Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
#3172373 - 06/19/09 10:24 PM
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So I got my CGEM at the end of April. The first thing I did when I got it was to set it up and through the switch. It worked like a champ. No problems, wasn't too loud, life was good. Then we have had two months of clouds and rain. This made me an unhappy camper, but today was really the first time that I could get it out under the stars.
As soon as I get home I set everything up for a short night of AP. I then through the switch for the second time and I get NO RESPONCE 17. I now that I have good power, I tried two different batteries, two different HC's, I've tried the AUX plug and always the same error code. I would like to know how many people that bought this mount has had this problem and also any help, did I miss something is there anything else I can try? I really don't want to send it back, as it was, it took 3 months to this one.
Any help,comments or if anyone want's to vent their frustration as I was doing(lots of words that would have made my mother blush)a few hours ago would be greatly appreciated.
Dan  
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David Pavlich
Transmographied
Reged: 05/18/05
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3172436 - 06/19/09 11:10 PM
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This seems to be an epidemic. I don't own one, but when the 2 CGEs I owned gave the infamous 17 error, it usually ended up being the Dec axis cable. However, if I'm not mistaken, there are no external cables on the CGEM. Isn't there a manual that translates the codes?
David
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: David Pavlich]
#3172459 - 06/19/09 11:23 PM
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David,
I found a web sight that said that this code means that either you have a power problem or the motor processer is bad. If this is a design problem you would think that they would redesign the problem out of a new mount before they shipped them.
Dan
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie no more
Reged: 04/30/03
Loc: NE Ohio
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: David Pavlich]
#3172480 - 06/19/09 11:41 PM
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Quote:
sn't there a manual that translates the codes?
David
"17" is a communications error. A command was sent to the DEC motor control board and no response was received. This is frequently caused by low power supply voltage, but a cable problem or a brain-dead motor controller will, of course, cause the same message.
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rmollise
Postmaster
Reged: 07/06/07
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: jrcrilly]
#3172981 - 06/20/09 10:17 AM
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Quote:
Quote:
sn't there a manual that translates the codes?
David
"17" is a communications error. A command was sent to the DEC motor control board and no response was received. This is frequently caused by low power supply voltage, but a cable problem or a brain-dead motor controller will, of course, cause the same message.
Yep. With "power" and "HC cable" bein' the usual culprits rather than the Motor Control Board.
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GeorgeNC
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/26/07
Loc: Land of the Sky, North Carolin...
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3172999 - 06/20/09 10:25 AM
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Some explanation at this website:
No Response Errors
I got #16 and #17 one night with the new CGEM, but checked the connections (electrical and hc) and haven't gotten the error message since then.
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: GeorgeNC]
#3173218 - 06/20/09 01:19 PM
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Thanks guys for the responces,
I have checked everything that I could think of, plus a few that I have seen on CN. I belive that it's dead. So, I will be call Celestron on Monday. I hope that they don't give me the run around. I'll keep you up to date.
Dan
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3175104 - 06/21/09 07:12 PM
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Ok here is an interesting twist. I thought that I would give the mount a try againg, I fgured that I didn't have anything to lose. I pluged everything in like I did before and got the same thing. Then I held down the undo botton and I got CGEM READY. What if anything did the undo botton do? Should I hold off calling Celestron until it happenes again? Or am I luck and the Genie went back in to the HC?
Dan
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David Pavlich
Transmographied
Reged: 05/18/05
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3175556 - 06/21/09 11:50 PM
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Did you attempt an alignment? What you may have done is reset the HC to the default settings and that may be all that you needed to do. I had to do that with one of my CGEs. If so, just reenter all of the information and see what happens.
David
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LLEEGE
True Blue
Reged: 03/03/05
Loc: Cloud-chester,NY
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: David Pavlich]
#3175894 - 06/22/09 08:13 AM
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I'd still contact Celestron to document your problem.
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: LLEEGE]
#3177969 - 06/23/09 10:24 AM
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Here is an update.
I called celestron on Monday, they said that they want to take a look at it. They will even pay for the shipping. Heres the rubb, it is going to take up to 2 months to get it back. Right now it seams to be working fine. I have only had the problem happen one more time, so should I send it back or should I wait for it to take a dump for good. I know that I should send it in but if I do there goes most of my summer.
Dan
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neptun2
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/04/07
Loc: Bulgaria
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3177988 - 06/23/09 10:34 AM
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Shouldn't they give you a replacement when they take it back for repair for such long time? Two months is really long time.
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: neptun2]
#3178101 - 06/23/09 11:56 AM
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I would like to think so, but they didn't say anything about that. I have an email in to them about the shipping I will ask them about that when I get a response.
