NEW: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

[AdamJL]

Originally Posted by alan meehan

Well the mount came back from bintel and i set it up balanced the scope its only a skywatcher ed80 and went for a 1 star allighment and it shuddered and jammed going back again iam not impressed with this mount at all.The tripod i brought with it is great a good little proper tripod but thats it ,iam thinking of of going for the ioptron maybe that would be better iam so dissappionted in this mount

Sorry to hear that Alan. I know it doesn't help, but you're in the same company as many of us who have experienced an inferior product with this mount.

If you're thinking about the iOptron Skyhunter, be careful of that as well. From reading a thread on Cloudy Nights, it too has some awful problems that users are encountering.

It's very sad that these companies are using us to test their products. There are too many flaws on them. I would suggest holding out for either generation 2 of these mounts, or saving a bit more for a different mount that is either proven or one of the newer strain-wave ones which are performing excellently in the hands of users.

[alan meehan (Alan)]

yes i have read the reviews on the ioptron not good as well ,i have been advised that skywatcher are replacing my mount hope the next one is better

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

That is good news. Bloody inconvenient but at least you get a chance of having a working one.
I can't wait to get my rig all going when the tripod arrives.

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

I have realised my mount is the new model that hopefully has less of the first version issues. The skies here in Brisbane have not been kind for me to trial as yet, I will let you know how the mount performs when I go to a dark spot to enable me to use the polar scope and try some unguided shots

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

It took five days from ordering my SW tripod for my new SA GTi to get it from Melbourne to Perth, where it has sat for the past four days undelivered.
Grrrrrrrr......
If l get it by Friday in l will have 27 days to learn how to polar align and take Astro pics before l reach Bortle 2 skies in Victoria.
Now the bearded, kakhi wearing Koala stuffers have started burning off in the hills around Perth, crap visibility.

[alan meehan (Alan)]

Sorry to hear that Rod nothing like trying to get out under the stars and its full of smoke,Finally got my new replacement mount the weathers rubbish but i have set up it inside and no backlash and was running smoothly for several hours so iam happy when will we ever get clear skies

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

Finally.
Received my SW tripod for my new SA GTi.
Postie comes to the door and points at the cloudy sky,
I let the dog out, not sure if there is going to be a law suit yet.

Had to put a few washers under the mount bolt on the unbranded "SW" trippd to stop the mount from swivelling.

All set up in the backyard, 26° tomorrow but rain on Wednesday and its already cloudy.

Tripod is very light and, stable.
Tripod to mount surface area is identical so 100% coverage and maximum stability.
I'll be testing at every opportunity and experimenting with dslr settings for my before mentioned trip to Ruffy,Victoria, to visit family, first time in three years.
I've already checked the position of the Andromeda galaxy, plus ensured access to the top of the hill on the adjacent property. Might have to chase a few lambs to say thanks. Counting sheep is tiring work.

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

Had a quick observe last night, plonked the whole set up down on my marks on the pavers, looked in the 30mmEP and there was Octans, yay.
Had another look tonight, no such luck.
Just been playing with the 3 star alignment and seeing how accurate it is slewing around the sky. Hard to see anything but the brighter object with LP from the city, moon and my Mrs sewing room. Going to have to set up in a different part of the yard.

Now, question for this evening.
When performing a 3 star alignment, mount slews to the first object and asks you "manually centre" the object.
Does this mean.....
a. Using the screw adjusters on the mount for Dec and RA?
b. Using the arrows on the keypad in the app?
c. By loosening the clutches?
I've been doing (a).

[Hoges (John)]

I'd be taking a guess - so I'm interested in knowing whether I've got this right also as I've been using the Asi Air plus with mine:


A 3 star alignment is for the goto so you'd need to use the arrows on the keypad.



a: would be for a Polar Alignment


c: would only work if the mount had built in encoders - like the AZeq6 where you can loosen the clutches and manually slew around and the mount still knows where it is. Don't think this would work with the Gti.

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Rod you need to use Option B - adjusting the actual mount will not allow the alignment to work. The mount takes into account the error from the manual adjustments you make to work out where you actually are and calibrates the goto. Once you set your dec close and point the mount south with the screws (a), then carry out this alignment method which will work fine for visual. Do not adjust screws for the alignment routine as it is purely for goto calibration.

Use the keypad to bring the star into the centre of the view through your telescope when asked.

Once the first is completed you move on to the next and then the next.

It is very accurate, I have done this the other week and had great results shooting around looking for objects.

My only issue is polar alignment to be able to get images. I can not see any stars in that area due to living north of the city of Brisbane

I have always used drift alignment for my observatory setup. I am thus an Octans rookie. I went out west to a dark sky and could not even find it with Bino's

Hopefully next time

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

Hugely successful evening!
Amazing what a few less beers can achieve.
Three star alignment using 2" 30mm EP and then 1.25" 15mm EP, star centred, onto the next star.
Works a treat, great viewing here tonight as well before Mr Moon rises.
Slewed to everything on the "Tonight's Best" list in the app using only a GSO 1.25" 15mm Supervier 68°FOV EP and went spot on to everything not obscured by trees or buildings.
I saw a different nebulosity on every nebula, so it wasn't just a smudge on a lens
Have to get up before 5am so l had to pack it away by 9pm.
It's doing what l bought it for, can't wait to put the 127mm next to it a get some great views.
I even saw Octans the other night which gives me hope for photography.
Thankyou gents.
R.

