My CGE mount appears to have died

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Hi guys,

I was using my Celestron CGE-C11 a couple of weeks ago and had pointed it at a few objects without a problem. I was slewing around from Saturn to Alpha Centauri when the drive went crazy. It was almost on target when it suddenly took off, finally stopping slightly below the horizon and perhaps 90 degrees to the east of the correct direction. I tried a few other targets and all ended up way off. I was able to borrow another battery and realign the scope again only to find the same problem. I also noticed if I pressed the "Home position" menu selection, it went crazy, heading below the horizon before I stopped it. It also appeared to be stuck on the menu, pressing "Undo" did not take it up one level on the menu, but rather chose the next option on the current menu.

I am hoping it is the hand controller as this would be the easiest to get repaired (I live in Melbourne and Celestrons are apparently serviced in NSW), I hate to think how much it would cost to send the head assembly and drive tower to there!

Anyone had similar problems? Or any educated guesses of the cause?

Thanks,
Trevor

[Tony_ (Tony)]

This may be too simple - but you could try reloading the latest firmware for the hand controller and mount and/or reset everything to factory defaults.
Otherwise it may be a fault with the Hand controller or mount electronics.

Regards,
Tony.

[Gem (Grant)]

Is it possible that the time/date or lat/long settings got changed accidently? It could be a GPS problem...

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by Gem

Is it possible that the time/date or lat/long settings got changed accidently? It could be a GPS problem...

The scope was working properly for about an hour (slewing from Omega Cen to Saturn, to Alpha Cen, back to Saturn), I selected Alpha Centauri from a list and then it went nuts. I even tried slewing from Alpha Centauri to Acrux and it moved more than 90 degrees!

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by OneOfOne

The scope was working properly for about an hour (slewing from Omega Cen to Saturn, to Alpha Cen, back to Saturn), I selected Alpha Centauri from a list and then it went nuts. I even tried slewing from Alpha Centauri to Acrux and it moved more than 90 degrees!

Sounds like a failed computer board in the scope Trevor. I had similar symptoms with my CG5 and it needed a replacement. Fortunately for me it was still under warranty when it happened.

[Paul Haese]

I have this same problem with my scope from time to time. I usually unplug the hand controller and the RA and Dec leads and give them a clean. It could be the board but I found auto slewing to be a dirty lead.

[Irish stargazer (John)]

I had a wonky computer board from day one on my CGE. The mount crashed into itself as soon as it was turned on. Needed a new board and worm gear. Took months for it to be fixed but it worked well afterwards. My experience was outside Australia. Hope you have better luck here. Who services Celestron in NSW?