A problem with my CG5 GOTO mount

[Bloom]

Well, for the past one and a half year my main mount has been a NEQ6, so I do not use the CG5 a lot any more. It would be lovely to be able and use the mount for observing, but a few months ago it presented a problem with its alignment procedure.

The problem consists in that the mount cannot perform neither a two-star alingment, nor a one-star alingment. When one gives the command to move towards the first alignment star, the Dec axis starts to move towards the star for a couple of seconds and then, after it reaches the proper declination, it doesn't stop, but continues to rotate for ever. The only way one can align the mount is by using Quick Alingment (which is a bit crude in its accuracy). It is odd, but after that, if one asks the Nexstar to move towards any target, the Dec motor works fine, and the mount takes you to your target with no surpises!

It is a bit ridicilous. As soon as one starts the alignment procedure, the mount rotates forever, as if there is some fatal problem. But if only a Quick Alignment is done, and given that the exact local time and coordinates have been input to the Nexstar, all works fine. The Nexstar takes you to any target, and places it inside the field of view of a 25mm eyepiece! I also tried autoguiding with PHD, and all works perfectly...

This means that the mount is almost, but not quite, OK! With the combination of a Lodestar guider and an 8x50 finderscope, I am able to locate and centre in an instant almost any deep sky object I wish, so precise GOTO function is not necessary for astroimaging. But I was hoping to use the mount for observing, when one either has to star hop his way around, or the GOTO must be precise (and the CG5 can be precise only after a two-star-alignment).

P.S.: I did upgrade to the latest firmware, to no avail.

[Alan_B]

I have of people doing a " factory setting" from the "utilities" menu to resolve issues like this.

Did you upgrade both the handset & motor firmware?

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

[Bloom]

Alan, the first thing I did was to return the mount to its factory settings. No use.

Here in Greece nobody has been able to help me (and nobody with a CG5 has had the same problem).

Since Quick Alignment works, I am not in a desperate position. I already own another, better mount. It just is such a pity to have a mount that does not work quite fine. These things are supposed to last for a lifetime.

[Alan_B]

This sounds like the "runaway slew" problem that several users have experienced (fingers crossed not me so far). It is discussed often in the Yahoo group "Celestron_AS"

The things to try range from ensuring all connecters are clean & secure and their is also talk of an air gap between encoder wheel & pickup being too large

Try this website http://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/ASGTRunaway.htm

[Bloom]

Alan thank you for the intel!

I use in the CG5 the same AC adapter I use with my Atik camera - this only means that the cable connector is of the wrong internal diameter. I will change the connector, and see wether it solves the problem. I do remeber though that once I had coonected the mount with its own power cable (that is the correct one) with the Celestron Powertank, and the runaway slew happened again. Needless to say, I am not that certain my powerank works well anymore (I did leave it uncharged for all last winter)...

Anyway. I shall test my power supply. If this won't solve the problem, I will clean the pins in all the jacks I can find.