How much can the MLAstro SAL-33 carry?

It can take payloads of up to 20 kg with the aid of a counterweight, giving it the same payload capacity as the ZWO AM5N and the EM31 Pro mounts. MLAstro rates it 15 kg without a counterweight and 20 kg with a 5 kg counterweight for visual use, and about two thirds of that for imaging. The head weighs 5.3 kg.

How well does the SAL-33 guide?

On the first night, guiding on the Elephant's Trunk Nebula from a carbon-fibre tripod on grass, the ASIAIR read 0.41 to 0.46 arcsec total RMS for periods; in the PHD2 log I show after turning the DEC aggressiveness down to 75%, the five guiding sections read 0.63 to 0.82 arcsec, and it sat at about 0.7 to 0.8 through the next two nights.

Does the SAL-33 work with the ASIAIR?

Yes: the ASIAIR guided it in my review. It runs official OnStep X hardware and connects over WiFi, Bluetooth or USB.

Can I service the SAL-33 myself?

It's user serviceable. You can fix it yourself. For repairs you cannot do yourself, MLAstro names forwarding warehouses in the US, UK, EU and Australia, so the mount only travels locally.

What comes in the box?

The mount head only. It needs a 12 V supply of at least 3 A (5 A recommended), and it fits a tripod or pier with a 3/8 inch thread and three M6 holes, the same as the ZWO AM5.

Can I have my own design engraved on it?

I decided to do just that and get this Astronomical laser engraving mounted onto the side of mine, which I'm very impressed with.

Where can I buy the SAL-33?

Only direct from MLAstro, which ships worldwide; no UK or US shop lists it.

MLAstro SAL-33 review: a 15 kg harmonic mount you can service

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 18 mounts on my board, against price
Rank	Mount	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	TeSeek NanoTracker	100 out of 100	£52
2	ClearSky ST25	94 out of 100	£1,259
4	MLAstro SAL-33	91 out of 100	£937
6	TeSeek 17	88 out of 100	£536
7	JUWEI-17	85 out of 100	£669
12	EM31 Pro	52 out of 100	£1,679
14	Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i	42 out of 100	£249
17	Sky-Watcher GTi Mount	33 out of 100	£435
18	Celestron CG5	24 out of 100	£299

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 In the hand
04 From the review video
05 What would you put on it?
06 How well does it guide?
07 What is it for? In my words
08 Watch the review
09 Should you buy it?
10 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 91/100

Reviewed 24 Jan 2026 Updated 24 Sep 2026

Rank: #4 of 18 mounts
Verdict: Damon's pick

Written by Damon Scotting 7 min read

Buy it if

You want a 15 kg class harmonic mount that you can service yourself.
You want polar alignment without jolts and a mount that remembers where it was after a power cut.
You run an ASIAIR or an OnStep setup and like open-source firmware you can tune.

Skip it if

You need a mount this month: it is made in pre-order batches.
Your rig is under 5 kg: a far cheaper mount carries it.
You want to buy from a UK or US shop: it is sold direct only.

“Its results in my garden were very impressive, and it sits in my top five telescope mounts to date.”

