Heq5pro Slewing Problem

[pjphilli]

Hi
I have just spent about an hour trying to get my HEQ5PRO mount to slew.
I have followed all the setting up procedures and preset the scope at the park position. However, when I go to slew to the alignment stars the scope does not slew but gives the message "slewing complete". It does this with all the alignment stars and if I escape from alignment it will not slew to other objects or to the park position either.
I notice that sometimes on initial power on the message "start from park position" is indicated and the scope sometimes seems to operate normally if this is the case. But mostly this message is not seen and the scope does not slew.
Am I still doing something wrong with the start up? All other conditions with the scope seem normal and I am operating from a fully charged battery which was showing 12.3volts which is normal. The scope has been working properly over the past couple of nights, but I have had this problem before which only seemed to go away after many re-starts.
Cheers Peter

[h0ughy]

does it dim when you slew? have you set the slew speed to 9 for a manual slew? have you re engaged the axis lock?

[Tandum]

It's not low power is it? The red LED on the mount flashes with low power.

[AlexN]

My first thought was as David said, Axis perhaps aren't locked.. does it sound like its slewing? motors making more noise than the usual whine??

[Karls48]

Measure voltage on your battery under the load condition. Connect your multimeter to the battery terminals and then slew the scope. 12.3V on your battery after full charge, with no load is indicating that your battery is on its way to the scrap.

[White Rabbit]

Sounds to me like you arnt giving it enough amps. The mount needs 2 amps and if you bought a 12v adapter from dicksmiths it may only be miliamps.
Make sure the power supply is 12v and 2amps.

[pjphilli]

Thanks All for the prompt replies. I will look into all your suggestions. I notice that JayCars has a 12voltdc 5amp switchmode supply for about $30.
Do you think that this will do the trick? - I know some don't like switchmode
power supplies but I don't know why. I also have a feeling that my problem may be a software glitch that I am somehow triggering? Cheers Peter

[AlexN]

make sure that 12v5a switchmode powersupply is regulated.. if it is, that will definitely be sufficient.

[pjphilli]

Thanks Alex and Others

This afternoon I have again been doing extensive testing with the mount.
I made sure that my battery was fully charged and I also tried the mount
with my benchtop regulated power supply capable of supplying 4 amps.
Still no go - ie the mount does not even try to slew but straight away delivers the message "slewing complete" when an attempt is made to go to
an alignment star or other objects.

Voltage checks and the steady red led on the paddle indicates there are no power problems.

However, after many attempts the mount did start to slew but it failed again after about three starts.

Something that might be significant is that the mount seems to work when
straight after Initializing and the following beep the message comes up
"START FROM PARKED POSITION?"
The times it does not work it appears to come up with the message
"NO LINK TO M.C. STAND-ALONE MODE". I do not know what this message means and there is no reference to it in the instruction manual. Could this be my problem and how can I force the mount to always start from the parked position?

Cheers Peter

[jinxsta]

Hi, I had a similar problem and found that it would start up normally slew, align and goto and then would lose the connection from time to time.
What was hapening the square black plug on the hand paddle cord was being pulled just far enough to lose the connection when slewing it would catch on the axis lock lever. What I did was turn the cord around so that the square black plug end was at the hand paddle end if that makes sense.
Since then I haven't had the problem or the same m.c stand alone message that you have been getting.

[Zuts]

This message appears (on my EQ6 Synscan 3.2) hand controller if you power up the controller without connecting it to the mount. For example if you wish to flash the bios.

I had a similar problem recently. The problem went away when I upgraded to the latest BIOS.

I would say flash the BIOS. Then if the problem doesnt go away try your controller on another mount and their controller on your mount. If a different controller works I would be checking for lose wires inside and if your controller works on another mount, check for lose wires in the mount.

