Sky-Watcher STAR ADVENTURER 2i - What's new and is it WORTH THE UPGRADE?

[@ironian24]

I now have the 2i and it is worth it just for the wifi connection, I can sit in my house and control my adventurer 2i with the app. the illuminator can go on the front of the bar so no need to take all your gear off to attach the light.

[@DAVESHSHINGARI]

I just received my Star Adventure v1 last week. I saw the news of new version after i received it. Even though I can return it, I don't see any functionality in v2 which is super amazing or useful for me. I agree that not having built in illuminator is big drawback, which they should have updated at the very least.

[@kamilkp]

Yep, agreed!

[@terrybrooks395]

The old star adventurer was not limited to continuous turning, all you had to do was install the advanced firmware which gave it lots more functionality

[@kamilkp]

Interesting! Do you maybe have a link to a relevant source/website for that?

[@Sunil_Veeramuthu]

@@kamilkp skywatcher.com/post/resource/star-adventurer-advanced-firmware/ This has been around for a while.

[@alexandrupastor]

@@kamilkp I think he's referring to this skywatcher.com/post/resource/star-adventurer-advanced-firmware/ I haven't personally tried it, but looking at the official manual that can be found there, you can even have the new dial mode printed and replaced, so you would have the new features exactly as the new 2i version.

[@PatternMusic]

One thing with the SA2i that took me by surprise is that the settings you set in the APP mode via Wifi become the default settings for those modes on the dial. Thus the settings you configure in Astrophotography in the app become the settings you get when you turn the dial to the "Star" symbol mode. Why was this a surprise? Because the tracker RA drive only runs when the camera is exposing or in interval. I don't know why turning off the tracker drive would be useful for normal astrophotography mode. (It is useful to have that control in move-shoot-move time lapse mode and other advanced time lapse modes.) When you set the "Astrophotography" intervalometer setting in the app for a fixed number of shots, say 10 shots at 60 seconds, then the tracker will only run for 10 minutes and then shut off the RA drive. There is no visual indication of this. It is independent from the Auto-Run setting in the app settings which only applies to "APP" mode on the dial. So if you are using a separate intervalometer, make sure you don't check the Photos checkbox in the Astrophotography mode in the app unless you want to get home and find that the tracker wasn't tracking after the first 10 minutes.

[@tip184]

Agree that the built-in illuminator would be a huge improvement.

[@-WhizzBang-]

I just got the Sky Watcher Pro 2, and the gear on the wedge is solid metal. No plastic on it anywhere.

[@AmritP]

ive pre ordered the 2i and can't wait for it to arrive. didn't have one before and super looking forward to it :) nothing ground breaking in the way of features but a usability improvement is always a good way forward, and in new zealand it has come cheaper than the price the v1 was selling for.

[@kamilkp]

Cool, good for you then!

[@AmritP]

@@kamilkp cheers bro, you got some good tutorials which i'll be studying to prepare for when this arrives :)

[@kamilkp]

Sounds awesome, clear skies!

[@dariusdalal6098]

Hi. Was looking to go in for the SA. What tripod would you recommend? Plan on using my canon 6d mark1 with it.

[@kamilkp]

I love Benro tripods and can recommend them 100%

[@dariusdalal6098]

@@kamilkp Thank you.

[@ElFotografoFavorito]

Hi! I will travel to NY to buy it, I would like to know please, how much does the rod weigh and what size is it? is there anything else i should buy with the new update? since I live in Mexico. Thanks for the video.

[@Kredit_Hai]

Hey, Whats about the Dithering feature, may help me, what do I have to insert at arcmin?

