Celestron Nexstar 8i (older) hand controller died, what are my options?

[HiveIndustries]

So I went ahead and picked up this older Nexstar 8i and the upgrade over my 4" Dob is obviously out of this world (sorry!) the only problem is on night #2, the hand controller display just shut off. The scope motors and such still respond and the red LED works just fine but the display itself, nada. What are my options? I only paid $500 and when he sold it to me it worked so I kind of feel like that guy is off the hook. Even if I thought he was being shady (which I don't, didn't seem like the type) wouldn't I just want to pick up like an AVX and call the OTA a steal at $500? How hard is it to change out the mount? I'd need a dovetail rail or something, right? Should I just find a replacement controller and call it a day for now (I always figured mount upgrade would come a year or two from now)? Will one of the newer ones work that have the USB or do I need to find a "vintage" controller?

There's what appears to be a decent telescope shop about an hour from me I was going to take a trip and ask but I figured you guys are so awesome and helpful here you might know the answer or have good reccos.

Things I already tried:

1. Powering from fully charged AAs
2. Powering from AC adapter
3. Powering from Celestron power bank
4. Opening up controller, cleaning ribbon cable as suggested on a helpful thread on the subject on another forum from other people who have had this issue

Seriously thanks guys, you're an amazing resource from a long time lurker and now apparent newb with a lot of questions.

[HiveIndustries]

I should add that this is the manual I have for it and I'm only assuming it's an 8i from what someone else said, it could be an original Nexstar 8. Also, there are sky charts in there from December of 2000 and the manual is dated 1999 so...

 

[Knighty2112]

Did you check where the cable plugs in to the hand controller, and especially inside the slot where the cable then plugs into the mount is correctly inserted? Worth a shot checking!

Edited October 9, 2021 by Knighty2112

[HiveIndustries]

The one end was an RJ-11 serial cable that I messed with, nothing. The other end if memory serves when I was in there re-seating and cleaning the ribbon cable was soldered to the board. I'd have to imagine if there was a serial connection not being made the controller itself wouldn't work and not just the display but I'm not exactly super knowledgeable about this.

Edited October 9, 2021 by HiveIndustries

[Cosmic Geoff]

I second Knightly2112's advice. My C8 SE acted up shortly after I bought it, until I gave the handset cable a firm push at the mount end.

If it is really dead, check what nexstarsite.com has to say about the compatibility of the handsets and mounts.  (I found that in practice my mount would work with three different models of handset).

As for fitting the OTA on an AVX, that would be a good idea if you want to do deep space imaging (not easy), but if you want to stick with visual and planetary imaging, an alt-azimuth mount would be less bother.  If you have to change the dovetail bar, that should not be a big deal.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Cosmic Geoff

[HiveIndustries]

Again though, if that wasn't a secure connection, would the remote work at all?

As for an alt-azimuth over an AVX, in my head my progression is 100% visual astronomy to 20% visual 80% AP over the course of 2-4 years. Looks like a new NexStar SE is $500 + whatever the mount changeover is going to cost me, that's half of what the entry level mount I know I'm going to want to have (AVX) when the time comes.

Sigh... can't believe this happened after 1 night with the thing. I thought not opting for the latest and greatest would solve problems, not create them. Would have been better off just getting an AD8 or something similar at this stage of my journey and reaching for an SCT setup when I was more experienced.

[bish789]

This happened to me with a used Nextstar 4SE ten years ago.

Probably accounts for the fact I lost interest then, and am coming back now with a little bit more disposable income (well the wife has) to take it back up.

[HiveIndustries]

This is insane, why would Celestron do this? You're saddling your legacy owners with over $1,000, essentially the cost of a new SCT because of a handheld controller you very clearly greedily didn't make backwards compatible and refuse to manufacture replacement parts.

Here I am trying to get into the hobby and Celestron just did the thing that's causing me to stop in my tracks.

So much for Celestron OTAs lasting forever because the thing around it, doesn't. Oh and a really not standard mounting situation in a field of not the best standards in mounting

Literally depressed over this.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Have you looked into replacing the handset? This would solve your problem for far less cost than replacing the entire mount. This handset should work with your mount: 

https://nexstarsite.com/download/manuals/NexStarHandControlVersion4UsersGuide.pdf

This is the latest handset:

https://nexstarsite.com/download/manuals/NexStarHandControlVersion4UsersGuide.pdf

It doesn't say that it works with your 8i, but it doesn't either say that it won't.  And I have both types and they both work with my C8 SE.

There is no need to replace the mount if you were happy with it for now - you just need to fix the handset.

And did you try re-seating the handset cable as suggested? You didn't say...🙂

Your outfit looks fixable. Look on the bright side. 🙂 Many owners of vintage SCTs have had to bin the obsolete or broken mount and re-mount the OTA. And have you checked the price of a new C8 OTA?

Edited October 10, 2021 by Cosmic Geoff

[HiveIndustries]

I feel lied to on some level. They call their stuff modular, put RJ11 jacks on everything and call them serial ports but nothing works with anything else. Totally lied to.