Hope this helps
Paul

[pjphilli]

Hi
Daniel - Thanks - I understand your point and I will follow your advice.
Paul - Thanks - I checked the wiring externally and internally and unplugged/replugged the small plugs. The control board wiring appeared ok
and I must say of high quality. My paddle had Version 3.20 installed and I have now reloaded latest Version 3.22 from the net (a procedure that went smoothly - phew!). I then tried the paddle and on first couple of attempts received the "No link ---" message. I then tried unlugging/replugging the paddle with the mount powered up. This time I heard a distinct click (like a relay) inside the mount and the mount then worked properly. I then tried re-initiating the power up, Initiation, star alignment, object finding several times and all went well. Sometimes, but not always, I receive the "do you want to start from the park position" message but I consistently hear the reassuring click after Initiation and the dreaded "No link ---" message has not returned (yet) - time will tell! Many thanks for your excellent advice.
Cheers Peter

[SMR]

Sounds like you're making progress ... good news.

The "start from park position?" message appears at start-up if you told the mount to park before you shut it down. This means you don't have to re-do your star alignment if you haven't moved the scope or mount while it was switched off. Just switch it on, say "yes", enter the time and away you go.

Steve.

[RobF]

Peter,

Just wondering if you still get any problems?
My new HEQ5Pro is doing all the things you describe. Have tried upgrading to latest 3.23 firmware (which seemed to go fine), but still getting dropouts from time to time.

I'll have to try reversing the hand controller cable though...

Rob

[Chippy]

As of today, I'm the proud new owner of HEQ5Pro myself. Hope I don't have the same problems being reported here. But great to know help is at hand if I do :) and also great to be a member of the 'HEQ5Pro' Club! Whoohoo!!

I've never used an EQ mount before, and wasn't really planning on getting one just yet, but one came up for sale 2nd hand -so I thought what the heck. You only live once right ;)

Noticed it has SynScan 3.10 - is it worth upgrading straight away?

Hope your problems are gone for good BTW.

[gmbfilter]

My new mount is doing all this strange "stuff" that's being described works well then not so well its even done 360's on several occasions. I will get replacement handset next week and hopefully this will all go away

[RobF]

I think most people in the HEQ club are happy Chippy - hope you stay happy too!

Mentioned in another thread Geoff started I think I may have confirmed my problems were due to poor connection between handset and mount. Reversing cord and wedging plug at handset end made it behave very well for hours and lots of slewing around tonight.

I'm definitely a GOTO addict now - "found" stuff tonight that would have taken me hours before with my tiny old 4.5" newt and micro-finder!! :thumbsup:

[pjphilli]

Hi All
Looks like I opened the proverbial can of worms by originally opening this thread.
Rob - Yes I am still getting the same problem with my HEQ5Pro. I have just upgraded to the newest version 3.2.3 software but I am not confident that this will fix the problem.
A few nights ago it took me 3/4 hour before my mount stopped playing up, then it performed perfectly for the rest of the night. The problems I had were getting the message that the mount was not connected and when I did connect and tried to do alignment the mount went to crazy directions.
I am not sure whether the problem is hardware or firmware.
I too suspected the lead as I am not too impressed by RJ-45 connectors for hand controller cables as I think there is too much freedom of movement in the plug/socket connection. However, by extensive wiggling, changing the cord around etc I have not been able to prove that this is the problem.
The fact that when I can eventually get the mount going and it then performs perfectly, appears to me that the problem is in the initial firmware/hardware handshake. I hope that somebody will eventually throw some light on this problem. Geoff, best of luck with the new handset, please let us know the results. Cheers Peter

[mick pinner]

l hope you guys get your problems sorted, however it is not your responsability to waste your time with these hassles. the problems you describe have been going on from day one, IMO ring the supplier tell them the mount is coming back and you would like it returned when all the problems are fixed, otherwise they will keep sending out mounts to other customers with the same problems. these are not high end mounts but the suppliers have a duty to supply a mount that does what it promises.

