Typical Tracking Curves Using Telescope Drive Master

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You can find a few typical tracking error pictures recorded with TDM support here. Please do not be surprised if you do not see periodic error below because TDM has killed it. On the other hand, here you can find some adjustment problems which can destroy the very nice result of TDM.

Each test-result has been recorded under the night sky as in-situ measurements using K3CCDTools. Although, several different types of mounts were involved in these tests but, obviously, each of them was used without auto-guider.

The horizontal scale of the drift explorer in time-seconds and vertical scale is in arc-seconds.

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1. Dirty RA-bearings

Dirty RA-bearings

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2. Excessive RA-backlash around local meridian moving due to wind and moving RA-worm shaft (and some polar misalignment...)

RA-backlash at local Meridian

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3. Axially Moving RA-worm shaft

Axially moving RA-worm shaft

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4. Drift due to polar misalignment

Poor polar alignment

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5. Perfectly polar aligned, truly machined and correctly assembled mount

This is my TDM controlled EQ6 mount after a few custom mods. The wide spread of test record (+/-1.5") has been caused by remarkable scintillation above my backyard observatory in the Carpathian Basin.

Perfect polar alignment and perfect mount