SirLancelot4711
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Posts posted by SirLancelot4711
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On 24/09/2022 at 09:49, SirLancelot4711 said:
Thanks for starting this thread. I meant to ask about an issue that I had with mine. I received it a few weeks ago and tried it out at home (just with the DSLR mounted) and all went as expected.
I then went out (15mins from my home) for a proper test and I thought it behaved well but I only got a few shots in before clouds ruined the evening. All worked fine - the polar scope illuminator was rather bright as well but I figured out later that it was set too high and I couldn’t find the setting on the app to lower it while I was out.
Anyway, next time I went out I had a clear sky and did my polar alignment which worked brilliantly now that I had the light setting adjusted. However after mounting the camera and tightening both clutches, I noticed that despite tightening the RA clutch, it was still loose. The motor would not move it when I set a target.
I’ve sent it back and FLO had a look at repairing it but weren’t able to so they gave me a refund as they were out of stock.
I presume none of you had a similar issue? I couldn’t find anyone mentioning a similar problem so I guess I just had a faulty one. I still wanted to double check that it’s not a general issue with this mount, as I really liked it and want to purchase it again. I saw some other vendors have stock.
By the way, update on this: I did eventually get a replacement. Long cloudy spell prevented me from properly playing around with it earlier but I did so the last few days and wanted to check a few things with you guys (going from low to high in terms of how concerned I am about them).
- After polar alignment, when I used the GOTO function on the first SA GTI to align to my first star, it generally went more or less into the right position and I only had to finetune, which was great. This one however goes completely off and I have to move it significantly to put into the right direction. Once the first star is aligned, the rest works. Was I just lucky with the first few times and is it typical that the first alignment is totally off?
- After doing a 3 star alignment, I tried to focus on Andromeda, but the app told me it's out of reach, despite being right above me. Has anyone experienced this? It did find other stars correctly so I would have presumed that my alignment was correct. Location and time were also correctly set.
Did you experience any of the above and have any advice?
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Do any of you have experience with this mount when simply using a DSLR & lens, so fairly lightweight? I’m asking because I’m struggling to balance it properly.
The provided counterweight is too heavy, even when moving it as close as possible to the mount so I believe I might need to get a lightweight one just for this use case but I understand the rod is slightly thicker than on previous SA’s. Does anyone have any recommendations?
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Great to hear. Yeah I think so. I generally loved it while it was working and think it's a good piece of equipment.
I'm currently reading through/viewing everything about the star adventurer AZ GTI (to work in equatorial mode) as an alternative (£259 at FLO seems very appealing), although looks like I'd need to get a ton of extra stuff as well to make it work and also switch to using a guide scope, ASI air etc, so might end up being more of a faff.
I think the star adventurer GTI might be perfect for me at this stage. I just want an ultra portable kit for a DSLR+lens (switching to a small scope at some later point) that will help me find targets super quick, and it looks like this fits the bill.
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Thanks for starting this thread. I meant to ask about an issue that I had with mine. I received it a few weeks ago and tried it out at home (just with the DSLR mounted) and all went as expected.
I then went out (15mins from my home) for a proper test and I thought it behaved well but I only got a few shots in before clouds ruined the evening. All worked fine - the polar scope illuminator was rather bright as well but I figured out later that it was set too high and I couldn’t find the setting on the app to lower it while I was out.
Anyway, next time I went out I had a clear sky and did my polar alignment which worked brilliantly now that I had the light setting adjusted. However after mounting the camera and tightening both clutches, I noticed that despite tightening the RA clutch, it was still loose. The motor would not move it when I set a target.
I’ve sent it back and FLO had a look at repairing it but weren’t able to so they gave me a refund as they were out of stock.
I presume none of you had a similar issue? I couldn’t find anyone mentioning a similar problem so I guess I just had a faulty one. I still wanted to double check that it’s not a general issue with this mount, as I really liked it and want to purchase it again. I saw some other vendors have stock.
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Hi all,
I've just recently rediscovered my love for the stars. Used to have a crappy department store refractor telescope many years ago but bought myself a half-decent dobsonian just recently. I managed to take some photos of the moon through the eyepiece with my smartphone a few days ago when there was a brief gap in the clouds. I can't wait for a proper clear night with this thing.
I would love to get into astrophotography but want to take it slowly and not buy a ridiculous amount of equipment before even knowing what to do with it. I have access to my wife's Canon EOS 600D on a basic mount and standard lenses and will start playing around with that and then upgrade as I go.
If there is anyone from the Mid Sussex area, I would love to get some recommendations on viewing spots in the area - I think I read somewhere that Ditchling beacon might be a good spot.
Thanks
SW Star Adventurer GTI owner thread
in Discussions - Mounts
Posted
I noticed that the RA clutch was getting a little bit of play after just 3 nights of using. Shortly after, I ended up experiencing the same problem again that I had with the first one (which I mentioned earlier in this thread). The problem was that tightening the RA clutch would have no effect anymore and you'd be able to move it by hand easily 😱
I finally did get some help though and fixed it and wanted to post it here in case any of you run into the same issue:
Underneath the black sticker mentioning patents, there is a little hole with a screw. You can use a 2mm allen key to tighten the screw, which tightens the backlash. Not sure if this was something super obvious for some of you guys but for me it was like a eureka moment 😀
That fixed it for me and all seems to work as it should now. Let's see if it does so on the next night out.