At 11:23 AM +0100 4/15/99, Nigel Puttick wrote:
>...Does anyone have hard evidence as to which is correct?...

Yes. I've timed stars drifting across the field. It takes exactly
the same time with either the E or W keys. (This *could* be
explained by saying W goes 1.5x sidereal and E 0.5 but really, that's
a stretch. And contradicted by the fact that the measured drift rate
is very close to what I expect given the focal lengths invovled.)
Furthermore, it is quite obvious by the sound that the motors are
stopped when pressing E in Guide speed. Sometimes the Dec motor
chatters a little but releasing the key and pressing again usually
silences it completely.

This is not inconsistent with the needs of astrophotographers. If
the E key were to move the motor in the opposite direction that would
be bad since the slop in the gear train would be wound up the other
way. But simply stopping the motor doesn't have this problem.

The manual is just wrong.

I'm sure Doc G and confirm this. But really, an appeal to authority
(which he is indeed!) is not as strong as the evidence of your own
senses. But both are better than blind faith in some ancient text
(the manual :-)

Bill Arnett
http://www.seds.org/billa/
"I know that I am mortal and the creature of a day; but when I search
out the massed wheeling circles of the stars, my feet no longer touch
the earth, but, side by side with Zeus himself, I take my fill of
ambrosia, the food of the gods." -- Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy)

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