[danielsun]

Yes, You are not alone with this problem. I have been having the exact same problem with my new EQ6 with the erratic runaway slews and NO LINK TO MC STAND ALONE MODE messages, and I am not 100% but I think it may be the hand controller to mount connection because only once whilst trying to find the problem It seemed to do it when I gave the cord a wiggle but other times nothing. What makes it difficult to diagnose is that t only does it at totally random times and the last 2 sessions of use it has been faultless.
So I will continue on and if I find any firm answers I will definitely keep everyone posted.

Cheers Daniel

[RobF]

I spent a few hours playing, and found I could often get the mount/handset connection to fail during a slew by shaking and "twanging" the handset and cable quite aggressively. By "fail", I mean the slew wouldn't arrive correctly, or the handset wouldn't respond after arrival. In almost every case then, powering off and on gave the "unable to connect to m.c. / stand-alon message" which to me says "My handset brain can't talk to the mount!".

Since reversing the cable and wedging the handset end RJ45 carefully with a piece of plastic it seemed fine for an extended session of aligning and GOTOing last night. Still a bit soon for me to say problem solved though I guess. Certainly, I haven't been able to get it to fail the "twang test" since!

Being in Brissy dealing with Sydney (Andrews) by post/phone, I'm not too keen to return it if I can avoid it - even if it means having to mess around with it a bit.

[pjphilli]

Hi Rob
I see this problem has spread over to another thread where quite a few others are reporting similar difficulties and even someone with a HEQ6 is seeing the same problems.
I live in Sydney and I have bought most of my gear from Andrew Lee at Greystanes. He is a nice guy and employs Luke who has a Astrophysics Degree who is most helpful and cooperative.
I got my first HEQ5Pro mount from them in early June. After just one outing the dreaded "not connected" message appeared. I could not clear this after countless retries. So I took the mount back to Andrews and got a complete replacement. The "new" one is not quite as bad as the first one but I am not confident at all that I will not have to spend a large slice of my viewing time coaxing the thing to perform. I am getting the impression that this is a design fault which appears in a large number of these mounts. I am losing patience with my "new" mount and it looks like another trip to Andrews may be in the offing. A pity as otherwise it is a great mount.
Cheers Peter

[RobF]

There's nothing more demoralising than an intermittent fault that's hard to demonstrate. Definitely interested to hear how you go with the "new" mount in future sessions Peter.

My gut feeling is its connection issues. Shame the connection isn't wireless or bluetooth or something, but hey, its amazing technology for the price really. Hope we haven't "lucked" onto a bad batch from the factory.

[AlexN]

You think you would have LESS connection issues with wireless or bluetooth.... No offence, but HAHAHAHHAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH

AHAHAHH
HAH..
Ahh...

That was hillarious.

[Tandum]

I get the runaway problem now and then and it's not connection related, it's software for sure. I get it sometimes when doing a star allignment, it just keeps going after I release the arrow button. I've found changing the slew rate while it's running away stops the mount, but pressing an arrow key starts the runaway again but at the new slew rate. Pressing the enter key when the runaway scope passes over the alignment star stops it and calibrates it.

I tend to calibrate if shooting east and recalibrate if shooting west. The first cal may or may not run away and the second cal may or may not run away. There is nothing repetative in it at all and I can't foresee when it will happen. I've just learnt to live with it :)

[marki]

Wow, I have had no trouble with mine at all in resect to pointing (ver 3:21) it just does what it supposed to do. It did give me some hassle when I updated from ver 3.10 but that was more to do with the usb-serial connection then anything else. I hope you guys get it sorted as a mount that performed that badley would drive me nuts and I would certainly be banging on the dealers door demanding a fix or money back.

