Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

Sw star adventurer

Astroboy239

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 28
  • Created
  • Last Reply
lrt75914

lrt75914

Posted
Posted

The one thing I really dislike about the Star Adventurer is that you cannot do a proper polar alignment after you've fully assembled the mount and fully assembling the mount will probably throw your polar alignment off. There should be a way to use the polarscope illuminator after you've installed your camera without having to hold it in place manually, I just haven't found a solution to this problem yet. Other than that the mount is pretty great and well worth the money, though.

 

Here is an image my dad took of the orion nebula with a 105mm macro lens. It's a bit noisy because he only took 6x2min subs, but it's a great image considering he only used a macro lens to capture it.

Orion.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Davey-T

Davey-T

Posted
Posted

You can leave the polar scope illuminator on continuously if you use the dovetail bar and  either file out the slot to fit the illuminator or buy the plastic adapter from SW.
You can then keep checking and tweaking it through the evening.

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lrt75914

lrt75914

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

You can leave the polar scope illuminator on continuously if you use the dovetail bar and  either file out the slot to fit the illuminator or buy the plastic adapter from SW.
You can then keep checking and tweaking it through the evening.

Dave

I didn't know they already produce a plastic adapter to attach the polar illuminator permanently. That would eliminate the one gripe I had with the mount.

 

Patrick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lrt75914

lrt75914

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Astroboy239 said:

But is it necessary to use the polar illuminator? Can't you polar align without it?  I PA my heq5 without onning it to save power?

I couldn't possibly see the alignment mask in the polar scope without an illuminator. If you don't need one with your heq5, you'll probably do just fine with the Star Adventurer mount. It's a great piece of kit and well worth the money. I was just a little bit disappointed that they couldn't fit the illuminator inside the polarscope and you'd have to manually hold it in front of your mount for polar alignment. Seems like that design flaw has been dealt with, though :) .

 

Patrick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lrt75914

lrt75914

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Astroboy239 said:

Haha as they say nothing can be perfect there is always a flaw??. Can you power with a powerbank? I got this crazy idea 

You can either use 4 AA Batteries or a power bank with a usb port to power the mount. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lrt75914

lrt75914

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, Astroboy239 said:

Hey irt75914 can you show me a few of your images if you don't mind. Can you tell me your set up

The camera and mount belong to my dad, so it's unfortunately not my setup. He still needs help with the polar alignment and doesn't have to much time for the hobby, but I try to get him to use it as often as I can. Here is the setup that he uses:

  • Sony Alpha 77 MkII
  • Sirui T-004X Tripod (Not as sturdy as it should be, but it works quite well)
  • Skywatcher Star Adventurer (battery powered)
  • Sigma 105mm Makro (the sharpest lens that he owns)
  • hot cup of coffee

and some pictures that he took (postprocessing was done by me in PixInsight)

Pacman Nebula:

Cassiopeia.jpg

Subaru:

Subaru.jpg

Ursa Major Alpha and Beta (1x503 sec. sub):

DSC09797.png

Closeup of Orion Nebula:

Orion.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Feral Rabbit

Feral Rabbit

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Davey-T said:

You can leave the polar scope illuminator on continuously if you use the dovetail bar and  either file out the slot to fit the illuminator or buy the plastic adapter from SW.
You can then keep checking and tweaking it through the evening.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Where did you get the Polar scope adapter from? Do you have a link as I can't find it anywhere. Cheers

I have the SWSA but have not had chance to use it yet but it looks and feels well made  and gets positive write-ups. Some of the pictures taken with it do look amazing too.

My only minor gripes are that I wish the battery case lid was a different colour other than black and the polar scope illuminator design, which has been highlighted on this thread already.

Regards

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Astrofriend

Astrofriend

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I havn't used my astroadventure very much yet. The polar align is a bit complicated otherwise I'm very satisfied with it. If you find it interesting what's inside it I have de assembled it when I did a repair on it. See my project page:

http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-star-adventurer-repair/project-star-adventurer-repair.html

 

Lars

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MattJenko

MattJenko

Posted
Posted

I have taken mine as hand luggage on holiday a couple of times now. Great little mount. I don't particularly push mine like some people here have ( have only used a 50mm lens so far), and it is excellent. Here are a couple of examples, one from Crete and another from Cornwall:

 

Milky_Sagittarius.jpg

 

Cygnus_Widefield.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MattJenko

MattJenko

Posted
Posted

Sure. Both images are 12 x 2 min exposures using a modded Canon 450d sitting on the StarAdventurer with a 50mm lens. All processed in PixInsight. I just used a polar app on my phone to see where to put Polaris and then put the camera on. I use the counterweight bar, although it isn't strictly necessary. All controlled using Canon's own EOS utility to take the sequence. I use flats when the 450d is attached to my scope, but I didn't bother with these, so there is no calibration, just aligning and stacking of the frames, again, all that was done in PixInsight. I also have a dew band around the lens, as I find that is essential for the UK. Depressingly it wasn't needed in Crete, and given I didn't see a cloud for 2 weeks, I want to move there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.