iOptron SkyGuider Pro Mount

The SkyGuider Pro is a very lightweight mount that allows a camera with interchangeable lenses or a small telescope to track the rotation of the sky. This allows for longer exposure times, enabling you to take fascinating wide-angle images of the night sky.

The SkyGuider Pro is the big brother of the highly popular iOptron SkyTracker Pro mount. The SkyGuider Pro allows for the use of cameras with heavy lenses weighing up to five kilograms. To make this possible, the SkyGuider Pro features a thicker right ascension axis, larger worm gears, and a counterweight that can be used to balance the camera.

Instead of the counterweight, you can also mount a second camera so that you can capture a section of the sky with two different focal lengths. This second camera can weigh up to three kilograms.

Optionally, you can also use the Go2Nova hand controller and even perform automatic tracking via the ST-4 port.

The SkyGuider Pro has a built-in lithium-polymer battery. It can be charged via USB.

For the mount to correctly track the rotation of the sky, the rotation axis of the SkyGuider Pro must be aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation. To do this, simply point it at the North Star, which - as nature would have it - marks more or less exactly the position of the axis of rotation in the sky. To point at the North Star, you use a small telescope built into the axis of the SkyGuider Pro. This so-called polar scope has an engraving that serves to orient it towards the North Star. The engraving itself is illuminated. This makes proper alignment child's play.

You will likely use the standard speed most of the time, with which the camera keeps the stars in the field of view. But it is also possible to select the speed of the Sun or the Moon. Another speed option is very interesting: if you want to photograph both the stars and the landscape or buildings in the foreground, select half the speed at which the stars move. This way, the stars remain pinpoint-sharp without the objects in the foreground becoming blurred.

It is also possible to reverse the direction of rotation for all four possible speed levels, so that the SkyGuider Pro also works in the Southern Hemisphere. This is important because, after all, the SkyGuider Pro is also an excellent travel mount!

Main features

iOptron quality for a reliable and rewarding observation experience.

• Type: Mount
• Maximum load capacity (kg): 5
• Polar height adjustment (°): (-30°) - (+65°)
• Worm gear material: Brass
• Worm wheel material: Aluminum
• Worm wheel teeth (RA): 144

Main technical specifications