RED FLASHING LIGHTS ON SUPATRAK CONTROLLER

[bcfcciderhead]

Hi guys, last night i had about 15mins of viewing before the scope stopped moving and had 2 red flashing buttons, set and go, no other buttons worked and of course it would not move the scope, i unpluged the power for a few mins put it back on and it worked for a little while then done it again, nothing in the manual to say why it does this, so i'm guessing it could be low battery power?....any clues guys?

[Leegsi]

Pretty sure it is low battery power

[bcfcciderhead]

Thanks Leegsi, i bought the mount secound hand with batterys still in, so not sure how old they are, but like you pretty sure is low power, got a set on charge so will try them later

[garyscott]

Yep, low battery! I got quite sick of it always happening when you dont have 8 spare batteries, so i bought this -12v DC 60w 5a amp power supply with UK power cord [12v-5a] - £14.99 : Power Adapters, UK Mains Adapters, Power supplies UK

No more power loss!!

[bcfcciderhead]

Cheers Gary, i was thinking of something the same but a bit unsure of what type, watts, amp etc.

How do you manage with it being outside? plug etc in the damp air, i use a dark site away from home so need to travel, i have a car starter with a 3 pin plug socket so that can be used.

Any one know of something i car plug into the car to run the mount?

[bcfcciderhead]

look what i just found Cables, Leads and Controllers - SkyTron Power Supply Cable for Skywatcher & Celestron Mounts

best i get one

[garyscott]

Cheers Gary, i was thinking of something the same but a bit unsure of what type, watts, amp etc.

How do you manage with it being outside? plug etc in the damp air, i use a dark site away from home so need to travel, i have a car starter with a 3 pin plug socket so that can be used.

Any one know of something i car plug into the car to run the mount?

Hi chap.

As for running it off of a car - i dont know - i use electric from home. Just run an extension lead out to where i observe, plug in the adaptor an away i go! Regards the dew, condensation and electricity etc - i ALWAYS fit an RCD in the house socket(indoors), then run the extension from that. If (god forbid!) anything nasty is going to happen, then the RCD should trip out before any harm befalls me or anyone else. It works flawlessly, even under high moisture that i seem to keep getting in the run up to midnight!

[Sirius_Starseed]

Try this - Portable Jump Starter and Air Compressor : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

Keep an eye out for the grey one they do though, they're always putting it on offer for £19.99

[glowjet]

Its a 12 volt system so you should be able to run this from your car cigar lighter socket, so long as it is fused at one end or the other, but remember, it will run your battery down, so if you take it to a dark site just think about starting the car to get home, this is why mostly all people opt for the 17 Amp/hr dry cell rechargeable option, which will run most scopes for a nights viewing.

[bcfcciderhead]

i got one of those car starters as Sirius starseed said which has a 3pin plug and cigar sockets so will use that