[HiveIndustries]

11 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Have you looked into replacing the handset? This would solve your problem for far less cost than replacing the entire mount. This handset should work with your mount: 

https://nexstarsite.com/download/manuals/NexStarHandControlVersion4UsersGuide.pdf

This is the latest handset:

https://nexstarsite.com/download/manuals/NexStarHandControlVersion4UsersGuide.pdf

It doesn't say that it works with your 8i, but it doesn't either say that it won't.  And I have both types and they both work with my C8 SE.

There is no need to replace the mount if you were happy with it for now - you just need to fix the handset.

And did you try re-seating the handset cable as suggested? You didn't say...🙂

Your outfit looks fixable. Look on the bright side. 🙂 Many owners of vintage SCTs have had to bin the obsolete or broken mount and re-mount the OTA. And have you checked the price of a new C8 OTA?

I'm learning the original Nexstar 5/8 only works with the original controller it came with. Celestron doesn't manufacture any replacements and literally no other controller is compatible. I don't think I have an 8i and just a regular 8, I think someone made the mistake here in ID'ing it but it's understandable cause it looks exactly the same.

Edited October 10, 2021 by HiveIndustries

[Cosmic Geoff]

Here is a comparison of the N8 and N8i which you may find helpful.

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/user-reviews/telescopes/schmidt-cassegrains-scts/celestron-nexstar-8i-vs-nexstar-8-celestron’s-newest-8”-go-to-capable-sct-takes-on-its-older-sibling-r641

It appears that the N8i was more desirable.  Neither had handsets that were upgradeable over the Internet. (Later versions of handset are upgradeable).

[HiveIndustries]

I'm honestly thinking about buying a dovetail mount for it from a 3rd party and just selling the OTA, I bet I can get $800 for it in this market based on what I've been seeing. Use the funds to just buy an 8-12" Dob.

This was supposed to be a way to get me into SCTs cheaply while still being a complete and total newb visual only guy. Now I feel like I'm being pigeon-holed to buy something like an EQ-6 or AVX way earlier than I wanted before I can even discern why I'd even want an equatorial mount much less have a camera that I'd use for AP.

Anyone want to trade a Celestron 8" OTA that's in perfect shape for their dob?!

I see broken versions of my mount for sale for a few hundred, I bet I can part this out for more money than I bought it for by a long shot. Gotta make lemonade sometimes.

Edited October 10, 2021 by HiveIndustries

[johnha]

I'm a bit late to this, I bought a Nexstar 4SE a few years ago (the handset is one with a mini-USB socket for firmware updates) which showed the same problems (seemingly dead but the up/down/left/right buttons worked). I was able to recover it by updating the firmware (reasonably easy with the mini-USB, more difficult via serial port). My best guess as to how it happened was switching the mount off while it was starting up and going through the 'installing packages' process.

Hope this helps.

John.

[bosun21]

On 09/10/2021 at 18:56, HiveIndustries said:

So I went ahead and picked up this older Nexstar 8i and the upgrade over my 4" Dob is obviously out of this world (sorry!) the only problem is on night #2, the hand controller display just shut off. The scope motors and such still respond and the red LED works just fine but the display itself, nada. What are my options? I only paid $500 and when he sold it to me it worked so I kind of feel like that guy is off the hook. Even if I thought he was being shady (which I don't, didn't seem like the type) wouldn't I just want to pick up like an AVX and call the OTA a steal at $500? How hard is it to change out the mount? I'd need a dovetail rail or something, right? Should I just find a replacement controller and call it a day for now (I always figured mount upgrade would come a year or two from now)? Will one of the newer ones work that have the USB or do I need to find a "vintage" controller?

There's what appears to be a decent telescope shop about an hour from me I was going to take a trip and ask but I figured you guys are so awesome and helpful here you might know the answer or have good reccos.

Things I already tried:

1. Powering from fully charged AAs
2. Powering from AC adapter
3. Powering from Celestron power bank
4. Opening up controller, cleaning ribbon cable as suggested on a helpful thread on the subject on another forum from other people who have had this issue

Seriously thanks guys, you're an amazing resource from a long time lurker and now apparent newb with a lot of questions.

Have you tried cleaning out both ports with isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds and the connectors on each end of the cable?. The ports have had a long time to accumulate debris etc. Good luck 👍 

[HiveIndustries]

8 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Have you tried cleaning out both ports with isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds and the connectors on each end of the cable?. The ports have had a long time to accumulate debris etc. Good luck 👍 

I wound up trading it in and even the shop couldn't get it going with all of their controllers, etc. He knew right away too:

"I got a broken Nexstar 8 handset"

"No problem, easy fix!"

"It's the very very first Nexstar 8"

"That's a problem."

 

I wound up with a 12" Lightbridge which was my goal anyways. I only wound up with this because of the killer price point. Thanks for the advice all!