Heq5 pro mount stopped working

[David Blacklock]

Can anyone please help me.

I am an inexperienced astronomer. My Heq5 pro has stopped working - it is about 18 months old and has been working ok up until now.

When I initialise the mount by switching it on the synscan hand controller returns a message "caution both axes no response". The mount is stationary and frozen - the motors do not respond and when I try to complete star alignment  I get a message " not available".

My issues started earlier in the week when in an early evening I set up as normal and completed alignment.  I plugged in the fan on my Orion optics vx10 but dropped the connector onto the tripod leg.  It sparked and then the mount froze and also when I tried to realign the reticule light had ceased to work.

to try to sort out the problem I have :-

1. Swopped between two power supplies.  Both my tracer battery and power bench supply are working ok and illuminate the power led on the mount. Synscan reports voltage of 12.7 and 13 respectively.

2. I have reflashed synscan several times.  My synscan firmware loader now reports that the hand set has hardware 4.16 firmware 4.37 and data base 4.02.  I think this is ok but even loading firmware v4.39 does not solve the issues.

3. I have bought and fitted a brand new motherboard. This has partially improved matters.  The reticule led now works, but the synscan polar scope led now reports an answer " not available for this mount" when I try to adjust brightness. I still get no response from the mount.  For instance the mount will not park the scope or do star alignment.  

Can any experts help me please.   I hope that I have included enough information to help an experienced astronomer provide advice. Any help would be appreciated as I really do not know what to do next.

[jambouk]

Maybe check the lead between the mount and the handset, and the connections at each end (both inside the mount and inside the handset).

James

[David Blacklock]

Thanks James for your suggestion.  I am not too clever with electronics, but I do have  a multi meter. I think I will for each coloured wire, test for continuity from the contact point inside the hand controller, to the corresponding contact point on the motherboard and this should at least confirm the connections are good.  I have seen also how to test stepper motors using an led on you tube so I will go down to Maplins to source an led and this should enable me to test that the motors themselves are working. Thanks for your help.

[Starlight 1]

Can you try the mount by the computer  (if you have the right lead that is.) that bypass the handset.

[Grierson]

Your supplier may be the best bet. Assuming that they have a service department they may well be able to offer some practical, 'expert' advice.

[David Blacklock]

Thank you every one for you advice.  I will over the next couple of days complete the testing of the connections and motors and if these are ok I will investigate trying to link the mount to stellarium, although I will need to research how to do this first.  I have a lead supplied with the mount to which I have fitted an adapter. Fitted together it is a USB at one end and the other end fits into the smaller port on synscan and also into the autoguider port on the mount ( I think the USB part was described as an ftdi connection when I bought it)- I am not sure which is the right place to connect to but will try both the hand set and the auto guider and I will then see if I can direct the mount through Stellarium.  

I have also sent an email to Skywatcher customer support outlining the issue and await their response.  I bought the mount from Orion Optics in late 2015, so it may be that they are willing to take a look.

Thanks once again for all the suggestions and I will revert back once I have completed the tests suggested.

David

[Starlight 1]

I was thinking doing this way so no hand set ,https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq5-pro-heq5-syntrek-pro-az-eq5-gt-az-eq6-gt-and-eq8-mounts.html

[Cornelius Varley]

3 hours ago, David Blacklock said:

Thank you every one for you advice.  I will over the next couple of days complete the testing of the connections and motors and if these are ok I will investigate trying to link the mount to stellarium, although I will need to research how to do this first.  I have a lead supplied with the mount to which I have fitted an adapter. Fitted together it is a USB at one end and the other end fits into the smaller port on synscan and also into the autoguider port on the mount ( I think the USB part was described as an ftdi connection when I bought it)- I am not sure which is the right place to connect to but will try both the hand set and the auto guider and I will then see if I can direct the mount through Stellarium.  

I have also sent an email to Skywatcher customer support outlining the issue and await their response.  I bought the mount from Orion Optics in late 2015, so it may be that they are willing to take a look.

Thanks once again for all the suggestions and I will revert back once I have completed the tests suggested.

David

To connect the laptop to the mount using the data cable you need to plug the cable into the handset, not the ST4 port on the mount. The handset connects to the mount as normal.

[David Blacklock]

Thank you every for the help and advice.

I have now:-

1. Tested the connection between the synscan controller and the mount.  I used a multimeter and for each of the eight contact points in the mount for the hand controller connection, and for each of the eight contact points which are in the synscan controller I used the probes on the multimeter to establish that there is a continiuty.  All tested positive, so I certain that the connections are all ok.

2. I took out the two stepper moters and using a multimeter I tested to see if when the stepper motors were rotated by hand, they each generated voltage, setting the multimeter to v-20 which is the lowest voltage setting my Caltek multimeter has. Both motors, when rotated generated a voltage which registered on the multimeter.

