HEQ5 Power Led flashing!

[simmo39]

Just been outside to do a few shots of the moon and noticed the power led was flashing, the mount seems to be operating correctly but I have never seen this before, ( only had mount a few months and only used it a few times ). Cant find anything about flashing leds in the manual. Is this correct or have I done something wrong?

[knobby]

I think its usually iffy power supply , could also be badly balanced causing high current drain

[Pyrodave]

Think Knobby is right, usually low voltage from power supply or battery

[JG777]

Yes check the power supply, HEQ5 starts protesting if the power drops. You can check the voltage getting in there from the handset. When I had mine it needed at least 11.7 v of juice.

[PhotoGav]

Yes, this is an indicator that the power arriving at the mount has dropped below about 11.8v. The mount will still function, but it does tend towards dodgy and when the power drops even lower the mount will grind to a halt. I suffered terribly with this problem with my HEQ5. I have tried a couple of different batteries and always ended up with a flashing light sooner or later. It does depend on what you have plugged into the battery and is also worse when very cold.

I solved the problem by running everything off the mains, perfect steady red light every time now!

[simmo39]

Hi all, thanks for the replys, think cold must have got to my power pack then. Normally does the job fine but you never know when they are going to give up. Got it back on charge and will give it another go next time and see what it does.

BTW, moon pics came out ok.!

[Merlin66]

To minimise this problem, I use a Maplin 120W voltage convertor 12v to 15v on both my HEQ5 and NEQ6 mounts.

Four years now and no issues, no drama.