What are the differences between training the PECTool visually with a crosshair eyepiece and training it with a CCD camera?

None, really, other than that it’s much easier and more accurate to let an autoguider program and CCD do the work and accumulate the PEC (periodic error correction) data. Many astronomical cameras come with such software. PhD and Metaguide are two freeware autoguiding programs available from the Internet.

With PECTool, the training data – whether visual or CCD generated – are saved in a CSV (comma separated values) file, a common file type for database programs. A PEC run will generate an 89-line file representing the accumulated deviation from perfect tracking throughout one PEC interval (8minutes). The format of the files created and that PECTool works with for Celestron mounts having PEC can be seen by exporting a file from PECTool and opening it with a program like Microsoft Excel.

Updated 12/27/13