Star Adventurer Maintenance: Common Issues & Fixes

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer PRO is one of the most common star trackers used among beginner and amateur astrophotographers. 

I personally own two of these trackers, and like many others, I am very happy with their performances, particularly when considering they are affordable and portable.

But being a low-budget mount, some minor compromises in building and control quality should be expected, and they become more evident when you start pushing the mount to its limits.

We have already dedicated a thorough review and in-depth user guide to the Star Adventurer, and now it is time to see how to maintain it in perfect shape and how to fix common issues.

This will allow us also to describe the working principles: how the wedge works, how the clutch works, and so on.

Finally, note that Sky-Watcher recently has released a major upgrade of the Star Adventurer PRO. The new Star Adventurer 2i looks exactly like the old one, but it now has Wi-Fi capabilities, and you can control it via phone or tablet with the Synscan PRO app.

The older version, without Wi-Fi, is discontinued: you may still get it from shops wanting to end their stock, though with a fair discount, and this is a bargain: the Wi-Fi is mostly useful if you want to do time-lapses. 

But the Star Adventurer 2i does feature unguided dithering, which can be really interesting for deep sky astrophotography.

Recently Kenko released the SKYMEMO S and SKYMEMO T, which looks exactly like the older Star Adventurer PRO and Mini. 

The Kenko SKYMEMO S tracker looks identical to the older Star Adventurer.

If not stated otherwise, this maintenance guide (together with the Ultimate User Guide) targets the new Wi-Fi 2i model, the older PRO black, red, and white/green models and probably, the Kenko SKYMEMO S too.

What Tools Do You Need To Maintain And Fix Your Star Adventurer

It is not difficult to maintain the Star Adventurer and its accessories as you do not need any special tools, and their construction is very simple.

Here is a list of the items you need the most to take care of your Star Adventurer:

• A copy of the Manual for your mount (PRO, 2i, Kenko SKYMEMO S).
• Gloves.
• No. 1.5, 2, 3, and 4 good quality Hex keys (also known as Allen keys).
• A Set of Philips and flathead screwdrivers. 
• Pliers.
• Multi-purpose synthetic grease (e.g., Super Lube).
• Degreaser (e.g., WD40 Degreaser).
• Medium and fine sandpaper.

While most of the fixes are easy, you should also know that some of them may void your warranty or damage your mount. Follow this guide at your own risk. 

The Wedge: Working Principles, Care And Maintenance

How Does The Wedge Work?

The wedge sits between the tripod and the equatorial mount. Together with the tripod, the wedge supports the weight of your mount, counterweights, and gear. 

Its job is to let you align the mount to the celestial pole so that the mount can track the stars’ motion during the long exposures required by deep-sky astrophotography. 

Once on the tripod, you can control the wedge’s Azimuth via the Horizontal Adjustment knobs and its Altitude using the Latitude Adjustment knob.

Setting The Azimuth: Coarse Adjustment

The azimuth is controlled by adjusting the Horizontal Adjustment knobs. In between them, inside the wedge, there is a metal pin screwed into the base.

Let’s assume you want to rotate the wedge to the right: to do so, you have to unscrew the knob on the right and screw in the one on the left, as illustrated in the scheme below.

From the moment the left knob comes in contact with the pin, in fact, the more you screw it in, the more the wedge turns towards the opposite side of the knob. 

This continues until the right knob comes in contact with the pin. If you need to rotate the wedge more, you need to unscrew the right knob more.

Once you have done adjusting the azimuth, you can screw in both knobs to have them in contact with the pin to ensure more stability.

Setting The Altitude: Coarse Adjustment

To adjust the altitude, you have to release the Latitude Locking lever and rotate the Latitude Adjustment knob. This is effectively a worm gear that allows you to control the inclination of the mount.

Once you are done adjusting the mount altitude, lock down the Latitude Locking lever for better stability.

Final Adjustments 

After this coarse Polar Alignment, and after having framed your target, refine your Polar Alignment without unlocking the wedge. Teflon washers are inside the wedge to allow you to adjust azimuth and altitude with the wedge locked down so as to allow a more precise polar alignment. 

How To Check And Remove The Play Between The Base And The Body Of The Wedge

There should not be play between the base and the body of the wedge. 

To check, make sure the Horizontal Adjustment knobs are not in contact with the pin inside the wedge. Then, grab the base of the wedge in one hand and with the other, try to jiggle the body of the wedge.

If you have a play, your Base Locking Hex screws are too loose: simply tight them until the play is gone. The teflon washers between the wedge and the screws head will still allow you to adjust the azimuth with ease.

