My ETX-90 is not well

[NeilW]

Hi,

A few nights back the RA gears on my Meade ETX-90 started making some awful noises. Opened it up the next day and there were bits of plastic floating about the housing, and a couple of bolts have come adrift as a result. Given the position of the broken parts, I don't think that glueing woudl be an option. I don't think it would hold.

It's an older model, and looking through some comments on Weasner's site, parts for them are apparently hard to come by. Someone suggested I ditch the Meade drive/Autostar altogether, get hold of an EQ3 and put it on that. Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks,

[AndrewJ]

Gday Neil

Parts are not normally available for users in the US
( they have to send back to factory ),
however, some Australian vendors do have/can get some spare parts.
Try BINTEL for starters.
Do you have a piccy of the motor/gearbox assy and what broke?
Depending on which bit broke, they may even have scrap parts from old boxes that can be reused.
The EQ3 is a viable option, but going polar for visual is a pain
and you lose the Austostar functionality and ease of set up.

Andrew

[UniPol]

Hi Neil,

If you decide to ditch the mount I have a spare ETX spotting scope visual back you can have which has been collecting dust for a few years. It is a very simple matter to swap the backs over. PM me if you want it.

Cheers,

Steve

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

There is a company in the states (Petersen Engineering) that sells all kinds of parts for older ETXs. There is another company that will give them a full makeover for a price of course - don't recall the name, sorry. Go to the OPT website and check out "Weasner's Corner" I believe he is the expert on all things ETX.
Alternatively, cloudynights.com has a dedicated ETX forum which should give some useful advice.
Good luck.
Peter

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by NeilW

Hi,

A few nights back the RA gears on my Meade ETX-90 started making some awful noises. Opened it up the next day and there were bits of plastic floating about the housing, and a couple of bolts have come adrift as a result. Given the position of the broken parts, I don't think that glueing woudl be an option. I don't think it would hold.

It's an older model, and looking through some comments on Weasner's site, parts for them are apparently hard to come by. Someone suggested I ditch the Meade drive/Autostar altogether, get hold of an EQ3 and put it on that. Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks,

I put my old ETX70 on a DS mount. There are pictures on Mike Weasners site of others doing the same with a ETX 90

[NeilW]

Thanks for the info folks. There's a guy here in Adelaide who'll attempt to fix it for me, so I'll see how that goes before going down any other paths.