Astrotrac or Star Adventurer

[skysculptor]

Only slightly of topic but it seems skywatcher have released some new firmwear for the star adventurer with extra functions! Has any SA user tried it ? It apparently has a template to print out for the control dial, how it's installed I'm not sure. And seems I only have a Mac I'll bet I couldn't if I wanted lol

[Chris]

I'm just wondering if the Ioptron SmartEQ Pro would suit your needs? I say this because I've been looking at either the SmartEQ or Star Adventurer for Solar with the Lunt 35, and video astronomy/quick snaps with an ED70. 

[skysculptor]

Here's the link to the new SA firmware http://ca.skywatcher.com/_english/05_service/08_blog_detail.php?sid=290

[roarke80]

I'm just wondering if the Ioptron SmartEQ Pro would suit your needs? I say this because I've been looking at either the SmartEQ or Star Adventurer for Solar with the Lunt 35, and video astronomy/quick snaps with an ED70. 

Interesting idea, thanks for pointing that out. The ioptron is really light and tempting, but I'm wondering if I should just pay a couple of hundred pounds more and get much more payload with a secondhand Astrotrac. (15kg vs iOptron 5kg). But on the other hand, the iOptron is so light it's making the Astrotrac look really heavy in comparison. Grrr.

[Chris]

Interesting idea, thanks for pointing that out. The ioptron is really light and tempting, but I'm wondering if I should just pay a couple of hundred pounds more and get much more payload with a secondhand Astrotrac. (15kg vs iOptron 5kg). But on the other hand, the iOptron is so light it's making the Astrotrac look really heavy in comparison. Grrr.

The things I like about the SmartEQ are the full goto, guiding on both axis, and the polar routine which lets you know exactly where polaris is. I think the latest models have gps but I'm not sure? 

people seem to either love or hate them, most complaints seem to be about build materials rather than the goto and tracking which seem good for the money. You do get what you pay for of course, and the SmartEQ has a lot of features for 450 pounds so I'm sure some corners have been cut to keep it at that price. I'm sure the Astrotrack would be more solid if you want to use anything above a small refractor.

Tough decision hey. 

What I might do is start a thread entitled Star adventurere vs SmartEQ Pro, been meaning to anyway, it might help us both out  

[roarke80]

You're right Chris, having goto capability would be a really big plus! It looks like a lot of nice features for that price. I'm really tempted but haven't managed to find any good reviews of the ioptron online. Would be great to hear from anyone who has tried it. 

[Davey-T]

You're right Chris, having goto capability would be a really big plus! It looks like a lot of nice features for that price. I'm really tempted but haven't managed to find any good reviews of the ioptron online. Would be great to hear from anyone who has tried it. 

There's an Ioptron yahoo group may have some reviews and astronomyforum.net forum has an iOptron forum.

Dave