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March Sky-Watcher Mount Specials
During March 2025, Sky-Watcher have some of their most popular telescope and DSLR star tracker mounts reduced in price. Here's a few suggestions!
AZ-EQ6 - Dual EQ and AZ Mount with tripod - now $2,499
This is the heavy duty version of the long serving EQ6 platform that has been used by astrophotographers around world for many years to produce stunning astro images as well as a stable platform for serious visual observing for extended periods.
The "AZ" part of the name refers to the mount ability to be used in both standard equatorial EQ mode as well as AZ or altazimuth setup. Using this, two optical tubes, mounted side by side, can be attached. For example, a SCT on one side and a wide field refractor on the other.
A full height, metal tripod is included as well as a SynScan hand controller. You can plug in a PC to control the mount via a USB cable and there's also an optional Wi-Fi adaptor. As the SynScan protocol used in Sky-Watcher mounts is an industry standard, the range of supported apps and PC applications is extensive.
Star Adventurer Pro 2i Kit - now $549
The Star Adventurer series were the "star tracker" mounts that popularised taking wide field portraits of the Milky Way and other large scale structures in the night sky.
There's a vast collection of deep-sky astro objects with colours and fascinating features that are just beyond the abilities of our eyes to see - they're revealed surprisingly easily by DSLR camera with long exposures. The problem is that while the DSRL is taking an image, the world turns and the sky above us moves -resulting in blurry or streaky astro images.
Star trackers like the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer moves with the sky, keeping the image still while your DSRL captures the ancient photons from distant parts of the Milky Way or even further beyond. Even a basic DSLR kit with a starter lens will let you make beautiful starry photos - and with experience and other wider field lenses etc, the potential for producing remarkable art is almost unlimited.
You will need a tripod to mount the Star Adventurer mount and camera. If you already have a sturdy tripod as part of your photographic kit it's likely to work well, otherwise have a chat with us about tripod option. The other thing to note is that's several Star Adventurer "kits", the astro, the photo version. This is the high end Pro version with all the accessories you will need such as a counterweight, a wedge and mounting rails.
Star Adventurer Mini Pro Kit - now $399
This is the smallest of the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer model range. Unlike the large 2i models, this Star Adventurer Mini has motor drives on both RA and DEC axes, meaning it's a full "GOTO" mount capable to moving to any part of the night sky and tracking astro objects once they're found.
One of the appeals of this Mini kit is Wi-FI support as well - meaning you can control your mount with a phone or iPad/tablet. It's small than the 2i series and would be well suited as a travel companion for one of the new generation of compact mirrorless cameras.
We're also scratching our heads to see if we can remember ever selling a full Wi-Fi GOTO telescope mount for $399 before....
MiniAZ GOTO Wi-Fi mount and tripod - now $599
This popular mount is designed for turning small telescopes into full GOTO systems. Using the SynScan app you can locate and then track objects in the night sky.
We'd suggest it will carry telescopes up to about a 130mm (5") Newtownian style reflector or a small refractor. The mount is also lightweight, making it ideal for travel, and a matching tripod is included. As it uses the same protocol as larger Sky-Watcher mounts, the same wide of selection of programs and apps can be used the smallest of their GOTO mounts. It's a fun mount if you're keen on experimenting and tinkering - lots of YouTube videos about this system.
(The Sky-Watcher Mini AZ is the same as AZ-GTi, and the AZ-GTe is lower specification version of the mount.)
While Sky-Watcher suggests the the Mini-AZ is NOT suitable for astro imaging, many folks have used it to take photos.
If you have any questions about these Sky-Watcher mounts, please drop BINTEL a message. There's only limited stock of some of these available in Australia.
Cheers,
Earl White
BINTEL
28th February 2025
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