ORION TD-1 Electronic DC Tracking Drives Instruction Manual
- June 2, 2024
- Orion
Table of Contents
Orion ® TD-1 and TD-2
Electronic DC Tracking Drives
#55030 TD-1
#55031 TD-2
Instruction Manual
TD-1 Electronic DC Tracking Drives
These single-axis motor drives are designed to provide electronic, hands-free
tracking of celestial objects when installed on select Orion equatorial
mounts. Electronic tracking of a polar aligned equatorial mount makes objects
appear to stand still in the telescope’s field of view, rather than drifting
due to the Earth’s rotation. You won’t have to reposition the telescope to re-
center an object in the eyepiece as the object moves across the sky—a welcome
convenience!
The TD-1 Tracking Drive is compatible with the equatorial mount included with
the #9250 Orion StarBlast II 4.5 EQ Reflector telescope. The TD-2 Tracking
Drive is compatible with the Orion EQ-13 Equatorial Mount and telescopes that
come with that mount, such as the #9007 Orion Space Probe 130ST EQ Reflector,
the #55027 Orion AstroView 6 EQ Reflector, and the #55028 Orion AstroView
102mm EQ Refractor telescopes. Neither tracking drive is cross-compatible with
the mount/telescope(s) recommended for the other.
The installation instructions and operation procedures are exactly the same
for both the TD-1 and TD-2 drives.
Included Parts
- Motor drive
- Battery holder with cable
- Hand controller with cable
- Holder for hand controller
- 2mm and 4mm Allen keys
Refer to Figure 1 and the parts list above to make sure all the parts are present. If anything is missing or damaged contact Orion Technical Support at www.OrionTelescopes.com/contactus.
Assembly
-
First, locate the two socket head cap screws on the equatorial mount, as shown in Figure 2. Use the 4mm hex key to remove these screws.
-
Next, line up the two holes in the motor bracket with the exposed holes in the mount, while also centering the motor’s coupling cylinder with the right ascension (R.A.) worm gear shaft (Figure 3). Be sure to back out the thumbscrew on the coupling cylinder a few turns so that the screw is not blocking the hole in the cylinder. Then slide the coupling cylinder onto the worm gear shaft.
-
Attach the motor bracket to the mount with the two cap screws you removed in step 1, using the 4mm hex key (Figure 4).
-
Now tighten the thumbscrew on the coupling cylinder (Figure 5).
-
Next, insert the hand controller cable’s plug into the socket of the tracking drive (Figure 6).
-
Slide the battery holder’s cover off and install eight (8) 1.5V AA alkaline batteries, making sure to orient the batteries such that the + and – ends of each battery match the + and – designations in each battery slot (Figure 7). Then slide the cover back onto the battery holder. Figure 5. Tighten the thumbscrew on the coupling cylinder to engage the tracking drive.
Loosen it to disengage the drive (in order to use the mount’s manual slow- motion knob). -
Insert the plug of the battery holder into the port on the hand controller labeled “12V DC Power” (Figure 7).
-
Install the hand controller holder on a tripod leg (Figure 8). It is best to install it above where the leg support (which the accessory tray attaches to) is attached to the tripod leg. This way the holder cannot slide down very far on the tripod leg. Tighten the hook-and- Figure 7. Install eight 1.5V AA batteries in the battery holder, then plug the battery holder cable into the Power port of the hand controller.
loop strap on the back of the holder around the tripod leg.
Assembly of the TD-1/TD-2 tracking drive system is now complete!
Note that the 2mm Allen key is only needed for the small setscrews in the coupling cylinder (see Figure 5).
For instance, if one or both of those setscrews becomes loosened, use the 2mm Allen key to tighten them.
Operation
For the TD-1 and TD-2 Tracking Drives to work properly, the equatorial mount
must
Figure 8. Strap the hand controller holder to a tripod leg with the hook-
and-loop band on the back. Slide the hand controller into the top of the
holder.
Figure 9. To use the tracking drive you must slide the power switch on the
battery holder (and on the hand controller itself) to ON.
be polar-aligned. This involves aligning the R.A. axis of the mount so it is
parallel to the Earth’s axis of rotation (polar axis). Consult the manual that
came with your quatorial
mount or telescope for details on how to polar-align it.
Turning the Electronic Tracking Drive On and OFF
To power the TD-1 or TD-2 Tracking Drive, first make sure you have loaded
eight 1.5V AA batteries into the battery holder. Then locate the power switch
on the side of the battery holder (Figure 9). To turn the power
Figure 10. The hand controller features a power switch, and N/S Hemisphere
switch, and four speed buttons – forward and reverse – for centering objects
in your telescope’s field of view.
on, slide the switch from the “OFF” position to “ON”. Be sure to return the
switch to OFF when you are finished using the telescope for the evening.
