Hi folks,
Got to my observing site last night only to find that my HEQ5 Pro mount wouldn't turn on. It is a second-hand mount bought from some guy in QLD so no chance of a warranty replacement.
I run the mount using a portable battery pack (that has a cigarette lighter plug). This has worked in the past without problems... just not last night.
I did some problem-tracing while I was freezing my you-know-what off...:
- If I plug the hand controller into the power directly, it works fine (so the power cable and the battery aren't the issue).
- I tried jiggling the power plug inside the mount in all directions to check if the plug had a loose connection. No luck.
- I tried turning the mount on without the hand controller plugged into the mount (long shot, I know). No luck.
- I unmounted the telescope to look inside the power plug on the mount (to check if there was anything in there preventing the power cable from connecting to the mount). No luck.
- I tested other devices (laptop, iPad and digital camera all simultaneously) powered by the battery pack to ensure there was enough juice. They all worked fine, so I am confident the battery isn't the problem.
So it seems to me as if the issue is with the mount itself. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to figure out what the problem may be and how to fix it?
Thanks in advance,
Dave