results - especially considering I can carry the whole setup easily by myself, it all fits in the boot of my tiny car, and it doesn't require mains power or a big battery to run.
The WO Star71 is a great little scope and I'm looking forward to doing some widefield narrowband with it using my STT8300 on the EQ6.
Also the A7s is a bit of a surprise being reasonably sensitive to Ha straight out of the box
Looks good Hugh. For imaging do you think you'll enjoy using one of the scopes more than the other?
That's a good question!
They're such different experiences. My usual imaging with my big setup is very slow and because I'm under such heavy light pollution it takes at least a whole night, usually more than one, to get enough data for a final image. Also I kind of have everything working well with that setup and with the AO I never have to worry about eggy stars or other guiding issues.
This new rig on the other hand has challenges, especially with guiding, that I haven't had to think about for years, but it's nice to be challenged, and I love how portable it is. It's also nice to be able to produce an image in an hour or less and to be able to capture enough data in a night to make a few images.
I would say I'll enjoy using the new rig more, especially as when I use it I'll be under dark skies, but I think I'll still prefer the final product I get from my bigger rig.
You never know though, when I try the Star71 with the STT8300 I might get hooked on widefield NB!
Its amazing you can frame the targets in real time (rather than trial and error exposures)
Yeah it makes me wonder how I ever lived without it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimmoW
Looks a benchmark portable setup! Yeah I still get a kick out of framing targets live via video mode.
It's a shame you have to be recording video though for the live view to show the ISO properly, would be much better if it just worked the way one would expect.
I'm impressed with the results you're getting with your modded A7s, it's tempting me to get mine done
Yep, the video mode can be a pain, esp if you forget to turn the vid mode off when you think you are imaging!! (Nah, I've never done that???? ).
JTW Astronomy did my mod, highly recommended, you can't get real Ha sensitivity without it, but remember I'm using a 6nm Ha filter for many of my images. But if you have a dedicated Astro camera I wouldn't bother.
JTW Astronomy did my mod, highly recommended, you can't get real Ha sensitivity without it, but remember I'm using a 6nm Ha filter for many of my images. But if you have a dedicated Astro camera I wouldn't bother.
Yeah the whole point of this setup was to be light and simple, I'm not trying to replicate the functionality of my bigger setup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimsShed
I really enjoyed reading your Article Hugh. I'm astounded that the mount runs on 4AA batteries.
Excellent and encouraging post. I'm doing something similar but for back packing and public transport so your post was very informative. Couple of questions i) How long does the battery on the A7 last and would you think the A7 was a better option than a colour CCD astro camera such as the Atik Ultrastar which has very low power consumption? ii) I looked at portable mounts and it came to a choice between the Smart EQ and the Adventurer. They bot look good the Adventurer because it is well represented in Australia and the Smart Eq has a chequered history but can guide in DEC and has Go To. wondered if you had considered the Smart EQ and your thoughts on it?
Excellent and encouraging post. I'm doing something similar but for back packing and public transport so your post was very informative. Couple of questions i) How long does the battery on the A7 last and would you think the A7 was a better option than a colour CCD astro camera such as the Atik Ultrastar which has very low power consumption? ii) I looked at portable mounts and it came to a choice between the Smart EQ and the Adventurer. They bot look good the Adventurer because it is well represented in Australia and the Smart Eq has a chequered history but can guide in DEC and has Go To. wondered if you had considered the Smart EQ and your thoughts on it?
Thanks for your terrific post and blog
PeterO
Thanks Peter!
I hadn't considered the Smart EQ mainly because when I got the Star Adventurer it was a bit of an impulse buy (I saw it in Bintel and thought "why not..."), plus I initially only planned to use it with a camera and lens and not with a scope.
I think if your polar alignment is good you shouldn't really need to guide in DEC anyway, but the Smart EQ does look pretty good on paper.
It's hard to compare the A7s to the Atik Ultrastar as they're so different. Without having used one, though I did own an Atik 314L+, I would say the Ultrastar will give better images than the A7s due to its much higher dynamic range - though they will obviously be a lower pixel resolution and FOV than the A7s. I've never used an uncooled CCD so I'm not sure how heat will affect it, or how that compares to the A7s.