MLAstro $1,249

Specifications and features

Against the harmonic mounts I have reviewed

Compare with

MLAstro SAL-33 reviewed #4 of 18	EM31 Pro #12 of 18	ZWO AM5N #8 of 18	ClearSky ST25 #2 of 18	JUWEI-17 #7 of 18	TeSeek 17 #6 of 18
Recorded UK price	£937	£1,679	£2,099	£1,259	£669	£536
Stars for Your Buck	91/100	52/100	71/100	94/100	85/100	88/100
Average guiding RMS	0.7 to 0.8 arcsec (my SAL-33 review, 5:29)	0.73 arcsec	0.99 and 1.10 arcsec	0.66 arcsec	0.40 to 0.61 arcsec on M 31, 1.52 to 1.57 on M 45	0.85 arcsec
Type	Harmonic (strain-wave) mount, equatorial or alt-azimuth	Harmonic (strain-wave) equatorial mount with alt-azimuth modes	Harmonic (strain-wave) equatorial mount	Harmonic (strain-wave) equatorial mount	Harmonic (strain-wave) equatorial mount	Harmonic (strain-wave) equatorial mount
No-counterweight payload	15 kg	15 kg	15 kg	20 kg	13 kg	13.5 kg
Counterweight payload	20 kg with a 5 kg counterweight	20 kg	20 kg	30 kg	18 kg	18 kg
Mount weight	5.3 kg	4.0 kg	5.5 kg	8.5 kg	5.15 kg	3.2 kg
Periodic error	not recorded	not recorded	plus or minus 10 arcsec	not recorded	Approximately 25 arcsec peak-to-peak in one owner's unguided, drift-corrected RA test; not a factory limit	not recorded
Gearing	Low periodic error 17:100 harmonic drives on both axes	17-type 100:1 strain-wave gear plus belt, 300:1	Harmonic drive and synchronous belt, 300:1	Size-25 (RA) and size-20 (DEC) harmonic drives, 300:1	Two size-17 harmonic reducers, 400:1	Two size-17 harmonic gearboxes, 400:1 on both axes
Control	OnStep X; WiFi, Bluetooth and USB; ASIAIR	OnStep; hand controller; ASIAIR	ZWO app over Bluetooth; hand controller; ASIAIR	OnStep; USB, Bluetooth, WiFi and ST-4; ASIAIR	OnStep; WiFi, Bluetooth and USB; ST-4 and hand controller port	WiFi and Bluetooth app; ASIAIR
Power	12 V DC, 3 A minimum, 5 A recommended	12 V DC, 5 A	12 V	12 to 15 V, 2 to 5 A in, with power outputs on the head	12 V DC; no power output port	12 V, 2 A
Tripod or pier	3/8 inch thread and three M6 holes, as the ZWO AM5	85 mm base, 3/8-16 fixing; optional EMTC44 tripod or EMH150 pier	Not included; ZWO's TC40 carbon fibre tripod is sold with it as a set	3/8 inch, M6 or TC40	GEM4 base; 125 mm diameter; 12 mm centre column	Metal latitude base included; no tripod
In the box	The mount head only; no power supply	Mount; hand controller; Vixen/Losmandy saddle; mounting adapter; 0.5 m and 2 m USB 2.0 cables; soft bag	Head, hand controller with 2 m cable, travel case, 2 m USB-B and 1 m USB-C cables, performance sheet, quick guide, M6 Allen key; no counterweight bar	Mount, electronic polar lens, power cable, USB-C cable, storage bag, manual	Head, data cable, counterweight bar, adjustment column, Allen key; no counterweight	The mount; no tripod

In the hand

The MLAstro side panel

Saddle and knobs

Fitting the engraved panel

The engraved side on my pier

On the pier

The head on my block pier

From the review video

Six frames from my video

With the ToupTek Hope D60

At night on the pier

The MLAstro panel at night

MLAstro SAL-33, made in Vietnam

The ASIAIR guiding at 0.46 arcsec

The guide log: 0.63 arcsec total

What would you put on it?

The SAL-33's 15 kg and 20 kg ratings under a rig you can change part by part, then the same rig on six other mounts

How well does it guide?

My guiding figures for the SAL-33, target by target

“On my first night with it, I had it mounted on a TC40 carbon fibre tripod placed on the grass, and there were periods where its guiding was amongst the best I'd ever seen, sitting nicely at 0.4 RMS.”

“I reduced the DEC aggressiveness to 75% and my guiding sat at about 0.7 to 0.8 RMS throughout the next two nights. Now, personally, I'm very happy with that figure.”

My guiding figures for the MLAstro SAL-33, total RMS per target in arcsec
Target	Total RMS	RA	DEC	In my video
Elephant's Trunk Nebula	0.41″	not recorded	not recorded	Watch
Elephant's Trunk Nebula	0.45″	not recorded	not recorded	Watch
Elephant's Trunk Nebula	0.46″	not recorded	not recorded	Watch
Elephant's Trunk Nebula	0.41″	not recorded	not recorded	Watch
not recorded	0.67″	0.52″	0.42″	Watch
not recorded	0.63″	0.49″	0.39″	Watch
not recorded	0.65″	0.55″	0.35″	Watch
not recorded	0.82″	0.70″	0.44″	Watch
not recorded	0.75″	0.62″	0.43″	Watch

What is it for? In my words

Six things it is for

Polar alignment without jolts

Let's talk about its unique polar alignment design, which I have to admit was amazing to use. I expect we will start seeing other mount designers follow suit in future, since this allows you to adjust the altitude even after you've locked it in place via the tightening screws, which means there's no annoying jolts in polar alignment when you're trying to secure things up.

A brake that remembers

It also has the added bonus that the physical brake is spot on. So if the power ever cuts or your battery runs out mid-session, the mount remembers precisely where it was, so that you can continue right where you left off without the need to constantly realign your telescope at the start of every session.