Mark

[Karls48]

I got my HEQ5 vPro from Andrews in May. Hand controller did come with V3.1 software and I updated it to V3.21. Same as Marki, the update was very slow via USB to Serial converter. Mount is fixed on pier and I use it for imagining with GStar EX camera. I do one star alignment every time I use it. Then I switch the control to SkyMap11 using ASCOM’s Celestron driver.
The mount will always put target object in FOV of the camera. I have never experienced runaway slew. Only 2 times the mount did not finished the slew and got stuck half way. Going back to original object and the slewing again fixed that. I got few small problems with it, but I think that’s my fault. Sync in SkyMap doesn’t work properly, and when I tried Eqmod the alignment always failed. I’m very happy with this mount, it is huge improvement on EQ 3 with Autostar Modification I had before. I get about 1.5-pixel drift per minute in RA and 1 pixel in DEC. For the camera I’m using it is OK. I’m powering my mount from old car battery.
I have been working with various microcontrolers for past 16 years. That is the brain in your mount’s controller. Basically – they either work or they don’t. I have not seen yet intermittent microcontroler. So what are the possible causes of the problems some of you are experiencing.
Software – If you still running original V3.1 that your controller did come with, update to V3.21. It works on my mount and on others people too. V3.1 was original software and most likely it got lots of bugs in it

Power – The mount needs power source that can provide at least 12V and 2A DC. When you switch the mount on or when it starts slewing the power drain on your power supply can be 6A or more for few milliseconds. If your power source cannot supply required current, the voltage will drop under 12V however briefly and the voltage regulators that are usually regulating voltage for the micro will drop out of regulation and supply lots of noise to the micro. Microcontroler will then act unpredictably – like runaway slews. Electric motors draw 3 to 10 times more current on start up then what they draw when they run.
To test your battery or power supply – get 5W 2.7Ohm wire wound resistor. Wire it between probes of you multimeter (parallel). Touch your battery terminals – power supply output terminals with multimeter probes for about 2- 3 second. If the voltage drops below 12V your power supply is no good for powering HEQ5. Do not leave probes connected any longer or you will burn out the resistor or your power supply.
Dry solder joins – those are very rare today as almost all the electronics are SMD and are soldered by machines.
Bad connections and broken wires in the leads and the connectors are very likely cause of the problems.

[gmbfilter]

:):):):) BINTEL had my new handset + cable, I upgraded to V3.21 and put it on the mount it works as advertised...very happy.

Did a 2 star align. I just agreed with the first stars that came up only 1:30PM... no stars visible then went to the moon which was up. BINGO in the field of view of camera (40d with 70-200 )

Fiddled with the slewing buttons for ages keep going back to the moon tracked the moon for about 4 hours and it was still on the same AF spot in viewfinder

[AlexN]

Good to hear it got sorted out for you Geoff. :) Dont you just love it when things work as they should.

[pjphilli]

Hi Carl
Thanks for the interesting information regarding your experience and the problem of momentary voltage drop under high initial slew current. This got me thinking about the rather slim 2 metre power lead supplied with the mount. I have just measured that the loop resistance of this lead under a constant 2 amp current is 0.13ohms. This would give a voltage drop of 0.78v with a 6 amp load - so although contributing slightly to the problem the lead looks pretty robust for normal operation.
That is a good point though when operating the mount through a regulated power supply which normally give a sharp and rapid voltage drop when the max current rating is exceeded.
At present I am operating from a 5amp max switchmode power supply. Previously I was using a good fully charged 12volt car battery. In both cases the problem that I (and apparently others) am experiencing is only on start up. It appears that the mount gets into a false start up condition which either results in a "not connected..." message or crazy initial movements of the mount. I find that if after several attempts I eventually achieve normal start up and can proceed with a three star alignment after which the mount works perfectly for the rest of the night. I think that the problem is in the initial firmware/hardware handshake perhaps caused by something such as marginal pulse lengths.
I would be interested if anyone else could throw some further light on this problem. Cheers Peter

[Merlin66]

I'd strongly suggest getting a computer step-up transformer 12V-16V for the HEQ mounting. They are usually selectable voltage output. I use 16V for the HEQ and up to 18V for the LX200.
I got mine from Jaycar and modified the output socket to a standard car socket; driven from a 12V 20Ah rechargeable gives 100% performance every time

[AlexN]

Even though my mount is not a HEQ5, I think its also worth noting that I've had no issues what so ever running from a rechargeable 12v 17Ah portable jump starter.

