Sky-Watcher AZ Pronto mount payload

[Aquavit]

Re-posting this in the newbie section:

Wanting a lightweight "grab and go" setup to maximise what seem, at the moment, very rare observation opportunities I've just bought an AZ Pronto to mount on my existing Manfrotto tripod. As best I can find Skywatcher quote a payload of 3kg when sold as a bundle with their tripod, that seems rather low and I suspect the limitation may be the tripod rather than the mount.

My Manfrotto 190PROX is rated at 7kgs payload, I've weighed the Pronto which tips the scales at just over a kilo, so in theory I have a comfortable scope payload of around 5kgs. I know others on here have this mount so wondering what real world experiences are.

It will obviously comfortably take my Mak 102 but I'm thinking of getting a Refractor OTA to pair with it.

[banjaxed]

Not sure if it applies to the Pronto but I have the AZ5 Mount on a 3/8” stainless steel tripod and that increases the payload from 5kg to 9kg.

[wibblefish]

I have an AZ pronto with an aluminium tripod. It comfortably takes my short tube 90mm refractor but I would be hesitant to put anything to heavy on it. I tried to find this previously and came to a similar 3kg weight limit which can be increased significantly by adding a streel tripod. There is a whole range using az pronto however so you could look up their ota weight.

Edited January 30, 2021 by wibblefish

[KP82]

When I had my AZ Pronto, I attached it to a Manfrotto 055 Pro and frequently mounted a WO Megrez 90 + 2" diagonal + RDF + BST starguiders. The payload was about 4.2 - 4.5kg. The whole setup worked ok. There was only vibration when I changed focus. Otherwise the view was stable even when using the slow-mo to track targets at 150x.

However I wouldn't try to go above 5 - 6kg. The reason is that the AZ Pronto is a top mounted alt-az rather than the more conventional side mounted. Being top mounted the centre of gravity changes its position when you adjust the altitude of your scope. If the payload is too high, there is a risk the whole setup will tip down and fall over when you point the scope at the zenith (that's when the centre of the gravity of the scope is at its furthest point from the mount + tripod).