NEW Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

[FLO]

We are hearing about a new Sky-Watcher mount for portable astrophotography using a DSLR camera with lens or compact telescope. 

Currently we don't have a price or ETA (probably around June) and there is not a lot of information available but we will update our website and this discussion when we know more. 

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

 

[Ratlet]

I'm a bit excited about this mount 😃

[Astroscot2]

Would the ASI air be compatible with this mount?

[DaveS]

I could be very interested in this if the price is right. It's something I've been wishing SW would make for a while now, combining the strengths of the SA and the AZ-GTi.

But I *do* wish SW would ditch that god-awful torture saddle. I just hope there is / will be a suitable ADM replacement.

[Shimrod]

2 hours ago, DaveS said:

But I *do* wish SW would ditch that god-awful torture saddle. I just hope there is / will be a suitable ADM replacement.

I suspect that it is straightforward reuse from the AZ-GTI and you will be able to use the existing AZ-GTI replacement ADM saddles on this mount.

It looks like a nice little mount, but I do like the flexibility of being able to switch from EQ to AZ-ALT with the GTI so I won't be replacing mine.

[tompato]

Does anyone have a rough idea at what sort of cost we might be looking at for it?

[Ratlet]

I'm far from an expert on mounts, but the star adventurer GTi can be run in low altitude Mode (0°) which looks like it will give it the same range of motion as alt-az.

No idea how that would impact on the goto though.

No official word on prices.  Some of the EU scope shops are advertising with prices, but how they will translate to the UK/us is up for debate.

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, tompato said:

Does anyone have a rough idea at what sort of cost we might be looking at for it?

Artesky have it listed as 572 euros (and available September) which seems a bit high to me - midway between an EQ3 and EQ5 (although both of those come with a handset). My assumption is that this is the AZ-GTI mechanism and firmware in an compact EQ mount my guess would have been around £450. An AZ-GTI and wedge is around £400

[Ratlet]

34 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

Artesky have it listed as 572 euros (and available September) which seems a bit high to me - midway between an EQ3 and EQ5 (although both of those come with a handset). My assumption is that this is the AZ-GTI mechanism and firmware in an compact EQ mount my guess would have been around £450. An AZ-GTI and wedge is around £400

There is some difference in the machining as the worm gearing is different from the az-gti.  AZ-gti is 144 whilst this is 180 on the Ra, which is similar to the eq35pro.

I've tried to work out the price and based on what the EU shops are quoting for this and other items (which are available) compared to the cost in the UK, and my guess is £450-£525.  This is an absolute guess though.  

Edited April 1, 2022 by Ratlet

[AstroGS]

Update from SW: https://www.skywatcherusa.com/collections/star-adventurer-gti

$740 for the whole package and $640 for only the head kit.

[DaveS]

So about £650, applying the usual $:£ ratio of 1:1, plus. That's quite a lot more than either a standard SA or AZ-GTi, puts it in EQ3 / basic EQ5 territory. Don't think it will fly at those prices. I was hoping for something the right side of £500.

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, DaveS said:

So about £650, applying the usual $:£ ratio of 1:1, plus. That's quite a lot more than either a standard SA or AZ-GTi, puts it in EQ3 / basic EQ5 territory. Don't think it will fly at those prices. I was hoping for something the right side of £500.

The pound equivalent for $640 is £490. Well that’s according to my browser conversion 

[Ratlet]

5 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The pound equivalent for $640 is £490. Well that’s according to my browser conversion 

That's about what I got, by my not scientific method of figuring out the ratio of a az-gti in the us and UK and multiplying that by the cost of a sw GTi.

[DaveS]

30 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The pound equivalent for $640 is £490. Well that’s according to my browser conversion 

The formal exchange rate has never featured in price conversion from US to UK. Easier (And more profitable) to use 1:1

Cynical? Me? Yep, damn right .

[Grant]

The dollar price won’t include 20% U.K. VAT though…

[david_taurus83]

41 minutes ago, Grant said:

The dollar price won’t include 20% U.K. VAT though…

Nor will it probably include the states sales tax. Got stung with that at the tills when I visited some of New Yorks stores!

I was interested in this but if its over £500 then it's too much. Think I'll stick with the AZGti and it's few shortcomings.

[tompato]

Yeah I can't see this being a goer at anything close to £600. £450 to £500ish for the mount only would have been palatable.

Maybe something nearer £600 would be okay if it had a higher payload than say the AZ Gti.

Edited April 17, 2022 by tompato

[Adam J]

£500 or I am out. Not paying £600 for marginally better performance than a AZGTI. 

[FLO]

On 17/04/2022 at 15:01, Grant said:

The dollar price won’t include 20% U.K. VAT though…

 

On 17/04/2022 at 15:45, david_taurus83 said:

Nor will it probably include the states sales tax. Got stung with that at the tills when I visited some of New Yorks stores!

These are good points - the US $ prices don't include US state tax or UK Duty & VAT. 

They might however provide an indication of UK price. I.e. if we simply add UK Duty & VAT to the US $ prices then we have approx £600 for mount head and £700 for bundle. 

Sky-Watcher's UK distributor is often last to release new model information but when they do we will post details here same-day. Promise 🙂 

HTH,

Steve

[Adam J]

3 hours ago, FLO said:

 

These are good points - the US $ prices don't include US state tax or UK Duty & VAT. 

They might however provide an indication of UK price. I.e. if we simply add UK Duty & VAT to the US $ prices then we have approx £600 for mount head and £700 for bundle. 

Sky-Watcher's UK distributor is often last to release new model information but when they do we will post details here same-day. Promise 🙂 

HTH,

Steve

Do you happen to know what tripod they are shipping it with? Is it the same as the SA one?

Adam

[DaveS]

Unfortunately £600 is more than I want to spend on a mobile mount that might only get used at star camps, so I'm out.

[FLO]

32 minutes ago, Adam J said:

Do you happen to know what tripod they are shipping it with? Is it the same as the SA one?

We like to help but unfortunately UK retailers know only what is publicly available online (Sky-Watcher's UK distributor hasn't mentioned this mount yet). 

We made a product page and posted this announcement when I noticed it being discussed here at SGL. 

Steve

[FLO]

We hear through the grapevine this new mount has not yet left Synta's factories in China.

If (we don't know) a shipment were to leave China in the next week or two then it would normally arrive here mid-June.

However, China recently closed their docks for ten days (another Covid outbreak / lockdown) so mid-June might move into early-mid July. 

So, currently, our best guess is the new mount will be available June / July. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Adam J]

On 19/04/2022 at 12:01, DaveS said:

Unfortunately £600 is more than I want to spend on a mobile mount that might only get used at star camps, so I'm out.

and that is the problem isnt it, my mobile rig is kept cheap for just this reason, I dont want to pay out my nose for something that is not my main imaging kit and only used for travelling. The AZ GTI is not perfect but it works in that role, a little more performance is nice but £600...huum. 

To put it another way thats two thirds the cost of a HEQ5 Pro and that comes with a tripod and a hand controller.....£600 and no tripod no hand controller....common. 

Adam

Edited April 20, 2022 by Adam J

[FLO]

Lots of emails from people wanting to pre-order this new mount.

Currently we feel unable to accept pre-orders because we don't have reliable price info. Sorry. 

As soon as we do have the necessary price info we will update our website, post details here and enable pre-orders. 

Meanwhile, please click the blue 'Notify me when in stock' button on our product page. 

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

HTH, 

Steve