To make it easier and faster to work with the Base Locking Hex screws, particularly if you want to lock them tightly because of a heavy payload, you can replace them with a M6x16  wing (butterfly) bolt, but remember to reinsert the teflon washer between the bolt and the wedge.

Caution: do NOT overtighten the Base Locking Hex screws. If they create too much friction, you risk to strip down the thread for the Horizontal Adjustment knobs from within the wedge body.

How To Improve The Azimuth Adjustment Precision

First, check you have no play between the wedge and the base, and if so, remove it by tightening the Base Locking Hex screws as mentioned before.

Next, check the pin inside the wedge, the one against which the Horizontal Adjustment knobs push to turn the mount is not loose. This can happen with regular use. 

Use the Phillips screwdriver to tighten the screw underneath the wedge base.

If you see the screw continues to turn freely, remove the wedge by its base and hold the pin while tightening the screw.

Caution: Do not try to block the pin by screwing in the Horizontal adjustment bolts, as this may tilt the whole pin/screw assembly or ruin the threads.

How To Re-grease The Wedge For Smoother Azimuth Adjustments

This can be seen as part of periodic maintenance of the Star Adventurer, as in time, grease wears off and needs to be replaced.

Partially unscrew the two Horizontal Adjustment knobs to free the pin inside the wedge, which is attached to the base. Next, with the Hex key, remove the two Base Locking Hex screws.

Now the base can be removed from the wedge body.

The wedge pivots over the center of the base: re-grease that is as in the image below.

You can now reassemble the wedge and remember to adjust the tension of the two Base Locking Hex screws.

How To Replace The Horizontal Adjustment Knobs

If you drop your wedge, you can bend the Horizontal Adjustment knob. Luckily, the thread is a standard (metric) M6. A simple M6 hex bolt or M6 thumb screw will do. 

The length of the threaded part should be about 25 mm / 30 mm, and the head of the knob should not be more than 15 mm / 20 mm in diameter.

If you want, you can try to straighten the bent bolt with brute force.

Simply screw the nut onto the end of the bolt until as far as you can with your fingers. 

Then switch to using pliers and a spanner. Grab with the pliers the plastic end of the Horizontal Adjustment knob and apply enough torque to the additional nut to screw it on the bolt. 

If you are lucky, this will straighten the bent shaft of the bolt.

How To Remove The Lateral Play In The Wedge Assembly

Normally, when you lock the Altitude Locking lever, you should not have residual play in the wedge. In time, though, your wedge can develop some play.

It is best to replace the transparent washer inside the wedge rather than over-tightening the Altitude locking lever.

To replace the washers, start removing the Altitude Locking lever by screwing it out completely from the bolt.

Remove the bolt and the Altitude Assembly from the wedge body to have access to the washers: one in teflon and one in clear, transparent plastic, one at each side of the Altitude Assembly.

By being the thinner of the two, the transparent washer will probably wear or rip faster than the thicker one. If you find a plastic sheet about 0.4 – 0.5 mm thick, you can craft a new washer, thus removing the extra play. 

Caution: Do not use material that creates a lot of friction. The wedge is designed so that you can still fine-tune the altitude when the wedge is locked down.

If you don’t want to craft your own washer but have access to a 3D print, you can print one yourself using this project on Thingiverse.

It is now time to reassemble the wedge. The image below should help you get all the bits in the right place.

Important: Assemble the wedge so that the altitude indicator is aligned with the 0 of the altitude scale. Also, do not put grease on the washers.

How To Replace The Altitude Locking Lever 

This is one of the common problems of the star adventurer.

In the effort to remove the play in the wedge (either in altitude, which is physiological and cannot be removed or lateral), some people try to over tighten the Altitude Locking lever.

Being made in plastic, if you apply too much force it will often snap, either at the handle or in the mechanism inside the lever.

Whether you snapped the handle or got the lever to rotate freely, you have to remove the little Phillips screw and disassemble the lever.

Be careful that there is a conic spring that is compressed by the screw you are removing. Next, with the handle out the way, you have to remove the remaining black plastic part of the lever by unscrewing it from the bolt using pliers.

Now, If you haven’t snapped the lever, but the small piece inside got detached, you can try to glue it back and reassemble everything as per the photo above, but the best solution would be to replace the all lever assembly with one in metal. 

Or, if you have access to a 3D printer, 3D printing the lever can work too, but it may not be as strong and durable as the metal ones.