Also you would have to run the Atik from a laptop, which isn't a big deal if you're guiding anyway but I was hoping to do most of my imaging with this setup unguided, just using the laptop and guidescope to polar align and then turning them off.
The A7s battery lasted about 4-5 hours when imaging.
What scope/lens were you thinking of putting on the mount?
Do you have a camera already of are you thinking you'll buy one just for this setup?
Hi Hugh,
I also use the Star Adventurer as a portable tracker for my Borg and am impressed. I haven't needed to guide yet, but added the new Polemaster adapter last week. Polar alignment is now so easy, but does require a laptop.
Star adventurer users can check out this quirky counter weight option: http://www.darkframeoptics.com/produ...loverthree-red
Uses three cans so you don't have to lug counter weight around, plus you can have a beer once done for the night!
They quoted me £40 shipped to Aus ie ~$70
I need a little more weight to balance when imaging through a heavy Ep, so this is a great option.
Hi Hugh,
I also use the Star Adventurer as a portable tracker for my Borg and am impressed. I haven't needed to guide yet, but added the new Polemaster adapter last week. Polar alignment is now so easy, but does require a laptop.
I've been writing some software that does something similar to the Polemaster using my ASI120 and a cheap 25mm c mount lens. I haven't had much time for it lately but it should work when I get around to finishing it... or I might get lazy and get a Polemaster
Great to hear that they work well though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AstroApprentice
Star adventurer users can check out this quirky counter weight option: http://www.darkframeoptics.com/produ...loverthree-red
Uses three cans so you don't have to lug counter weight around, plus you can have a beer once done for the night!
They quoted me £40 shipped to Aus ie ~$70
I need a little more weight to balance when imaging through a heavy Ep, so this is a great option.
That's a great idea! Though it could cause balance problems as the night goes on, and the beer gets drunk...
That would be super simple to knock up a model and 3D print, I might do it when I have some time, now that my printer is back in action.
I have an ED80T and cameras: an Atik314L+ for DSO and spectroscopy, ASI120MC, Orion DeepSpace G3 for photometry and an Orion guide camera. They are all fairly low power so long as the cooling is off, in which case I can get nine hours from the Atik with a Mini-gorilla power pack.
The Carbon Fibre ED80T weighs about the same as most triplet 65-70mm scopes but that’s too heavy and bulky for my purpose. I'd like to carry everything except the tripod in one instrument case or back pack to carry several km. And I’m after stability and PE better than two arc seconds if possible.
Chose the Adventurer over the SmartEQ because the latter needs remedial work to run optimally and I can’t find local support if it breaks down. It was a hard decision as the SmartEQ is ultraportable and apparently can work really well once fixed up. The tripod is an old EQ3 with a Delrin spacer and rotating brass thread adaptor. Serge (Astrodevices) made it from a drawing I sent him and it feels very solid with the Adventurer. The rest will probably be a TakFS60CB, SX Ultrastar C, Orion TOAG and guide camera, and a small and ancient HP netbook.
All the best, Peter
Last edited by UBoat; 12-07-2016 at 09:15 PM.
Reason: To indicate the question being answered
Hi Peter,
Sounds like a TakFS60CB would be a good scope for this mount. However I wouldn't count on PE under 2" - I've seen this review where his copy of the mount has a PE around 50" (http://philhart.com/content/star-adventurer-review).
Oh and I love the Atik 314L+, a great camera and as much as I love my SBIG part of me will always miss my 314L+
Yes agreed on both counts. The Atik 314L+ was my first astrocamera and has been very effective for spectroscopy (decent resolution), photometry (16 bit linear response) and astro (works well and straightforwrd to use)
Re the Adventurer PEC quite agree I was a bit sloppy and should have said 2" guided. Theres an assessment of guided vs unguided with the Adventurer at http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/46...r-first-light/ . The native PEC on his lightweight tripod and heavy camera with no counterbalance rig was 23" P-P and guided it was 2" rms.
I'm going to be using a steel tube eq3 with a very solid adaptor, light weight camera, balanced load and OAG guiding so I'm hopeful that I'll reproduce the 2" but can't be sure it will work - I'll let you know how it goes.
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