Silver for solar work

Its silver reflective design was built with solar observations in mind. This design ensures the mount isn't as affected by high temperatures and turbulence, and your images are less disturbed when looking at the Sun.

Built to be serviced

The mount itself is built with future-proofing in mind. It looks a little bare-bones with the exposed screws across the mount, but this was done on purpose. If you burn out a stepper driver, you can simply swap in an off-the-shelf replacement. If there's a motor failure, unbolt it and replace it in minutes.

Your own engraving

One very cool unique feature that comes with the MLAstro SAL-33 is that you are able to customize the side panel yourself with a laser engraving for a very small fee.

OnStep X, WiFi and Bluetooth

This mount uses official OnStep X hardware, which is of course open source. So, if you are so inclined, you can peek under the hood and make any fine-tuning adjustments you may wish. You can also connect to the mount via WiFi or Bluetooth from your laptop or phone, which is of course really handy.

Watch the review

I Tested the $1099 MLAstro SAL-33 Mount! · published 24 January 2026 · 7:36 · Watch on YouTube · 14,608 views, 616 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

0:24 Price and payload
1:26 Polar alignment without jolts
1:44 The brake and power-loss memory
1:59 Silver for solar work
2:18 Built to be serviced
4:07 OnStep X, WiFi and Bluetooth
4:49 Guiding results
6:01 Verdict and the SAL-66

Transcript of the review video 1,588 words · 13 chapters · searchable

Press a time stamp to play from there.

0:00 The most user-friendly mount?

0:00 Could this be the next best astronomy mount on the market? 0:02 It's a bold claim, but out of all of the mounts I reviewed over the last few years, today's mount is by far the most user-friendly. 0:08 And perhaps best of all, it is surprisingly affordable. 0:12 In today's video, I'm going to review the MLAstro SAL-33 mount. 0:17 I'll be testing out its guiding on both my concrete pier as well as some tripod legs placed on a patch of grass to see if it can help me achieve pinpoint stars in my deep sky images.

0:24 Price and payload

0:25 At $1,099, this mount is capable of payloads up to 15 kg without a counterweight and 20 kg with the aid of a 5 kg counterweight. 0:36 The attention to detail on this mount is very impressive. 0:37 Its price is amazing compared to its more well-known counterparts. 0:40 But would I recommend it versus the growing competition of today's astrophotography strain wave mounts? 0:46 Let's find out. 0:46 I'm Damon Scotting and this is Astronomical.

0:52 Specifications

0:52 So, let's get started with a quick overview of the mount specifications. 0:54 As previously mentioned, it can take payloads of up to 20 kg with the aid of a counterweight, giving it the same payload capacity as the ZWO AM5N and the EM31 Pro mounts, which are the big heavy hitters in the mount community. 1:06 It uses customized low periodic error 17 to 100 gearboxes, which means its tracking accuracy is second to none. 1:13 In fact, to cut to the chase, a lot of the specifications are very similar to mounts more than twice the cost of it. 1:20 But rather than focusing on what's similar, I want to focus on what the SAL-33 mount is better at than the others.

1:26 Polar alignment without jolts

1:26 So, let's talk about its unique polar alignment design, which I have to admit was amazing to use. 1:30 I expect we will start seeing other mount designers follow suit in future since this allows you to adjust the altitude even after you've locked it in place via the tightening screws, which means there's no annoying jolts in polar alignments when you're trying to secure things up.

1:44 The brake and power-loss memory

1:44 It also has the added bonus that the physical brake is spot on. 1:46 So if the power ever cuts or your battery runs out mid-session, the mount remembers precisely where it was and is so that you can continue right where you left off without the need to constantly realign your telescope at the start of every session.

1:59 Silver for solar work

1:59 Its silver reflective design was built with solar observations in mind. 2:03 This design ensures the mount isn't as affected by high temperatures and turbulence and your images are less disturbed when looking at the sun. 2:10 Perhaps you've already seen other reviews out there on the MLAstro SHG 700 spectroheliograph. 2:15 The results achieved with this have seemed so good it's hard to believe.

2:18 Built to be serviced

2:19 The mount itself is built with future proofing in mind. 2:21 Case in point, it looks a little bare bones with the exposed screws across the mount. 2:25 But this was done on purpose. 2:27 It was designed this way so that if you know, knock wood, anything was to go wrong with a mount, it's user serviceable. 2:32 You can fix it yourself. 2:35 So, if you burn out a stepper driver, you can simply swap in an off-the-shelf replacement. 2:39 If there's a motor failure, unbolt it and replace it in minutes. 2:43 According to their website, for the rare issues you can't solve yourself, they have forwarding warehouses in the US, UK, EU, and Australia. 2:50 So, you only ever have to ship locally for the service, which means there's a huge level of security that you get with this mount, which you don't get with most of the others. 2:56 And I think that's the third and most important pillar to this mount's likely success.