[dikman (Richard)]

Reading this thread got me all fired up and then unsure. After reading through this and the Cloudy Nights thread I wasn't sure about buying this mount. I've always said it's never a good idea to buy something new when it first comes out, better to wait and see what problems there are. Checking locally I see that the EQM35 is only $300 more, and appears to be a proven design? It comes with a tripod, which I don't want, but may be a better option.

Looks like I need to read some reviews.

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Richard, always do your research and make sure what ever mount you purchase fits your requirements. I purchased this mount purely for when we go camping so I can have a little fun. For my purpose it checked all the boxes.

1. Mount is light and small
2. The mount is perfect for my travel scope, an Evolux 62ED
2. Tripod is light and sturdy
3. Everything packs away without taking up too much room in the camper trailer
4. Mount runs using AA batteries
5. Is a full EQ mount for imaging if I feel the need

When checking the reviews be sure to compare apples with apples. The new model appears to have a lot of improvements on the first edition and I am personally happy with my purchase. It certainly has limitations and you should ensure it will work for you.

Carl

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

I bought the SA GTi mostly because it's the, or close to the, cheapest GOTO mount available.
I only do visual astronomy, l do have a dslr and field flatner for when l want to learn AP.
The GTi helps me learn the sky easier and aids in pointing my 127 refractor in the right general direction for a closer look at stuff.
Runs of batteries for camping, portable etc.
I nearly bought a bigger GOTO mount but I'd need an expensive power source and it would be less portable, every kg matters.

[dikman (Richard)]

Carl, I wasn't aware Skywatcher had made any improvements, other than a firmware upgrade, as it hasn't really been out that long? It should, however, be more than adequate for my needs as I've realised that in my situation I don't need a heavy mount.
Rod, the price is certainly attractive, for a go-to equ. mount, but then so is the EQ35 at not a lot more, if the price differential was greater then the decision would be easier.
I'm trying to figure out what the differences are, operationally, between the two, what makes one a better mount than the other. One comes with a tripod, which is irrelevant to me, and one comes with a control handset, probably not necessary but nice to have. Payload appears to be the most significant difference?

This is making my brains hurt........

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

I have never used or even seen a 35M GOTO mount but you'd be safe to say it's as good if not better than the SA GTi.
So the difference is..... 10kg vs 5kg payload.
Batteries powered for take anywhere or a $10 power supply vs a $10 power supply or those power banks are in the hundreds of dollars if you want to take it anywhere.

I've done my fair share of boating, camping, motorbike camping and the later especially always requires a compromise between practicality, function and ability.
The 35 has the ability, the GTi has the practicality.
The 35 could just handle my 127 frac for visual at 9kg but l wanted practicality and l wanted it now.

I could have got the 35 and saved up for a power bank very easily but for my frac or a future OTA l think EQ6 size will be better and I'll wait a few years before l go there. I see a roof top observatory set up in my future house when we down size.

Choose your own compromise, good luck and enjoy the buying experience.

[dikman (Richard)]

Rod, are you using the 127 frac on the GTi? As for a powerbank, I have the Celestron that came with my 6SE, so that's not an issue (plus a couple of smaller ones I made from spare 18650 cells).

Motorbike camping, yep, done a bit of that but it came to a halt with the arrival of bloody covid. I still managed to take unnecessary stuff on a bike!

Edit:6 hrs. later. The rain that was coming slipped away so I got out the bike and went to the city to have an actual look at the mounts. Dumb idjit, I should have just called them instead! 1 GTi in stock (in carton), then it's backorder, no EQ35's in stock, due late November but unsure if there will be a price-rise (if I place an order now it will be at the current price).

I hate making decisions when under pressure.

[Rod-AR127 (Rod)]

No the 117 is on a Bresser Exos2 mount. No motors.
I have both set up side by side and point the 127 in the same direction os the ED72 on the GOTO.

If l had a power bank l would get the EQ35, without a second thought. If you ride a motor bike you're smart enough to do a hyper tune on one If needed to make it extra smooth.

[carlstronomy (Carl)]

Rod and Richard, I am not up to speed on all the tech jargon and different mounts but the EQ35 is only 5.5kg when used as equatorial mount. It goes up to 10kg if you use it in single RA mode, not sure what this actually means but possibly should be looked into. Apparently the 10kg ability is not available out of the box and requires you to purchase Star Adventurer accessories. It looks like a very old designed mount with drive motor boxes etc hanging off the side using wires, seems a strange mount for 2022.

Carl

[dikman (Richard)]

Carl, everything I've found indicates a 10kg payload, I tried to download the manual to have a look but without success (something strange about their downloads). You're right in that it is an "old design" which I guess they tried to modernise to get more life out of the design. It is somewhat unique in that you can remove the Dec part of the mounting, attach a camera fitting, mount a camera and use it for basic tracking. Perhaps that's what it's referring to?

My normal thinking is to spend a bit more and get something bigger when buying something, which in this case would be an eq5 or 6, but then I start thinking that I'm getting away from the original idea and go full circle back to getting a lighter mount.

Given that these things (GTi) are in short supply, and I've found one, part of me thinks it's just meant to be so buy it!