Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI: Essential Preparations Before your First Night of Astrophotography

I'll guide you through the essential steps to prepare for your first night out with the Skywatcher StarAdventurer GTI. We'll cover everything from leveling your tripod to balancing the mount and prepping the StarAdventurer GTI for polar alignment. Additionally, I'll demonstrate how to set up camera controls using the snap port and provide a review of the Apetura case for the StarAdventurer GTI
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[@jeans_]

I’m not used to listening english. But this video is so easy to understand for non-english regions. Thank you for making this video

[@astronotna]

Glad it was helpful!

[@loribeasley1956]

Thank you for walking thru the setup steps for balancing the mount. I have watched many videos on the process and yours was the easiest and clearest, in fact I found the complete setup process much easier to follow. Many thanks!

[@astronotna]

Glad this helped in someway! Thanks for watching this one!!

[@clintboxy4841]

Not one for these types of informative vids but you won me over props to you my man 👍

[@astronotna]

I appreciate that!

[@eslinca]

I was gonna say the exact same thing! Love his energy

[@triple9finestacker631]

Thank you so much for this easy to follow tutorial. I am brand new to astrophotography and i really appreciate your help, you made things super easy!

[@astronotna]

Glad this helped! I appreciate you watching this one

[@corinlewis3073]

Thanks alot, I have a Skywatcher GTI mount, I'm taking to San Antonio Texas for the total solar eclipse on April 8th, I found your video very informative .

[@astronotna]

Glad it was helpful and have a great time that sounds awesome!

[@corinlewis3073]

@@astronotnathanks 😊

[@maxencedc]

@@corinlewis3073 how was it?

[@waynewheaton3210]

Thanks for the video. I picked up a GTI a while back and waiting to get outside with it. And like many others I'm starting out with a DSLR.

[@astronotna]

Congrats it's an awesome mount. I hope you enjoy it. I myself am waiting for the clouds to part so I can shoot more with it. Wishing you clear skies!

[@AmatureAstronomer]

Good info. Just replaced my Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi (can handle 11 pounds) with a Sky-Watcher EQM-35i (can handle 22 pounds).

[@bakerfx4968]

Nice video! One comment though, you don’t level your tripod so things don’t fall. You level it so your polar alignment stays aligned throughout the night. The closer you get it to exactly level, the better your tracking will be

[@astronotna]

Totally! There's a big debate online whether and why to level your tripod. I was trying to opt out of that discussion. Lol 😆

[@Thebullies19]

I only know how to approach things from a common sense standpoint coming from high speed wheels and rpm engines. All balancing when not using centrifugal loads are properly done at right angles only to the gravity source, otherwise you’re adding in resistance because of the angle. But the real question is, how much will the gears handle the small amount of slight out of balance that isn’t noticed because of resistance? Balance at right angles and you can’t do much more that that.

[@joaomoreiraastrophotographer]

Great video! 👏 Just a note: This feature 10:31 only works if you let your phone connected all the time.

[@astronotna]

Thanks for adding that it is one thing I did not try. Appeciate it!

[@kevsymonds3875]

Big thanks for your videos very helpful

[@astronotna]

Glad this helped you out!

[@drohnenflug9873]

Many, many thanks for the info!

[@astronotna]

Glad it was helpful!

[@berubed]

Merci beaucoup. 😃

[@bobslfcu773]

Nice video. After you polar align then turn on live view on the camera, should Polaris be in the center of the live view screen or off center according to the position in the app? Thanx for the info.

[@astronotna]

It's normally off center due to the position of Polaris on the polar clock!

[@rnursemd]

Thanks for the videos! I'm going to dive right into to astro. Can you recommend a dovetail for use with the GTi?

[@astronotna]

Glad I could help in someway. Definintely go for the ADM saddle upgrade. After that just about any dovetail that comes with any telescope will work well with it.

[@toowhiteboy18]

Great guide! I haven't been able to power mine up out of the box with batteries. It works with an adapter so I can't seem to figure out why batteries won't work :(

[@astronotna]

Couple things to check. There is an upside to the battery holders and they are inserted batteries facing out. Check to make sure the batts are inserted properly. The top casing needs to be screwed back on.

[@toowhiteboy18]

@@astronotna gotcha. Yea I double checked. I'm afraid I may have a faulty part or something. Very strange

[@astronotna]

Oh man sorry to hear that. call support at skywatcher they are really good about getting back to you. Or if you just got it contact the dealer perhaps they will exhange it.

