feeling lonely

[impactcrater]

So out i went after some time away from gazestarring and plugged in the reliable nexstar  + 127 celestron and.....

It struggled .......... it really would not initialise properly....it recognised the right scope and when 'enter' was requested  IT decided it was an error...something 16 and sometimes 17....the red light was on but no one was home....I searched solutions....tried things......getting that 'lonely no skies " mood...I am thinking I need the Dr...not for me , you understand.

 

[DRT]

This is what Dr Celestron says:

Quote

What does the hand control message No response 16 (and/or No response 17) mean?

"No response" means that the hand control has lost communication with the electronics board within the base of the telescope.  The number following this message will indicate the address of the component that has lost communication. 16 indicates the azimuth or RA motor board, 17 the altitude (declination) motor board. Unfortunately, this number doesn't tell why the error has occurred. 

To clear the no response messages, repeatedly press Undo. This fix may be only temporary and does not address the potential underlying problem.

There are several reasons why this error message would appear.  Insufficient power is the most common. Check your power supply.  If the DC battery is low, the scope will be unable to communicate with the base of the telescope.  If you are using an AC adapter, please make sure that the adapter is rated for an output of 12 volts DC at a minimum of 2500 mA (2.5 Amps).  If your adapter puts out less current than 2500 mA, the scope will not be able to communicate properly. Check all power connections including the power port pin for solid connectivity.  

If you have a cable in the PC port (of a mount that has a PC port) that is not connected to anything, then this can also cause the messages to appear.

The next potential causes: the hand control, the motor control circuit board, the motors, or the cables-wiring-connectors in between.  Plug in the hand control to an AUX port and see if this eliminates the message. CGE DEC and RA cables are easy to check and swap around to see if it's these cables or their ports. Advanced GT mounts similarly have the DEC cable that might be the problem. Try reflashing (updating) the motor control firmware. If you are able to update the hand control but not the motor control, the problem is most likely the motor control board.

A computer crash or communications break between your PC and the hand control during an MC update may result in either “Initializing”, blank screen, “No Response 16” or “No Response 17” messages. This will prevent your updating the MC for your mount. To clear the no response messages, repeatedly press UNDO. Then proceed as usual with the MC update.
 

If these ideas don't work, it’s best to send the mount and hand control back to Celestron for factory service.

 

Updated 12/27/13

http://www.celestron.com/support/knowledgebase/articles/what-does-the-hand-control-message-no-response-16-(andor-no-response-17)-mean

The power cable might be a good place to start

 

[impactcrater]

thank you DRT or Direct Reply and Thorough...indeed have read this and strange that my AC DC 'switchmode regulator' worked well before with 12 V selected and rated "2.5 amps Max' .....red light comes on but still not loading including trying factory re set...spent early hrs of  morning doing everything on the list.......feeling a failure...

[DRT]

Have you tried using batteries rather than the power cord?

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have one of these and it threw an error a couple of times. The first time, it appeared that the firmware had developed a problem, and I fixed it by reloading the firmware. (In another post here, I gave an overview of the cumbersome procedure involved). The second time, it cleared when I switched the power off.

It might be wise to try another power pack, or 8x dry cells, just to eliminate that factor.  Reloading the firmware, if successful, might fix it. If not, it should not have made the situation any worse.

If you live in an extreme climate, internal connections might have tarnished while the unit was sitting idle. When I was an electronics engineer, I pulled connectors on occasion to see if that cleared a bad connection.

[Ben the Ignorant]

I don't know about your electronics but it's good to have a manual scope as a backup, or an electronic scope which can work manually.

[impactcrater]

Yep...did the alkaline brand new / status checked turn on with same results...off to the Dr I think...good idea about a manual scope....at least I would be less lonely...