After buying this nifty camera RA drive, the opportunities for testing it became rare. However, the last couple of nights were suitable and I tested it with my two current camera tripods.
Tripod #1 came with the (now sold) Vixen Polarie:
This had been a superb camera tripod for me but I thought the ball joint might be unreliable as a support for the Sky Adventurer. However, my imaging that night was cut short because the mount twisted on the tripod connector pad above the ball joint, losing my already imperfect polar alignment.
Tripod #2, an Optex OPM1093G was put to use the next night.
It has a slightly larger connector pad and I hoped for a better result this time. I achieved a very accurate polar alignment this time and began taking some long exposures but this time my imaging was cut short by the pistol-grip ball joint not supporting the load and the mount slipped well out of alignment.
So, it is clear that a pistol-grip mount is not suitable for the weight of the Sky Adventurer.
I obtained this unspectacular image, using an 18mm wide-field lens on my Canon 60D:
5x2min 18mm f/2.8 ISO 1000
It verified that the image was sharp after each 120 seconds of exposure, apart from a small amount of outward trailing in the corners.
The moral of the story is that when using the Sky Adventurer, make sure that all joints are adequately secure. Don't use a pistol-grip. Do make sure the base of the Sky Adventurer is tightly connected to the tripod and do begin looking quickly for a robust replacement fit for purpose.