[marki]

I use a lab power supply (0 - 30V, 20A) but only at 12V and my mount does what its supposed to do. Interesting thoughts about the current draw Karl. I have watched mine to see what the mount draws (supply has display for both voltage and current) but have never seen it top about 1 amp even as the motors start to slew (not sure if this is the norm though). I do use 18V with the meade as that has 24V motors and is a lot happier then when I use it at 12V.

Mark

[Karls48]

Mark, to see those current spikes you will need storage CRO. They last only milliseconds, too short to measure with multimeter or normal oscilloscope.

[pjphilli]

Hi Rob, Karl and Others
I have installed latest Version 3.23 software. This version is to correct some software faults including a lockup problem when the alignment procedure is skipped to go directly to object selection. I have now done some tests to see whether this has made any difference to my problem viz: mount not connecting on start-up, ("not connected ..." message received) and/or slewing to weird directions on startup.
To test I started up, went through procedures of alignment, object selection, parking, turn off, leaving at least 30 seconds between successive
start ups to ensure that the mount electronics were started from a dormant condition. As well, between start-ups, I disconnected the paddle leads reversed them, shook the lead around, disconnected and reconnected power.
In all of the above tests the mount performed faultlessly, connected correctly every time, aligned and pointed to objects correctly.
So this looks encouraging but I will not be convinced until I have completed several nights of successful mount performance (perhaps Murphy is playing games with me!).
Perhaps others who have had start up problems could try Version 3.23 and report your results on this thread. Cheers Peter

[danielsun]

That's great news so far pjphilli.:thumbsup:
I will do the same and upgrade my EQ6pro and I hope that it fixes mine because I really don't want to go through the hassle of sending my mount back. :(

Let's hope it holds up.;)

Cheers Daniel.

[marki]

Fair enough Karl, I dont have anything so highly technical but I do have a milling machine which is where my HEQ5 Pro will be going if it starts behaving like the gents have described below. I'll make screwdriver handles out of the bugger :D.

Mark

[RobF]

I upgraded to 3.23 and still had some out of control episodes - pretty sure they didn't stop until I reversed the lead and wedged the hand-controller end. One long (4hr) session after that was perfect, but haven't had opportunity to get out again. Hoping the Brissy clouds clear for Friday/Sat though. :thumbsup:

Pleasing to see Alex running EQ6 off same size battery I'm using - I gather these things can be somewhat variable in quality/longevity though.

Also interested to hear if 3.23 helped anyone else. Certainly glad I kept my old PC (with serial port)

[pjphilli]

Hi Rob - Ah, and I thought I might have found the silver bullet!
Hi Daniel - Please let us know your results. I too am reluctant to send my mount back as when it is working it is a ripper!
Cheers Peter

[Tandum]

I run mine off a car battery and I've tried making new cables.
I still get the run away problem sometimes. FIIK?
My eq6 is awaiting pickup.

[RobF]

Mine ran off once last night while I was aligning at a higher rate to centre on a star for 3 star alignment. Hopeing to get out again tonight (if wind, wife and sky alllow) before I decide on whether to ask for return.

Has anyone found a way to recover? I mean, if you're all aligned and it runs off you're pretty well screwed and have to cal all over again from what I can tell?

Starting to wish the budget would have stretched to an EQ6, sigh.

[gmbfilter]

The new handset fixed my mount completely. It works just like it's supposed to.

Ive had it running night & day (tracking the Sun), parking it, 1,2 or 3 star alignment everything I can think of.

Perhaps the nature of the quality assurance of this and a lot of other gear is just to replace it, not repair at all.
I struggled a couple of weeks to make it work, to fix it, when it was beyond my control....just replace the handset.
It was good to get back to observing.

