Replacement parts for HitechAstro EQDir

[SniffTheGlove]

I have had 3 of the HitechAstro EQDir, over the last year of which 2 have failed so I took it apart (4 screws of enclosure) and inside is a single off-the-shelf PCB from a company in Manilla.

Here is the link to the actual part http://www.e-gizmo.com/KIT/USB.htm

These boards cost approx £3.90 after currency conversion from 250 Philippine peso

Having sent e-gizmo.com an email asking if the ship to the UK they say they don't ship outside the Philippines.

Does anyboby know of a distributor or reseller for e-gizmo as £3.90 is a lot cheaper than the £28 for a new EQDir. and I could buy a few to keep as spares and remake them when they go faulty. All I would have to do is unscrew the enclosue, unsolder 3 wires of the serial cable and resolder onto the new borad and put inside enclosue and do the screws up.

If I can not find a distributor then I will have to look at building some myself out of a different componetns. Just not sure If the TTL converter is a 3.3v or 5v line.

[Gina]

You need the 5v version.

[StevieDvd]

From a quick google would this be any good?

http://www.conrad-uk.com/ce/en/product/197326/MINI-USB-TO-UART-CONVERTER

[Tinker1947]

Not to sure if this is the same thing,,,,but Amazon have loads of this type,,,very cheap....

prolific usb to serial (copy and paste this in the Amazon search slot)

[SniffTheGlove]

Not to sure if this is the same thing,,,,but Amazon have loads of this type,,,very cheap....

prolific usb to serial (copy and paste this in the Amazon search slot)

I have tried several of my proflic usb-serial adaptors to see if they work but they do not so it must be the voltage on the ttl

Thanks you Gina for the 5v

Thanks StevieDvd, from trying to read the german pdf manual on Conrads site it does suggest it is 5v so should work which is good news.

[StevieDvd]

I have tried several of my proflic usb-serial adaptors to see if they work but they do not so it must be the voltage on the ttl

Thanks you Gina for the 5v

Thanks StevieDvd, from trying to read the german pdf manual on Conrads site it does suggest it is 5v so should work which is good news.

Page down in the PDF it's in several languages - including English not that that makes it much easier for me.

[SniffTheGlove]

Even HitechAstro does not supply replacement parts. Oh well,

I found some USB-5v TTL converters on ebay for 1.99 so I brought 3 and hope they will be OK. Just got to wait for them to come from Hong Kong and then find a suitable project box at maplins.

[SniffTheGlove]

The parts have arrived from HK and they do not work on the mount.

Soldered the TX,Rx and Gnd onto the board.

Installed the CP2102 drivers, plugged in the UART converter, found drivers and installed a com port. Plugged into the EQ^ and set the com port in EQMod setup and then ran EQMod and I just get Com Error.

[SniffTheGlove]

Upon reading an older thread I used a transistor and 2 resistors to pull the voltage up to 5v on the TTL but this still did nothing to help.

So it looks like I shall have to get a couple of the FTDI cable from http://www.tronisoft.com/prod.php?id=2472

At least they are a third of the price, so I can get 3 for the price of one Hitech EQDir. /I know I will have to connect the FTDI to a 9 pin D sub, but I can use the connector and cable of my faulty HiTech EQDir's

[SniffTheGlove]

My last HitecAstro EQDir has now failed, so I had another bash with the CP2102 TTL devices I brought a few months back that I could not get to work as I don't want to spend £28 again.

I looked at what I had done before and realised that I had the TX/RX reversed, so swapped the leads over and plugged into my notebook and turned the EQ6 mount on, ran EQMod setup and selected the COM port that had been allocated to the CP2102 and then ran EQMod and presto the mount see the device and works ok.

So, here are the bits people need to do their own repairs if they are going to resue the HitecAstro EQDir bits.

