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AZ-EQ6 GT going wrong - help


kerrylewis

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My AZ-EQ6GT is behaving strangely in Alt-Az mode. The other night I had a cord wrap problem and the power lead wrapped itself around the mount and strained and broke the plug. I bought a new power lead from FLO but now the mount is going crazy. It seems to go where it should in Azimuth and then when it reaches more or less the correct position in Alt it then carries on in a few big steps and ends up in totally the wrong place. I have tried a factory reset of the handset (twice) to no avail. Help? Any ideas? 

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Just did a quick trial in Eq mode and it seems to be behaving more normally. So perhaps it is not connected with the cord wrap but something awry with the handset in Alt-Az mode? Perhaps I could try a firmware update to reset things?

I'll do a proper alignment in EQ mode when it's dark enough and fingers crossed 

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My AZ-EQ6GT is behaving strangely in Alt-Az mode. The other night I had a cord wrap problem and the power lead wrapped itself around the mount and strained and broke the plug. I bought a new power lead from FLO but now the mount is going crazy. It seems to go where it should in Azimuth and then when it reaches more or less the correct position in Alt it then carries on in a few big steps and ends up in totally the wrong place. I have tried a factory reset of the handset (twice) to no avail. Help? Any ideas? 

  Cord-wrap is a problem in Alt-Az Mode. I had a similar issue shortly after I got mine, but was able to stop it before any damage was done. I complained about that over a year and a half ago. I am not sure if the latest firmware (v3.36)  has resolved the problem. I have not used it enough to really tell. There was one issue with v3.35 where the mount would go in a circle ad infintum when I pick a certain starting and finishing target. That has been corrected in v3.36. Otherwise you should be vigilant when using the mount in Alt-Az Mode. I found that the power/HC cables can get caught on the latitude jackscrew because it extends out a ways from the mount.

  What firmware version do you have? There was an another issue with v3.35 where the mount would reach an object and then do about a 3-step up/down movement to supposedly to center the object but it ended up about a degree off the object.

JohnD

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With the alignment stars, did you choose two with good separation as per manual guide? To avoid error, not sure if this matters but I start with alt at 0deg and az on Polaris direction. Also have mounts control plate facing me, weights on left and scope on right pointing away.

With older firmware I did have a few issues with alignment accuracy.

I've now got newest firmware and motor control software, I did notice a new issue the other night, aligned to Pollux and schedar, went to Leo, anything to left of around chertan , it wanted to do a full 360 if did a goto from objects to the right. Manual slew no issues, it was odd, almost like wanted to 'meridian flip' though no reason to. I got annoyed with it so let it do the 360, then appeared to function fine. I have noticed this a few times now.

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I've reloaded the firmware and tested and it is still misbehaving. I am wondering if the handset cable also got damaged and whether it needs replacing. Does anyone know if a normal computer cable with the same type of connecter will work, at least for testing? 

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I'm using a Maplin PSU which has been fine to date.

I'm reluctant to use a different cable having blown up one mount before with the wrong polarity. FLO are getting me a replacement cable and I'm hoping that will fix it. If not, it's a repair job. Me and mounts don't have much luck

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I used my brand new AZ EQ5 for the first time tonight in AZ mode and I tried to complete the alignment process but without success.

According to the instructions in AZ mode no home position is required.

These are the steps I took.

Initialization, operating mode AZ selected, firmware accepted, long / lat added along with date and time etc then selected brightest star alignment in full feature mode.

I entered the sky region "south" and the hand controller listed Jupiter as the brightest object, I slewed in alt az until it was centered in the FOV. This was than accepted and the next brightest object was identified by the controller as Sirius - I accepted this and the mount rotated the scope in the wrong direction until it was virtually pointing at the zenith.

I switched it off and tried again but no success.

I used the scope in EQ mode last weekend and it worked fine.

Can anyone help please?

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1. What firmware version do you have?

2. Align as follows:

  a. Set up a "Home" position on the mount by having the scope level and pointing north (0-Alt, 0-Az). Use {Utility}/{Park Scope}/{Current Pos} to then initialize this.

  b. Using the "Named Star" function, select a bright star from the list and hit {Enter} until the mount slews to the neighborhood of the star. Use a star that is between 15 and 60 degrees in altitude.

  c. {ESC} out and select {SETUP} > {Alignment} > {2-Star Align}.

  d. Select the star from step 2b and align to that as the first alignment star.

  e. Select as the second star, the next alignment star that the hand controller gives you and align to that.

  f. You should now be aligned.

Let me know if that works.

JohnD

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I am investigating my problem and have removed the side access panel to find that a connection has come off the motherboard. Has anyone got a diagram of the connections or would anyone be kind enough to take an internal photo so I can ensure that I replace it in the right place? Or I can take a photo to compare with yours?

Thanks in advance

Kerry  

PS Looking at the board connection I believe it is the far left labelled Dec encoder which has come unplugged  - this would explain my Dec problems - but I want to be sure 

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All fixed thanks to some exceptionally good service from FLO. I tried a new handset cable(obtained by FLO), thinking that it might have been damaged in the cord wrap incident, but it didn't cure the problem. So the mount went back to FLO on Wednesday, repaired with a new mother board on Thursday and immediately shipped back, received on Friday. Tried in the evening and working perfectly. Steve B at FLO patiently answered all my questions by return and is a star! He arranged collection and delivery by the courier and still the overall costs were very reasonable.

Alignment in Alt-Az (which I usually use) is now excellent even with a very quick set up, and  with the new 3.37 firmware it even works from parking. A good result  - except that I am now paranoid about cord wrap!

Many thanks again to Steve B and FLO for the wonderful customer service 

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