Help - broken EQ2 hand controller!!!

[Beardy Bob]

Hi guys. Sorry, this is a long one. Bear with me...

I have a big problem with my single axis RA motor drive for EQ2. I was trying to move away from having to power it with four 'D' batteries and used a power pack. BUT(!), I had it on the wrong setting and accidentally put 14V through it instead of the 6V it's meant to take.

There was no obvious burning smell or anything, but now the power light on the controller comes on orange (and strangely enough sometimes, but rarely, green), but there is no response from the motor. I have opened the handset and no resistors/capacitors are obviously burnt out (with my very limited knowledge of electronics).

I can't afford a new one at around £70, and I'm really pained to pay £30 to effectively 'downgrade' to the cheaper and far more fiddly version of the motor with no controller. Is there a way of finding out what has gone wrong or is there some component that will always be the first thing to go on it that I can try changing? Any advice would be welcomed.

[itchy]

Do you have a multimeter? While you have probably blown the controller, it would be nice to know if there is any output at all to the motor.

The Astroboot is currently selling an Orion RA handset (same as skywatcher) for a tenner.

[russ]

I was going to suggest Astroboot too. The Orion jobby looks spot on for a tenner.

[Beardy Bob]

Yeah, someone else suggested a multimeter. I might have to try and borrow one off someone. Thanks for the advice.

[Beardy Bob]

That controller on Astroboot looks like the business, but looking at the reviews from scopes n skies I think I'll give it a miss, even for a tenner!! Still, it shows they come up at a reasonable price. I'll keep an eye out for a similarly good price elsewhere while I try and fix my current one.

Thanks for the heads up guys.

[russ]

Don't be put off by those old reviews of SnS. They have really been on it since starting the Astroboot, you'll find loads of praise for them now. I've had a good dozen bits from astroboot with no problems.

[sublime_mick]

Hi guys. Sorry, this is a long one. Bear with me...

I have a big problem with my single axis RA motor drive for EQ2. I was trying to move away from having to power it with four 'D' batteries and used a power pack. BUT(!), I had it on the wrong setting and accidentally put 14V through it instead of the 6V it's meant to take.

There was no obvious burning smell or anything, but now the power light on the controller comes on orange (and strangely enough sometimes, but rarely, green), but there is no response from the motor. I have opened the handset and no resistors/capacitors are obviously burnt out (with my very limited knowledge of electronics).

I can't afford a new one at around £70, and I'm really pained to pay £30 to effectively 'downgrade' to the cheaper and far more fiddly version of the motor with no controller. Is there a way of finding out what has gone wrong or is there some component that will always be the first thing to go on it that I can try changing? Any advice would be welcomed.

did you get this fixed?