[@OzarkBill]

Thank you for the review and all of your videos so far! At first I was pretty upset on hearing of the new version as I too bought the previous version not long ago. After watching your review, I see there is nothing extra I want, so no big deal. After using this star tracker for the first time a couple nights ago, I can definitely see why most do not like the wedge. I found it very difficult to get perfect polar alignment and after 40 minutes, I was forced to go with "best as I can". Maybe after more practice, I will feel differently. I am using a heavy 300 mm f2.8 lens, so I need to be pretty precise. With my first attempt at M31 I limited the exposure time to 20 seconds because I knew I wasn't spot on. Do you have an opinion on what the maximum exposure length for a setup like that would be, considering it is close to the maximum payload? I am planning on using 200 and 300 mm lenses with both full frame and APS-C bodies. Thanks again for your detailed videos about this tracker - your previous how-to helped a lot with my first attempt at a DSO.

[@kamilkp]

I think it’s all about the balance. I know the f/2.8 is a lot heavier than my f/4-5.6 but it should work. Otherwise you could get a separate more sturdy wedge like the one from William Optics to support that weight. But even 30s exposures at f/2.8 give you the same quality as 2min exposures at f/5.6 so it’s not a bad situation to be in 😄 and maybe just try again next time - maybe you tried to polar align on a star close to Polaris but not actually Polaris?

[@EyeInTheSkyProductions]

Thank you as usual and as always for the info! I’m sticking to SA.V.1 for now 👍

[@JonnyBravo0311]

That WO base looks like a really nice upgrade to the Sky Watcher base. I've only had my Star Adventurer out for 2 nights and already I wish the base was better... the plastic gear and the play in the knobs make locking in alignment a bit of a chore.

[@-WhizzBang-]

I was looking at getting this unit, but from the reviews I have seen, this unit sounds like a cheap piece of garbage that you would buy at Wal Mart for $99 as kids Christmas gift. Definitely NOT something that costs over $500 CAD. And I also read that the WIFI app doesn't work most of the time and customer service and support from the company who makes this is pretty much Non existent. I think I will pass.....

[@leticiamontassier8739]

So if I have the 2i and the app, I don’t need the cable? Or do I still need the cable to connect the tracker to the camera? How does that work?

[@kamilkp]

You need a cable to connect the camera to the tracker. The app communicates with the tracker

[@airborne4vr1]

Greetings, thank you for a helpful review! I wanted to get your advice on purchasing a tracker. Should I get this tracker or the Fornax LightTrack 2? I'm a beginner, however, I don't want to buy a beginner tracker then buy a more advanced tracker later. I rather just invest in the advanced one, especially if it's not a really big price difference.

[@kamilkp]

I'd definitely go for the Star Adventurer. It's more popular so you'd be able to find more help online on how to use it etc. and it looks way more flexible. The Fornax looks like it's only capable of having a ballhead mounted on it for wide field photos.

[@grantmclauchlan2843]

I received my 2i after a lengthy wait but am sending it back as it is faulty. ie in star mode it does not track. Yet in solar and lunar modes it does. Disappointed actually after hearing many good reviews of its predecessor.

[@kamilkp]

Sorry to hear that :/ it happens sometimes unfortunately even with premium class products. Don’t get discouraged though - it’s a great portable tracker once you get a fully functional copy

[@mrjeje]

I keep my version 1 of star adventurer too !

[@swiiswii7253]

i prop wont bother upgrading im only after buying the star adventurer a couple of months ago i mean the only thing they probably added thats different is the wifi but pretty much they look like they are the same thing

[@kamilkp]

Yep, pretty much 😕

[@Sunil_Veeramuthu]

So, the only changes are addition of a WiFi module and modes/dials? And the only things we can manage from the app are the modes, camera settings, and profiles? Yeah - definitely not worth an upgrade. Is it too much to ask for Alt/AZ controls via the app considering the tracker has WiFi? That would help greatly with the polar alignment and framing. You don't need to build the entire GO-TO considering it's a low-end tracker, but WiFi without a lot of purpose is largely just a gimmick.