[jinxsta]

Hi all another way I found to cure my problems apart from reversing hand controller lead was go and get a cat 6 patch cable from dicksmiths the connections seem nice and tight and I haven't had one problem yet except the the cat 6 cable is stiffer than the coiled cable. Just make sure its not a cross over cable as there is 2 wires reversed in the pinouts and may damage the mount or hand controller.
I got the 10 meter cable only cause Ive got a perment peir set up and the hand controller sits next to the pc.
One other thing the black square case on the hand controller lead is some sort of noise surpressor it looks like a magnet but isn't (someone more electronically minded maybe able to clear up the name) so it might be possiable that some sort of electrical garbage is upsetting the hand controller ? unsure just a thought.

Jinxsta

[danielsun]

No RobF, once it runs away I have to switch it off and start over and the thing is that some times when my mount runs away there is no way of me stopping it unless I hit the kill switch.
and it's not just the HEQ5's, I just sold one which was perfect to get my EQ6 pro which has the problems.
I also know it is not a power supply problem because I have a 2.5 amp power supply and also a 17amp/hr jump pack and my mount has played up with both.

Cheers Daniel

[danielsun]

Other than Stand alone mode problems and runaway slews does anyone else have the problem of the DEC axis not moving at all during some slews?
And some of the lights on my hand controller have blacked out.

[RobF]

I'm going to have to get on to Andrew's next week.

Another 3 hr session tonight, and had a lot of trouble getting an inital 3 star alignment. At one stage I looked down and caught the LEDs on the handset dim, brighten, dim without me touching anything which definitely looked like connection problems again to me.

Tried a soft piece of tubing to wedge mount end connection and a new rubber/felt wedge at handset end. Also put a large rubber band around coiled cord at mount end to take up tension rather than mount connection holding it. Thought that had it fixed for an hour or so, but on 3 separate occasions fine slewing started to wander until I gently tweaked cable near handset end - sure it wasn't hard enough to disturb the connection - I'm starting to wonder about a broken wire in the coil.

Didn't stop me doing what I wanted to tonight, but not good enough for a new mount.

[RobF]

Daniel (Jinxsta), have you actually replaced your cable with that cat6, or extended?

Daniel(sun), I agree high speed slews you can't stop unless you power off - escape doesn't work. Tonight a had a few low speed wanders that I seemed to be able to recover from though.

Geoff - you lucky bugger - sure you don't want to send that handset and cable to Brissy for a few months "quality control"? ;)

[jinxsta]

I replaced the coiled handset controler with the cat 6 network cable its great cause I can just sit at the laptop and not have to get up and down.

[gmbfilter]

No

Although I got this from BINTEL I've bought heaps from ANDREWS they have always been very helpful

The factory must find its cheaper to replace bits and pieces rather than extra QA step..opps doesn't work thy this one. It generally works too, the prices for astro technology is very cheep compared to 10-15 years ago

[pjphilli]

Hi Geoff
Next time you switch on could you note your Version number and let us know? I recently installed Version 3.23 and this seemed to fix my problems - but time will tell!
Cheers Peter

[gmbfilter]

Peter,
Version 3.23
Good Luck

[pjphilli]

Hi Geoff - thanks for the info.
Hi Rob - If you are going to contact Andrew Lees, ask for Luke who is his astro "expert". Luke has a degree in Astro Physics and is working toward his Master's degree. He is friendly and knowledgeable and by now may have some clues as to your problem as he may have had some feedback from others with similar problems. I would be interested to know the results of your contact in due course.
Cheers Peter

[RobF]

It was the cable.

Replaced today with Dick Smith 5m cat 6 and its taken everything I've thrown at it tonight for hours (first time ever).

Only one session, but fits with what I was starting to zero in on from last couple of sessions - twisting the cable where it fits into the plastic plug seemed to fix/break connection. All that pain for a @#$!$# cable.

Speculation - EQ6 owners have a decent serial plug on one end, so 50% less chance of these sorts of issues. The coiled cable is quite soft and only held lightly in the socket (much less robust than average run of the mill network cable). Gradual twisting stress as mount pivots around eventually breaks contact (especially as mount is in high speed slew).