3.  I have Stellarium on my lap top.  I tried to connect to the mount but at the moment can only do this through the synscan hnd set.  Although stellarium showed my telescope as connected, it would not slew the mount. When I connected to Stellarium it repored my telescope position as near Mercury.  (When the mount stopped working I was trying to see if I could glimpse Mercury in the very early evening sky, but it was below the horizon in my garden).  I am just wondering if this is relevant and that the mount is not working because it has reached a limit?  Is this a possibility and if so how could I sort this out?  I am personally doubtful, as I have reflashed the sync=scan several times and would have thought this would have cleared the data, but just mentioning in case this is relevant.

4.  I loaded Ascom platform v6.3 and Eqascom v129a and Cartes Des Ciel v4.0.3575, but using these I cannot get a connection to the mount.  Again I have only a connection that goes through the synscan hand set.

5.  I have had no response so far from Skywatcher customer service.

I now think there must be something wrong with the synscan hand set, which is quite expensive.  So I am going to buy a connector as suggested that connects my lap top directly to the mount, and then re-test with Eqascom.  I think this is the cheapest option open to me, and from what I can see from the Eqascom site if this works Eqascom is actually more versatile than the scnscan controller because all the settings are visible on a front end screen, and I can have an on-screen a star chart to refer to.  

Please feel free to comment or advise before I have to dip into the bank account again!

Thanks

David

[JonC]

If I had the same problem as you I would be looking for somebody local with the same mount, and see if they can test your controller / mount.

[David Blacklock]

Thanks.  I think that I will need to join a local astronomy club, as I dont really know anyone personally interested in astronomy.  I have now finally managed to get Cartes du Ciel to recognise my mount, and it shows on the Ascom telescope interface with a green indicator to show that it is connected, but there is  a red red indicator under tracking.  Cartes Du Ciel places my telecope in the same position as Stellarium, but when I try to slew the mount, I get the following message and no movement "Error: Slew to Coordinates Async: RaDEc is not not allowed while scope is not tracking".  On the Synscan handset the tracking in the set up menu is however set to sidreal time.

[Cornelius Varley]

The handset can self diagnose problems. https://storage.googleapis.com/skywatcher-canada/upfiles/en_download_caty01415653149.pdf page 44

[David Blacklock]

Thanks.  I think I will go down the route of making a RJ12 test plug and performing a synscan diagnostic test as suggested before I buy anymore kit.  I have managed to source what I need  inexpensively on Ebay and I should be able to test in a couple of days time.

Thankyou

David

[Starlight 1]

You did say "you put a new main board in", I do not think its got anything to do with motors ,  so you got to bypass the headset to test the mount out.  I can test out all your parts  and tell you what ones are not working

save sending a mount and you cover p+p costs I do  not have this mount but Still got a full working kit to test parts on.

[David Blacklock]

Thankyou.

My RJ12 to RJ12 cable has arrived from Ebay and I have cut it in half to make a test plug following the advice given (by Cornrlius Varley) and the instructions on page 44 of the Synscan manual Appendix II : Synscan self Diagnostics.  I completed the test as per the daignostic steps and no unexpected error messages were reported, and I tested all the buttons and the names of the keys appeared to make sense.  Voltage was reported at 13.7v from my Maplin Regulated DC power supply XM2IX.  So based on this there does not appear to be a problem with the hand controller.

I have now ordered a lynx astro ftdi cable as suggested previously by Starlight 1. I think this will be handy for the future anyway, and when this comes I will try again to connect to EQMOD to see if I can control direct from my lap top.

I have made contact with the Coventry and Warwickshire Astronomy Society with a view to attending their next meeting in a couple of weeks time.

Once I have the new cable and tested the mount with that I think I will have completed all of the suggestions made so far to the best of my ability.

I am beginning to think that the replacement motherboard may itself be faulty and reading other threads on this forum, I see that this would not be the first time this has happened.  I wonder if as a last attempt I should contact my supplier and request to exhange the new motherbaord for a replacement?  If the new motherboard proves to be OK then  I have a horrible suspicion I have made a very basic error!

Thankyou in particular to Starlight 1 for your kind offer in the latest post.  I think I would like to take this up at some point next week if my attempt to connect direct does not work.  I will be in touch next week once I have tried the new cable to arrange.  You have been really helpful.

 

David.

 

[Starlight 1]

On 29/03/2017 at 14:00, David Blacklock said:

but there is  a red red indicator under tracking

I did see you have put this in one post and that is right  I get this and mounts still work ok I can not rember why think it had something to what a program  like CDC is taking over when its moving the mount. , a lot of your post make it sound good and as you see when it working.   so a very odd thing going on here.  you can just send me a pm I do not see posts all the time , it may be just a bad main board . But the bit that eating  me, Is why do it think it in the same place  as to the mount was when the plug hit the leg.

