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Where can I get a CG5 motor board in the UK ?


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Me again.......   ?

Solving my CG5 advanced goto's runaway slews is like finishing a crossword puzzle,  I keep going back to it.

I refitted my CG5 with the common EQ5 6v motors and simple controller, but I miss the goto and adjustable slew speeds of the original CG5's motors.

I'm 99.9% sure it's the motor board as I've switched the motors and leads around, and the fixed rate (fast) slewing always stays with the Dec channel, while the Ra works perfectly with either motor.

The problem is, whenever I try searching for a replacement motor board (in the UK) I keep seeing references to Celestron no longer selling them as spares, and the odd one or two that I find on third party (US) sites have eye watering prices (around 200 dollars) which would then incur significant import and vat duty, bringing the cost up to the same as a complete (secondhand) CG5 advanced goto mount.

This may be a forlorn hope, but I thought I'd try to tap into the forum's knowledge to see if anyone did know a current supplier of these boards ?   (The similar Skywatcher EQ5 goto motor boards are a much more reasonable £60 or so....  ?)

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Thanks for the reply Alan.

I'm afraid I tried most of the UK based Astro dealers last time I looked for one, and drew a blank, with the response that Celestron no longer sold such spare parts.

As I feared, it looks like a bin job for the Celestron "advanced goto" part, and I'll just have to content myself with it as a manual EQ5 equivalent.  The manufacturer's lack of spares support will certainly bias me towards other makes in future.

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1 hour ago, JamesF said:

Are you looking to control this from a handset, or PC?

James

The advanced GT has the Celestron hand control which is working fine, except for the runaway goto slews and not being able to slow the Dec movement. (So the RA works perfectly).

It also has the PC connecting lead to the handset that works successfully with Stellarium etc..

So the only drawback is the motor control board fault that doesn't enable goto slewing (or initial alignment) or slowing the slew speed for the dec channel.

I tried to get round the problem by fitting standard 6v EQ5 motors with the EQ5 simple controller and I built an AstroEQ box to enable  that to be controlled by computer.  The problem with that solution is that the motors have very slow slew speeds on goto, so I'd still prefer to get the original CG5 advanced goto motorset and controller fully working as a better all-round system, working via the Celestron handset and/or the PC running Stellarium.

Edited by Astro-Geek
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It looks like your CG5 is beyond economic repair - I think you have discounted the option of swapping the GoTo elements for Sky-watcher parts (300 UKP).

Unless you can get the board repaired by a suitably skilled electronics technician. That means identifying the faulty component(s) or making an educated guess, and swapping them out.  If the components are not standard electronics parts, you might have to resort to buying up some dead CG5 boards and desoldering parts from them to try.

I remember reading that Celestron discontinued this design because the boards kept failing.?

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1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

........I remember reading that Celestron discontinued this design because the boards kept failing.?

Yes, I did find a few references to that in my Internet searches for the board.  Amazing really, when you consider how expensive they are.

The mechanics of the CG5 seem excellent, hence my foray into AstroEQ to get computer control, but the standard 6v motors are too slow for "big" slews.  Also,  I realise I could upgrade the motors and fit belts etc., but the simplicity of standard Celestron/Skywatcher EQ5 goto systems working from just the hand controller is a big attraction.

Plan B is to keep an eye open for an EQ5 skywatcher goto and maybe transfer the motors and controller to my CG5 then sell the manual EQ5......

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Don't bin the CG5 electronics, whatever option you choose.

CG5 owners (like myself) may be interested in buying the good parts, or even everything.
For example on parts, I am just about to make a curly DEC motor cable. I need to replace a broken one and could not easily find a new one.
A working handset is always going to be a saleable item.

Good luck with the modifications.

David.

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53 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

I need to replace a broken one and could not easily find a new one.

iOptron do a curly one with RJ11 plugs but don't know if the wiring would suit, problem with buying from the USA though as the postage costs as much as the item :grin:

Dave

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3 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

Don't bin the CG5 electronics, whatever option you choose.

CG5 owners (like myself) may be interested in buying the good parts, or even everything.
For example on parts, I am just about to make a curly DEC motor cable. I need to replace a broken one and could not easily find a new one.
A working handset is always going to be a saleable item.

Good luck with the modifications.

David.

