Should I Upgrade My Original Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer to a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

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Zak Jones avatar
Hi all,

I am debating whether to just upgrade from my original Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer to the Star Adventurer GTi.

I did post something on here a while ago asking what you guys think I should consider for my next mount purchase, but I still haven't made up my mind as of yet as I feel I need to do more research before making a decision.

I love wide-field imaging, and I would like to keep doing wide-field imaging for a while, although I think I might get a new telescope or two down the line that will be suitable for full frame wide-field imaging such as the Askar 65PHQ or Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED. I did see that Nebula Photos used an Askar FRA300 Pro with a mono camera with filters, and he said that specific setup just falls on the capacity limit for the Star Adventurer GTi.

I have a Radian Raptor 61 rig that I built which weighs 4kgs and my Star Adventurer works fine with it, albeit sometimes on the odd ocassion I cannot achieve balance. I also like the fact that the GTi guides in both axis, so that's an added bonus whereas my Star Adventurer only guides in RA. I would like to also try and improve my autoguiding capabilities before the upcoming Milky Way season so I can take full advantage of the longer hours of darkness.

The GTi will be light enough for me to carry around due to my low muscle tone, but I do understand that with mounts the more you pay for one the better performance you will get. So in that note, are there any other mounts that are similar to the GTi?

My factors for considering a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi are:
  • Price
  • Portability
  • Guiding on both axis
  • Weight
  • Something familiar


I would love to here anyone's thoughts who owns a Star Adventurer GTi as this will help me make a decision sooner.

Zak
Zak Jones avatar
Hi all,

Even though I have posted before about me potentially upgrading my mount, please disregard this forum post.

I am reconsidering my mount options seeing that there are more mounts that have been announced.

Zak