As a reference, the bolt for the Altitude Locking lever is a standard M6 bolt.

How To Deal With The Altitude Play In The Wedge Assembly

Unfortunately, this play is physiological to the wedge design. The thread of the worm and gear has a wide pitch and backlash is unavoidable.

The best way to have a stable altitude is to keep the wedge under tension: if you went too high and need to go down, overshoot a bit so that you can put the wedge in tension by increasing the altitude as the last adjustment, working against the weight of the payload.

A Video Tutorial

In this video, I discuss tips and fixes for having a wedge in perfect fit.

The Star Adventurer: Working Principles, Care And Maintenance

The scheme below introduces the terminology we will use to refer to the different parts of the Star Adventurer. 

How Does The Star Adventurer Work Inside?

The working principles are very simple: a motor rotates a series of gears you can couple to the payload by engaging a clutch. Depending on the tracking mode selected, the payload rotates at different speeds.

How Does The Clutch Work?

Many new star adventurer’s owners are unsure about how to use the clutch. The answer to their question is: yes! To track the stars, you need to tighten the clutch ring to couple the motor with the payload. 

The scheme below shows how the clutch works in more detail. 

The Motor is coupled to a Worm Gear via a Gearbox. The Worm Gear is also coupled to the Ring Gear, which sits over the Payload Driving Assembly.

The Payload Driving Assembly is bolted to the Polar Scope and to the Mounting Platform.

Over the Ring Gear, we found the Clutch knob, which screws directly on the Payload Driving Assembly.

This way, the Polar Scope, the Payload Driving Assembly, Clutch Knob, and the Mounting Platforms are now one piece that can freely spin inside the Ring Gear when the clutch is not engaged.

By screwing the Clutch knob on the Payload Driving Assembly, you are engaging the Clutch as you are firmly pushing the Ring Gear down onto the friction material that is sandwiched between it and the Payload Driving Assembly.

The friction between these two parts, forming the Clutch Assembly, is what sets in motion the payload.

To decouple the motor from the payload, simply unscrew the Clutch knob. By doing this, the friction between the Ring Gear and the Payload Driving Assembly is reduced and the Payload Driving Assembly can now spin freely inside the Ring Gear.

A Bearings Ring is also part of the Clutch Assembly and sits between the Clutch knob and the Payload Driving Assembly. 

Its job is to reduce the friction between the Clutch knob and the Ring Gear below it when the clutch is not engaged. 

Why Isn’t My Star Adventurer Spinning Smoothly? Should I Worry?

Short answer: No, usually you should not worry about it. 

Most (if not all) of the Star Adventurer units out there have somehow a stiff rotation and do not spin smoothly.

The most common causes for this are poor quality control and gear eccentricity in the Ring Gear and the Payload Driving Assembly. 

When the clutch is engaged, though, the Payload Driving Assembly and the Ring Gear turn together as one piece and their eccentricity should not affect tracking.

Though, imperfections in the Clutch Assembly and the Worm Gear can locally affect the meshing between the two, thus creating stiff points also during tracking.

If the friction at the stiff point is too much, tracking performances will go downhill, to the point of stalling the motor.

My Right And Left Buttons Are Flashing: What Does This Mean?

The most common causes for flashing Right and Left buttons are:

1. You are guiding: the buttons flash every time the guiding system sends corrections to the mount;
2. A problem with the motor.

With a Motor Error, the LEDs will blink at a 3-times-per-second rate to indicate:

1. Motor speed accuracy violation: The motor speed error is over 5%. If this keeps happening, the user may need to check for overloading (Max load is 5kg) or low battery power;
2. Motor stall: the motor stalls over 5 seconds. May be caused by external interference.

The fix is usually a quick one: either replace the battery and make sure there are no cables to interfere with the payload rotation and that this one is not bumping into the tripod.

Less obvious causes include wrong Worm Gear Meshing Adjustment and lack of grease. 

If you cannot identify the problem, it is time to send the mount for repair, particularly if you still have some warranty period left on your mount.

The Overall Revision Of The Star Adventurer: How To Disassemble And Re-grease Your Star Adventurer

Disassembling the Star Adventurer is fairly straightforward, and since there are no seals to break, it should not invalidate the warranty. 

Although, if you have a problem you cannot fix otherwise, and there is warranty remaining on your mount, consider sending the unit back for repair rather than disassembling it. 

While you are disassembling the mount, have a look at anything that looks troublesome:

1. Chunks of old grease.
2. Accumulation of sticky grease.
3. Foreign particles, dirt, and metal specks.
4. Edges between parts that are not flat or smooth.
5. Signs of incorrect assembly.

