Vixen gp mount controller sd-1

[Swagman105 (Geoff)]

Hello all
Joined IIS about two years ago to start rekindling my interest in astronomy. Since then things have been somewhat interrupted with my remarriage and two house moves fortunately ending up with a property with good skies at Daisy Hill near Maryborough in Victoria.
Now relatively more settled am ready to have another go, particularly astrophotography as I have seen some wonderful examples of what some of us have achieved. I have been warned how expensive and difficult this can be but I am not deterred as JFK said once "we do this not because it is easy but because it is hard"
Had the opportunity to aquire an old (one might even say neglected looking) Vixen outfit consisting of an 80mm refractor but with a strong looking Vixen tripod and GP mount)
I thought my first step in astrophotography would be to get some practice by simply mounting my Canon 60DA and a telephoto lens directly to the GP mount.
Unfortunately the SD-1 single axis controller that came with the mount does not operate (has no output voltage) and am wondering where I could obtain a replacement or perhaps have the existing one fixed.

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Yes these Vixen controllers are not the most reliable things.
I fixed my DMD-3 unit some years back - and I don't have any expertise in electronics. It was all a matter of loose solder joints on the board.
I suggest you open it up and inspect it with a magnifying glass and ohm meter. You may find the offending wires/joints and be able to re-solder them.
It is unfortunate that soon after Vixen update a mount, the controller units disappear from the spare parts and accessories listings

[dannat (Daniel)]

peter tan at tan14.com has replacements available for purchase, both original & after-market, email him for details

[Swagman105 (Geoff)]

Thanks Dannat and Mekon for your input here. I looked up Peter Tan and seems a good resource. I sent an email but still waiting to hear whether he can source a replacement SD-1 or repair.
This weekend I attended a garage sale locally and acquired a 240/10v telephone equipment (no idea what) transformer in a mixed lot of stuff and just as an exercise tried it out on the SD-1 and lo! i have output!
The manual says to use a power voltage of 6.5 to 12v so maybe the other transformer (non original- but supposedly 12v) I was using may have just been a little higher or perhaps the socket/plug geometry was a little off.
I will still follow up with Peter Tan as his Suneast site seems a good resource for maybe hard to find things.
Cheers Geoff