Thanks Daniel :thumbsup::bowdown::thumbsup:




Yes Peter - have talked to both Luke and Lee over the phone now and both extremely helpful - one of the reasons I bought from Andrews. I guess I should try and get my cable replaced - haven't called yet - wanted to see how cat6 went first.

[gmbfilter]

"Speculation - EQ6 owners have a decent serial plug on one end, so 50% less chance of these sorts of issues. The coiled cable is quite soft and only held lightly in the socket (much less robust than average run of the mill network cable). Gradual twisting stress as mount pivots around eventually breaks contact (especially as mount is in high speed slew)."

I have Argonavis with the same plug and it cops a hiding for years
When I was mucking about with mine, I tried a different cable from Dick Smith with out success

GOOD NEWS
Keep having fun

[pjphilli]

Hi Rob - Great news - patience and perseverance eh?
Although my mount appears to be going OK I will keep a close watch
on that connecting cable. The type of plug/socket used is most unsuitable
for connections where there is movement. Why they went away from the miniature D type plugs/sockets which have proved reliable over many years?
- probably cost I suppose. Cheers Peter

[pjphilli]

Hi
Apart from problems noted in previous replies I would like to replace the lead that came with my HEQ5Pro with a longer lead. I see that the JayCar catalogue has Cat 5e flexible patch leads, RJ45 to RJ45 of my required length of 2 metres. Is Cat 6 cable necessary or would one of these leads be OK?
Cheers Peter

[jinxsta]

pjphilli cat 5e patch cable should work. The diference between cat 5e and cat 6 is the higher standard of cabling, cable etc as long as its a patch cable and not a cross over cable I can't see a problem but I must stress I have not actually pluged in a cat 5e cable just my 2 cents worth but I would like a softer cable to run to mount will look for a cat 5e cable to for my self.

[Tandum]

My EQ6 arrived today so I now have a spare handset and controller to see what makes a difference. Unfortunately, due to my broken foot, I'm still not allowed to walk for another month :(

[pjphilli]

Thanks Daniel
At $5.25 the 5e patch cable is worth a punt so I will get one when I am in town next week, try it and report here on the results.
Cheers Peter

[gmbfilter]

Hot to it, don't you have another foot?

[RobF]

Hope you're mobile again soon. Telescope problems are bad enough.

Try not to kick your EQ6 this time around?!

[Tandum]

Pain in the arse/foot to say the least. The foot doesn't hurt, the surgeon cut all the nerves, it's numb.

[BC]

I've been having the occasional out-of-control (OOC) slewing with my EQ6 Pro. After reading a lot about it on the Astrolounge site they talked about it being voltage related, so I swapped from my Super Cheap jump pack to the 13.8V Dick Smith 23A (yes, overkill) unit. Things have improved a lot, but I still get one major OOC each night, with a quick power-off to stop it hitting the tripod; so regulated voltage is good but ain't everything. Can I get one of these cat 6 patch cables with the phone type connector at one end and the serial connector at the other? How sure are people that it is the connection cable vs the handset vs the software.

On a brighter note, the goto's are fantastic. Just reminding people that the goto is simply a mathematical calculation and if using the scope for visual, polar aligning and detailed levelling just aren't that necessary. I put it down pointing roughly south and roughly level and do a 3 star alignment. The objects land in the FOV at 60x which keeps me happy; until it slews wildly of course, which is why I jumped in on this thread.