[@hthrlandry]

Thanks!

[@astronotna]

Oh man you are most welcome and thank you for watching this one!!

[@dbotkins]

Thanks for the tips on balancing the declination axis and the RA lock. Can you tell me what kind of tripod head/vixen plate your using with this setup?

[@astronotna]

I am using a old celestron tripod from a CG2 and I did the ADM saddle upgrade for the gti. I featured both those item in this video if you want to take a look. Hope this helps! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4iYhqJ7isaaeck

[@GTheoMedia]

Awesome review . How do you know which 3 stars to choose to do the proper alignment ? How do you know if it is aligned successfully after going through the process? I've been doing the 3 stars alignment but I can't seem to figure it out what am I doing wrong, after that it won't go to any of the correct stars/nebulas etc after I do the alignment. So I must do something wrong. (It is properly aligned to Polaris.)

[@astronotna]

Thanks! If you are properly aligned to polaris and it slews to your alignment stars in the first place that is all that is required. The aligment stars you choose are the brightest ones you can see in your sky. What do you have mounted on your GTI?

[@GTheoMedia]

@@astronotna Thanks. So far I am using a very light dslr 75-300mm canon lens . I don't have a scope yet , I need to master proper alignment first :). For example I did the alignment , I clicked to go on Andromeda and it went crazy down , not even pointing at the sky , lol :))

[@astronotna]

It kind of sounds like it thinks its in the southern hemisphere. Are you using the app? or a handcontroller?

[@GTheoMedia]

@@astronotna I am using the app, will double check but I am pretty sure location is automatically set up by the phone location.

[@SupraStututututu]

Nice video, thanks! Could you please tell me what type of bar/plate/adapter do you use to mount dslr camera on? I just got SA gti and I didn't take into account it doesn't come with some kind of dovetail bar.

[@astronotna]

I would recommend something like this as it has screw for standard camera amzn.to/3y6DMpG and its also long enough to balance.

[@SupraStututututu]

@@astronotna Thank you!

[@Test-bi5rg]

Thanks for mentioning the polar scope has focus modification function. The manual never mentioned it and the blur vision made me nuts. In addition, does your GTI have a bubble level? My unit only has an empty hole in the location where the bubble level supposed to be.

[@astronotna]

Yes mine does have a bubble level.

[@eslinca]

Thabks for the vid

[@astronotna]

Thank you for watching!!

[@SaurabhShukla_22]

Hey man, that's such a nice video. Do you know what snap cable to buy to use with Sony A7C camera (type c port). It seems nobody is able to make it work. I cannot find a cable in first place.

[@astronotna]

I also could not find anything appropriate for ya. Seems to be a common ask with these cameras.

[@guyyanez6949]

Greetings and thank you for this video. I was wondering if the extension tube will fit inside the Apertura bag with the rest of the mount accessories.

[@astronotna]

Glad it was helpful thanks for watching it. Yes there is enough space to fit all kinds of things in there. I got cables and filters in mine. You should be able to fit an extension tube in there depending on size. You can store stuff on top of the compartment that holds the counter weights. It's pretty deep there.

[@andrewandlee]

Hi. Great video thank you. Do you mind if I ask which tripod you have please!! I have a pretty sturdy tripod for a Meade LX10, and wondered if I can use that (if not I’ll get the package that includes the tripod) many thanks in advance.

[@astronotna]

Thanks! My tripod is an old tripod from a 2010 celestron cg2! They haven't changed much and is of similar design of the skywatcher one. As long as it's stable you should be good

[@NewtoAstrophotography]

Im not following when you say about aligning Polaris. are you saying I need to look through the view finder and move the mount to where the app shows where Polaris is? so if the app shows its at 11 o'clock thats where it needs to be when looking through the view finder?

[@astronotna]

Yes. there is representation of the polar clock inside of the mount on the app. Line up polaris as it is seen in the app and you are aligned after that. My apologies if it wasn't as clear as it could have been here.

[@bennythebutcher3435]

Should a 7 1/2 pound reflector work fine with the mount cause I just ordered one a few days ago

[@astronotna]

It's under the wieght limit if that's all you are mounting. Should be fine. if it's top heavy you might need to extend the counterieght bar or add some wieght to balance it out.

[@benni_osr]

nice video, like it

[@SonnyPruitt-q1s]

If I were to mount a RedCat 51 and guidescope and camera on that mount should I buy an ASIAIR mini or will that mount do all the work of finding things?

