My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 02.2019 | Page 61

as an aluminum-sided carry case. While
it includes a mounting bracket for a
fi nder scope, none is supplied, nor any
eyepiece, or a 90° star diagonal.
I borrowed the mount and scope
from Sky-Watcher USA at the Texas Star
Party. They had been used as demos at
several astronomy gatherings. When
I opened the box, I initially thought I
forgot to grab the hand controller, but it
turned out the mount doesn’t come with
one even though the AZ-GTi includes
a port for Sky-Watcher’s SynScan hand
controllers. Instead, the AZ-GTi creates
a Wi-Fi hotspot, and you connect to it
with a free app that is available for both
iOS and Android devices.
The SynScan app works with any Sky-
Watcher Wi-Fi mount, including the
AZ-GTi. There is also a free “PRO” ver-
sion of the SynScan app that can control
the company’s equatorial mounts. This
is notable because there is an experi-
mental firmware update for the AZ-GTi
that allows you to put it on the com-
pany’s Star Adventurer equatorial wedge
to operate in equatorial mode. I tried
it out and it does work, and it at least
cracks open the door for longer expo-
sure astrophotography with the mount.
But this mode seems an afterthought
rather than a planned feature, as the
form factor could use a little finessing
to function properly. To get it to work, I
had to replace the counterweight shaft,
p Each Evostar comes with tube rings, a Vixen-style dovetail mounting bar, and a foam-lined
aluminum travel case.
and I had to replace some of the bulky
knobs on the wedge borrowed from my
Star Adventurer mount as they were too
close to the body of the unit to turn by
hand. The SynScan Pro app seamlessly
detected the firmware upgrade, and the
mount was easy to use in either mode.
Controlling the mount with the app
is simple and intuitive. Third-party
planetarium apps can also control the
mount by connecting to the SynScan
app or directly to the optional hand
controller. A quirk for users with iOS
devices is you need two separate devices
to accomplish this, because iOS apps do
not run in the background.
First Light
After spending some time familiariz-
ing myself with the Wi-Fi control and
SynScan app, I took the mount to an
open space in my neighborhood. The
entire setup was easy to carry a couple
of blocks down the street.
I leveled the mount, aligned it point-
ing north according to the compass
app on my iPhone, and then selected
the one-star alignment routine. A list
p Left: Although the scope includes a saddle plate for attaching a fi nderscope, users may need to purchase one separately. However, a 55-mm
eyepiece produces a low-magnifi cation view (7.6×) with the scope that may eliminate its need for visual observers. Right: The Evostar 72 includes a
2-inch, dual-speed Crayford-style focuser with two set screws to secure a star diagonal (purchased separately).
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