Start by unscrewing the four hex screws to remove the Mounting Platform from the Payload Driving Assembly.

Unscrew the Clutch knob and remove the Bearings Ring, together with the two metal rings that are underneath the Clutch knob.

Next, with a No. 2 hex key, remove the four hex screws connecting the Payload Driving Assembly to the Polar Scope to free the Clutch Assembly from the body of the Star Adventurer.

This can be difficult as the part rotates while trying to screw/unscrew those bolts. Work as in the photo below to help you free the Clutch Assembly from the Polar Scope.

Finally, extract and disassemble the Clutch Assembly. Put aside the disc of friction material, as you do not want to put grease on it.

Use the degreaser to clean all the parts where you see the old grease and then use a cloth or some paper towels to clean those parts.

It is now time to re-grease contact points between the parts, gear teeth, and bearings. Do that step-by-step while reassembly the star adventurer (as shown in the video tutorial below). 

Reassembling the Star Adventurer is not tricky, and the only step to be careful is to double-check to align the holes of the Clutch Assembly with the thread in the Polar Scope to lock the Clutch Assembly in place.

Now, the rotation of your Star Adventurer should now be smoother than ever.

Video Tutorial

How To Remove/Reduce The backlash: Worm Gear Meshing Adjustment

The Star Adventurer can develop some backlash that will reduce the mount performances. This is not a defect of the mount but is common to all gear transmissions and in particular on the coupling between the gears. 

Depending on how “deep” the teeth are mesh (i.e., how much the gears are pushed one into the other), there could be some play.

In the Star Adventurer, the most common source of gear backlash is in the coupling between the Worm Gear and the Ring Gear, and it causes a play of the Mounting Platform when the Clutch is engaged. 

Checking for backlash is easy. After engaging the clutch, grab the Star Adventurer firmly in one hand, and with the other try to rotate the Mounting Platform back and forth: if you feel some play, you have to adjust the backlash.

To do so, with a Hex key No. 3, slowly tighten the Worm Gear Meshing Adjustment Screw at the bottom of the mount until you have removed the play. Do not overtighten it.

It is normal the mount gets a bit noisier after the adjustment. 

Beware: if you have a tight spot during the rotation, you need to remove some backlash for the position where the rotation gets stiff. If you remove the backlash where rotation is smooth, at the tight spot, the motor could stall due to the extra friction you created.

Video Tutorial

How To Remove/Reduce The backlash In The Gearbox

I didn’t do this myself, but you can read more in detail about the procedure here. 

Lars, who wrote that guide, also reported that he had flashing lights after his tuning and that he would have to try again, but I cannot find what happened next.

Therefore, if you decide to follow that tutorial, do that at your own risk, as you may damage the unit.

How To Fix A Motor Stall By Re-Adjusting The Worm Gear Meshing.

One possible cause for motor stall while tracking is an overly tight Worm Meshing Adjustment Screw.

Small imprecisions in the gears can result in an uneven meshing between the Worm and Ring gears during tracking, and the extra friction at the tight spot may be too much for the motor.

To fix this, you need to:

1. Unscrew the Worm Gear Meshing Adjustment Screw.
2. Remove the Mounting Platform by removing the four hex screws.
3. Unscrew the Clutch knob completely (beware at the bearing ring assembly underneath it).

1. With a flat screwdriver, push the whole Worm Gear assembly back and away from the Ring Gear.

Then, reassemble the Star Adventurer and re-adjust the meshing between the Worm and Ring gears. 

If the motor continues to stall, there could be other mechanical causes, such as metal chips, dirt, and poor assembly from the factory, and you have to remove the Clutch Assembly and have a look.

Electronic problems are more difficult to diagnose than mechanical ones: if you don’t find an obvious cause after inspecting the inside of the mount, you may need to send it for repair.

How To Improve Tracking And Balancing By Smoothing The Rotation Of The Star Adventurer

This fix improves the smoothness of the payload rotation for perfect balancing. To some extent, it may also improve tracking performances by allowing you to have a more constant meshing between the Worm and Ring Gears.

The Easy Fix: Disassemble And Re-grease The Mount

If your Star Adventurer was spinning freely and smoothly before, the stiff rotation can most probably be eliminated by simply re-greasing the mount. For this, refer to the appropriate section below.