[@kamilkp]

Yeah exactly! And honestly I’d rather trust an external intervalometer than some app - I am a software developer myself, I know how buggy software can be haha 😅

[@DLMVegas]

Well I've had my Adventurer 2i for several months now and am ready to toss it into the trash. The Mode light has started to blink on and off in the middle of shooting. Skywatcher has checked it over and I tested it. The past couple of nights I still have the Mode Light start blinking on me once again. It basically stops tracking when this occurs. Batteries are all fully charged, Polaris is correctly aligned, camera & lens balanced and I'm not touching the camera when it starts shooting and I'm tracking.

[@1pcmedic]

They need a built in illuminator + built in camera that looks at the Polaris track. Then with a NEW APP you can see your alignment progress on your phone screen without inventing some new Yoga pose!

[@kamilkp]

Haha this is pretty much EXACTLY what I thought 😂. That way the entire wifi/app integration would actually make a difference!

[@1pcmedic]

@@kamilkp Great minds think alike! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@1pcmedic]

@@kamilkp I couldn't find your email address....www.flickr.com/photos/66741282@N04/50365746831/in/dateposted/

[@itsloganbtw5355]

This is actually a perfect idea. Would most likely add some more cost but it would make everything so much easier and faster.

[@1pcmedic]

@@itsloganbtw5355 When they add it to the next model, you can thank me.🤣🤣🤣

[@johndurrack757]

I understand you get advertisment if your video is longer than 10 minutes, but just for that you don't have to drag it so much. You could at least confine your "real" points to a few places in your never ending video and leave timestamps of those important parts for quick lookup. Such a waste of time watching the video throughout.

[@marceloandahai7159]

Its 12 mins lmao shut up

[@johndurrack757]

@@marceloandahai7159 What's your problem?

[@marceloandahai7159]

@@johndurrack757 people complaining about time while on KZbin lol 😆 read the description of the item if you're short on time dont complain to someone who's providing content

[@bushcraftandastronomer.3775]

So interesting what you say and I know there are better star trackers out there than the one you have. Big complaint by astronomers of this star adventurer is that the battery cover isn't perfect as it comes away so you need tape to tape down cover. I think the counter weight is a bit light for telescope I have so I bought another one. With telescope you can go for alot more deep sky objects that's too faint for a dslr camera. This winter I'm going to test it on the witch head nebula which is quiet faint. Time lapse isn't going to be much use to me but I've got autoguider that you can use laptop to find those deep sky objects and knowing where they are in the night sky. North american nebula will be so easy to find because it's near Deneb. Another thing I want to do is planetary imaging and get videos of Jupiter Saturn and Uranus plus Neptune. Neptune will be a joy to image and see if I can get triton as well. Pluto needs larger scopes as it will be starlike at Magnitude 14 so you need to know where it is. New star adventurer v2 I'll give it a miss.

[@michaelwmcdonald]

Another great reason not to upgrade or get a better deal on the SA1 and go with that, the software on Android doesn't work. I tried both versions of SynScan and neither would even open on my Android 11 phone. Maybe it will work on my old iPhone 6, we'll see. I was able to install and run it on my iPhone 6 Plus which is outdated iOS 12.4.9.

[@johnhatton5325]

seriously. how can you review an item that you don't even have ? and yes the sa1 has an astro timelapse mode.

[@oliverwulf9645]

Dude, you reallly need to take a course on how to produce a consumer - friendly video podcast ....

[@MegaBrebis]

At last an actual review that's not an ad! That's good, thank you! I could not listen until the end though because you say so many words so quickly without stopping that after a few minutes it's close to unbearable. Well for my at least! You should take your breathing from time to time and let the listener do the same :-)

[@kamilkp]

Thanks! Haha I do make pauses from time to time when I record but then I cut them out in editing 😄 try setting the playback speed to 75% maybe. I don’t try to rush with things on camera, it’s just the way I normally talk 😉

[@bc-tz1fx]

12 minutes of a guy talking, and a few quick flashes of the equipment it's supposed to be about.