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Installation Guide of Telescope Drive Master
Encoder-adapter for 16" LX200ACF mount
First of all, thank you very much for purchasing our product called "Telescope Drive Master" and congratulation for your decision. This system will improve the tracking accuracy of your MEADE LX200ACF 16" telescope mount dramatically (in polar/equatorial mode) independently from its original periodic error amplitude because both periodic and aperiodic errors of your mount will completely be eliminated using our real time, ultra high precision correction system, without using conventional autoguider. We guarantee that your tracking error will remain within 1 one arc-second range total (or ±0.5", depending on Jumper adjustments, see TDM User's Guide) within 95% of your exposure time if you use 0.5x sidereal speed (or lower) as guiding correction speed during tracking. (You need to adjust it in the menu of the original Meade Autostar controller.) It means your mount will became one of the best tracking ability mounts among amateur and semipro equatorial mounts all over the world (even if your dome-shutter is closed...).
To achieve this unbelievable result, you need to complete a very accurate polar alignment process of course. Please find our proposed method to do that on the companion CD ROM or among http://www.telescopedrivemaster.com/ website's documents.
TDM system contains two main logical units or parts: a high precision encoder unit (encoder, coupling and mount-dependent mechanical adaptor) attached directly onto the RA shaft of the mount and an electronic device (a sort of "black-box" with connectors, cables and power supply), which receives the electrical signals arriving from the encoder unit and sends control instructions to the mount's driver via its auto-guider input connector. So you will need to install the mechanical elements and the electronic device as well but do not worry: both of them can be done very easily.
Please find the drawing and description of electronic connections to be set in relevant part of User's Guide because this schematic is the same for every telescope mount. In this document you will find the mount specific instructions for mechanical adaptor and encoder installation only.
Before beginning, it is very important to emphasize: both encoder unit and its adaptor elements are sensitive mechanical parts!!! Do not drop any of them; do not stress them during installation!!! Handle with care! Any damages of these parts can destroy product's accuracy.
Just a set of inch-scaled and metric Allen-wrench, cut nippers and a socket spanner (size 5mm) will be needed for installation.
As you got your package, you will find the coupling mounted onto the encoder (type: Heidenhain ERN 180) as seen below. This is an original Heidenhain coupling. Additionally, you will find three other parts of the adaptor: hollow shaft, stator and new cover with cable-notch.
Before assembling parts during installation, please always check and clean the threads and surfaces of the RA shaft and casting-house and encoder adaptor elements if necessary. Use clean clothes (not nylon!) for smooth surfaces and a dry toothbrush to clean the internal and/or external surfaces and threads of the parts if it is necessary. Only clean and tight mechanical contacts between surfaces will provide correct mechanical coupling and positions.
Step "0":
Before installing encoder, you need to release the cables coming from the main board up to the plug fixed onto the central part of the RA platform. This is why please dismount the bottom plate of the RA platform unscrewing 6 small crews as seen below.
Now, using side-cutting nippers please cut plastic cable bundler very carefully; do not get damaged the wires!!!
Finally, put the bottom plate back to the RA platform.
Step 1:
As the first step of TDM installation, you need to dismount the central cap of the fork. So please remove the cable plug and release the set screw of the central cap.
Now, you can screw the black shaft-cap off from the RA-shaft and please push the wires and the connector socket back though the elongated hole (turn the socket a bit, very gently, as you can see below).
Step 2:
Next step is attaching encoder shaft (black hollow shaft) onto the top of the RA haft. To do this, please push connector through the hollow shaft first (from bottom to up) and screw the encoder shaft onto the thread of the RA shaft. Do not touch the long cylindrical surface of the encoder shaft with any metal tool (e.g. pliers)!!! You have to be able to screw encoder shaft gently onto the RA shaft manually and please fix it well by hand-force. This part cannot have any slackness or offset (coning and/or eccentricity) compared to the RA axis!!!
Finally, please fix the position of the encoder shaft with set screws using an Allen wrench as you can see below and install connector to the bottom of the hollow shaft using its original screws.
Step 3:
Please install stator ring into the central hole of the RA platform. You need to adjust the position of the ring appropriately: two times two threaded holes (for fixing encoder coupling) have to be located into the direction of the fork arms (see below). Just push it into the hole completely (until "click" sound) and fix it using six spanner screws symmetrically around RA-axis. It is recommended to tighten these screws gently in two or three rounds, one by one.
Step 4:
Now, push the encoder gently onto the shaft by hand.
Step 5:
At this point, please make sure of the situation where the top of the hollow shaft is on the same level as the back surface of the encoder (see forefinger on the left picture below). Keeping this position, please fix the encoder rotator to the hollow shaft with three locking screws. Finally, please fix the coupling onto the stator using attached 4 screws. Encoder cable has to face the RA control and lock knobs.
Step 6:
Before you install the fork, you have to dismount the black cover plate and to connect the wires coming from the forks into the connector installed into the encoder hollow shaft previously.
It is highly recommended to tighten the fixing screws of the connector. Arrange the encoder cable appropriately (though the fork-hole) please before you put the fork onto the RA platform.
Step 7:
If you put the fork onto the RA platform, you will see this picture (left below). Please fix the fork onto the RA platform, according to the telescope's user guide.
As the last step of TDM encoder installation, please put the new cover plate to its place (above right), using the original 4 screws. The cable goes to the direction of the main board.
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Congratulation, you successfully installed the encoder onto your mount and you have finished the most difficult part of the installation process!!!
This encoder installation and encoder position will not result any drawback or bottleneck situation during your astronomical observation but will improve the tracking accuracy of your mount dramatically.
Now, you just need to create cable connections among the electric units of your telescope according to the relevant part of the User's Guide.
Additionally, please find several useful tips and tricks in the User's Guide of TDM and other documents found on companion CD ROM or visiting http://www.telescopedrivemaster.com/ website.
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