Interesting disclaimer from Andrews Comms

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I thought this was one to watch out for in second-hand gear, from the Andrews Comms website

"EQ5C dual axis motor drive kit on special...only $199.00 AUD!
Includes an 8 x "D" cell battery tray (total voltage = 12Vdc ).
This motor drive also fits Saxon EQ5(C) type equatorial mounts!

Note! External DC power supply operation is not recommended for this motor drive controller or any similar motor drive controllers from China or Taiwan - even if the power supply is well-regulated! Use batteries only!
Such operation may void warranty conditions as virtually all of these controllers have no DC voltage protection or regulation fitted. "

Batteries only on an EQ5 drive :eek:

Cheers

[casstony]

Geoff, I wonder if there aren't mistakes in the website info. Any EQ5 style drive I've seen is 6 volt and has a 4 D cell battery pack, so obviously plugging in a 12v supply would be bad.

The bigger mounts are 12v and are supplied with an 8 D cell battery pack or can be run from a 12v external supply.

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I dunno really, my experience isn't broad enough. I do have a SW EQ5 goto, and it is 12V.

It just seems odd to warn against ANY 12V supply, even regulated, on the grounds that voltage regulation is absent. I am mystified what "DC protection" is.

Cheers

[casstony]

I was only referring to the dual axis drives. Bintel sells 6v drives for the EQ5 and my Orion Skyview Pro is supplied with 6v drives, whereas the dual axis drives on the HEQ5 are 12v.

[frolinmod]

Perhaps reverse polarity protection. Or perhaps overvoltage protection or undervoltage protection. Who knows...