SynScan upgrade problem and help

[rockinrome]

Hello everyone, I am here, cap in-hand again ......

I have just upgraded my OMNI CG-4 (same head as EQ3-2) with the SynScan upgrade kit.

It was a breeze to install and all works OK - meaning motors drive the axis perfectly from the hand controller ..... now, here is the rub ......

After taking outside and aligning the 'pod, setting the home position and switching on the Hand Controller, going through the bit of setup, starting the Star align process ......

The slew motion simply stops after a few turns. If I then go back to manual, the drives slew perfectly .......

Can anyone tell me what am I doing wrong?

Thanks again SGL

[Cornelius Varley]

What are you using to power the mount ?

[rockinrome]

Hi Cornelious.

I have made a 12V battery box that has 8x1.2 rechargable's in it, so 9.6 volts. I know this is on the limit. Could it be a problem?

[rockinrome]

Sorry .... Cornelius ....

[Cornelius Varley]

The mount requires a minimum of 11 volts to operate correctly, anything less and the mount will fail to function. Also rechargeable batteries have a fairly low capacity so operating times using this type of battery will be short.

[rockinrome]

OK. That sounds like the problem. I was a little wary when I did it but never thought to think about this. I will use a mains adapter and then update this thread with the result.

Again, thanks.

[teleskopjo]

Do you think the EQ3 with Synscan can work off of a 1.2A power supply?

[Cornelius Varley]

The minimum requirements are a 11-15v 2amps continuous (regulated) psu. If the mount draws more than 1.2 amps when at maximum slew rate (goto slew) the mount may not function correctly.

[rockinrome]

Just finished my tests and I can report that yes, it was my power supply FAIL.

I had a spare 12V 1A power supply (from an old router) and this works fine.

Thanks once again Cornelius for your help, much appreciated - SGL does it again!

[Cornelius Varley]

Just finished my tests and I can report that yes, it was my power supply FAIL.

I had a spare 12V 1A power supply (from an old router) and this works fine.

Thanks once again Cornelius for your help, much appreciated - SGL does it again!

A 1amp psu might still give you problems. The minimum requirement is 2amps, Go below this and the mount might try to draw more amps than the psu is capable of providing. It might damage the psu or make the mount behave erratically.

[teleskopjo]

If you hook up an ammeter/multimeter inline between one of the outputs of the psu and the lead into the mount you can measure how much current it draws when slewing.

It also depends on what load you put on the mount as a little imbalance will create more current draw.

[rockinrome]

Thanks for the heads-up. I will go with a 2A supply to be on the safe side.

Thanks again for all your help.