Dead Meade LX90

[Colinxdr]

Hi,

Can any one offer some advice please.

I have a Meade LX90 GPS purchased from Telescope House in the mid 2000s.

I went to use it a couple of weekends ago only to find that the handset was dead.

When I checked the handset there was no response from any of the buttons. I checked the 12v supply to the handset at the handset end of the cable, on pins 1 & 8 ok. I also checked the pin outs on the pcb but could only detect the negative rail.

As there are no diagrams for the handset this was as far as I could go.

I am looking to replace the handset but I do not know if it is just the handset that is faulty or something on the associated motor or power boards.

thanks

[ollypenrice]

Perhaps a member near you might let you try your handset in their mount?

Olly

[Colinxdr]

Hi, Thanks Olly,  I did think of that, but thought better of it incase it damaged theirs.

[Shimrod]

29 minutes ago, Colinxdr said:

Hi, Thanks Olly,  I did think of that, but thought better of it incase it damaged theirs.

Did the handset LCD display illuminate but there was no response from the buttons, or was the handset dead completely?

[VNA]

Hello, try to connect your handset to your computer, you should be able then to reset it to the factory settings. Good luck.

[Colinxdr]

Hi Shimrod, pluged every thing in as usual, external power block, switched on, nowt.

Hi VNA, would that be via the RJ45 or RJ11 and I assume to a rs232 port?

[bosun21]

If the terminals on the telescope port are not showing the 12v then check the soldered connections and tracks on the telescope end are okay. If they are and both tracks have continuity then it looks like something on the board itself has failed.

[michael8554]

I googled "Autostar 497 circuit diagram" and got lots of hits.

To connect to a Planetarium on a PC you usually have to setup first with the handset, which you can't do.

That requires a USB-to-RS232 cable from a PC to the handset, called a Meade #505 cable (not #507)

But first post in the Cloudy Nights Meade section, lots of real Autostar experts there.

May be as simple as poor contacts on the ribbon to the display, fixes explained there.

Michael