RA Tracking Oscillations

Wednesday, February 24, 2016 11:05 AM

Problem(s) Encountered:

At 4:45 am, an image came up on the display that was trailed in segments.  Looking at the telescope coordinates, the RA was oscillating back and forth.  Inspection of the drive showed that it too was oscillating back and forth.  I obtained a 20 sec video of it with my cell phone.  Rather than risking anything further, I turned off tracking and stowed the telescope.  Not sure if this is a balance problem or some other issue with the tracking system.


Solutions:

Attempted to reproduce the problem the following morning with no failures or issues.  It seems this problem is at least currently, transient in nature.  I would suggest if it happens again that the observer shuts off tracking and drives and cycles the power on the TCS control box in the observing room.  This may (or may not) resolve the issue.