HEQ5 Dual Drive Question.

[ronin]

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I bought an HEQ5 with dual drives fitted. Then deciding it was too heavy never used it - until a couple of days ago when I located all the bits.

Powered it up and eventually it kind of did something. Eventually found that the 16x drive rate does nothing, well a click from inside the mount (??). Default of RA works, 2x RA and Dec works and 8x RA and Dec work. So basically the 16x doesn't operate. No great problem.

The question(s):

Are the motors stepper motors ?

Now the real one: I see that on the dual drives for the EA5 and EQ3-2 there appears to be motors, handset, a couple of cables and a battery pack. Inside the HEQ5 there is a small electronic board. This does not appear as an itiem of the upgrade kit to the EQ5/EQ3-2. Any idea on where it appeared from ? I assume that when available the all the dual upgrade kits were similar.so all would have a small electronic board for the motors.

It would make sense that it is a controller for stepper motors but it is the apparent absence of it in the more recent kits that is really the puzzle.

[Starlight 1]

If the motors are round then not steppers,  pic of mount may help .

[LightBucket]

1 hour ago, Starlight 1 said:

If the motors are round then not steppers,  pic of mount may help .

Hmmmm, I have a few round stepper motors..

[ronin]

Motors are round with square steel plate holding then on the mount fabrication. From the view into the mount the electronic board is underneath them. A pic will just show the open side of the mount and 2 brass wheels. You cannot see the motors under the plates and the board is deeper still inside under everything.

As said question is that on the present "Enhanced" ones for the EQ5 and EQ3-2 there is no board shown as part of the kit. Someone has an EQ5 dual motor kit on the classifieds and no board of electronics is shown as part of it.

Until it fails it is just a question as they do not provide the HEQ5 dual motor kit any longer, it is now goto or nothing, and likely to be nothing if it fails.It is the apparent absence of the board elsewhere that caught my attention.

The reason it cuaght my attention was that this old controller is 2x, 8x and 16x. I knew the Enhanced one was different and wrongly guessed it had lost the 16x as on the one I have the 16x doesn't work correctly. I just thought that maybe the 16x was a problem and they had removed it. They haven't, it is there, the 8x has gone. While looking I reaslised that I couldn't see an electroics board as part of the kits.

If it were not so heavy I would likely make use of it but grab and go it isn't.

 

[Starlight 1]

Look like all have 4 wires going to the motors, so that much help, so do only goto have stepper motors. ?

[John]

This is an older thread on doing the HEQ5 GOTO upgrade which has some pics that might help ID the motors ?. I have the feeling that both the old and newer type motors are steppers

 

[John]

Another link here that might help ?

http://perfectastronomy.com/install-synscan-goto-upgrade-kit-heq5/