getting a star adventurer pro tomorrow! any tips?

[realflow100]

Any tips for maximizing the use of it as soon as possible? anything to look out for?
Ive got a small 80mm F5 400mm FL refractor and a canon SL1 DSLR camera I want to use with it. (under half its rated weight capacity)
and a decent tripod for it also.
Exposure length I'm planning on at least between 15-30 seconds. Not really much more than that here. bortle 7 (bordering on bortle 8 now too especially in the worse parts of the sky)

[JayTee]

I don't have any personal experience with this setup but I can tell you that the better you do on your polar alignment the better your images will be.

[realflow100]

I plan on getting polar alignment to within margin of error! at least I hope! for at least 15-30 seconds worth exposure times.

[realflow100]

it arrived!!!!
Heres the setup

[JayTee]

Looks great, can't wait to see what images it produces.

[astrowolf67]

Read the instruction manual multiple times, especially the section on using the app, and wifi. The Star Aventurer will store the settings you input under the app control, and, will run those settings the next time it is powered up on normal tracking mode. Many users miss this in the instructions, and immediately think their tracker has developed an issue.

There is also a very active group on facebook titled "SkyWatcher StarAdventurer and AllView". There's a lot of great info there, and many helpful users.

[realflow100]

got my tracker! Heres my result so far after setting it up. 30 seconds exposure. iso 800
canon SL1/100D 18MP DSLR and orion ST 80mm F5 (400mm focal length)
teeny tiny miniscule 1-pixel of trailing in vertical direction.
Single frame. raw unedited
And 2 frame stack slightly enhanced

[astrowolf67]

it arrived!!!!
Heres the setup

I haven't hooked my dslr up to my ST80, yet. I'm curious, did you use a nose piece with yours, or is it connected directly to the drawtube? I've got the pieces to mount mine either way, and, an extension if needed. Hopefully, soon, I'll get a clear night or two, to experiment with mine.

[realflow100]

Connected directly.
Theres a threaded ring at the base of the eyepiece holder part. You can unscrew the eyepiece holder part and then tighten the threaded ring to the focuser to lock it in different orientations. Also helps to reach infinity focus too without any extensions

[skysnapper]

I've been using the non-wifi version for 18 months with a Canon 600D and getting very pleasing results.

I agree with getting the polar alignment as close as possible and with that it's possible to achieve 90+ seconds with reasonable seeing. I love the simplicity of the built-in polar alignment optics in this mount.

The attached image was taken using that setup:
Canon 600D, 30 year old Sigma 70-210 lens at 210mm, Olympus teleconverter (2x), canon adapter, Star Adventurer mount, 56x 60 second subs, DSS and Star Tools to process.

[skysnapper]

And out in freezing temperatures on any possible evening, with the Star Adventurer Pro ...

[realflow100]

I'm only getting 10 seconds at 400mm with an SL1/100D
and even some of those frames have noticable trails.

doesnt matter how perfect my polar alignment is. (I checked the polar scope and its fine. its collimated properly and works)

it just performs poorly. lots of trailing.
ive tried getting it absolutely unfathomably perfectly balanced. or making it slightly easy-heavy. and it makes no difference. I dont know what is going on with it. its just poor.

dithering is not enabled or anything weird. its in the normal tracking mode and tracking rate.

[skysnapper]

I think my setup with the 205mm lens and 2x converter is similar to yours so you should be getting better than those results.
I have seen similar when I selected solar or lunar on the dial instead of stellar.
Is yours the wifi version ? Does it have more bells & whistles to adjust ?

[realflow100]

mines the wifi version but i checked and nothing is set weird.
its not set to solar or lunar.
its set to stellar
I tried resetting it to factory settings. and whatnot
its just acting weird
I get highly variable star trails. with only a couple sharp frames out of 10 if I do more than 10 second exposures.

[skysnapper]

Few of things to try then I'm likely out of suggestions.
Mount counterbalance is balanced well.
Locking clutch not set very tight - just tight enough to prevent movement
Powered from the 4xAA batteries on the body instead of via the USB socket.
Setting up on stone/concrete and not grass.
Ensuring with a spirit level that the tripod is level before fitting the Star Adv.
Not walking around near the mount while it's running
I know you probably tried these but going for the simple stuff now. Each of them has caught me out at some point or other.

[realflow100]

Ive tried batteries vs usb no difference.

checked off all the things on that list. on pavement/sidewalk not grass.

its level as level as possible.
I'm not walking around it while its running.
Tried different amounts of tightness on the clutch.
tried all kinds of balancing. from absolutely perfect to moderately east-heavy. and everything in between. No difference there either.

I also tuned the worm gear mesh tension screw which BARELY helped a miniscule amount. its barely better. I get maybe 2 seconds longer exposure time.

[skysnapper]

OK so you've checked all those.
Can you talk to the shop/seller and discuss the issues ?

[realflow100]

I purchased it from amazon online. idk. it may be just normal or something. 400mm may just be pushing it too hard.

at 50mm I can easily get 90 seconds with absolutely no trails at all and its fantastic.
I actually have to stop down and use iso 100 because of how blinding bright the background sky is then.