wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I am still comparing the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack and the Sky-Watcher EQM-35 EQ GoTo Mount. The basic differences that I can see are the Star Adventurer is AA battery powered, go to software is available but not provided, smaller system / more portable, does not come with a tripod, and the tracking is not as sophisticated compared to EQM-35. Is the EQM-35 worth the power requirements, go-to software, larger size / less portability, and increased tracking abilities, in your opinion, compared to the Star Adventurer?

Marc G Loc: East Grinstead, West Sussex, England

Hi Mate

Hopefully I can answer some of questions.
The star adventurer is a good mount of which I still own ( i have the original version) but you need to ascertain a few questions for yourself...
Do you think you will progress into buying a dedicated scope of some kind?
Do you really want to get into astro photography at a higher level?

The star adventurer is good with camera lenses & ok with small refractors.
Transportation is very mobile with this smaller mount but I would recommend the best tripod you can possible afford for stability.
Polar alignment isn't the best using the inbuilt polar scope thus I use a guide scope & sharp cap for PA.
Obviously tracking will never be as good as say the EQM-35 as the star adventurer only tracks in RA of which also means no GOTO facility whilst trying to frame targets.

The EQM-35 has some much higher specs in regards to payload, tracking, RA & DEC guiding, GOTO & the added benefit of being able to link to control software (ASCOM EQMod).
A friend of mine owns one & to be honest it is very portable.

As I said earlier, I still own a star adventurer of which I use for meteor chasing or very short imaging sessions.

I also own the Skywatcher HEQ5Pro (big brother of the EQM-35). Yes it is heavy & quite expensive but it's performance outweighs the struggle I have when transporting from home to field.

regards Marc

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Thank you for your information. Even though the EQM-35 is a little bigger and a little less portable, I am leaning toward getting it. I can resolve the power requirements by battery or inverter and extention cord. But I do not want to over spend just in case I do not find astrophotography as enticing as I think it will be. In my 36 years in the aerospace industry, and having helped build most of the probes that have visited the planets, I now want to do my own personal exploration in my retirement. Will I go further than beginning equipment? I don't know. But I don't want a $50 kids telescope that will totally sour me from looking at the stars. I want equipment that will give me a decent chance to capture good photos.

JBRIII

Other than obvious weight limits, etc., as mentioned only one axis guiding on Adventurer. I have two for solar eclipse chasing. Work well even with two cameras on one, you can buy an extra mounting bar and move the camera mount to first one, one camera at each end, act as counterweight. Have used with Canon 70D and 6 lb lens no problem. Rough daytime alignment using cell phone works well enough for sun, but does require adjustments every ten minutes or so.
Small enough for air travel in most cases ( some out of the places have really strict weight and bag limits ).

They also make or made a mini-unit, smaller limits, one camera, but cheaper controlled by cell phone.

I have no experience with new unit, but unless really well aligned to pole, I wonder about the real advantages. If znyone here has one I would be interested in their experience with alignment procedures using the newer one.

Thanks;
Jim

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Given that I do not have any experience's with your two possible choices, I do have a modicum of experience gathering light from far, far away places.
I went from my tripod, and various tripod heads, into deep space. I did make the mistake getting an affordable mount, and I paid the price for 4 years with it. At which point I was well ready for a real photographic mount for my budget telescope and AP cameras.
I simply persevered with what my first choices were (Bad) and learned.

Since you are here, I'd say you are almost on the hook. Once you do grab some nice images, you will likely pursue this hobby into the deep reaches of the Black Financial Hole it can become. But what a great ride it is, as long as you are willing to keep at it. But it can be a truly great retirement venture.
You own the equipment, and you can venture out into the yard or away any time you wish.
I jumped over the tracking mounts and went for the throat of the beast with mount that was go-to and tracking. I spent a month deciding if I wanted to pursue Astrophotography, and what I wanted to go after. Then another 4+ months mining down to how and what equipment I would need. And I accepted the learning curve was going to be a very steep climb. But I did not expect the boulders that rolled down at me.
Still, here I am. Some of my choices are still with me, and still doing a great job for me.
But I'm in for around $10,000 now. I imagine my Friends here are similarly invested, while some may be much more invested. But that's a ball park figure, from my dabbling's.

It is said the Mount is the most important piece of equipment. I've proven that myself. But in between the first time I discovered The Great Orion Nebula in my spotting scope, and today is volumes of learning, and bushel baskets of Friends helping, (directly and by accidental exposure through observing what they shared.)
But you find yourself in the company of some great folks here, in my experience and opinion.

If you are serious about it, you will find some incredibly serious folks here to help you.
I'm quite narrow minded, I hunt Nebula. I have imaged most in my FOV (filed of view). Often trying to improve from season to season, year after year. The challenge is doing better and better, and they become old friends you visit during the season they are prominent in your sky.
And I go the the more obscure and tiny boogers I can find in Stellarium. Which I also use for my Planetarium and acquisition program.
I'm all about software that is free and is open source.
You can decide what you would like to image, then buy the equipment others around the world use in doing that type of AP.
Nebula fit my desires well. The telescopes are smaller, generally, but highly refined, refractors. The best mount affordable will track and guide the telescope and cameras steadily for hour after hour of long exposure photography. Personally, I prefer dedicated Astronomy Cameras, and I seem to be stuck on Color cameras. They give me what I'm after, and basically I only fritter with focus, guiding, and exposure time.
Many others prefer to use Mono cameras and filters, then build their images from the files. I'm too lazy for that.
I'll probably stay on my Color camera course because I'm quite comfortable with it.

