Synscan hand controller problem

[raymo]

I have a very frustrating problem with my hand controller, and wondered whether anyone else has it. During some sessions[not every one], the
characters disappear from the LCD screen, and all command buttons
except the four motor control ones become inoperative. It continues to
track, and you can move the scope. The only way to bring it back to life
is to turn the mount off and back on again. Then , of course you have to do a 2 or 3 star alignment again. It never does it more than once during
a single session. Any ideas?
raymo

[acropolite]

Doesn't sound good Raymo, I've seen these types of problems caused by moisture, and sometimes cold temps. If the handbox is copping a lot of dew, It may be worth making sure the handbox is stored in a warm and dry environment between sessions, I always use a long cat 5 flylead instead of the curly cord and make sure the handbox stays dry.

[traveller]

Could be a loose cable connector. Have you opened it up? Any rattling sound when you shake it?
Or just get a EQDIR cable. :)
Bo

[raymo]

Thanks Phil and Bo. It is interesting that it is fine again if you turn
it off, and straight back on again.No rattles.
raymo

[jenchris]

Is it a straight cat 5 or is it a crossover cable on this mount? (sorry, hijack over)

[raymo]

Hi Jen, It is the original coiled type cable; I have a spare one, and it does
it when that is fitted too.Both have been recrimped after early problems.
It is an HEQ5 Pro Go To
raymo

[acropolite]

Jen, I use a standard cat5 flylead with a custom db9 adapter. If you have the Eq6 with db9 you can find the adapter info in this post (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=776505&postcount=7)

@ Raymo, crimps can be dodgy, depending on how firmly the crimp is done, the gold fingers within the connector can end up pushed in too deeply and can have problems contacting the socket connectors.

I've fixed many problems by crimping the connector less tightly with just enough pressure to ensure the gold crimp fingers penetrate the cable but don't go right through. If your cat 5 cable is made of solid rather than stranded cable then it could also be that the connectors are going O/C.

Solid conductor cable doesn't take well to being fitted with RJ plugs even of the plugs are specifically designed for solid conductor cable. There are lots of other possibilities including dry solder joints within the handbox.

[raymo]

Thanks for the post Phil. I wondered about the cable crimping too, as I
had problems with the cable quite a while ago, along with quite a few other people, judging by all the posts at the time. Since then, both the
recrimped one and the spare new one I bought have worked flawlessly.
I think the dry joint is much more likely. I only posted the problem
in case it was a known fault that other people have had.
raymo