Exact timing measurements allow a determination of the phase shift between observations of a pulsar at different frequencies. It has become clear from these observations that a simple dipole magnetic field configuration can not explain the time lag observed for many pulsars between profiles at high frequencies (Kuz'min et al. 1986).

There are cases which might better be explained by a combination of dipole and quadrupole field components (Davies et al. 1984). We report in this paper on new pulsar time alignment observations of a number of pulsars at high and low frequencies which support the general picture outlined above.