Starwatcher Adventurer VS Starwatcher Mini Wifi

[Jkulin]

Hi,

A good friend of mine has been guiding me on equipment and getting me to spend more and more, he really should come with a government healthy warning: -)

Apart from learning and attempting to obtain quality images, I am also keen to get some good images of the Milky Way.

I have a very good friend who lives in a very remote area of the Alpujarra Mountains in Southern Spain and the visibility is just stunning of the Milky Way, I vowed when I next went back that I would try to capture it, now because I am flying weight is of my primary importance, so I am limited with the gear I can take and use.

My plan it to take my Leica T Camera as it is small and light and a fairly lightweight Manfrotto Carbon Tripod, that I will weigh down with a sack of bricks to make it stable, The Leica doesn't have a Bulb Setting and the maximum exposure is 30 seconds, but shooting with an 11-23 lens without a mount I would be limited to something around 15 secs without trails and would then have to stack to get the detail.

I rather like the idea of buying a small lightweight mount that I could load into my camera bag and use to take longer images.

I'm going in a couple of weeks time, so can't afford to evaluate different models, but have draw up a shortlist of two that are within my budget, i.e. up to £300, Starwatcher Adventurer Bundle or the Skywatcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM) Wifi Astro-Imaging Mount Bundle

The former will take loads up to 5Kg and the latter up to 3Kgs, The Leica is not heavy so would work on both, but I may try later to use Medium format film that might add some weight especially with my old Mamiya RB67 or similar.

Can I ask your thoughts as to what you would run with, I already have a nice setup that my mate has helped me put together, but it would be totally impractical to try and lump that across to Spain.

I'm still very new to Astro Photography although an accomplished and experienced photographer, I just need to get my head around what I really need.

Thanks in anticipation of your assistance.

[kendg]

For me the choice was easy as we don't have the mini available here (yet).

I'm happy with the Star Adventurer bundle. The only unfortunate part is I never have had a chance to use it much. Either wind or clouds have interfered with me when travelling 

All I can say is it sets up like a dream and has a ton of features. It is one I would recommend. 

[Jkulin]

Thanks Ken, how easy was it to Polar Align

[CraigT82]

If the camera doesn't have a bulb setting is there any use in a tracking mount? Apologies if i am missing something!

[Jkulin]

Hi Craig,

The max that the Leica will expose for is 30 secs, but that would cause star trails unless tracked, so trying to kill two birds so to speak, in the UK I would use a small mount for wide field photography when I don't have the time or inclination to drag my other kit all around but as I intend to buy a light weight compact mount any way, I'm just trying to judge which of the two bundles to go for. When in the UK, I will almost certainly use my Nikon D2X or even my Mamiya RB67 if I really want to give myself a headache, but as I have a bad back carrying heavy weight stuff around is a problem.

Just to clarify, I'm not just buying the kit for Spain, but will undoubtedly use it on some of my business trips to the USA or other dark sky regions, so it is not going to be practical to drag my HEQ-5 Pro etc. onto a plane.

Hope that helps?

[CraigT82]

Oh in that case I can vouch for the star adventurer.  I'm not really sure why anyone would buy the mini version seeing as it's not much cheaper. Unless of course the size and weight of the mount itself is of priority.  It's quoted as carrying a 3kg payload and lenses up to 100mm, whereas the full sized one can take 5kg and is good up to 300mm and more. Plus it can be guided (in RA) and you can get polemaster for it. Not sure if that's the case for the Mini version.

If the mini version was £150 then I'd understand but it's only £30 cheaper! 

[Jkulin]

Thanks Craig, I'm fast coming to your conclusion as well. I have a QHY PoleMaster so if I can get an adapter then it would make perfect sense.

[kendg]

It was really easy to polar align. 

Very simple even for me. Especially since I had never done it before.

[Jkulin]

Thanks Ken, much appreciated.

[Jkulin]

Decided on the Adventurer, so should be with me tomorrow, all I need now is some clear nights to have a play before I leave.

[Jkulin]

Hi, Just a quick question for those that have the SW adventurer, I received mine yesterday and when playing with it this evening, I was surprised at how infinitesimal the movement of the head is when you press the left or right slew buttons, so much so that I wonder if I have set it up wrong or if there is a fault.

I can hear a small pitch change in the motor but if I am really honest I can't determine any faster movement, am I doing something wrong?