Used Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Tripod

2024-12-18T18:56:22

Very basic tripod without any trouble to setup. Rigid enough for what it is suposed to do. Thank you!

IVAN F.

2024-01-20T13:30:08

This tripod usually comes with the Skywatcher StarAdventurer series of mounts/tripods. It also comes with their AZ GTi and AZ GTe mounts. It is acceptable but I believe that they should sell a version with 1.25" Stainless Steel legs similar to the iOptron Tripod for SkyHunter, iPANO, SkyGuider Pro, SkyTracker, SmartEQ, Cube

MICHAEL S.

2023-09-13T22:41:19

Perfect for what i needed!!!

KEITH M.

2021-08-17T17:41:12

Well built and works great.

TONY A.

2021-07-18T10:06:04

Very sturdy and lightweight at the same time. Perfect for for the Star adventurer.

AMY C.

2020-12-18T12:02:21

Adding the WiFi option is a great improvement on an already great star tracker. Highly recommend it.

ARNOLD W.

2020-08-20T07:47:13

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Tripod is a perfect match for the Sky Watcher Star Adventurer Pro- Pack. I love the rubber feet. It won't scratch our hardwood floors when setup in the house. It is very portable and the color scheme of the tripod legs matches the color scheme of the tripod

DWAIN B.

2020-08-02T20:06:04

Very portable

Christopher M.

2019-01-30T07:57:14

I like the star tracker despite it's minor flaws that I will mention in a moment. The build is rugged, and the setup to find/track polaris can be complex and must be tried numerous times to become proficient at it. Particularly for beginners. Fortunately, there are numerous apps that will help you with the alignment and you can download them to your cellphone for use in the field. AP Polar Align, and Skymap are the two free programs I found most useful. Beyond that, the unit is ruggedly built with the exception of the cheap plastic battery cover and the scope cover, both of which come off too easily and are subject to getting broken or lost. I should also point out that this is my second purchase, after my first unit was stolen in Wyoming hotel. The unit should give years of usage and the features it has are great for time lapse photography, lunar, solar, star, etc. Just remember to prep beforehand and practice the alignment techniques with the apps. Even better if you join a club with others who own the unit and can share experience firsthand on location.

RICHARD B.

2016-07-11T15:41:39

Several light-duty EQ mounts have hit the market in recent years to fill niche for photographers interested in taking wide-field (e.g. 14-35mm) & standard focal length starry night landscapes and short- to medium- telephoto deep sky star photos (e.g. 70-200mm), but that don’t want to invest thousands of dollars in more robust, and substantially heavier EQ and Altazimuth-EQ mounts. Unfortunately, most of the options in this niche-market, while very capable and quite portable for getting off the beaten path, often have limited payload capacities. This could be a problem if using a heavy lens, top-notch tripod head, and dSLRs with a battery grip, or pro-size body like I frequently do. What’s more, many don’t have autoguiding capability, so exposures beyond 2 or 3 minutes with longer focal lengths just isn’t possible. Or, in the case of the AstroTrac may still be both too heavy and costly, especially if needing to invest in additional accessories, although the AstroTrac can handle payloads of about 40 pounds. Enter the Star Adventurer by Sky-Watcher as a very robust compromise. With its 11 lb. (5 kg) payload, especially if using the optional Dec Mount and counterweight, this little EQ mount provides rather tremendous star photo opportunities compared to its main lighter-duty competitors. I’ve only had my copy for about 2 weeks, and even though I had no previous experience using EQ mounts, I’ve already been able to attain extremely good results with both wide-field and medium-telephoto focal lengths out to 200mm with exposure times up to 3 minutes without star trailing (check out an example at the following link: http://www.imagesbybeaulin.com/Photo/Star-Photography/i-PL9kr4R). Anything beyond that seems to require an autoguider with guidescope to keep the stars tack-sharp, even for many more substantial EQ mounts available on the market. But, the Star Adventurer has this added capability provided your lens and tripod head aren’t too beefy. I gave this product a 4-star rating since the instruction manual leaves a lot to be desired, and for those unfamiliar using EQ mounts, celestial coordinates and polar alignment scopes could find the steep learning curve a bit frustrating. But, I was able to get up to speed with some additional online research in just one afternoon, and was out shooting successfully with it later that night. Also, if using a dSLR and other heavy gear, the load capacity and counter-weight could be on the low end of what’s needed when using the Dec mount with additional guidescope, auto-guider and other accessories. I found that the mount and accompanying EQ wedge could also have been a bit more sturdier, and it was difficult to balance some gear configurations since the supplied weight didn’t seem to be heavy enough. To get sufficient results with 1.5 to 2 min. exposures and 70-200mm focal lengths does require some attention to detail during set-up compared to higher-grade EQ mounts, and use of a very substantial tripod (don’t scrimp on this) to mitigate vibration and movement via the various mount connections. But, in the end, excellent results are attainable. In general, this device is a pretty good portable EQ mount that also makes for a very fine time-lapse capable device (although getting used to the user interface takes some doing that I’m still working on). And, the Star Adventurer can be used for astronomical observations provided your telescope isn’t too heavy. I’ve barely explored what this device can do, but the portability and performance to this point has made the investment worthwhile. For under $500 USD you can get the device with astronomy and photo accessories for far less than you would have to pay for an AstroTrac with similar accessories or more conventional EQ mount.

BEAU L.