What can I do with the Skyguider Pro?

[@LA3198]

Thanks for this nice once over on the SkyGuider Pro. It was helpful for me to start getting familiar with it. I have just purchased a used SkyGuider Pro and will receive it next week. I am looking forward to learning how to best utilize this little tracker.

[@astroventure2221]

Thank you for the feedback. I invite you to subscribe and go through our video content. You will find a lot of content to help you move along.

[@gregerianne3880]

Very nice overview of the SGP, George. I really love the SGP and think it's a great tracker for the money. I have a Canon APS-C DSLR, and a couple of heavier 'lenses' (an Askar ACL200, as well as an Apertura 60EDR refractor) that I put on the tracker in addition to a guide scope and camera. All totaled (including the SGP mounting bracket, long Arca Swiss plate, etc.) my typical load is about 7 lbs. and it seems to handle it just fine! This was my biggest concern about the mount initially, but I am very pleasantly surprised at how capable this little mount is. Also, with guiding (using an ASIAir Plus) I was able to get up to about 5-minute exposures the other night with my Apertura refractor (360mm native - effective fL of 576mm) with no star trails. As I said, I'm totally impressed with (and surprised by) the capability of the SGP. I thought others might be interested to know how the SGP performs at about 64% of its max payload. Great video! Thanks again.

[@astroventure2221]

Thanks for sharing your experience/setup. It is truly an amazing package, bang for buck. I too have found the guiding with the ASIAIR (future videos) to be outstanding. Combine that with the ipolar and being able to not move the setup to tweak it (I do every 30-40 minutes based on the readout) really keeps the accuracy up there. Again, thanks for sharing. Clear skies and uneventful nights.

[@deeber35]

Is this much better than the StarShoot Astro? Move shoot move?

[@astroventure2221]

MSM is lighter weight and intended more for wide field astro - think Milkyway. Star Shoot Astro has a smaller payload. I hope this helps.

[@deeber35]

@@astroventure2221 Is it wasted money to buy the SkyGuider Pro if I can only polar align within 1 or 2 degrees? I can't see Polaris so will have to use a compass.

[@astroventure2221]

@@deeber35 you are in a tough situation. I would say it's probably not the best option for you. I know it doesn't need to directly see Polaris because it plate solves for placement, but it sounds like too much would be covered to be effective.

[@voederbietels]

how it wil start tracking. nobody mentioned this in tutorials

[@ElPasoTubeAmps]

The motor turns on with the on/off switch and it starts "tracking" an attached camera/telescope as soon as you tighten the clutch. You must also, at least reasonably, align the axis with the North Star. You can get pretty good tracking of the moon by just setting the altitude/elevation according to your location and with a compass point the axis North (with the altitude adjusted) as best you can, in the direction of the North Star (Polaris). I use one and think it works pretty good. Hope this helps.

[@voederbietels]

@@ElPasoTubeAmps wow thank you for your helpfull reply