lux eterna

Wow... I used to be impressed with my Bluno Nano - this is like sci-fi, and they almost give it away for free.

Ragnar

This arrived today, 739 ml of piece of mind :

Ragnar

2 hours ago, malc-c said:

Well, thanks to a recommendation from a fellow SGL forum member, I contacted a guy on the East Midlands Stargazers forum.  It was suggested that I replace two capacitors on the board as these seem to be very sensitive to voltage drops / spikes and fail.  I didn't have the right can size as the ones I had in my electronics box were 35v rated rather than the 25v rated fitted by synta, but they were persuaded to fit, and as it isn't as if anyone is  going to see it !

Well I'm pleased to say the mount is now fully operational

 

Wow, you are lucky - congratulations ! By the time I replaced my board I took this picture of it.

Can you please tell which capacitors you replaced (never mind the notes on this old pic) ? I might replace mine and get myself a workin spare board.

Hi Malc,

If you still have the handset laying around, try to connect it and see if it displays any error messages during startup. When my motherboard was fried (due to 12V contact issues related transients) it displayed "Both Axes No Response" which I cured by replacing the motherboard. The small pcb where the 12V & ST-4 comes in, if I remeber correctly there are no parts there that could cause your symptoms. 

As for feeding the mount from a PSU, I would still have a small led-acid battery near the mount. It will eat most of the transients if the PSU should misbehave. In fact, I am so superstitious after my incident that I now have a 1 ohm resistor in series with the 12V line, and a short-circuiting switch over the resistor. I always keep the switch open when I power or un-power the mount.

Ragnar

@gorann Hej Göran,

Are you planning for imaging without a guidescope ? As long as you guide, I would say the periodic error is not that critical. And the payload capacity for your current mount is the same as the cem-120. Have I missed something, or maybe you will use both mounts simultaneously ?

Ragnar

3 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

Is it possible that the power requirement to run the HC and power on LEDs being lower than that needed to run the motors might give a false indication that you have a good contact?

Hi Peter,

The HC and the LED on the mount indicates that 12 good volts is supplied which is enough for the computer and HC. The motors has not yet started, so no power goes that way.

Thanks anyway. 

Update : I have tested the handset in an EQ5 of a friend and it was ok. Opened the mount and found no other components apart from the motherboard likely to be involved in the problem, so I am currently ordering a new motherboard. The defective board does not show any visual signs of burned components or bad (enough) solderings etc.

Ok Steve. I hope I am lucky enough to find the handset faulty, then I can open it and take a look. I will test with a friend´s handset soon enough.

Ragnar

32 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Hi

It could be a motherboard problem - could it have got damp/wet? If you can borrow a hand controller that would give an indication. Any chance of connecting to a computer? If it works ok via eqmod then that would point to the hand controller or cable/connector.

Louise

Thanks for the suggestions Louise,

The mount was warm and dry, normally stored in house. Yes, I am trying to get a HC for testing, just thinking what to do if the test points to the mount which has several items that could caus this, though the main board would be most probable.

3 minutes ago, Starlight 1 said:

The power lead plug that fit into the mount  is not making good contact on this plug.

"The HC display is bright and clear and so is the red led on the mount".

1 hour ago, D4N said:

Does the HEQ5 start tracking if you turn it on with no handset connected?  My mount does that.  Quick way to check the mount works if it does.

Hi D4N,

With the HC disconnected there is no action at all after powering on, only the red led.

1 hour ago, Starlight 1 said:

No link to PC is a normal response on the hand controller if the motherboard died, it's another problem from your description it sounds more like the power lead interrupting the supply.

Hi Starlight1,

A dead motherboard makes sense, but what do you mean with the power lead interrupting the supply ? The HC display is bright and clear and so is the red led on the mount. You mean the power supply is interrupted internally, on the motherboard ?

Hi guys,

Last night I set up my HEQ5 Pro (with hand controller, no pc), unparked the mount and polar aligned as usual by putting Polaris in the small circle. Tracking was not started and I had not yet been running the dec/ra motors. Then suddenly the hand controller display blanked out (but still with background light). The red led on the mount was shining steady. I switched off and on the power button, then the HC said "Initializing"  (pause) "Caution Both axes No Response". I packed up and went home and after a few more tries, the HC showed scrap characters, so I decided to try reloading the firmware (was running 3.37). The scrap characters disappeared but nothing else improved. Then I tried the latest version (3.38.09) - no change.

When it happened, the mount was powered from a fully loaded 30 Ah AGM battery, measuring 13 volt. I have secured the 12V power plug in the mount with a home made clamp, so a bad power connection would not be the cause I think. Anyway - I guess I can borrow a HC for testing, and if I need a new one it will be an easy fix. But what if the fault is in the mount ? How do I know if I should buy a new motherboard or if something else is broken ?

Any input is appreciated.

Ragnar 

16 hours ago, ChrisLX200 said:

Findercam view tonight, imaging... guess what? :-)

 

 

Pelican Nebula ?

On 2016-07-28 at 10:47, Cinco Sauces said:

Beautiful! May I ask where is this?

Thanks ! I took it with my "point & shoot" camera at this location N 58° 34' 20.95", E 12° 14' 12.33". But I don´t use that place anymore since I found better places by the west coast.

I´m standing to the left with the refractor and my DIY "MOC" (Mission Operations Control). It´s a box containing intervalometer and smartphone