the dreaded meade motor fault message

[garethmob]

hello guys

as you know i have a little etx 70AT was having a play with it last night and today and i forgot how sharp the views actually were. i know iv said how rubbish these scopes are but mainly its the build quailty of the mount

any way

a long while ago to my knowlage it was working, i put some fresh batterys into it (never got around to getting cable for powertank) but i put durecell pro cells

i turned it on, it did somthing funky, did a 360 and an error message came on the controller. detected a motor fault. swap controller (dont know any one with one) swap batterys (batterys were fresh out of a box of 10)

any ideas how i can get it to work or what i should do instead. i'll be honest i have never gotten auto star to work properly, mainly cos i used batterys (cold = low voltage) i was a hell of a lot younger, and had a father who was very impaintent and wouldnt help me even though he was a electriction

any suggestions or help very welcome

gaz

[beetlejuice]

hello guys

as you know i have a little etx 70AT was having a play with it last night and today and i forgot how sharp the views actually were. i know iv said how rubbish these scopes are but mainly its the build quailty of the mount

any way

a long while ago to my knowlage it was working, i put some fresh batterys into it (never got around to getting cable for powertank) but i put durecell pro cells

i turned it on, it did somthing funky, did a 360 and an error message came on the controller. detected a motor fault. swap controller (dont know any one with one) swap batterys (batterys were fresh out of a box of 10)

any ideas how i can get it to work or what i should do instead. i'll be honest i have never gotten auto star to work properly, mainly cos i used batterys (cold = low voltage) i was a hell of a lot younger, and had a father who was very impaintent and wouldnt help me even though he was a electriction

any suggestions or help very welcome

gaz

Ditch the batteries and get a 7ah power tank. Batteries are a complete waste of time and are the largest source of motor errors. Go here Weasner's Mighty ETX Site for everything about getting the best out of your ETX and how to deal with those pesky error messages.

[garethmob]

Do you know where I can get the adapter for battery to lead from?

Gaz

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Capricorn]

Had a similar message on an ETX 70, just after I had converted it to run from a mains adaptor and hoped that I could reattach the battery pack as an emergency use thing. No batteries just the plastic holder.

I put the original battery pack (no batteries) back on and the message appeared when the mains adaptor was powering the system, so I disconnected the battery pack and it was fine. Would seem that now I have converted it I cannot reconnect the plastic holder. No great problem.

I therefore have the idea that something goes wrong with the sensing side of it all and there could well not be a problem.

[Shastalore]

I also get the "Motor Unit Fault" message that appears on my Meade DS-2000 + Meade 494 AutoStar Hand Controller. And neither of the internal motors worked at all.

Here's a solution I discovered, although it's a little funky:

1. Press and hold the "ENTER" button on the 494 AutoStar, and turn on the power to the DS-2000.
2. If "Motor Unit Fault" message appears, turn off the power.
3. Continue through all the buttons on the 494 AutoStar until the unit finally functions properly.
4. * One button will always do the trick. Rarely does it require a second round to work.
5. When the unit finally functions it will emit a beep followed by the "Initializing" message.

Note: The button that finally activates the 494 AutoStar is completely random, and another button will activates the 494 AutoStar next time it's turned on.

And when you get the chance, reset the 494 AutoStar to original factory settings:
In the "Select Item" menu scroll down and select "Setup" and then select Reset.

And you're good to go.