[@astronotna]

You definitely would want to get an asiair if you are going to guide. You can use a laptop with Nina but if you want to keep it portable as possible I would get air.

[@SonnyPruitt-q1s]

@@astronotna Thank you!

[@jpro747]

I’m finding it very difficult to look through the polarscope. I see faint lines but everything is blurry. I can’t see a clock, just faint lines and letters but they are out of focus, rotating the focus knob doesn’t seem to help.

[@astronotna]

Just some things to check. Make sure the cap is off of the polarscope on the other side not the side you look through. Also you have to turn the Dec 90 degrees in order to look through it. Use the app to turn the light on so it lights the polar clock up .

[@jpro747]

Thanks I will have another look tonight

[@beatfarmerfan]

So when aligning Polaris, does that alignment clock show up in the scope while you are looking through it?

[@astronotna]

Yes it does!

[@beatfarmerfan]

@@astronotna Thank You! I’m going to order one from B&H this afternoon. Great videos on this unit!👍

[@astronotna]

Glad this helped!!

[@hobbeeswe7472]

Another easy to understand video, thanks again ! S seemingly simple question I can not get my head around. After levelling and polar aligning, can I set my DSLR on a ball joint and frame it like I want it (Milky way using 50 mm lens)? In other words, can the camera point in any direction and give accurate tracking (once tracking is ON)? I am planning to also use a guide scope+camera and run it using ASIAIR Plus.

[@astronotna]

Yes you can do that. In fact that's how we did it with the original star adventurer and it was a much simpler device.

[@hobbeeswe7472]

@@astronotna Best and fastest again! :)

[@GregoryPecaut]

Can't get mine to get a wi-fi connection. What is the exact name of the app? What other tricks to get it connected? Or am I dinosaur and should just stick to manual?

[@astronotna]

I used the synscan pro app in this video it should just be in your app store

[@GregoryPecaut]

@astronotna I started with the synscan pro. Then the older synscan. Finally got it to work. It was the phone. I had to shut down my internet and unconnected the phone to get it to link to the gem. I am running on the Synscan pro now.

[@astronotna]

Awesome! I am glad you got it sorted out!!

[@swistren]

Any idea why my GTi doesn't have the black item that the counterweight shaft screws into? Mine just screws directly into the hole

[@astronotna]

Missing part from the factory sounds like.

[@triple9finestacker631]

Look in the box more, its hidden in a corner of the fitting cardboard the GTI rested in.

[@johnv341]

When setting up my GTI, I was confused by the "altitude" nomenclature until I figured that they meant "latitude". Probably just a typo, reversing the first 2 letters. BTW, we cannot see Polaris from Oz, so setting due south is slightly more problematic. But our beautiful southern skies more than make up for that inconvenience.

[@astronotna]

Indeed they do. Clear skies my friend

[@jesuschrist2284]

The camera control with my 600d is flaky. Can you link to the bag please?

[@astronotna]

www.highpointscientific.com/apertura-gti-and-star-tracker-case

[@jesuschrist2284]

@@astronotna ty so much. The alt adjustment for polar alignment is also a bit vague btw :)

[@triple9finestacker631]

Hey, might you help me out... i have the evolux 62ed, and i have the camera adapter for the camera, but i dont know what i need to hook the camera, with the adaper, to the scope, it looks like im missing the eyepiece projection adapter... but im not sure which one i need to use, or if they are universal. If you dont mind helping me, id greatly appreciate it!

[@astronotna]

You have the camera adapter, the piece that spins right? if you do you would need a t adapter for your camera if its a DSLR. you haven't mentioned what kind of camera you have

[@triple9finestacker631]

@astronotna oh sorry, so i do have the adapter for the camera, its a canon eos rebel 60D. I see that the scope itself is 2 inches, and i didnt realize that you could use those other adapters along with an eye piece, i suppose this is how you get the really good shots of deep sky objects? But yes, i do have the piece that attatches to the camera, im curious about what i need that attatches to the scope itself that the camera and camera adapter attatch to? Thank you.

[@astronotna]

According to skywatcher it's just the camera adapter/rotator + T ring for your cam. I don't have a skywatcher refractor but that's what it's referencing. Alternatively you can call them as well. They are always super helpful

[@triple9finestacker631]

@@astronotna thanks dude, i think i got it figured out... i needed a 2in to 1.25in adapter.

[@astronotna]

Nice glad you got it sorted