But even if your Star Adventurer always had a stiff rotation, before settling for a more drastic approach, it is worthy to disassemble the mount and have a look around for obvious problems: 

1. Incorrect assembly from the factory (quality control is quite random…).
2. Dirt and metal chips affecting the mount rotation.
3. Foreign objects.
4. Chunks of sticky grease.

I have two Star Adventurers, and for the white one, the rotation got much smoother after I disassembled and reassembled it for doing the photos and videos for this article.

The Hard FIx: Improve Fitting Between Parts Inside The Mount

If you still have a very stiff rotation, then it’s time to consider improving the coupling between parts, particularly between the Ring Gear and the Payload Driving Assembly.

These parts are not CNC manufactured, so eccentricity and surface imperfections can become a problem.

Before you start, I strongly advise you to check this other video from Steven Doye (who I must thank for the assistance during the fine-tuning of my mount) before you start to work on your mount, so as to know what to expect.

Ready to proceed? Start by disassembling the Star Adventurer to remove the Clutch Assembly, which consists of the Ring Gear and Payload Driving Assembly.

Next, slide the Ring Gear off the Payload Driving Assembly.

Remove the disc of friction material from it and clean the Payload Driving Assembly thoroughly and de-grease it and all the other parts of the Clutch Assembly. 

Now, look for scratches and signs of wearing on the Payload Driving Assembly surface: If you found any, that is where you have a stiff point.

If you do not see obvious marks, try coloring with a marker the contact areas between the Payload Driving Assembly and the Ring Gear. 

Reassemble the parts and put them back into the Star Adventurer (you need the Ring Gear to be coupled to the Worm Gear for the next step to work). 

Now rotate several times the Payload Driving Assembly inside the Ring Gear to wear off the marker ink where those parts are rubbing against each other.

After you locate the problematic spot, use some wet sandpaper medium to remove it. Work slowly and check your progress often. 

It is always better to have a bit of extra friction rather than introduce unwanted play between the parts.

When you are happy, smooth out the surface with some fine wet sandpaper and then put some toothpaste or polishing cream on a felt to finish off by polishing the Payload Driving Assembly.

It is now time to reassemble the Star Adventurer, re-grease it as explained in the section below, and re-adjust the mesh between the Worm and the Ring Gear as described above.

Your Star adventurer should not turn smoothly, allowing for precise payload balancing and better tracking.

If you have access to a 3D print, Steven has also created a Star Adventurer Clutch Repair Tool to make this fix easier.

With this tool (to use under your own responsibility), you can run the Payload Driving Assembly like a lathe to straighten and eliminate the tight spot or to simply resurface it.

Video Tutorial

How To Fix A Star Adventurer That Stops Tracking After Few Minutes When Powered With Power Bank

From what I read on social networks, it seems people don’t like AA batteries any more. I get that: we still need to carry a power bank to power dew strips, etc., so why not power the Star Adventurer with a power bank?

Sure you can, but test it at home first. The Star Adventurer draws very little power and can trick the power bank into thinking nothing is connected. If this is the case, the power bank will shut down after a few minutes, with dramatic consequences for your imaging session.

The fix for this is easy: 

1. Use good AA rechargeable batteries, such as Panasonic Eneloop PRO.
2. Connect a dew strip to the power bank that powers the Star Adventurer, so to increase the power drain.
3. Old power banks were “stupid” and stayed on until you shut them off or they run out of power. These power banks will therefore continue powering the Star Adventurer.

If you are experiencing this problem with the new Star Adventurer 2i, be sure to also check the dedicated section at the end of this article.

Fix The Loose Mode Dial

Find the hex screw on the mode dial and remove it with the Hex key. Pull the dial to detach it from the Star Adventurer.

Use the pliers to tighten the exposed nut. Do NOT overtighten it or you risk to strip the threads.

Once finished, put back the dial and lock it in place with the hex screw. 

To be sure the dial is properly oriented, do that with the batteries inside the Star Adventurer. Make sure it is off and place the dial accordingly.

The Polar Scope: Calibration and Tips

The Polar Scope allows you to visually align the Star Adventurer to the celestial pole, a crucial step towards having round stars on your images.

Before you start to mess with the Polar Scope, make sure you are polar aligning in the proper way:

1. Level your tripod.
2. Set the Star Adventurer to Midnight October 31st, with zero offset from your local standard time meridian.
3. Mount your payload and all accessories and balance the payload in RA and DEC.
4. Focus and choose your camera settings.
5. Do a coarse alignment and frame your target.
6. Use an app like Polar Scope Align Pro to know where Polaris must be placed on the reticle that should be oriented as in the app. This is a coarse alignment, don’t lose time with it. Lock the wedge.
7. Frame your target.
8. Do NOT unlock the wedge. Check the amount of rotation you did in RA to frame your target and input it in the app. 
9. Refine the polar alignment and take a test shot.
10. If all is ok, start your session.

