The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi: the white equatorial GoTo tracker with a counterweight bar, the mount under my Altair 60EDF rig. It is not the alt-azimuth AZ-GTi.

How much can the Star Adventurer GTi carry?

Sky-Watcher rates it for 5 kg (11 lb). My Altair 60EDF with its reducer, a 32 mm guide scope, the guide camera and a 585 camera rode on it for every image on this page.

Does it need counterweights?

Yes. It has a removable counterweight bar with two positions for low latitudes; First Light Optics lists 0.7 kg and 1.6 kg weights.

Can it be autoguided?

Yes, through its ST-4 port. With a 32 mm guide scope and an Altair 462 guide camera it held the 5-minute subs of my Orion Nebula, Horsehead and Rosette.

How is it powered and controlled?

Eight AA batteries or 12 V DC; GoTo from the free SynScan Pro app over WiFi, with an optional SynScan hand controller, plus USB and a camera shutter port.

Where can I buy the Star Adventurer GTi?

The prices I recorded: £435 at First Light Optics (UK), in stock; $720 at Agena Astro (US), in stock; $809 at AliExpress (BestGoBuy Store), Global, listed.

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi review: 5 kg GoTo tracker

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 18 mounts on my board, against price
Rank	Mount	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	TeSeek NanoTracker	100 out of 100	£52
2	ClearSky ST25	94 out of 100	£1,259
3	TeSeek 11	93 out of 100	£252
5	JUWEI-14	89 out of 100	£632
9	ZWO AM5	58 out of 100	£2,099
12	EM31 Pro	52 out of 100	£1,679
16	ZWO AM3	34 out of 100	£1,599
17	Sky-Watcher GTi Mount	33 out of 100	£435
18	Celestron CG5	24 out of 100	£299

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 In the hand
04 From the review video
05 What would you put on it?
06 How well does it guide?
07 What is it for? In my words
08 What it captured
09 Raw against finished
10 Watch the review
11 Should you buy it?
12 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 33/100

Reviewed 11 Jul 2025 Updated 26 Sep 2026

Rank: #17 of 18 mounts
Verdict: With reservations

Written by Damon Scotting 6 min read

Buy it if

You want GoTo and tracking for a small refractor or a camera lens, up to 5 kg.
You want to run the mount from a phone app, on eight AA batteries or 12 V.
You want an autoguide port so a small guide scope can hold 5-minute subs.

Skip it if

You want no counterweights at all: a strain-wave head such as the TeSeek 11 carries 5 kg without one.
Your telescope, camera and guiding weigh more than 5 kg.
You want the smallest, lightest head to travel with.

“This is a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi tracking mount, which is essentially a budget solution for low-payload setups.”

Specifications and features

Against the mounts I have reviewed

Compare with

Sky-Watcher GTi Mount reviewed #17 of 18	TeSeek 11 #3 of 18	JUWEI-14 #5 of 18	Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i #14 of 18	Celestron CG5 #18 of 18
Recorded UK price	£435	£252	£632	£249	£299
Stars for Your Buck	33/100	93/100	89/100	42/100	24/100
Average guiding RMS	Unknown	0.92 arcsec	0.98 arcsec	Unknown	Unknown
Type	Equatorial GoTo tracker (counterweight)	Harmonic drive	Harmonic drive	Star tracker, no GoTo	German equatorial, DC servo motors with encoders
No-counterweight payload	None: it needs its counterweight	5 kg	8 kg	not recorded	None: it needs counterweights
Counterweight payload	5 kg (11 lb)	not recorded	13 kg	5 kg	Over 15.9 kg (35 lb), maker payload claim
Mount weight	2.6 kg (5.7 lb)	1.3 kg	3.4 kg	1 kg	19 kg (42 lb)
Periodic error	About 40 arcsec in one reviewer’s Guiding Assistant test; amplitude convention not stated	not recorded	not recorded	Approximately 60 arcsec, reported by one 2i owner; method and amplitude convention unspecified	not recorded
Gearing	Worm drive; 92 mm aluminium-alloy gear	Harmonic reducers on both axes	RA 400:1; Dec 100:1	DC servo motor, all-metal gearing	Worm gears on RA and Dec
Control	SynScan Pro app over WiFi; optional SynScan hand controller; USB, ST-4, camera port	OnStep: phone app over Bluetooth or WiFi, ASIAIR, NINA and SharpCap	OnStep	WiFi app, no GoTo	NexStar hand control, 40,000 objects; RS-232 on the handset, AUX and autoguide ports
Power	8 x AA or 12 V DC	5 V, 2 A from a USB power bank	12 V DC, 3 A; 5.5 x 2.1 mm socket	4 x AA or 5 V DC	Car battery adapter
Tripod or pier	Kit: steel tripod 68 to 113 cm, 2.49 kg, 21.6 cm pier extension	38 mm Arca clamp underneath; a latitude adjuster and a tripod needed	3/8 inch photo tripod; AM5 three-hole fixing	Not included; fits 3/8 and 1/4 inch camera tripod threads	2 in stainless steel tripod with accessory tray
In the box	Mount head, illuminated polar scope, counterweight shaft and counterweights; the kit adds the steel tripod and pier extension	The mount	Mount head	Head, ball head adapter, illuminated polar scope; the Pro Pack adds the wedge, bracket and counterweight	Head, tripod and accessory tray, counterweight bar and counterweight, hand control