[Starlight 1]

On 29/03/2017 at 14:00, David Blacklock said:

Thanks.  I think that I will need to join a local astronomy club, as I dont really know anyone personally interested in astronomy.  I have now finally managed to get Cartes du Ciel to recognise my mount, and it shows on the Ascom telescope interface with a green indicator to show that it is connected, but there is  a red red indicator under tracking.  Cartes Du Ciel places my telecope in the same position as Stellarium, but when I try to slew the mount, I get the following message and no movement "Error: Slew to Coordinates Async: RaDEc is not not allowed while scope is not tracking".  On the Synscan handset the tracking in the set up menu is however set to sidreal time.

Just looking at all post again this one is telling me you may still have the mount in park  can you check this  on computer ? in ascom

[David Blacklock]

Hi

When I start up Ascom it reports the telescope in park, but I have over the last couple of days changed this to unpark as part of my efforts to try different settings to see if they work.  EQMOD always reverts at start up to "park" however.  I have copied below a screen print of the settings as I appreciate that its difficult for advice to be given when you cant see the settings.  The com port is correct on the telescope configuration, and it is showing as connected on the ASCOM telescope interface, but I havnt worked out yet why the EQMOD screen shows a connect error.  The slew control buttons do not move the mount.  The only thing that I have noticed different after trying many settings is that the AZ ALT position reported from the mount is now different to the one which was originally reported when the mount stopped working.

[David Blacklock]

Screen print now attached.

[Starlight 1]

BY the look of it  its not seeing EQMOD  ,  you are see  with tracking in red  and the green connect is  in CDC.  but its not seeing EQMOD. So when you have the lead to bypass the handset  I pick up the post again to look at setting. on your computer . ps I think  I can see why chance CDC  to poth telcope   i check this on Friday  bit to later to night for me to test this out.

Les

[Starlight 1]

I set up my test gear  the part in last post on chance CDC to poth  is not right ? make it the same as in  the ascom one. "my one come up as EQMOD_ASCOM HEQ5/6 ". So when you got the lead  hope I can sort it out ,Save you sending parts over to test. .PS do you have a lead that go in the handset with a usb serial converter as well for checking hand set out.

[Tommohawk]

Hi and sorry to hear of your woes.

Given the problems started after the accidental power shunt I think the most likely thing is the handset as you say. I agree the FTDI cable is probably the way to go but not clear from your latest post if you now have that or are still connecting via the handset.

 

[David Blacklock]

The new lead has come. I connected my mount direct to my lap top with the lead but no matter what setting I tried I could not even establish a connection in either CDC or EQmod.  For all settings tried I got red indicators for both connection and tracking in CDC and the same no connection message as on the previous screen shot in Eqcom  I tried switching between Emod-Ascom HEQ5/6, and the Ascom Skywatcher telescope, and I also tried POTH, but no connection whatsoever. My lap top recognised I was using the COM3 port, but in addition to the no connection indicators described above I got  various error pop up text boxes which indicated the connection wasn't getting through to the mount.

In the end I spoke to the company that supplied the new motherboard, and they have agreed to exchange it for a replacement one.  I am therefore going to post it back and wait till I get a new one.  The only part of mount I have not really tested is the small circuit board connected to the power supply and cable ports. However I am getting a good led on that so I think this part is ok.  Anyway I think that from all the help I have had I am satisfied it is not the hand controller, the firmware, the leads, or the stepper motors. I think I have loaded Ascom and Eqmod correctly, as I was able to get the simulator scope to work on CDC and also when going through the hand controller, I was at least getting a connection.

Thank-you all for your help and I will resume posting once I have a new replacement motherboard.

[Starlight 1]

From your last post  try a new board  with that new lead  do not plug your hand set in ., as it may be something in the hand set blowing the board.

[David Blacklock]

Yihaaaaaa!

Its working.  It was really bugging me last night, and I was up at 6 this morning determined to give it one last go before I sent the motherboard back.  I had already done quite a bit of reading in the EQcom documentation, but I came across the tutorial videos on you tube, and there is one on the EQcom toolkit and what to do if there is no connection. I worked through this and found out what I was doing wrong.  You will all think I am a complete fool, but I thought a COM port number was always the same if you used the same USB port. I knew that when connecting EQcom through the synscan hand set it used com 3 and thought if I used the same USB port on the pc when connecting direct using the new cable, it would also be com 3.  Wrong! using the toolkit I found set up needed to be changed to com 4 and once I had done that, EQcom connected, and I switched sidereal tracking on, and that familiar old feint whirl started up of the stepper motor.

In summary getting a new cable and connecting direct to the mount has finally worked and was really good advice. It appears my original shorting corrupted both the motherboard and the hand set.  I will now need to learn how to star align using EQcom, but that should be easily achievable.

The motto of this story is to set up in reverse and connect to the power last of all.

Thank you all for your help on this, it's reallly appreciated.

May I ask please one question.  My Syncan hand set, can anything be done to resurrect this from the graveyard of electronic devices?