cuzimthedaughter
super member
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 112
Loc: Touristville, CA
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Hi Everyone!
It's been awhile since I've posted anything on CN. With work and playing, I haven't had time to go out and view. However, each time I did go out I was having complications and my frustration level soared. (I still haven't mastered staying patient). I've used my scope (Rachael) six times since receiving her for Christmas last year and she already has to go back to Celestron for repairs. When slewing to an object, the altitude stops working and I'm unable to get her pointed to any objects! At first I thought it was backlash so I fooled around with that, but no matter what number I picked, she either bounced around all over the place or didn't move at all. Tonight was the first night I was able to read the LCD screen without difficulty, so that was a plus. Oh, and it turns out that my power supply is bad too! That's going back to the place where we got it this week.
Oh, one more thing, someone said that their scope only slewed in a counterclockwise direction. I've found that my scope does the same thing. Depending on the night it'll either only slew clockwise or counterclockwise (tonight was counterclockwise).
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Cheers!
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spaceydee
Postmaster
Reged: 04/16/04
Posts: 14759
Loc: Where the Kittens Are
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The only other idea I have is to see if your retailer will take it back for you, but since you've had it a while, it probably needs to go back to Celestron under warranty.
I have the original 8i, and the first one I purchased had a problem and I was lucky enough that the retailer took it back, but the problem manifested itself immediately.
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Dee
space-scientist
student violinist
Nexstar8i,SV80S,80/9D,FC100,94 Brandon,GM8
8" f/7 Discovery,12.5" Portaball, PST
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Tel
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/31/06
Posts: 2266
Loc: Wallingford England
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Hi Sarah,
Sorry to hear you've had this whole string of misfortunes with your 'scope. Are you actually saying that it has gone back to Celestron for repairs or that because of the problems you intend to send it back ? Please let us know.
If it's gone back to them no doubt they will sort the matter out but if not, from what I read there are maybe solutions to these problems which the guys here can probably address and solve for you.
Good power supply, for example, is of paramount importance. Without it all manner of ills can and WILL beset the 'scope ! This in turn, may be the source of the altitude axis problem but then again it might just need tightening a tad. How loose does it feel ? Any tendency for the OTA to nose dive if you were to place it at the zenith and then slew it (Mach 9) towards the horizontal taking care of course to catch it should it drop under its own weight.
The clockwise/anticlockwise (counterclockwise) movement appeared to be controlled (or not) as the case may be by the "Cordwrap" feature. With the 'scope aligned, it is "ON".
Ariel seemingly solved his problem by thereafter switching it "OFF". Try perhaps experimenting with it both "ON" and "OFF" a least to establish what happens in both cases.
Hope this helps a little,
Best Regards,
Tel
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Truth is the cubed root of Verbosity.
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Tel
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/31/06
Posts: 2266
Loc: Wallingford England
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Hey Dee,
By the way, just noticed !
Congratulations on becoming "Moderator of the Year 2007" ! 
How moderate do you have to be to get that ?  
Very well done !
Best Regards,
Tel
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Truth is the cubed root of Verbosity.
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Bob Griffiths
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 3740
Loc: Frederick Maryland
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Sarah:
Can you hear the motors running when the scope does not move in altitude...???? If so I;'d take a look at the altitude adjustment nut..a clutch of sorts..if it gets loose it will slip... Not very common but to adjust mine about once a year just for the heck of it...
If you do have a power source problem...these scopes just plain do some crazy things...and act like they have a mind of their own..
The one directional slew is definitely because you have the cordwrap set ON...(the default)...after aligning the scope
(AFTER..not before) just go into set up and turn it OFF..Honestly I aleways run with it off ...just painted my power cord white so that I could see it in the dark...small price to pay to avoid the frustration of 350 degree slews
Bob G.
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CPC1100
Nexstar 8i + GPS & Rays Brackets
Denk S1 power switch
Orion 100 mm Refractor
Meade LXD 55 ...AR-5 127 mm Refractor
Exploradome Observatory S.I.E. (Smiling Irish Eyes)
39*21'03" N
77*28'12" W
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cuzimthedaughter
super member
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 112
Loc: Touristville, CA
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Thanks for the advice! I have yet to send Rachael back to Celestron.
I think we can rule out that the battery is the issue with my scope. I forgot to mention that I switched to my dad's power supply which is much better than mine. However, the problems increased after plugging my scope into his power supply!
Bob, when I press the arrow buttons while slewing nothing happens. The motor doesn't make a noise. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
I think at this point, I'll just send it back instead of fiddling around with it.
