EQ-6 " No Response Both Axes" Error message !!

[Craney]

Hello everybody,

Slight problem with a recently acquired second hand Skywatcher EQ-6  mount.    Thought I would take advantage of the late twilights and dry run the mount before we get back into serious dark skies over Winter.

Upon starting up got the  "No Response  Both Axes"  error message pretty much straight away.  Pushing 'Enter' will give other menus, but they are all to no avail as the mount will not move to align on stars etc...

Possible reasons....

1)  Power.   Have tried it with fully charged 12V car battery and regulated power supply  ( no flashing LED's) ....  problem still persists.

2)  Firmware upgrade ??

     Found this when doing a bit of research

https://www.f1telescopes.co.uk/articles/sky-watcher/error-with-synscan-firmware-version-3-37/

My attempts above were with a V4.37 handset... so sounds like I may need to update or go retrograde ??    Anybody know anything on this issue.... have the latest upgrades got around the problem or have people stuck with v3.36   or  v4.36   if it exists ??

3)  EQMOD:    The previous owner had run the mount entirely by laptop via the EQMOD program..... which is where I will eventually go,  but for the time being I like using the familiar hand controller.       Are there any latent issues with swapping between these two modes of control ??

I am applying my efforts to no 2) at the moment.      If anybody has had this problem and has found a solution I would be very grateful for any info.

Cheers,

Sean.

[darknight]

well, I cant help much but say although I don't know the version at the moment (work) I have the latest firmware on my controller, it does not make any difference in swapping from/to controller and eqmod, apart from obvious advantages, if you have the cabe it would be worthwhile just to see if eqmod does run it, after downloading ascom as well

[xtreemchaos]

I had the same with my eq6 a few years ago, it turned out to be the handset to mount lead, somebody had steped on it "prob me" it looked ok to look at but id snapped some wires init  so got a new cabe and it was hunky-dory. charl. ps the handset lite up as normal just no movement.

[Craney]

Thanks Charl....    Yes the EQ-6 cable  has the serial end bit attached to the mount and is different to the HEQ5 which has two of those phone connector plug things.  The EQ-6 cable came with purchase and so it could have had issues that did not effect the EQMOD operation.   The actual Handset bit  is my own and it   does work   with my HEQ-5..      This is a good piece of info. Thanks again.

Sean.

[xtreemchaos]

I favour the serial connecter on my eq6 over the evernet type on my heq5,  never tried the heq5 handset with my eq6 but think there the same . charl.

[spaceboy]

Sounds like it may be firmware. You can check what version firmware the motors and handset are running then adjust as needed. I believe manuals can be downloaded from SW website to guide you throughout.

[Craney]

Well done Spaceboy,

Updated the Firmware to V4.39  and it seems to work.  Phew-eee!!!

A couple of things which might be of interest to future users ...

1)  V4 handset needs to be attached to the mount to be powered up. 

2)  New version has a Solar feature which will allows a quick  'one-star'  alignment using the Sun as an alignment star.... which is handy in broad daylight.... anyway it is new and might be useful if you are hunting wafer thin crescent Moons or daytime planets.

3) Your PC will need a serial port ( huh!! ...old school  ) or some form of USB/serial interface.

4) Careful , these handsets have two connector ports on the base. The smaller one is necessary for the upgrade, do not throw away the connecting cable !!!!

 

Right... onward and eyes upward.  Thanks to all who commented and helped. Much appreciated.

 

Sean.

[rhw1967]

@Brushman .... old thread but sounds like the issue you are having.