Good point David, and there's always the slim chance of someone else's CG5 electronics coming up seconhand, (hopefully with a different fault !)

Re the RJ11 leads, have you thought about making up your own ?

The pro crimping tool is amazingly cheap, (less than £5 here in the UK) and does RJ45 too.

In my other hobby, (computers) I bought one with packets of RJ11 & RJ45 crimps for very little money and have been able to easily make RJ11 re-connections and new leads.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RJ45-RJ11-CRIMPING-TOOL-CABLE-CUTTER-WIRE-STRIPPER-CRIMPER-NETWORK-CAT5-CAT6/232675940926?hash=item362c911a3e:g:WIgAAOSwju9akCpx:rk:11:pf:0

 

crimper.jpg

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1 hour ago, Joeistotalycool said:

I had to replace one of the boards in my cg5 back in april. I got Rother valley optics to do it :)  

Did they supply the CG5 to you in the first place ?

I'll give them another enquiry, hopefully they may supply parts on their own as well as carrying out repairs.

The 64 thousand dollar question - How much did the charge, if I may be so bold ?  ?

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Thanks Astro-Geek for the RJ crimp tool link.

There is a tool at work I can borrow. I have scrounged a suitable length of curly cable in 8 core.
The bad part is I splashed out almost £3 on a handful of RJ crimp housings. Still shaking from the encounter.

David.

 

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On 30/01/2019 at 18:00, Astro-Geek said:

Did they supply the CG5 to you in the first place ?

I'll give them another enquiry, hopefully they may supply parts on their own as well as carrying out repairs.

The 64 thousand dollar question - How much did the charge, if I may be so bold ?  ?

I bought the cg5 on ebay about a year prior to the repair. they fixed it for a nice 40 quid I believe. 

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10 minutes ago, Joeistotalycool said:

I bought the cg5 on ebay about a year prior to the repair. they fixed it for a nice 40 quid I believe. 

Wow...  I'm only guessing, but I doubt very much that would have been by fitting a new motor board.

Maybe it was a wiring/connection fault which was just labour only, no parts.

I'm afraid my fault is definitely the motor controller board, which Celestron never seemed to sell for less than about $150, even when it was available from them.

Unfortunately it is populated with ICs and miniature surface mounted components, so I guess it's unlikely to be something that the average distributor would attempt to repair, other than a complete swap.

control board.jpg

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  • 11 months later...

I also am looking for a solution as I have a burned up motor control board on my CG5 GT. I'd love to see pictures of your astroeq solution, even if it is slow  for big slews, I am in dead in the water at the moment. Also have you considered onstep for the CG5 GT? I know the EQ5 and CG5 non-goto are the same, and they make an onstep EQ5 kit.

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On 19/01/2020 at 06:11, astroviewr20 said:

I also am looking for a solution as I have a burned up motor control board on my CG5 GT. I'd love to see pictures of your astroeq solution, even if it is slow  for big slews, I am in dead in the water at the moment. Also have you considered onstep for the CG5 GT? I know the EQ5 and CG5 non-goto are the same, and they make an onstep EQ5 kit.

...ah...

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then I'm afraid.

I was so disgruntled with Celestron over their abandoning supplying spares to DIY'ers, (let alone the incredible cost), that I cut my losses and sold the CG5 at a loss, honestly describing it as parts only.

I finally took the plunge and bought a used Skywatcher EQ5 goto.  It has worked flawlessly (thank God), and works happily through its own hardware/software interface and also eqmod with another (cheap) cable. 

I mostly use it with Stellarium, a really nice combination, and my runaway slews are a distant memory now......  🤓

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Quote

I was so disgruntled with Celestron over their abandoning supplying spares to DIY'ers,

This is not the first time I have read something like this, and it has put me off buying anything Celestron ever since.  Glad to hear you are sorted now with a different brand.

Carole 

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2 hours ago, carastro said:

This is not the first time I have read something like this, and it has put me off buying anything Celestron ever since.  Glad to hear you are sorted now with a different brand.

Carole 

It's definitely put me off buying anything made by them with electronics in it, but I'm still a satisfied user of their optics.

I was so disgusted with that CG5's "advanced" electronics, I'd have been tempted into a one-man boycott of everything Celestron, but I'm still well pleased with my C8 SCT,     (as it's completely devoid of anything electronic that could fail... 🤓

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