2 x 10K resistors
1 x BC547c Transistor. (I used this as I have a few of these lying around from when I did a YesYes style SPC900LX). Other people have used a 2N2222 Transistor.
1 x CP2102 USB - TTL http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-To-RS232-TTL-UART-6Pin-Converter-Module-Converter-Adapter-5V-3-3V-Output-New-/140926194693?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment&hash=item20cfdb1405 (These are currently @ £1.19 with free P&P, so get a few to last.)

Unsolder the 3 wires from the failed Gizmo board and discard the board.

OK, make your own little circuit on some vero board or just solder straight onto the components. Currently just on the components for me but that was for test and will some vero borad to tidy it up to fit back into the HitecAstro EQDir enclosure.

on the 3.3v pin on the USB-TTL board solder a 10k resistor to the Base pin of the BC547c
on the 5 pin on the USB-TTL board solder a 10k resistor to the Collector pin of the BC547c
on the Collector pin of the BC547c solder a wire (existing EQDir cable is Red) that will connect to the pin 9 of the Sub D Serial connector.
on the TX pin on the USB-TTL board solder to the Emitter pin of the BC547c
on the RX pin on the USB-TTL board solder a wire (existing EQDir cable is Green) that will connect to the pin 6 of the Sub D Serial connector.
on the GND pin on the USB-TTL board solder a wire (existing EQDir cable is Black) that will connect to the pin 4 & 5 of the Sub D Serial connector.

That's it, now download the CP2102 drvers from http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/pages/usbtouartbridgevcpdrivers.aspx for your operating system. Install drivers and connect you device and away you go.

I am a happy bunny now as in total it cost less than £6 to make 3 replacements, much cheaper than a new one at £28


 

[interfan6]

Hi i tried the following example with serial D-sub. to connect to my old HEQ5 (it is with rj11 not rj45). but it doesnt power on. i build exactly the same interface. can you help me ? what i do wrong ?

My last HitecAstro EQDir has now failed, so I had another bash with the CP2102 TTL devices I brought a few months back that I could not get to work as I don't want to spend £28 again.

I looked at what I had done before and realised that I had the TX/RX reversed, so swapped the leads over and plugged into my notebook and turned the EQ6 mount on, ran EQMod setup and selected the COM port that had been allocated to the CP2102 and then ran EQMod and presto the mount see the device and works ok.

So, here are the bits people need to do their own repairs if they are going to resue the HitecAstro EQDir bits.

2 x 10K resistors
1 x BC547c Transistor. (I used this as I have a few of these lying around from when I did a YesYes style SPC900LX). Other people have used a 2N2222 Transistor.
1 x CP2102 USB - TTL http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-To-RS232-TTL-UART-6Pin-Converter-Module-Converter-Adapter-5V-3-3V-Output-New-/140926194693?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment&hash=item20cfdb1405 (These are currently @ £1.19 with free P&P, so get a few to last.)

Unsolder the 3 wires from the failed Gizmo board and discard the board.

OK, make your own little circuit on some vero board or just solder straight onto the components. Currently just on the components for me but that was for test and will some vero borad to tidy it up to fit back into the HitecAstro EQDir enclosure.

on the 3.3v pin on the USB-TTL board solder a 10k resistor to the Base pin of the BC547c
on the 5 pin on the USB-TTL board solder a 10k resistor to the Collector pin of the BC547c
on the Collector pin of the BC547c solder a wire (existing EQDir cable is Red) that will connect to the pin 9 of the Sub D Serial connector.
on the TX pin on the USB-TTL board solder to the Emitter pin of the BC547c
on the RX pin on the USB-TTL board solder a wire (existing EQDir cable is Green) that will connect to the pin 6 of the Sub D Serial connector.
on the GND pin on the USB-TTL board solder a wire (existing EQDir cable is Black) that will connect to the pin 4 & 5 of the Sub D Serial connector.

That's it, now download the CP2102 drvers from http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/pages/usbtouartbridgevcpdrivers.aspx for your operating system. Install drivers and connect you device and away you go.

I am a happy bunny now as in total it cost less than £6 to make 3 replacements, much cheaper than a new one at £28