HEQ5-Pro LED

[oshb5]

Hi All

I thought while I was sorting out the gear backlash and re-lubing them I thought I would do Astro_Babys LED upgrade However Iv since found out the LED is already very dim. In this case it must be one of the later mounts as the powers that be apparently had complaints about the LED brightness and subsequently added a resistor in circuit to lower it on the later mounts. Which is good that I have a later mount but bad that I wanted t do the variable brightness mod. Has anyone managed to do this mod on one of the later mounts please ?

Regs Andy

[Photosbykev]

should be easy to remove the installed resistor and put a 470k pot in its place as you will already have the solder points to use?

[StevieDvd]

Perhaps I am stating the obvious but in the later HEQ5 handset there is an option to set the level of the led. Do you just want this option via a manual control knob?

[SlipperySquid]

The newer mounts have it as an option in the handset.

Matt.

[JohnC]

would this be possible in the eqmod software?

[oshb5]

Hi

As im new to the HEQ mounts as this is my first one. Im used to the CG5 And Goto with a Ioptron system. that all said can i get the following right. In the first instance the HEQ5 was made with brite LED Next they added a resistor to dim the LED then in the next HEQ5 they made the LED variable from the handset is this correct? If so How can you find out which is which without turning the mount on and looking up the polar scope. Is there a difference between the handsets or is it just later firmware?

Regs Andy

[BPO]

Hi Andy.

If the situation with the (H)EQ5 is anything like the (N)EQ6 (and it may not be), you'll need a version 2.x (currently 2.04.00) internal control board, and a version 3 handset with version 3.21 or later firmware installed. (The latest firmware version is 3.27 IIRC.)

With all of those things there will be a menu item for controlling the brightness of the PAS LED, but, if any of those are absent, you will not have that function available.

Just to repeat that those are the requirements of the (N)EQ6 and may differ from the (H)EQ5.

[Woody]

would this be possible in the eqmod software?

Hello John

I looked into this a few months ago and AFAIK you can't. The 470kolm pot mod works well though.

Cheers

[JohnC]

Thank you.

[beamish]

how do you determine which MCB you have in the mount?

[Spikey]

Karlo if you use EQMOD then that can be utilised to determine the MCB version.

I've cut and pasted the relevant bit from the FAQ below;

How do I determine the board version in my mount?

Once EQMOD has been connected to the mount click the [Display +] button located just below the ASCOM logo. The message centre will appear. Clicking the [Display +] button repeatedly cycles through several displays but you want the message centre for the version information.

The information displayed may be something like

EQ Modded Mount found at COM1: 9600

Mount Version : 000601 DLL Version: 000204

The mount version is displayed in reversed order. In the above example the mount version is 1.06.00

[beamish]

cheers Spikey ,I thought as much, I recall that being the case when I used EQmod with the HEQ5, but as yet I haven't organised the the NEQ6 for Eqmod. Hoped they may have been another way :icon_salut:

[BPO]

Karlo if you use EQMOD then that can be utilised to determine the MCB version.

Also, it can be displayed via the HC. Under the "utility" menu, IIRC, but no doubt someone (Spikey?) with their mount and HC handy can tell you exactly where to find it.

[Spikey]

I'm afraid I don't have a handset for my HEQ5 it's EQMOD only.

[oshb5]

Yes iv looked in my handset but there is no utility for it on there so looks like i will have to wait till the 670k pot that Astro-Baby suggests on her polar scope project comes then it will be just a matter of finding the resistor on the MCB and replacing it with two wires from the 470k pot.. Has anyone done thhis mod or sean the related resistor on the MCB?

Oh yes the info from my mount is as follows

HC Hardware ver 3.04

Motor Controler ver 01,08.01

H C Firmware ver 3.23

Database ver 3.25

Regs Andy

[BPO]

Motor Controler ver 01,08.01

Regs Andy

Therein lies the problem.

Does anyone know the price of a new MCB in the UK? Because the v1.x MCBs are not upgradeable via firemware flashing, I replaced all my old v1.06 boards with new ones (v2.04.x), and each cost around NZ$156 (~GBP60). But at least now I have spares...

[Starlight 1]

I just had a motor board go down and I just got a full kit from FLO just under £300.Then I got a new board sent to replace the bad one as well.

[Starlight 1]

The PM I have send you for the kit ,This kit is made to replace the old heq5 black one .

So with the new kit will be the same as a new HEQ5 synscan pro white one.

[oshb5]

Mine is the White HEQ5-Pro and must have the resistor on so I need to find it If you still have your old board then I would love it to have a look at and see if that has the resistor or was one of the first ones.. Regs Andy..