This mount has a built-in autoguiding port (ST-4) as well as a USB Type B port to connect your computer to the mount for direct control (ASCOM/EQMOD). My favorite feature of the Star Adventurer GTi is the adjustable illuminated reticle to help aid you in the polar alignment process while in the field. Over the course of the sequence, it became apparent that my polar alignment was not perfect. It was good enough for a 60 second exposure, but over four hours the LMC had drifted away. Again, aligning the Polarie accurately had been a challenge. It looked like I hadn’t been able to do it as accurately as I’d hoped. Processing Taking good star photos depends on a number of factors. One of the most crucial ingredients is the skill and experience of the photographer. Thankfully, Vixen has provided one of the best beginner’s guides I’ve ever seen to help you get started if you are new to this process.

If you use a short focal length lens on your camera it will enable you to take remarkable wide field photos of the Milky Way and other targets. But it you use a longer lens or a small telescope, the alignment becomes more critical. It’s even more of a problem in the Southern Hemisphere, where we are. It's been a year, and I still continue to be impressed by the Polarie. I find that because of its simplicity I manage to make more opportunities to image than I did before with my larger setups. Sometimes simple is best. Here's some of my results, you be the judge. Commercially available autoguiders are usable with the POLARIE U. (This will move in the direction of R.A. only.) The overall shape of the Vixen Polarie is reminiscent of a camera. My guess is that they designed it like that because it’s pitched to photographers rather than astronomers. Its main competitor looks much more like an equatorial mount, which, to some non-astronomers, can be intimidating. Note that without the counterweight upgrade kit, though, you cannot have the polar scope mounted at the same time with your camera. Performances

While the number and quality of the accessories are impressive, they do not come for free. Things to consider before buying The Mount This portable EQ mount fits in the palm of your hand, yet can handle up to 11 lbs of imaging gear. With the counterweight kit attached, the SkyGuider has no trouble with larger telephoto lenses and even small refractor telescopes such as the William Optics RedCat 51. A small latitude scale, graduated from 0° to 70°, is built into the left side of the Polarie. It can be illuminated in red using the rotating switch. Although the scale is rather coarse (the graduations are in 5° increments) it is more than adequate for preparing for polar alignment through the sight hole or polarscope. Polarscope

Offering almost twice as much payload as its ‘little brother’, the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini, this Pro version also ramps up the battery life by using four AA batteries that last for 72 hours. That’s plenty of time for a field trip into remote areas while also being simple enough to swap out mid-shoot. A sight tube finder (detachable) that is usable for rough polar alignment in the northern hemisphere comes equipped as a standard accessory.You will have enough power to have fun shooting a couple of starry landscapes, but if you want to get busy with star fields and deep sky, you’ll find the battery life is a limiting factor. For the pointing accuracy to be correct, you must make sure that your location is set, and that the mount is polar aligned and balanced. The Star Adventurer GTi has a robust wedge base, that is suitable for mounting cameras with long telephoto lenses and compact telescopes. It comes with a declination plate with micrometric movement for the camera, wedge, polar scope, and polar scope illuminator. To polar align, simply look through the Polar sight hole and try center Polaris in the 8.9º field of view.