Dan
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Lord Beowulf
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/13/08
Loc: Cedar Park, TX
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: neptun2]
#3178769 - 06/23/09 06:20 PM
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Shouldn't they give you a replacement when they take it back for repair for such long time? Two months is really long time.
Yeah, you can wait two months for a repair or three months for a replacement!  (Like I did...  )
Beo
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Lord Beowulf]
#3178902 - 06/23/09 07:41 PM
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Beo,
I hope that it is a simple problem and that I will get it back ASAP. They finally sent me the shipping lable. So as soon as I can I am going to ship it out. I must say that this really bites though. I spent a lot of dough for this mount, I had to wait for 3 months to get it the first time and now I have to wait maybe 2 more months before I can even use it. 
Dan
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wboeck
member
Reged: 12/01/04
Loc: Nebraska
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3179245 - 06/23/09 11:12 PM
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I have been having the same problem with my CGEM. I got mine in late March and it worked in my basement. I finally got a clear night and took it out and after slewing I getting "No Response 17". It worked after I rebooted but kept getting the "No Response 17". It finally would not boot and would time out and say "No Response 17". I called customer support and they had me use a small flat head screw driver to pry apart the pins inside power connection on the mount. I did this and it started booting up again. It appeared to work fine. I took it outside this weekend and after slewing for alignment it started giving me the error "No Response 16". It kept doing it over and over. I gave up and called customer support and they offered to ship it for free but a 2 month wait for repair. I told them that I needed it for the Nebraska Star Party in July and it was unacceptable. They said that they were sorry but that is all they can do. I wanted them to send a replacement but would not. I was about to send it it back. However, I connected a Scopestuff extension cable and now it seems to be aligning without any problem. The problems could be caused by stretching the HC cable during alignment and causing a loose connection. I am going to wait and see how it performs during the Star Party. It has not repeated the error since connecting the cable. Hope this helps.
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: wboeck]
#3179838 - 06/24/09 10:23 AM
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Thanks for the reply wboeck. I have tried the screw drive fix and it didn't help. Right now it is an intermitint problem. So I am not sure if I want to send it back. However, Celestron gave me a call tag for the mount and it is only good for 10 days. So I will have to make up my mind soon. If I send it in and they say that there is nothing wrong with it I would have been without my mount for two months for nothing. On the other hand if I don't send it in and it poops the bed they may not take it back because I didn't send it in when I started to have the problem. I am in a quandery as to what to do.
Dan
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GaryML
sage
Reged: 02/16/09
Loc: San Diego, California
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this
[Re: Blixx]
#3179856 - 06/24/09 10:36 AM
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If you keep it and it fails during the warranty period, then I don't see how they could deny warranty service. The fact that you didn't send it in at the first sign of trouble shouldn't void the warranty. It is certainly easier to fix something that has failed completely as compared to an intermittent problem.
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CounterWeight
Postmaster
Reged: 10/05/08
Loc: Cloudyopolis, OR.
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this
[Re: GaryML]
#3179904 - 06/24/09 11:06 AM
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Am wondering if maybe the problem was sticking keys causing unrecog bit patterns to controller? Maybe next time try 'exercising' all keys on the pad to be certain none are sticking half way ? That the UNDO cleared the problem eventually to me says 'garble', esp as switch cycling didn't clear it. I know the times I've had 'ERROR' show up I cycled power, tapped HS controller, reseated connect, and pressed all the buttons and problem went away... as did my alignment.
So maybe just the HC needs replacing? just a thought - hopefully that would not take 2 months? It would be nice if the honeymoon had lasted longer, wouldn't it?.
Your response from the manufacturer is characteristic and not unusual if that helps. Mine was the same for a new CGE mount (bought abt 8 months ago) under near identical timing from purchase.
Good luck to you.
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wboeck
member
Reged: 12/01/04
Loc: Nebraska
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Re: CGEM no responce 17, how many people have this.
[Re: Blixx]
#3180042 - 06/24/09 12:21 PM
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Dan,
mine is also intermitint. This weekend, it would get close to finishing alignment but then it would say "No Response 16" and would sometimes start an uncontrollable slew. It seemed to start when I started to center the alignment star which happened to be "Arcturus". I had to position low and behind the mount looking upward towards the zenith. The HC chord is not very long so I had to pull tight. This may be messing up the connection to the mount and giving me the error message and erractic behavior. The extension cable from scopstuff provides plenty of slack so it does not pull on the connection. So far it seems to be working. I hope to test it again on a clear night. I really get fustrated with wasting clear observing chances. If it happens again I will send it in for service.
Wayne
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