2:58 Customer support

3:02 Number one, it's a good product. 3:03 Number two, it's available at a great price. 3:05 But third, and finally, the customer support is currently top-notch. 3:16 Could it be unique to me since I am reviewing one of his mounts? 3:19 Possibly. 3:19 But if you know anything about the owner, then you will know he is very active in Astro communities, especially in his own Facebook group. 3:26 After reading posts on here for 5 minutes, I think you'll be sold on the mount.

3:29 Personal engraving

3:29 One really cool feature that I'm pretty sure was actually suggested by a fan on one of their Facebook posts is to be able to have personalized laser engravings on your mount. 3:38 Now, that would be really cool. 3:40 And in fact, it's a feature they have now implemented for just $20. 3:42 I really wish I'd known about that before because I would have loved to have a This is Astronomical logo placed just here on the side. 3:49 Yeah, I do wish telescope companies were a bit more bold with their designs. 3:53 One of the few cases where I kept a piece of telescope gear purely because of its unique design was the RedCat. 3:58 Don't get me wrong, it's a good telescope, but whenever I show people my gear, this is always their favourite. 4:03 And I think a large reason for that is because it's unique. 4:06 One last thing that I will mention before we jump into the guiding results is that this mount uses official OnStep X hardware, which is of course open source.

4:07 OnStep X, WiFi and Bluetooth

4:13 So, if you are so inclined, you can peek under the hood and make any fine-tuning adjustments you may wish. 4:18 A really cool line featured in a product description is that they actually give back some of the proceeds from these sales to OnStep X as a recognition for the incredible work that's gone into making it. 4:28 How much money exactly? 4:28 I don't know, but the point stands that they are openly contributing to the improvement of the astrophotography community, which you know is as opposed to locking users into their product sphere. 4:39 You can also connect to the mount via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth from your laptop or phone, which is of course really handy. 4:44 The owner has made a detailed quick start guide that I've attached in the description down below in case you are interested.

4:49 Guiding results

4:49 So, how well can it guide? 4:51 It talks the talk, but can it track the star? 4:53 Well, on my first night with it, I had it mounted on a TC40 carbon fiber tripod placed on the grass, and there were periods where its guiding was amongst the best I'd ever seen, sitting nicely at 0.4 RMS. 5:03 But then this started happening fairly irregularly. 5:08 The fix was to dial the DEC aggressiveness down a bit. 5:19 I'm used to waiting three to five business days, so this was a very big change. 5:23 And as you can probably guess, the owner was spot on. 5:24 I reduced the DEC aggressiveness to 75% and my guiding sat at about 0.7 to 0.8 RMS throughout the next two nights. 5:32 Now, personally, I'm very happy with that figure, but the owner clearly believes it can do even better. 5:37 The owner has also said it would be very interesting to see a video comparison between this mount and the Chinese off-brand mount like in the big comparison video from before. 5:44 And whilst I think his mount was tested under extremely similar conditions to those and would stand a decent chance of winning, that video took me an absurdly long time to make. 5:53 It required a lot of messing around to get everything polar aligned and ready, which is certainly something I don't wish to repeat in the current winter climates. 6:00 So maybe that's a summer project.

6:01 Verdict and the SAL-66

6:02 Overall, I'm really impressed. 6:04 I think the best quality of this mount isn't the payload capacity or the low cost. 6:07 It's the fact that the team in charge have got their finger on the pulse of what the astrophotography community want and are more than happy to listen and improve their products based on user suggestions. 6:16 Case in point, look what they've just announced as the upcoming big brother mount to the SAL-33. 6:22 This is the SAL-66 and it's expected to cost almost twice as much. 6:27 But the early specs indicate that it will be capable of handling payloads up to 30 kg without counterweight and up to 50 kg with counterweights, which is insane. 6:36 But the best feature improvement by far will be the innovative addition of a robotic polar alignment device. 6:43 Apparently, you will be able to order this separately when it's released so that you can attach it to your SAL-33 as well. 6:48 Polar aligning my mounts before observing has always been a bit of a nuisance. 6:52 Don't get me wrong, it's still a lot easier now than it was 10 years ago when we had to get on our hands and knees and look for a tiny polar scope to try and find Polaris. 6:59 But innovations like this will undoubtedly change things for the better.