Thoughts welcome,
Bruce

[pjphilli]

Hi Bruce
This is a "blast from the past" as it is exactly a year since I complained about problems with my HEQ5Pro. I guess you have followed up on this thread where it appears that others were having problems with power or leads or software.
I eventually solved my problem by reloading the latest HEQ5Pro firmware and the mount has performed perfectly since. I was also able to replace the silly short curly cord with a 2 metre Cat5e Patch lead. Simple with this mount which has RJ45 connectors at both ends. I understand that for some reason the EQ6 has an RJ45 at one end and a type D? connector at the other end.
Why they didn't go the whole hog and put type D at both ends as it is a far better connector for this purpose than the RJ45. I have looked in my Jcar catalogue (which is pretty comprehensive re cords) and I am unable to see a RJ45/Serial cable cord or an adaptor so you may have to get one wired up being careful to replicate the original cord's pin to pin connections.
My impression is that power supplies are not a problem so long as you have a properly regulated one capable of delivering the required current
(2amps for the HEQ5Pro). I have actually run my HEQ5Pro on a regulated power supply with only 1amp max capacity without problems.
Have you tried downloading the latest EQ6 firmware? The instructions should be in your handbook and it is quite an easy task - at least for the EQ5.
Sorry I can't be of more help as I realise how frustrating your problem is considering my early experience with my HEQ5.
Cheers Peter

[RobF]

Yes - the (un) happy memories are all coming back to me...!
The Synta mounts seem to be reliable workhorses for most people Bruce, but any of the things you listed can infrequently cause people problems. Intermittent failures can be very frustrating to encounter and troubleshoot. My suggestions in order would be:

1. Try latest firmware (maybe...see below)
2. Cable - anyone you could swap with nearby with a reliable EQ6?
3. Handset - you pretty well have to take it back if in warranty, or replace
4. EQMOD - I use my laptop and EQMOD freeware software now to control the scope. You still have to much around with cables, interfaces, game controllers etc though

I said maybe for 1 because most PCs now don't have serial ports and some people get into all sorts of trouble finding a compatable USB/serial interface that works.

[pjphilli]

Hi Rob
I noticed an occasional mention of the EQMOD software. What are the advantages of changing to this software?
Cheers Peter

[BC]

Hi,

I spoke with the store I bought the EQ6 from (NVT in WA) about the intermittent uncontrolled slewing and they put me straight onto the technician in Sydney. The technician checked on my power supply and reckoned it would be very unlikely to be in the cables, but more likely in the hand controller or motherboard. He decided that it was easier to send me a motherboard to fit myself than do all the shipping business. I only spoke with him yesterday lunchtime and there's a replacement motherboard in the letter box this afternoon......astounding service. :thumbsup: Keen to try it out.

On the EQMOD stuff; I only do visual at this stage and I enjoy moving a little this way or than while viewing; I'm intrigued how EQMOD does this without holding a laptop in my hands while looking down the focuser?:shrug:

Bruce

[RobF]

EQMOD really only starts to make sense if you always take your laptop out the field with you. I do now I've been bitten badly by the imaging bug. In particular it has some nice control over tracking (you can set the sensitivity of the pulse guiding, and don't have to use a Shoestring USB model through the ST4 port). You do really need some sort of controller (like a wireless gamepad) otherwise yes you will end up trying to use your mouse or keyboard from the eyepiece, which isn't really a goer.

There are threads here on it, and I'm happy to explain more if people are interested.

I was never really at home with my keypad even after I got it going. Typical set up for me now is to have Starry Night controlling slews and Gotos, EOS software controlling remote shooting of the 450D, Notepad open for details of shots I'm attempting, Guidemaster or Phd for guiding, and various software for assisting with polar alignment. Usually behaves very well on a 2nd hand laptop running XP.

[RobF]

That does sound like great service Bruce! Hope that board fixes all your troubles.

[pjphilli]

Re EQ5MOD. Thanks Rob. I usually align on two stars with the EQ5 paddle then go over to Starry Night to chase my objects for the night. EQ5MOD looks like a possibility for the future. I will do a search for other threads and possibly get back to you with further questions sometime in the future!
Cheers Peter

[BC]

Just a quick follow-up on the out-of-control slewing on the EQ6 Pro. The change of motherboard didn't really fix it so the service guy swapped my hand controller for a different one. It hasn't done a thing wrong since then which is fantastic. It makes viewing a pleasure again instead of a hit-and-miss frustration.

Bruce