inedible_hulk

Had exactly the same issue with my LXD75 a few weeks ago. My problem was the handset to mount cable. I made a tempory cable from an old ethernet cable to prove it.

Hope you manage to sort it.

Looks like your post arrived whilst I was composing mine [emoji4]. Did you need to do anything to the cable to make it work, or was it just plug in and away you go?

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Many thanks for all your help. There's some really useful suggestions here. I'm convinced the power is ok having tried two power supplies with different cables. Kookoo_gr's experience sounds very familiar. Having flexed my Google-fu a bit more, I've found a few topics which suggest you can replace the cable with a standard Cat 5 network cable. Does anyone know if this is true, as it would be a useful test to see if the cable is at fault.

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Hi folks, I'm hoping to benefit from your collective experience again.

I'm having big problems with the handset to my EQ5 Pro. The handset keeps freezing or restarting and sometimes sends interesting commands to the mount causing it to slew wildly. The illumination has a habit of going off at times too. The best I can get out of it is a few minutes normal operation.

The first thing I checked was the power supply, but I've checked with a couple of different 12v/5a power supplies and the problems occur with both. The second thing I checked was the firmware. I was on v.3.36 and I'd read that some had had issues with this, so I flashed the handset to v.3.37. Same problem, so I tried the earlier v.3.27 firmware with no success.

I'm tempted (perhaps wishful thinking) that it may be the handset controllers cable. There is a little bit of play at the handset end. I'm not sure though. I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice you may have which might help me narrow down the cause of the fault.

Thanks and best wishes

Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward to first light

?.....could do with a recommendation on a Barlow suitable for a 5.1" f/5. Not sure whether to get a 2x or 3x.....

I have the Revelation astro x2.5 Barlow which works for me on my 130P and isn't too pricey

I am having this problem too. The SW 130m has a motor with a handset, is this worth it? Also the pointer on the SW looks better than the Celestron's, and as they both come with an EQ mount I feel the SW has an edge.

I opted for the Skywatcher 130P and I haven't had any problems learning to set up and use the EQ mount. TBH I found it pretty intuitive. I've added an RA motor, but only because I've started playing about with a modded Xbox web cam. I believe you can get the 130P with an RA motor, 130PM I think. The red dot finder has a variable brightness control and does the job.

Brian May's comments sum it up for me.

"Patrick is irreplaceable. There will never be another Patrick Moore. But we were lucky enough to get one."

May he rest in peace.

A very friendly site with loads of excellent advice. An invaluable resource to the beginner

My starter set up in one of the ubiquitous Maplin rugged cases