NEQ6 electrical problems

[Neil56]

Hi all. sorry to be long-wounded here.

I have  a bit of a problem with my pride and joy, a Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro mount. I have been experimenting recently with control from a computer rather than the handset and how long a wire I can have between pc and mount for it to still work. So there has been much connecting and disconnecting of various cables and connectors in numerable combinations to see what works by trial and error. Throughout I have always been careful to treat the mount and its connectors with respect, and have never connected any sort of external power, other than it’s normal 12 volt supply. I have never connected anything that has more power than that which comes out of a USB-2 socket. So whilst the problem has arisen whilst I have been doing a lot of “fiddling about” If I have caused the damage I don’t know how !!

The problem is that yesterday when I connect the handset in the normal way , nothing happens. If I disconnect it from the mount and connect an external power supply direct to the handset, it lights up and works as normal. So I am presuming that the mount is no longer delivering power via its RS 232 socket.

Running the self-diagnosis test on the handset, this gives errors on Com1 and Com2 though the handbook does not tell me what this means.

Does any one have any thoughts about this . I could test the voltage on the various pins of the RS232n with my trusty voltmeter, but does anyone know what readings I should get ? and which pin does what ?  Finally wherte could I take it for repair, I am in South Cheshire.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Uplooker]

Power is not delivered via the handset. There is separate plug/ lead for the power. Don't mix the two up or try applying power through the mount

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[Cornelius Varley]

Disconnecting and connecting the cables from the mount might have the handset / mount cable or rs232 socket. When you where experimenting controlling the mount from a pc how did you connect the two together ?

[VikkiFord]

O-oh! I read something earlier about the EQ6 mount having a 9-pin D-sub connector that is the same as an RS232 connector but the connector on the mount uses TTL level (5V) signals and not RS232 level signals (+10V and -10V).

If you plugged a regular computer's RS232 into that socket you will have damaged the input/output circuit. In some respects this is poor design, to use a socket that most people will believe to be RS232 for TTL level signals is a bit naughty. Unless! They state it in plain sight that TTL level voltages are involved. Looking at the picture it does not state such.

Did you plug a regular RS232 lead into that socket?

Best regards.

Vikki.

[Uplooker]

Don't mix the two up or try applying power through the mount

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Just to correct a slight error in my last post it should have read " do not try to apply power through the handset or handset connector"

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