Dropped $150 on a star tracker that I barely use now

Bought a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer for Milky Way shots but never realized how much setup time it adds. Anyone else have a fancy gadget collecting dust in their gear bag?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_tara23d ago

Start by saying that the Star Adventurer actually isn't really a "tracker" in the way people usually think. I mean, it's a star tracker for sure, but it's technically a camera mount that moves to follow the stars. The real name is Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Astro Camera Mount or something like that. So dropping 150 bucks on a tracker that barely gets used is a bummer, but it's because of that setup time, not because it's bad at tracking. I've definitely been there with other gear where I didn't realize how much effort it takes to actually use it right.

henrycooper22d ago

Yeah for real @the_tara, the setup time is the killer. I finally got past it by just leaving my gear ready to go in a duffel bag so all I have to do is grab it and head out. Also started using a simple phone app to rough-align the polar scope before I even go outside, saves me like 15 minutes of fiddling in the dark. That little prep work made a huge difference - I actually use the thing now instead of it collecting dust.

dakotawood22d ago

Nah man I gotta respectfully disagree with that take, especially what @henrycooper was saying about just throwing it in a bag. A star tracker is supposed to be a precision tool, not something you half-ass with a phone app and hope for the best. The setup time is part of the deal, that's what makes the shots worth looking at. If you're not willing to spend 20 minutes getting it dialed in, you might as well just shoot wide open with a tripod and call it a day. I get that it's frustrating having gear sit around, but calling it basically a camera mount is selling it short. The Star Adventurer is a tracker, it tracks stars, and the work you put into it shows in the results.