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geoffrey
sage
Reged: 01/05/04
Posts: 357
Loc: North West England
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Hi,
Just an 8SE newbie myself, but I don't follow you comments above. If by slewing, you mean "sending it somewhere" by pressing enter, why should you want to press the arrow keys before it gets there? Never tried that myself, but thought I would ask the question - perhaps it does not allow a direction change until it gets there. I have yet to work out how to stop it "slewing to an object", which is probably the same thing. I only wanted to try and stop when realizing I had a mis-align situation, and it was going to the wrong place.
Just a thought, sorry if I am off beam
Regards
Geoffrey
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Celestron Nextstar 8SE
6.25" F7.6 Dob
Skywatcher ST80
Opticron imagic BGA PC ASF T 8x42
Edited by geoffrey (05/18/08 01:44 PM)
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Tel
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/31/06
Posts: 2266
Loc: Wallingford England
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Hi Sarah, Hi Geoffrey,
Pressing any of the direction buttons does indeed abort the motion of a GoTo slew but is this what was meant ?
Best Regards,
Tel
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Truth is the cubed root of Verbosity.
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TonyDralle
sage
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 365
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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Hi, Sarah,
You don't mention whether you've been successful at aligning Rachel when commencing an evening of observing. That topic is what most new Nexstar users first seek advice about. Are you beyond the alignment phase when your troubles start?
Tel is correct that when the scope has been aligned and is moving (GoTo'ing) to a target, pressing one of the four direction buttons will cause the slew to stop. Normally, after specifying a target and pressing "Enter," you stand back and wait for the scope to slew to the target. It's not clear what you mean by "the altitude stops working."
- Tony
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- TonyD
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THEPLOUGH
Nailed Again
Reged: 01/11/08
Posts: 3433
Loc: Carlisle, Cumbria, ENGLAND
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Hope Racheal gets better soon. If Cuzimthedad can't sort it then the Celestron hospital is the best place for her....   Tell Dan I am asking after him, and hope he gets the new 20" scope before July....  
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Geoff...
Nexstar 8SE -- 9X50 RACI Finder scope... 6.3 F/R.-- 13 & 17mm Hyperion EPs.. 25mm Celestron E- Lux EP.. 2X Celestron X-Cel Barlow-- + A few bits and pieces..
Don't think expensive equipment will make up for lack of talent or practice..
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cuzimthedaughter
super member
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 112
Loc: Touristville, CA
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Sorry that my thoughts are in a random pattern. Here's the series of events.
1. Successful alignment (yay!)
2. Select the moon and go to it successfully (hoorah!)
3. Decide to go to Saturn or any other object in sky, select it on the hand control, press enter and away the scope goes (we think success is in the air!).
4. The OTA rotates on the azimuth correctly but then lo and behold, that's all it does! Nothing happens with the altitude so I am no where near the object I selected (grrr!). My controller indicates that it is still slewing but the scope is not moving...this goes on for minutes.
5. I abort process and try to manually move the OTA with the up/down buttons on the controller. Nothing happens. No movement, no sound, no nothing. It may as well be unplugged. However, I can still move it back and forth with the directional buttons.
Did that make things a bit clearer? I tend to only give out bits and pieces of the story! Sorry if I'm scattered!
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hdt
super member
Reged: 11/10/07
Posts: 100
Loc: N35°10' W106°32'
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Since you're using a known good external battery, this sounds like an electronic glitch. If I were a betting person, I'd bet on a cold solder joint.
But yes, sounds like you need to send the mount back to Celestron for service. I hope they don't make you send the OTA too!!!
Good luck!
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MSpringfield
member
Reged: 05/04/08
Posts: 10
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Try unplugging the hand controller from the arm and plugging it into the aux port on the base. Mine recently kept getting a "communication error 16" on the LCD screen no matter how I had it powered. When I plugged it into the base all was well.
Michael
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cuzimthedaughter
super member
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 112
Loc: Touristville, CA
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Thanks Michael! I'll try that next before sending it back. Celestron did tell me that if you plug the hand controller into the autoguider that it will damage the controller. Make sure never to do that! 
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HEADLINE NEWS: Energizer Bunny in jail, charged with battery.
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ngphotog
member
Reged: 08/17/07
Posts: 63
Loc: Wichita, Kansas
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Curiosity here. Are you setup for computer control? I am wondering if it does the same thing via computer control as it does with the handcontroller?
Just a thought.
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Sam
Nexstar 8SE
Celestron, TeleVue, Vixen eyepieces
9x50 RACI
WO Diagonals
Wichita, Kansas
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