The telescope at University of Athens Observatory is loaded on a robust equatorial fork mount, constructed by DFM Engineering.
The main characteristics of the telescope mount are:
- RA and DEC axes are driven by DC servo motor/encoders for fast response and low power consumption.
- Combination of steel and aluminum construction for responsive and long lasting performance.
- Tracking accuracy: ±2.0 arc seconds in 2 minutes, ±20.0 arc sec in 1 hour.
- Pointing accuracy (with refraction and alignment correction) better than 1 arc minute RMS.
- Optical incremental position encoder drives are independent of the motor drives to provide excellent pointing.
- Cool operation - very low heat generation at telescope (less than 10 Watts average).
- High acceleration and deceleration rates for fast pointing to the object.
- Variable SLEW, SET, GUIDE and TRACK rates: 0 to 4 deg/sec.
- Pedestal allowing elevation and azimuth adjustments for polar alignment.
- A total of 20 kg of load can be mounted on Cassegrain focus, after balancing the optical tube with the equivalent counterweight.
The equatorial (fork) telescope mount and 0.4 m telescope during CCD imaging and eyepiece observartions.