Star Adventurer GTi
Australian price, mount only: $1,249.99 With optional tripod kit (no pier extension): $1,349.99
What we like
Extremely portable Built-in, illuminated polaralignment scope.
What we don't like
Camera trigger requires constant wireless connection. Daytime alignment routine difficult to locate.
IN RECENT YEARS, Sky-Watcher has rolled out several portable, light-duty mounts for observers on the go. I’ve used a few of them, including the original Star Adventurer mount. I’ve taken it along on several astrophotography adventures, and while it’s a good tracking platform, it’s not suited to carrying small telescopes for astrophotography. Additionally, I often wished it had the Go To control included in the company’s AZ-GTi Alt-azimuth mount. Fast-forward a few years and it seems that Sky-Watcher has listened to its customers with the introduction of a new mount aimed squarely at travelling imagers.
The new Star Adventurer GTi melds two previous-generation products — a small equatorial mount and the Go To power of the AZ-GTi. It works very well as a platform for cameras mated to telephoto lenses, and even for astrophotography with small, wide-field telescopes.
A solid package
The Star Adventurer GTi is compact
