Mount for sketching

[andrew s]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but how important is having a drive mount for sketching?

How many manage without?

Regards Andrew 

[Stu]

27 minutes ago, andrew s said:

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but how important is having a drive mount for sketching?

How many manage without?

Regards Andrew 

I don’t actually sketch Andrew, but I do think a simple EQ Mount with tracking really helps you to be able to concentrate on observing. I use mine a lot for Lunar and Solar observing. Obviously it would also keep your hands free for sketching so is likely to be a strong benefit.

[dweller25]

I do sketch and think a driven mount is vital for high powers.

An un-driven mount for low power may be fine, particularly if used with a wide angle eyepiece.

Edited June 1, 2020 by dweller25

[mikeDnight]

I use both driven and undriven, and equatorial and altazimuth while sketching. Ive used my AZ4 while sketching Mars at 296X, but trying to control a push/pull altaz in two directions while using a 45° field eyepiece and holding a red torch, sketch book and pencil, isn't what I'd call relaxing.

My personal preference is a German equatorial with electric drives in at least RA. In the past with my larger refractors I used Lozmandy GM8 and G11 mounts and loved them. With my small 100mm I'm currently using a Vixen GP in my observatory and GPDX as a field trip mount. Controlling the GP even without a motor drive is quite liberating as I don't feel like I'm having to fight with the mount; it just tracks  making sketching more pleasurable. About 18 months ago I bought a brand new SW RA & Dec drive for my GP, and it worked well for a year but then started playing up. When I took the new designed hand control apart I found it was missing some bits and hadn't been put together properly in the factory. Don't trust Chinese stuff anymore I'm afraid, so I'd say a nice GM8 would be the way to go, especially when you consider the stupid high price of a brand new Vixen mount. The old Vixen GP's are superb if you can find one, especially with an ra drive and hand control. Even without a motor and letting the target drift across the field, correcting using a manual RA, is still a relaxed way of observing while making a sketch.