Synscan let down

[Simon Dunsmore]

Hi Folks, 

So, I'm hoping someone can help. After waiting what seems like months for a clear night, finally got out under the stars. Power pack fully charged. Here we go! Polar aligned fine then the Synscan handset on my Skywatcher Heq5 pro just jams. I can't get past the location settings. No matter how often I turn it off and turn it on again. I tried plugging it directly into the power supply, no joy. I left it off for half an hour, no joy, only this time I can't move it past the do not point your scope at the sun prompt. 

Any help would be much appreciated, really can't afford £150 for a new handset. 

Thanks in advance 

Simon 

[Jiggy 67]

Hate to say this but it sounds faulty 

[wookie1965]

25 minutes ago, Simon Dunsmore said:

Hi Folks, 

So, I'm hoping someone can help. After waiting what seems like months for a clear night, finally got out under the stars. Power pack fully charged. Here we go! Polar aligned fine then the Synscan handset on my Skywatcher Heq5 pro just jams. I can't get past the location settings. No matter how often I turn it off and turn it on again. I tried plugging it directly into the power supply, no joy. I left it off for half an hour, no joy, only this time I can't move it past the do not point your scope at the sun prompt. 

Any help would be much appreciated, really can't afford £150 for a new handset. 

Thanks in advance 

Simon 

When it comes on what is the number of the firmware maybe an update will cure the problem. 

[jonathan]

I'm confident that I cured a dodgy HEQ5 SynScan handset via a firmware update, if it's a newer one then it should be relatively painless (no need for a '90s PC and Win98!)  Just be sure to read the instructions several times before you start and get the correct firmware for your handset, if you're at all unsure then ask more questions here, someone should know.  FYI mine was a v3 handset, in my case the motor control board in the HEQ5 appears to be faulty as well but I tested the handset on an NEQ6 Pro and it worked fine with that after a firmware update (requires a different cable though).

[Simon Dunsmore]

Hi Folks, 

Thanks for your responses. So this morning I took the handset apart, just to see if anything obvious had come adrift. Nothing obvious, so I just cleaned the keypad contacts and reassembled it. Hey presto, it seems to be working now! 

Just hope it works next time I'm under the stars. At least I know it’s a hardware issue now. 

Thanks again 

Simon