In the hand

Head and counterweights

Carrying the 60EDF rig

Down the garden

Under the stars

From below

With the guide scope

From the review video

Two frames from my videos

The rig on the GTi

Signing off

What would you put on it?

The Star Adventurer GTi's 5 kg rating with counterweight under a rig you can change part by part, then the same rig on six other mounts

How well does it guide?

In my words, from my videos

“Just to guarantee that I can take five, maybe even 10-minute long exposures, I'm going to also add a guide scope and guide camera.”

“To keep our mount honest and focused on our target, we have Altair's 462 guide camera and their guide scope.”

“The guiding with a $2,000 rig potentially allows for 10-minute long exposures, whilst the Seestar is capped at 60-second long exposures.”

What is it for? In my words

Two things it is for

Control from an app

The Star Adventurer GTi is actually very easy to use, and I control it remotely with its own user-friendly app.

Head or kit

You can buy the mount head on its own; I went a little further and have the tripod and pillar attachments.

What it captured

Six targets

M 42 Orion Nebula, Altair Hypercam 585C

Integration: 1 h 30 min (18 x 300 s)
Field: 2.10 x 1.16 degrees
Telescope: Altair 60EDF with the 0.8x reducer
Camera: Altair Hypercam 585C
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Target: M 42 Orion Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula, Altair Hypercam 585C

Integration: 2 h (24 x 300 s)
Field: about 2.2 x 1.2 degrees
Telescope: Altair 60EDF with the 0.8x reducer
Camera: Altair Hypercam 585C
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Target: NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

IC 434 Horsehead Nebula, Altair Hypercam 585C

Integration: 1 h (12 x 300 s)
Field: 2.19 x 1.23 degrees
Telescope: Altair 60EDF with the 0.8x reducer
Camera: Altair Hypercam 585C
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Target: IC 434 Horsehead Nebula
Type: Dark and emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

M 31 Andromeda Galaxy, Altair Hypercam 585C

Integration: 30 min (10 x 180 s)
Field: 2.19 x 1.23 degrees
Telescope: Altair 60EDF with the 0.8x reducer
Camera: Altair Hypercam 585C
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Target: M 31 Andromeda Galaxy
Type: Spiral galaxy
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula, Altair Hypercam 585M TEC, HSO

Integration: 45 min (15 x 180 s: H 5, S 5, O 5)
Field: 2.25 x 1.26 degrees
Telescope: Altair 60EDF with the 0.8x reducer
Camera: Altair Hypercam 585M TEC
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Target: IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

NGC 7000 North America Nebula, Altair Hypercam 585M TEC, HSO

Integration: 1 h 12 min (24 x 180 s: H 10, S 6, O 8)
Field: 2.25 x 1.26 degrees
Telescope: Altair 60EDF with the 0.8x reducer
Camera: Altair Hypercam 585M TEC
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Target: NGC 7000 North America Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Raw against finished

Watch the review

The 6 targets, the raw combined stack against my finished image, each with its integration, the camera and the palette:

M 42 Orion Nebula: 1 h 30 min (18 x 300 s) of light, Altair Hypercam 585C, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula: 2 h (24 x 300 s) of light, Altair Hypercam 585C, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 434 Horsehead Nebula: 1 h (12 x 300 s) of light, Altair Hypercam 585C, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
M 31 Andromeda Galaxy: 30 min (10 x 180 s) of light, Altair Hypercam 585C, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula: 45 min (15 x 180 s: H 5, S 5, O 5) of light, Altair Hypercam 585M TEC, HSO, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
NGC 7000 North America Nebula: 1 h 12 min (24 x 180 s: H 10, S 6, O 8) of light, Altair Hypercam 585M TEC, HSO, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch

What YOU can SEE with a NEW £2000 Telescope setup?! · published 11 July 2025 · 9:20 · Watch on YouTube · 7,438 views, 458 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

1:57 Total cost of equipment
2:13 The mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
2:56 The telescope: Altair 60EDF
3:43 Guide scope and guide camera
4:24 The camera: Altair 585C
5:42 Running it all from a laptop
6:33 Images
7:51 Markarian's Chain, a four-panel mosaic
8:18 Conclusion

Transcript of the review video 1,108 words · 9 chapters · searchable

Press a time stamp to play from there.