To know more about polar alignment, you can refer to this article.

If despite following the procedure above, you cannot still get round stars, you need to calibrate the Polar Scope.

How To Check The Polar Scope’s Reticle Alignment

To check if the reticle inside the Polar Scope is aligned to the rotational axis, follow these steps:

1. Mount the star adventurer on a sturdy tripod using its wedge.
2. Look into the Polar Scope and use the wedge to center a distant object on the crosshair at the center of the clock in the reticle. Note that the image in the Polar Scope is upside down.
3. While looking through the Polar Scope, rotate the Mounting Platform and check that the object you centered in the view stays on the crosshair.

The gif below shows you what you should see with a polar scope that is aligned.

If the object wanders off-center while rotating the Mounting Platform, then you need to align the reticle following the procedure explained in Appendix I of the User Manual.

Testing The Polar Scope’s Reticle Alignment To Meridian Indicator

This time, we will check if the reticle is properly oriented with respect to the Meridian Indicator.

To perform the test, follow these steps:

1. Set the Time Meridian Indicator to 0: hold the Polar Scope and rotate the Date Graduation Circle until the 0 is aligned to the Meridian Indicator (see the previous photo).
2. Next, let the Polar Scope free to rotate: the Date Graduation Circle will rotate with it. Set the Star Adventurer to Midnight, October 31st, by rotating the Polar Scope until the Date Graduated Circle is aligned to the Time Graduation Circle as shown in the image below.

Now that the Star Adventurer is set to midnight October 31st with the Time meridian indicator to 0, level the mount and aim at a distant object that is vertical, such as the edge of a tall building. 

The reticle inside the Polar Scope must be oriented in such a way that the 0-6 line in the clock is vertical. You can easily check this against the edge of the building.

If it is not the case, follow the procedure illustrated in Appendix I of the User Manual to align the reticle to the Meridian Indicator.

A Simple Fix for The Sloppy Polar Scope Illuminator

The adapter for mounting the Polar Scope Illuminator on the Fine-Tuning Mounting Assembly is without a doubt the worst part of the Star Adventurer Pro kit.

The illuminator fits very loosely in the Fine-Tuning Mounting Assembly and continuously falls off. 

Luckily, there is a simple trick to fix this: all you need is a heat shrink tube from the nearest home depot. 

Cut two small pieces from the heat shrink tube, fit them on two of the four legs of the adapter and make them shrink by heating them with a lighter. Now they should adhere tightly to the legs of the adapter.

Because the tubes are made of rubber-like material, they produce enough friction to ensure your Illuminator will never fall off the bracket again.

Alternatively, if you have access to a 3D printer, you can print your own adapter and even print a glow in the dark polar scope illuminator.

The glow in the dark illuminator can fit inside the front of the polar scope, so you don’t risk losing it. Like me, even if you use the Star Adventurer polar scope illuminator, this is a great accessory to have with you should you run out of power for your classic illuminator.

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Troubleshooting

How To Fix A SA 2i That Stops Tracking: Firmware Upgrade

Many users of the newly released Star Adventurer 2i are experiencing troubles. The mount tracks fine for a few minutes, then stops tracking or does not track at all.

Once you have removed the obvious physical causes (clutch not engaged, motor stall) and you are sure it is not moving as it should, it is time to look at any possible software issue.

The most common fix is to update the firmware to the last version (v 03.11 dated October 1, 2020, at the time of this article). You can download it from here.

To update the firmware, turn on the Star Adventurer 2i and wait for it to create its Wi-Fi network. Next, connect your computer to the Wi-Fi network created by the star adventurer, run the updater for the firmware and follow the instructions.

If you already have the latest firmware, it is worthy of resetting the Star Adventurer to its factory settings, as described in the manual.

How To Fix A SA 2i That Does Not Track In Manual Mod: Factory Reset

Perhaps the most annoying thing about the new Star Adventurer 2i is that if you connect to it to control it via Wi-Fi, then you cannot use it full manual, i.e., without keep controlling the mount via Wi-Fi.

The fix is to perform a factory reset, as explained in the manual.

Conclusion

In this guide, we have seen how to fix the most common problems you may have with your Star Adventurer, as well as the working principles.

Now, with your Star Adventurer in perfect conditions, it is time to head off under the stars.