7:02 Buying one

7:02 In terms of purchasing the mount, you can find a direct link to their official product page in the description down below. 7:07 The latest batch is now batch 4 since they've just finished shipping batch 3. 7:11 If you go on their web page, there are answers to questions that you hadn't even thought to ask yet, so be sure to check it out. 7:18 Yeah, I think I'd classify it as a very good purchase. 7:20 I'd certainly recommend it over the similarly priced JUWEI-17 mount. 7:24 But what do you think? 7:24 Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments down below. 7:27 I'm Damon Scotting and this was Astronomical.

Check out more videos on the MLAstro SAL-33

One of the BEST Mounts in the WORLD or Underwhelming...? (AM7 Review)

4 May 2026

Should you buy it?

91/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

“It really is designed for an astrophotographer. There's a lot of thought and care that's gone into this.”
“It uses customized low periodic error 17 to 100 gearboxes.”
“A lot of the specifications are very similar to mounts more than twice the cost of it.”
“Number one, it's a good product. Number two, it's available at a great price. But third, and finally, the customer support is currently top-notch.”
It carries 15 kg without a counterweight from a 5.3 kg head.

Cons

The payload figures are impressive, but nothing the market has not seen before, and some knock-off brands undercut it on price.
MLAstro rates the imaging payload at about two thirds of the 15 kg and 20 kg visual ratings.
Out of the box the guiding needed the DEC aggressiveness turned down to 75% before it settled.
It is sold direct from MLAstro in pre-order batches; batch 10 ships mid to late November 2026.
The head comes on its own: no power supply, tripod or counterweight in the box.

I think I'd classify it as a very good purchase. I'd certainly recommend it over the similarly priced JUWEI-17 mount.

Who the SAL-33 is for

Imager with a 10 to 15 kg rig

Buy

It takes 15 kg without a counterweight and 20 kg with a 5 kg one; for imaging, MLAstro advises about two thirds of that.

Solar and daytime observer

Buy

The silver finish reflects the heat, so the head copes with the daytime Sun.

Tinkerer who likes to tune and fix gear

Buy

It runs official OnStep X hardware with open-source firmware, and a stepper driver or motor is an off-the-shelf swap.

Buyer choosing between it and the JUWEI-17

Buy

My recommendation is the SAL-33: 2 kg more without a counterweight, a brake that remembers its position and a head you can service.

Beginner with a small refractor

Skip

A rig under 5 kg does not need this payload; the TeSeek 11 carries it for a fraction of the price.

Travelling imager

Skip

The head alone weighs 5.3 kg; the TeSeek 17 carries about 13 kg from a 3.2 kg head.

Three alternatives I have reviewed

Questions and more about this review

Reviewed by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Seven questions, answered

Questions about the MLAstro SAL-33

Reviewed 24 January 2026 ·Updated 24 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. How this site is funded

How much can the MLAstro SAL-33 carry? It can take payloads of up to 20 kg with the aid of a counterweight, giving it the same payload capacity as the ZWO AM5N and the EM31 Pro mounts. MLAstro rates it 15 kg without a counterweight and 20 kg with a 5 kg counterweight for visual use, and about two thirds of that for imaging. The head weighs 5.3 kg. From my video review What would you put on it? ↓
How well does the SAL-33 guide? On the first night, guiding on the Elephant's Trunk Nebula from a carbon-fibre tripod on grass, the ASIAIR read 0.41 to 0.46 arcsec total RMS for periods; in the PHD2 log I show after turning the DEC aggressiveness down to 75%, the five guiding sections read 0.63 to 0.82 arcsec, and it sat at about 0.7 to 0.8 through the next two nights. How well does it guide? ↓
Does the SAL-33 work with the ASIAIR? Yes: the ASIAIR guided it in my review. It runs official OnStep X hardware and connects over WiFi, Bluetooth or USB. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Can I service the SAL-33 myself? It's user serviceable. You can fix it yourself. For repairs you cannot do yourself, MLAstro names forwarding warehouses in the US, UK, EU and Australia, so the mount only travels locally. From my video review What is it for? In my words ↓
What comes in the box? The mount head only. It needs a 12 V supply of at least 3 A (5 A recommended), and it fits a tripod or pier with a 3/8 inch thread and three M6 holes, the same as the ZWO AM5. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Can I have my own design engraved on it? I decided to do just that and get this Astronomical laser engraving mounted onto the side of mine, which I'm very impressed with. From my dictated take In the hand ↓
Where can I buy the SAL-33? Only direct from MLAstro, which ships worldwide; no UK or US shop lists it. The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