Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Astro 2i Package with Free Star Adventurer Counterweight Kit

2021-08-12T09:19:28

A bit pricey, a bit heavy, a bit confusing at first, it does what it is supposed to do. Expect to seek a little help on YouTube though.

ROBERT L.

2021-05-21T21:01:48

Solid build and lots of good tutorials online. Use with a 400mm and clutch is strong enough, could purchase an additional weight, but not necessary for counterbalancing.

VIKEN M.

2020-12-16T07:10:16

love it, super easy to use

STANLEY N.

2020-02-19T07:59:15

Great star tracker. Easy to use once you've done it a few times. The equatorial base wedge makes life much easier when getting this set up.

Brett H.

2020-01-03T07:44:07

I have a celestron avx mount and very happy with it but it is very heavy and it is not a good option for travelling, specially if I have to take an airplane. The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer let’s me bring my Astro stuff with me every time I travel because it doesn’t take too much space and it’s very light, I can handle it with just one hand! It let’s me take pictures with longer exposure and I use it for milky way and deep sky objects. It has a Built-in polar scope with illuminator to polar align and an Built-in autoguider port.

Pablo G.

2019-12-11T07:21:07

Love this unit! Tracks perfectly after star alignment. Alignment is a simple process and I like that you can also vary the speed.

WILL D.

2019-12-11T07:17:58

Tracks perfectly! The unit is compact and functions on 4 AA batteries, which is good in case you run out of power you can find AA batteries anywhere!

WILL D.

2019-12-02T16:08:03

I have Celestron Avx mount, but it was such a hassle to carry around. This little guy fits easily into small carrying case, including the counter weight. With the counter weight, it's heavier than I would like, but if I use small m34 camera, I can leave the counter weight at home. I bought Sky-Watcher base with this, but if you have a ball head, you can still adjust to right latitude and polar align. However, I do recommend the base, for it's so much easier to adjust latitude and azimuth as part of polar alignment fine tuning. Construction is solid. I had a problem with battery cover, which I had hard time uncovering initially. However, I've been using a USB charging cable and small phone battery pack to power the device- carrying AA for emergency power. Some people complained about the dial knob, which can be rotate easily, but I haven't had any issue yet. RA axis rotation on mount at the end of dovetail is very smooth and really handy. Remote shutter release worked fine with my D810 (I borrowed a wire from my cheap intervalometer). Clutch is bit stiff, and if you tighten too much, you'll have hard time un-tighten it, messing up polar alignment. I will try guide camera attachment next time when sky is clear - has been cloudy and raining almost 2 weeks in OC, Southern California. I used Gopro for time-lapse video, and it came out pretty nice with cloudy sky. My telescope (ES 102mm cf) is about 7lbs (3.2kg), so I will try this next, for I saw Youtube with heavier telescope mounted ~4kg).

Mark L.

2019-08-23T08:22:47

As a newbie to Astrophotography I was looking for a affordable star tracker and Sky Watcher did not disappoint me!

NK S.

2019-06-07T14:11:13

If you enjoy photographing the night sky then this is what you have been looking for. Great price, just remember to use a stable tripod. Enjoy!

Charles M.

2019-02-03T11:25:27

This does exactly what it says it is supposed to do, track the sky to take photos of deep sky objects with my 35mm camera. I would conclude that it work with a video camera as well to take planetary movies too. Its well built and mostly made of metal and high density plastics. It has several built in photo control programs that seem to work well.

STEVEN G.

2019-01-17T10:27:14

I was very impressed with the simplicity of setup and use and with the tracking accuracy.

Howard P.

2018-12-27T07:55:09

Compact and well built

Howard P.

2018-11-27T14:02:47

This is an excellent star tracker for those getting into astro/deepspace photography. It has a decent weight limit for the value, is simple to polar align, is small enough that it's easy to carry on trips, and works quite well. I would recommend it and would buy again in a heart-beat.

Ryan W.

2018-11-06T05:18:19

I have been used to carrying a Celestron LCM base and hand control with me on trips. It has worked well, but it has just been too bulky. I decided to try this since it had pretty good distribution and a good reputation. The setup and balancing is very easy. The quality of design and construction is quite good. The tracking quality is also pretty good. I have been using a 200mm lens with a DSLR and getting about 60-65% good images on a session. I miss the ability to use a hand control to do fine position adjustments, but that is just a limitation you have to accept with this product.

Robert P.

2018-09-20T10:34:47

This is a great DSLR astronomical equatorial mount in conjunction with the Star Adventure Latitude Base. The polar scope, as is usually the case, requires some patience and light finger pressure to get tight polar alignment, but once there tracking is dead on. Firmware updates are easily done, just follow the instructions in the manual. I did a test run the day I received my Sky Watcher astronomical unit and the stars were round all the way to the corners on the 35 100 seconds exposure control by the Adventure mount. I plan on using this mount at dark sites and for solar eclipses.

STEVEN G.

2018-08-02T04:54:30

I bought this star tracker with all the other accessories for Milky way shooting. I was new to tracking so after watching a few videos about this tracker then practicing the setup-up and the polar alignment first. My first time out shooting with it I was getting perfect tack sharp Milky way shots with up to three and a half minutes exposures at ISO 100 with a 14mm lens (I didn't try any longer exposures, yet).

David S.

2016-12-15T11:58:31

excellent rugged design and construction - I bought the Skywatcher photo unit with added mounting plate and counterweight and the latitude mount - a complete package. Highly recommend adding the ap polar align app to your cell ph which gives you the settings for any planned location of use in the world. Photopills is also invaluable iphone app for precise plan ahead of where you want the stars to be in your photo. The skywatcher website is full of tips, vids, and pics and tips

RICHARD B.