Motor Board

[Astromaniac]

Hi All,

Anyone know where to get the motor board for a Celestron NexStar 6 SE? I have accidentally (I think) fried the board. I'm not sure yet. More testing to do but all indication are that the board is kaput. Celestron sells them but only for the USA market. :help: :thanx:

Cheers,

John

[The_bluester]

There is a supplier in aus but I can not recall who it is, bintel knew.

I must follow it up again, I need to replace the PC interface board in my CPC mount. My son blew it up with a spark plug of all things.

[Astromaniac]

G'Day Paul,

Yeah! Bad luck.:sadeyes:

I've checked bintel, they don't stock Celestron products. If you find out I'll be keen to know.:D

Cheers,

John

[PeterM]

The Australian distributors are Sheldon and Hammond. They may or may not be able to get you a board. You could try purchasing one in the USA by using a shipper there to act on your behalf and then forward it to you, I'm sure some here know of reputable companies they can recommend. Unless you know someone in USA who can help you. What about Andrews can they get parts?

[The_bluester]

Did some digging, Sheldon and Hammond were the contact Bintel gave me. I should give them a try, but I never used mine with a PC as I took a look at the interface on PC and thought it was really clunky and left it at that. Basically an on screen graphic of a hand controller. Not really worth the effort for me, I should check up in case they are actually cheap enough to do it anyway.

(02) 9482 6666

[Astromaniac]

G'Day Guys,

Well thank for trying. I've actually found a supplier in the USA , after spending a good part of today searching. It's at www.astronomy.net. It is $114 USD. Next week is pension week.:D

Cheers,

John

[Astromaniac]

G'Day All,

Further to my previous post I've discovered that the motor board on my NexStar 6 SE is part no. NXW438 while the one on sale at telescope.net is part No. NXW437. I haven't been able to find my part number anywhere.:sadeyes:
Also the global Celestron site doesn't show the parts page if it detects an overseas IP.:P

Cheers,

John

[bobbyf]

I used S&H for my CG5 board replacement 2 months ago and i thought they were really good. Fortunately they had stock, and they shipped quickly. Reasonably expensive, but then again we live here, so thats a given.
Give Carol a call in repairs and see if they have stock
02 94826666
Cheers

Bob

[Astromaniac]

G'Day Bob,

Thanks for that. I will give Carol a call. Thanks again.

Cheers,

John

[Astromaniac]

G'Day,

An update on my search for a motor board for my Celestron NexStar 6 SE.
I've contacted Carol at Sheldon and Hammond, (as suggested by Bob), and she has been terrific. She has gone out of her way to help, calling back three times in the last two days, and as a consequence of this I'm sending the scope to her for repairs. She has promised to keep costs at a minimum and to look after me.

That's what is called SERVICE!:thumbsup: I will keep you informed of the progress of the repairs.

Cheers.

John

[The_bluester]

Just gave them a call myself and am waiting on a callback as I caught her at morning tea.

I am really not sure if it is worth the bother to replace the interface board that is cooked on mine as with the blowwn IC removed the scope does work fine, but if I ever want to use it with a PC I cant and honesty would make me tell any prospective buyer about it if I decided to sell it!

[The_bluester]

I followed up on mine too, the board will cost me about $50 posted so I will replace it. Though it is realistically worth about $5.

Had to convince them that I am an electronics tech with years of experience though before they would send it, they wanted me to send them the entire scope first up. That was never going to happen for a plug in part! Fitting it is a 10 minute job with basic hand tools.

[Camelopardalis]

Good to know... I get a lot of use out of my SE and would be gutted if it went kaput :(

Good luck with your repair :)

[Astromaniac]

G'Day All,

A follow up to the above.
The people at Sheldon and Hammond are an amazing friendly bunch. They've spent a lot of time testing my Celestron NexStar 6 SE and to cut it short found that the motor boards were ok and the problem was with the hand controller. It could have been repaired under warranty but the issue was that I couldn't provide them with the original purchase receipt having purchased the scope used (it's actually one year old and never used). It would cost $399 to replace the hand controller however the company has decided as a goodwill gesture to replace the hand controller free of charge. This goes well behind their duty of care. It has been an incredible birthday gift. Today is my birthday.:D

I have only praise for this company and its employees. They are willing to help and they go the extra mile to do it. Good on you Sheldon and Hammond.:thumbsup:

Cheers,

John

[Camelopardalis]

Can't say fairer than that :) What a gift - happy birthday indeed!

[RobF]

Great news. Glad to hear you've got an early Christmas present John! :)

[Astromaniac]

Thanks Rob and Dunk,

Yep an early Christmas present. BTW, now that I'm at it all the best for the coming festive season to you, family and all the mob at IIS.:xmas:

Cheers,