Be sure to accurately (within an arcminute or less) determine
the exact amount of backlash for each axis. Use a laser pointer
attached to the scope, projecting a dot of light onto a wall. Start
with both backlash settings (in config.dat) equal to 0. Using the
handpad, microstep for awhile in one direction, enough to takeup any
backlash, stop, then read the altaz coordinates from the screen. Then
reverse the motor direction on the handpad and stop immediately when
the scope starts moving. Read the new altaz coordinate to determine
the amount of backlash (in degrees). Repeat this several times and
use the average value for each axis. Convert this to arcminutes and
enter into config.dat. If one does not have a laser pointer, one can
focus a cross-hair eyepiece on a stationary object on the horizon
(house, tree, etc) to determine when the scope starts to move. The
encoders could also be used if their precision is high enough. After
entering the correct backlash parameters into config.dat, repeat the
backlash test using the laser or encoders. The scope should now "take
up the slack" prior to microstepping, for example just quickly
depress the handpad pushbutton for a split second and one should hear
the motors spin, but the scope should not move much at all, and the
altaz coordinates should not change much. This is the key to backlash
compensation: even though the motors are spinning fast to take up the
backlash, the scope is not moving and thus the altaz coordinates do
not change in value. Without backlash compensation, prior to every
change of direction for slewing, microstepping, and tracking, the
motors will spin for awhile and the PC will think the scope is moving
(and thus change the coordinates on the screen) however the scope is
not moving yet. This creates errors in pointing accuracy. Backlash
can cause serious slewing, finding and tracking errors, especially if
the backlash is a significant portion of the field of view.
For example, my (Jerry Pinter's) Cookbook CCD f.o.v. is about 15
arcminutes on my scope, and my backlash is about 7 arcminutes. Thus
if I think I have an object nearly centered, without backlash
compensation it may actually be 7 arcminutes off-center (depending on
which way the motors last spun) which could be off the edge of the
chip! Another problem is when doing initializations or "resetting"
off a nearby bright star, if backlash is not compensated, then the
scope may be pointing in error by the amount of backlash. Also, when
tracking an object for CCD imaging, if the backlash is not
compensated, then the object will drift across the image before the
backlash is taken up. With backlash properly compensated for (as
described above), everything is taken care of automatically. The PC
knows exactly where the scope is pointing during initialization,
resets, and slews. When the scope slews to an object, the object will
land on the CCD chip, and tracking will start immediately after the
motors take out the slop, leaving the object in the same place within
the field of view. It's important to have the scope balanced (alt
axis) since any imbalance will tend to make the backlash appear only
in one direction, which will screw up the backlash compensation.