Star tracking with Star Adventurer 2i

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Equipment Star Tracker Polar Alignment Troubleshooting
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Matthew avatar
Matthew avatar
(Star Adventurer 2i) If I use a ball head with my star tracker can I point my camera at any star or object I want (without causing star trails) as long the tracker is properly polar aligned?

The other night I polar aligned the tracker based on a YouTube guide and pointed my camera at a star cluster. I took 40 1minuet exposure photos the other night, the first 19 photos had no star trails but in the 20th photo there were massive star trials, then on the 21st photo there were none, then from 22-40 they were all star trails. Does this mean I probably goofed up on my alignment? Any tips and tricks with the Star Adventure 2i are welcome.
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Nicholas Gialiris avatar
Nicholas Gialiris avatar
Hi,

I have the older Star Adventurer but pretty similar to the 2i; in theory yes, you can point the ball head anywhere and the SA will track but I don't use or recommend a ball head as prone to issues and flexure; much better to use the fine tuning DEC assembly which I assume came with yours as well.

Using my WO RedCat51 250mm APO with Canon DSLR T5i and taking care to polar align as well as possible, recently imaged Andromeda M31 with 90 sec exposures at ISO 1600 with no trailing.

Polar aligning the SA is fiddly; patience is a virtue and loosen/tighten the alt/az bolts carefully so things don't shift after you lock down. I use Polar Scope Align Pro app (free) on my iPhone to put Polaris in the proper reticle spot, after rotating in RA to the specified Oct 31 mark in the manual.

Also watch the weight; the payload capacity reads 11lbs but with astro imaging, keeping the total payload to around 50% of rating ensures nice performance; pushing the limit will cause flexure and trailing, especially with the lightweight SA; not as beefy as EQ mounts.

Great tracker though; love it!

Cheers.
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Fritz avatar
Fritz avatar
Hi Mathew, i use the older Star Adventurer too and i do not use a ball head for the reasons @Nicholas Gialiris mentioned.

For polar alignment i use a two step approach: first i do a polar alignment, then i do the framing/alignment to target. After that i do a polar alignment again, because my fiddling while aiming at the target very often ruins my polar aligment.

Patience is the key, other than that the Star Adventurer is a very nice device.

Cheers
Fritz
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