Turnable database with TimeLine

laser gets the mark in every rotation

Not quite......
Laser starts off under the H in the word FRUHBECK....and ends up under the letter K.
Therefore the RX5000 is running fast....and that's in only TWO minutes?
By the end of a record.....it would be off the page completely.
Hardly competitive with the Raven's performance?
And what about lifting the arm off the record to show the performance WITHOUT 'stylus drag' as is shown with the Raven?
Is that a bit too revealing........?

Tony, From your description, it seems you have an older SOTA tt. So far as I know, all the later SOTA tt's have eliminated the very real problems inherent to a belt-drive design that mounts the motor on the chassis while suspending the platter and bearing. (You've described them well.) You might consult SOTA and let them "fix" it or let them tell you how to do it.

In the 90s, I lived for many years with a Star Sapphire Series III, which is built their "old fashioned" way, with motor mounted to chassis. I thought during that time that it sounded "pretty good", but I was not yet a total analog nut job, as I am now. Words cannot express how much better analog can get compared to what that SOTA SSIII gave me, in retrospect. Even my next tt, the Notts Hyperspace, with its stretchy rubber belt and weak motor, just absolutely killed the old SOTA in terms of pitch stability. The Lenco and all of my dd tt's take that to yet another dimension, adding more drive and open-ness to the music. You've gotta try it. Timeline, Shmineline.

It is a Series III from the 90s. I think that is good advice. I will check with Sota. I had the impression that only the Cosmos features a sub-chassis mounted motor with the platter and tone arm. I also have some ideas that would be reversible, to try out on my tt to fix the horizontal axis.
This thread has been a good learning experience. I bet a number of people suspected suspended tables didn't hold speed as consistently but didn't really understand why. I knew before that any movement of the turntable due to footfalls or just pulling on the cue lever affected speed; but I didn't realize til now how much the variable drag by the stylus would affect belt tension and ultimately speed. Plus, the improvement in detail and distortion that I experienced with better speed control is an eye opener.

I used to think it was "normal" for the pitch of a sustained piano note to waver up and down. (After all, my old AR did the same thing.) I thought it was some issue with the master tape, wow or something like that. Not!

 I am convinced that you can improve and stabilize a good turntable by the following measurements:

1) ensure you have separate isolation platforms for motor, table and flywheel

2) use a motor and pully which are in good condition and work absolutely stable (in case of older Micro designs maybe check, lubricate, exchange the transformer and/or capacitors)

3) better go for belts than threads. ensure the belts have the same distance and measure the belt tension. should be the same value for both belts

4) the VPI double motor driven by the SDS is one of the most   precise and stable motor/steering combinations on the market today