2:11 Total cost of equipment

2:12 I'm going to start off by talking about the mount. 2:12 The mount was probably the easiest decision I had to make in this entire rig and that's because this is a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi tracking mount which is essentially a budget solution for low payload setups.

2:13 The mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi

2:22 The essence of this video is to keep the cost down as low as possible which is why I've gone for this because it's capable but also cost-effective. 2:30 At £535 this mount is essentially one of the most affordable go-to tracking mounts on the market. 2:38 The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is actually very easy to use and you can control it remotely with its own user-friendly app. 2:42 You can buy the mount head on its own but I went for the version with the tripod and pillar mount attachments. 2:49 Then moving on to the actual payload itself, the really important part of your telescope setup. 2:54 I'm going to start off by talking about the telescope which is an Altair 60EDF Refractor Telescope.

2:56 The telescope: Altair 60EDF

2:58 Now it is a very small telescope but it is what we like to refer to as a premium telescope. 3:04 The glass used within this telescope is FPL53 which is very high quality. 3:10 The aperture of the telescope is 60 millimetres and the focal ratio is f/6 which means your total focal length is 360 millimetres which is fairly wide allowing you to capture the majority of targets in our night sky. 3:21 But I've taken it one step further by introducing a 0.8x reducer at the back end of the telescope which actually reduces my focal length down to 288 millimetres and also my focal ratio down to f/4.8. 3:31 So f/4.8 means that this is a very fast telescope. 3:39 Now I'm hoping that if I properly align this telescope mount I'll be able to take some relatively long exposure images with this telescope, especially because it now has such a wide field of view.

3:43 Guide scope and guide camera

3:50 But just to guarantee that I can take five, maybe even 10 minute long exposures, I'm going to also add a guide scope and guide camera. 3:58 Now I want to talk in particular about the Altair Astro new guide camera just here because it is very affordable and the specifications of this are incredibly interesting. 4:07 At £129 the Altair 462 Mark II offers 1080p resolution and 2.9 micrometres pixel size, which is very nice. 4:14 Pop this on top of your scope inside the Altair MG32 mini guide scope and you have yourself an excellent lightweight guiding setup. 4:23 And then lastly the final component of this setup is the camera. 4:23 This is an Altair Astro 585 and what's really interesting about its design is that it actually implements a fan feature but you don't need a separate power supply for it.

4:24 The camera: Altair 585C

4:33 It's priced at pretty much the same amount as all the other 585 sensors on the market. 4:38 This is the same camera sensor as the one used in the Player One Uranus-C camera and the ASI585. 4:43 These cameras have become two of the most popular astronomy cameras on the market and with good reason. 4:47 They are affordable and capable of capturing spectacular images not just of deep sky objects but also of the planets. 4:56 You can purchase their most expensive cooled variant models for a bit more but what's so What's so incredible about the Altair design is that it's the first camera to not need an additional power supply to cool itself down, you can operate the fan with just a data cable plugged in. 5:11 And if that wasn't an incentive enough to choose the Altair 585C over the two most popular alternatives on the market, well then the fact that it is also priced at 10% cheaper than the others really sweetens the deal. 5:22 When you combine the telescope, reducer and camera together you get almost the perfect field of view in terms of imaging the brightest deep sky objects in our night sky. 5:31 And as proof, this is how the Pleiades look through this setup. 5:39 So yeah that about covers the entire setup I'm going to be using today and I think the last thing I need to possibly mention is that I'm going to control all of this using my laptop.

5:42 Running it all from a laptop

5:49 I didn't think there was any reason to include this in the total cost of making a setup but I am mentioning it for full clarity. 5:54 The thing is basically everyone has their own laptop or computer and the software that you need in order to control this entire setup and capture images is actually completely free. 6:02 I'll attach some links in the description below for the software that you can use. 6:05 In fact, when the guide camera here arrived, on the cover of the box was actually a logo indicating that you can get a year's worth of SharpCap for free, purely because you've purchased this camera. 6:14 And if you don't want to use SharpCap, you can of course use Altair Astro's free software, Altair Capture. 6:19 And then if you want to go a little bit further and do an all-in-one setup, you can use a software such as N.I.N.A.. 6:24 Yeah, I'll attach links in the description below. 6:25 All right, enough talking. 6:26 Let's finally put this telescope rig to the test.

