|
Rick Woods
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 3978
Loc: Inner Solar System
|
|
A couple of days ago, I did a 1-star alignment (dead on), then slewed to my target, Mercury, which was a little off. So I have the slew on either 2x or 8x, and I get to the planet, and the dec motor keeps going. No other buttons would respond. I rebooted the scope and it was fine.
This morning, I got my target centered and was observing, when the dec motor started making little intermittant "corrections" on its own. I pushed the directional buttons a few times in various directions, and it stopped.
This is a little disturbing. The scope has performed perfectly for five years. But, a few months ago, I got a new handbox because the old one was getting unresponsive. It came with a new cord, which will only fully engage in one direction, that is, one end won't click into place in the base of the scope but will in the handbox; the other end will engage in either place.
So, three possibilities occur to me, in order of increasing unpleasantness: The cord might not be engaging completely, and causing a strange signal; the new handbox is flakey; or my telescope is starting to get weird.
Has anyone else had this happen? What did you do about it?
Thanks!
--------------------
- Rick
14" LX200GPS
8" Meade 826C
|
southmike
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/22/04
Posts: 2817
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
|
|
never heard of that..prob loose cord
--------------------
group scope pic
my refractors
LX200 10"-St120
LX200 8" f6.3-Orion 80ed
LX200 8" f10-Orion 90 Mak setup pic
Meade 102ED LXD650
Sky Watcher 100 ED Triplet prototype
Nexstar 5
etx125
etx70's
|
Gargoyle
member
Reged: 03/13/08
Posts: 37
Loc: Long Island, New York
|
|
I had a similar problem, but was able to quickly identify the cause. I had noticed that my telescope was not responding properly to pointing commands while trying to align on an object. My handset cord had wrapped around the base of the tripod causing the coil cord clip to not seat properly within clip on the base. I released the tension, and the problem went away.
Your problem sounds a bit similar to mine (sans the coil wrap!) in that the cord may not be engaging completely. I'd check the clip receptor on the base for any obstructions, bent pins, etc.. Good luck!!!!!
--------------------
Meade 8" f/10 LX90 GPS
Meade 10" LX200-R
ETX-125 PE
DSI ProII
|
Rick Woods
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 3978
Loc: Inner Solar System
|
|
Next time out (tomorrow morning hopefully) I'll use my old cord and see what happens. I'll post back and let you guys know. You've given me hope that that's all it is.
--------------------
- Rick
14" LX200GPS
8" Meade 826C
|
KimB
member
Reged: 02/28/08
Posts: 70
Loc: UK
|
|
Hi Rick,
I'm not sure if it's the same with the lx200 as with the lx90 but I've found that if I start a goto and use the arrow keys before the autostar bleeps that the motors continue to run. I've also had loads of HBX cables fail only cured by re-crimping the plugs on myself.
Other motor weirdness (random slews) was caused by a trapped motor cables in the fork arm cover.
And finally the plug on my LNT module was loose like your HBX cable. I noticed that the RJ plugs are locked in place by the two shoulders on the release catch and that they were too long on the loose plug. All I did was trim a little bit off the shoulders with a knife and It clipped in perfectly.
Hope that helps. Kim
--------------------
8" Meade lx90 LNT
|
Rick Woods
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 3978
Loc: Inner Solar System
|
|
Quote:
Hi Rick,
I'm not sure if it's the same with the lx200 as with the lx90 but I've found that if I start a goto and use the arrow keys before the autostar bleeps that the motors continue to run. I've also had loads of HBX cables fail only cured by re-crimping the plugs on myself.
Never had that happen to me before.
Quote:
Other motor weirdness (random slews) was caused by a trapped motor cables in the fork arm cover.
Hmmm. I never thought of that. I'll check that out, although last time I was in there (to put in the Buck's Gears) the wires were very neat and wrapped.
Quote:
And finally the plug on my LNT module was loose like your HBX cable. I noticed that the RJ plugs are locked in place by the two shoulders on the release catch and that they were too long on the loose plug. All I did was trim a little bit off the shoulders with a knife and It clipped in perfectly.
Hope that helps. Kim
Another good idea. I'll check that too.
Thanks, Kim!
--------------------
- Rick
14" LX200GPS
8" Meade 826C
|
Rick Woods
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 3978
Loc: Inner Solar System
|
|
I used my old cord yesterday and everything works fine. I think it's the cord, although I'll check the other stuff too.
Thanks everyone.
--------------------
- Rick
14" LX200GPS
8" Meade 826C
|
southmike
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/22/04
Posts: 2817
Loc: Fayetteville, NC
|
|
know any computer guys ?
have them match the colors and crimp on a new end .
probably an rj45 jack (network)
instead of the rj 11 (phone)..I think.
--------------------
group scope pic
my refractors
LX200 10"-St120
LX200 8" f6.3-Orion 80ed
LX200 8" f10-Orion 90 Mak setup pic
Meade 102ED LXD650
Sky Watcher 100 ED Triplet prototype
Nexstar 5
etx125
etx70's
|
KimB
member
Reged: 02/28/08
Posts: 70
Loc: UK
|
|
If your HBX cable is like the lx90 one it is REVERSED wired, so you can't use a network cable. A replacement one from Meade will probably be just as bad, so it's probably best to Re-crimp the plugs yourself and add strain relief boots.
--------------------
8" Meade lx90 LNT
|
|
1 registered and 8 anonymous users are browsing this forum.
Moderator: Joad
Print Thread
|
Forum Permissions
You cannot start new topics
You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled
UBBCode is enabled
|
Thread views: 139
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
