HEQ5 Pro power supply?

[Centus]

Hi,

Ever since I got my new mount I've been having strange disconnections between the mount and controller.

Initially everything worked well, but then on the first attempt at alignment, I forgot to balance the scope and the mount tried moving where it couldn't and started making strange noises.

I turned it off immediately, but then when I turned it back on, it started giving me those dreaded no connection to MC or something similar.

I tried all the advice on this and other forums including an alternate cable or swapping the sides of the cable, which seemed to have solved it for a while...

Later it happened again and went away again without much more than disconnecting/reconnecting the cables.

Why power supply in the title then?

I am starting to think my problems are related to over heating of the main board because of over-voltage on the power supply side, I even bought a second one to test that theory but that only confused me more, I'll explain:

using the hand controller to read the input voltage on my original (Chinese) power supply, it reads 18.6V, this power supply worked just fine with the mount for several nights.

When I tried the new power supply which I had set at 9.5V, the controller reads 16.2V BUT the red power led now blinks!

Can someone please help me understand what the voltage measurement in the controller means?

As for my disconnects, I tend to blame either the hand controller or the cable, right?

[knobby]

In a ' budget' power supply the voltage can vary wildly due to current changes etc.

Can you maybe try a car battery as a test.

also if you're near an Aldi store they are selling off old stock of jump starters for £29...

Worth a try?

good luck

--edit--

Remember the amount needs a decent ampage to drive it as well as voltage. Probably draws about 1.5 amps. Does the power supply have a rating on it?

[Bizibilder]

A fully charged "12v" battery is actually 13.8v. You may have cooked the electrics with your 18.6v power supply. As Knobby says try a fully charged 12v battery as a test. If you want to use a power supply then you need a 13.8v regulated supply - this gives 13.8v constantly and does not vary with load. This sort of thing: http://www.firstligh...wer-supply.html It is also probably worth buying a decent quality power lead as well - the power supply mentioned needs ring connectors anyway - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/power/skytron-power-supply-cable-with-ring-tongues.html will do the job.

[Centus]

Hello, thanks for the quick replies.

knobby, sadly I am nowhere near an Aldi as I live in Israel...

To both of you, do you think my disconnects can be related to the power supply over-heating the electronics?

[Bizibilder]

These mounts are sensitive to the voltage supplied - your 9.5v is almost certainly too low. You may also have a bad connection somewhere on the poer cable.

[tich]

Maybe you could look around for a CB radio or equivalent power supply as that is what I use on my NEQ6 its 13.8v & 7amp.

[knobby]

Maybe you could look around for a CB radio or equivalent power supply as that is what I use on my NEQ6 its 13.8v & 7amp.

Roger that !

[Centus]

Did a quick check with a 12v battery I have, it reports 13.5v on the controller but the led blinks...

I am confused as to what the reported voltage on the hand controller means, can someone check and report on what it says with a proper regulated 12v supply?

thanks!

Sent from my T20 using Tapatalk HD

[knobby]

Mine reads 13.2v on the controller

[Centus]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Sent from my T20 using Tapatalk HD

[dmahon]

Blinking is often down to a rubbish power cable (voltage drop or unable to supply the current) from the battery. Mine blinked with the cable that came with the (Maplin) power tank. I got a new cable - no problems.

As for PSU, just get a cheap switched mode regulated one that supplies 5A, from EBay or Amazon. Alternatively, this one is a good one:

http://www.modernast...ies.html#accPSU

[Centus]

Thanks for the tip!

Turns out I was stupidly using AC mode on my multimeter instead of DC...

My regulated supply turns out to be OK putting out 12VDC even without load.

I tried replacing the hand controller cable with another Ethernet cable and I think it did the trick!

Need to try it out a bit more to be sure, but it looks like I fell victim to the dreaded curly cable bug...

Thanks for the advice and support!

[knobby]

Well done , glad it worked out ok.

Clear skies now hopefully

[Centus]

Hmmmpphh...

While the hand controller issue was resolved by replacing the cable, and my power supply IS supplying 12VDC constant (when hooked up to the turned on mount vs. not connected to anything), when I look at the voltage through the hand controller, I still get 20VDC.

Now it looks like all is well and everything is working, but I am confused as to why the controller is reporting a higher voltage.

From knobby's report I get that it isn't always this way, but has anyone else seen this? could it be a firmware thing?

[Centus]

Well, after a successful 3 hour session last night I am certain my problem was the hand controller cable, but still, the reported voltage in the hand controller is much higher than what I measure on the power supply output.

Can we start a list of reported voltage by the hand controller (under Utilities->Show Information) to compare?

For me 12VDC on the power supply gives around 20V in the hand controller information.

Thanks!

Sent from my MotoA953 using Tapatalk 2