6:33 Images

7:29 For the final image I stitched together 4 images to make a 32 megapixel mosaic shot of the Markarian chain.

7:51 Markarian's Chain, a four-panel mosaic

7:56 The field of view of this scope is quite large but you can always make your shots even bigger and higher resolution by stitching them together like this. 8:04 In doing so I have been able to include almost 50 more galaxies as well as one of the largest black holes known to man, M87. 8:17 My final thoughts, the conclusion of what I think of this setup is that it is in fact the baseline for a beginner astrophotography setup.

8:18 Conclusion

8:24 this is everything you are going to need. 8:26 It's the perfect foundation to then build upon. 8:29 I'm already planning on making a follow-up video to this titled, what you can see with a 3,000 pound telescope setup. 8:35 And it's gonna be a very similar rig to what this is right now. 8:38 But the main difference I'm going to implement is I'm gonna start using a monochrome camera and a set of filters, and then maybe add an autofocuser and a couple more little gizmos. 8:46 There is a fair bit of flexibility when you add an extra 1,000 pounds to your budget. 8:51 So if you're interested in seeing that video and more videos like this, make sure you are subscribed. 8:53 Thanks for watching, I'm Damon Scotting and this was Astronomical.

Check out more videos on the Sky-Watcher GTi Mount

Seestar S30 pro V.S My $2000 Telescope rig - Image comparison

3 Jan 2026

Should you buy it?

33/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

GoTo from the free SynScan Pro app over WiFi, with an optional SynScan hand controller.
An ST-4 autoguide port: guided, it held the 5-minute subs of my Orion Nebula and Rosette.
A built-in illuminated polar scope and a 0 to 70 degree latitude range.
Runs on eight AA batteries or 12 V DC.
Sold as a head alone or as a kit with a steel tripod and a pier extension.

Cons

“It also requires the use of counterweights.”
A giant in weight and size next to a harmonic head like the TeSeek 11.
A 5 kg payload keeps it to small refractors and camera lenses.
“The setup time each night cannot be understated.”

I've gone for this because it's capable, but also cost effective.

Who the Star Adventurer GTi is for

Beginner building a first imaging rig

Buy

A GoTo tracker with an autoguide port and a phone app, for a small refractor up to 5 kg.

Wide-field camera-lens shooter

Buy

A camera and lens ride well inside its 5 kg, with sidereal, solar and lunar tracking.

Imager who hates counterweights

Skip

My recommendation is the TeSeek 11: 5 kg without a counterweight.

Owner of a heavier telescope

Skip

Past 5 kg, my recommendation is the JUWEI-14, which takes 8 kg without a counterweight.

Traveller counting every gram

Skip

My recommendation is the TeSeek 11, a 1.3 kg head against this one's 2.6 kg plus its counterweights.

Stargazer who wants images without the setup

Skip

A smart telescope such as the Seestar S30 Pro calibrates, focuses and stacks by itself.

Three alternatives I have reviewed

Questions and more about this review

Reviewed by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Six questions, answered

Questions about the Sky-Watcher GTi Mount

Reviewed 11 July 2025 ·Updated 26 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Shop links marked Ad are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded

Which GTi is this? The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi: the white equatorial GoTo tracker with a counterweight bar, the mount under my Altair 60EDF rig. It is not the alt-azimuth AZ-GTi. In the hand ↓
How much can the Star Adventurer GTi carry? Sky-Watcher rates it for 5 kg (11 lb). My Altair 60EDF with its reducer, a 32 mm guide scope, the guide camera and a 585 camera rode on it for every image on this page. What I captured ↓
Does it need counterweights? Yes. It has a removable counterweight bar with two positions for low latitudes; First Light Optics lists 0.7 kg and 1.6 kg weights. In the hand ↓
Can it be autoguided? Yes, through its ST-4 port. With a 32 mm guide scope and an Altair 462 guide camera it held the 5-minute subs of my Orion Nebula, Horsehead and Rosette. What I captured ↓
How is it powered and controlled? Eight AA batteries or 12 V DC; GoTo from the free SynScan Pro app over WiFi, with an optional SynScan hand controller, plus USB and a camera shutter port. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Where can I buy the Star Adventurer GTi? The prices I recorded: £435 at First Light Optics (UK), in stock; $720 at Agena Astro (US), in stock; $809 at AliExpress (BestGoBuy Store), Global, listed. A record, not a live price The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