almcl

Thanks, Peter. That was my first thought, too. I should have mentioned that it does this with both the battery pack and the mains adapter (2.5 amp 6 volt stabilised) and as the instructions indicate 400ma is all that is necessary, I wonder if this could be a 'feature'? If it is, I can't find any mention of it.

Well, the new handset arrived (once I finally managed to prise it from dhl's clutches). It's certainly different - buttons for sidereal, lunar and solar rates, swap buttons and an ST4 port. Tried it out and it seems to work well on lunar and stars but haven't had a chance to check its guiding capability yet. In the meantime though, can someone put my mind at rest on what may be a non-issue? The activity led in the centre of the movement buttons is generally on red but, while its tracking, appears to flash green very briefly at regular intervals. Is this supposed to happen? It didn't on the previous one.

Thanks, Jonn. I will confess, I did damage the power socket a while back and had to replace it and certainly the first time I noticed it playing up there had been a short sharp shower (the handset sat on the desk over Xmas to dry out as a result ) but perhaps a more thorough clean with electrical solvent cleaner is worth a punt.

It seems I might have become a victim of the EQ5 handset failure issue. After months of blameless tracking/guiding, my add-on RA and DEC motor controller (with the Steppenwolf described ST4 port mod) (looks like this http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-skywatcher-dual-axis-motor-drive-for-eq5-mount.htm ) has started doing odd things. Sometimes it sticks on in RA, with the activity led stuck on red and the stars trailing rapidly across the image. At others the led goes out altogether (both with the battery pack and the stabilised 6v mains adapter). Have been unable to replicate the symptoms on the bench (and not entirely sure what to do if I could, armed only with a cheap multimeter). So it might be replacement time (haven’t quite persuaded myself I am worth a Mesu 200 or even an EQ6). The original black handsets don’t appear to be available separately (and given the posts elsewhere on multiple failures might not be good idea anyway) but there appears to be an upgraded version with a red front panel: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-enhanced-dual-axis-handset-upgrade-for-eq-5-mounts.html which, although costing almost as much as the original upgrade, does have some advantages. Has anyone who has gone this route got a good or bad experience to share? In particular, has it proved more durable than the original (black) version?

Wow! Olly and Steve in the same day. I am definitely playing with the big boys now! Thanks both (and Leveye) for the thoughts. Flocking is another thing to add to the list and some bbq paint as well. I'll also play around with the framing to see if that helps and try to untwist the vane.