You will also need to slide the power switch on the hand controller to “ON”.
It is located near the top, to the left of the LED light.
Once the power is turned on, if the mount is properly polar-aligned, it will
track the motion of the night sky, and the telescope should hold any
astronomical object in its eyepiece steady over time. The LED near the top of
the hand controller will light up to indicate the power is on and the motor is
tracking.
Using the Hand Controller
The TD-1 and TD-2 Tracking Drives can be used in either the Northern
Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere. Set the switch at top left to “N” for
use in the Northern Hemisphere, or “S” for use in the Southern Hemisphere (see
Figure 10).
There are four round buttons on the hand controller (Figure 10). If no buttons
are pressed, when the power switch is turned on the motor will turn the right
ascension (R.A.) axis of the mount westward at sidereal rate – the same rate
at which the stars are moving from east to west in the sky.
If the bottom right button is pressed, the motor will turn westward at 2x
sidereal rate, which will cause objects viewed in the telescope’s eyepiece to
move slowly eastward. If the bottom left button is pressed, the motor will
pause the tracking function, which will cause objects in the eyepiece to drift
slowly westward. Releasing the button will cause tracking to resume.
If the top right button is pressed, the motor will turn westward at 4x
sidereal rate. If the top left button is pressed, the motor reverses direction
at 4x sidereal rate, causing objects in the telescope’s field of view to move
westward.
The hand controller buttons are useful for centering objects in the
telescope’s field of view. To slew the telescope farther or more quickly than
is possible with the tracking drive, you can use the mount’s manual R.A. and
Dec. slow-motion cables. (Refer to your equatorial mount’s or telescope’s
manual for more about the slow-motion cables). However, to use the R.A. slow-
motion control you must first disengage the tracking drive from the R.A. worm
gear. This is easily done by simply loosening the thumbscrew on the coupling
cylinder (see Figure 5). Once it is loosened, you can turn the R.A. slow-
motion cable via its hand knob. When you’re finished slewing with the slow-
motion cables, just re-tighten the thumbscrew on the coupling cylinder to re-
engage the tracking drive. When the tracking drive is engaged – no matter
whether the power is on or off – you should not attempt to use the mount’s
R.A. slow-motion control. Doing so could permanently damage the motor.
If you want to slew the telescope even faster or across a wider swath of sky
than you can conveniently do using the tracking drive or the slow-motion
cables, you can do so by loosening the mount’s R.A. and Dec axis lock knobs by
a half turn or so, then freely rotate the tube to point to any location in the
sky. Then when you are at or near your target, just re-tighten the R.A. and
Dec. lock knobs. You can move the telescope in this way whether or not the
tracking drive motor is engaged.
So let’s say you’ve observed a celestial object with your telescope and now
want to move to a new object in a different part of the sky. First, loosen
both the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs and move the telescope by hand until it is
pointed in the general direction of the object. Retighten the R.A. and Dec.
lock knobs. Now, disengage the tracking drive by loosening the thumbscrew on
the coupling cylinder. Then use the R.A. and Dec. slow-motion control cables
to roughly center the object in the telescope eyepiece. Re-engage the tracking
drive by re-tightening the thumbscrew, and the motor drive system will keep
the object centered over time. If the object does drift, maybe because your
polar alignment wasn’t very accurate, or you need to better center the object,
you can use the buttons on the hand control to center it electronically.
Specifications
• Motor type: | DC stepper motor |
---|---|
• Tracking rate: | Sidereal |
• Centering rates: | 2x and 4x sidereal |
• Power requirement: | 12V DC |
• Battery type: | Eight AA alkaline (1.5V), user supplied |
• Operating location: | Works in Northern or Southern Hemisphere |
• Clutch: | Thumbscrew on coupling cylinder engages and disengages tracking |
motor
One-Year Limited Warranty
This Orion product is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship
for a period of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty is for the
benefit of the original retail purchaser only. During this warranty period
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace, at Orion’s option, any
warranted instrument that proves to be defective, provided it is returned
postage paid. Proof of purchase (such as a copy of the original receipt) is
required. This warranty is only valid in the country of purchase.
This warranty does not apply if, in Orion’s judgment, the instrument has been
abused, mishandled, or modified, nor does it apply to normal wear and tear.
This warranty gives you specific legal rights. It is not intended to remove or
restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law; your
state or national statutory con- sumer rights governing the sale of consumer
goods remain fully applicable.
For further warranty information, please visit
www.OrionTelescopes.com/warranty.
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Toll Free USA & Canada:
800-447-1001
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Customer Support:support@telescope.com
Copyright © 2022 Orion® Telescopes & Binoculars. All Rights Reserved. No part of this product instruction or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.
References
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