I find the go-to mounts more to my liking, they do the heavy lifting and find the areas for me.
But everybody starts somewhere. I started with Mr. Moon, and doing Star trails for interest.
But where I am is where I dreamed of getting when I started out.

So whatcha think you want to take pictures of?

tony85629 Loc: Sahuarita, Az

JOIN A LOCAL ASTRONOMY CLUB! You will get exposure to multiple set ups with different levels of complexity and cost. Bottom line- the quality of your mount should get the highest priority in your budget.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

The biggest difference is GoTo! If you're just starting out, a GoTo mount is the greatest! Once you're familiar with the heavens the SA 2i Pro is a great little EQ mount and with a good tripod head is easy to adjust and use (see image).

I use QHY's PoleMaster for polar alignment on all my mounts; easy and accurate. Sure beats wrecking your back/neck staring through a polar scope. For a quick and dirty polar alignment on the SA 2i I use a laser pointer; rotate the mount until Polaris is centered.

My grab 'n go GoTo mount is a Celestron AVX mount. It has served me well over the years and has a load rating that lets me mount almost any imaging configuration I own.

Good luck in your choice of equipment and astrophotography. It is a fun hobby!

bwa

SA 2i with Benro 3D Tripod Head

(Download)

Railfan_Bill Loc: "Lost Wages", Nevada

In my experience, I have found the Star Adventurer a great first mount using a camera and a lens. Timed exposure would run about one to two minutes depending on how level the tripod and Polar Alignment. However that being said, the Star Adventurer is limited to 5 KG, that's about 11 pounds not including the counter weight. If you have a big FF camera, a long lens, and a finder scope, you will be giving the mount a challenge. Remember that the max load is what the mount can handle, not how well it can track. Keep the load to about half of the max load; about 5.5 pounds.
Now on the other side of the coin, getting a GOTO mount is great since, as stated in other posts, has control for both RA and DEC movements. The Star Adventurer only moves on the Right Ascension. Now this has to be a decision for you, the GOTO mounts are more expensive and requires additional support, namely, power, laptop, and patience. However, the rewards are great! Oh and remember to get a German Equatorial Mount, not an Alt Azm mount. They cannot tract the targets for over a long exposure, roughly over 3 minutes. Object rotation becomes apparent given the longer timed exposures you use. I may have rambled on ,but the bottom line is a GEM mount equipped with a GOTO system. I went from a Star Adventurer to a Ioptron CEM 40 mount with an 8 inch RC telescope. Remember, this can be a black financial hole so step carefully and enjoy!!! Clear Skies!! RFB

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I would like to thank Marc G, JBRIII, SonnyE, tony85629, bwana, and Railfan_Billfor your responses. Rather than go with a simple tracker, I think it will be best, and probably less frustrating, to go with two axis tracking and a "go to" system. Coming from a quality work environment, I have seen what happens when one goes too cheap for one's real requirements. It may mean a little less portability and need of a larger battery source. But like some of you have hinted, it will save me some frustration while being easier to getting some decent result for a beginner. By the way, I think all areas of photography have a financial "black hole" built into them. Some just "rev up" faster than other areas.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Personally, I go with RV/Marine, sealed or not, deep cycle batteries to power my equipment. Boogers weight up around 50 pounds, but I use a 120 VAC to 12 VDC power supply at home.
The thing is, when you go afield, you usually go by car or truck. So the big heavy battery (ies), can stay onboard and not be moved at your site. Unless you want to, of course.

My current mount is set up so it is modular. Makes moving the sections easier on me. So you might want to consider that if you will be assembling and moving your equipment a lot.
Normally I enjoy the night skies from a spot in my back yard. But I leave my tripod set and covered, then carry out the rest of the assemblies and prep for the evening.
Just the easiest way for me.

But consider what you would like to pursue, then look at the ways others have managed what you find interesting.

Some of my triumphs and failures.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sonny+edmonds

If I can do it, you surely can!

JBRIII

If you go the big battery route, Harbor Freight makes a small, collapsable cart which fits such batteries perfectly for moving around. I have both and work well together.
Jim

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Thanks SonnyE and JBRIII for the further information. At this time I was thinking of just using an inverter and my cars electrical system. Obviously for whole night tracking that will not work well. More food for thought if I decide to dive into the financial "black hole".

Ballard Loc: Grass Valley, California

Hi wdross

I find the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer works fine if you only use a camera and fairly light lens (The max I used is a 80-200 with a teleconverter to get 400mm). You exposure length will be limited to a few minutes depending on the focal length of the lens, but you can always stack multiple images to get deeper shots. I used this setup when I'm traveling as it is very portable and I also have a tripod that I also use for standard photography while on vacation. This is an easy first step to get some wide field views and start experimenting with astrophotography. The most recent use for me was on a trip to Morro Bay where I used it for the lunar eclipse.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-698740-1.html

For things where I need a larger scope, I will use my Losmandy G11 mount which is portable for car travel and it much better at guiding. Once you move up to this range you will either need a guide scope or an off axis guider and a separate sensor to guide with. The dollars are starting to add up at this point.
Example of Comet Neowise using this.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-656332-1.html


The next step is where the black hole of spending really comes in. For my largest scope I use an Astrophysics 1600 GTO mount which can guide accurately with a lot of weight. This is not what you would consider portable but allows for some get nice deep sky imaging.
Example of the trifid nebula using this mount.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-652657-1.html