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robos
journeyman
Reged: 09/15/09
Posts: 8
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hi everyone
I aquired an ETX 90 with Autostar 497. Seems to me the Autostar aquired a mind of its own. I can align the scope properly and everything will work for a while slewing to the object I pick. The scope will work for a while then go crazy. I get motor errors or the scope will not slew to the object I select. I would like to know what should I do and in what order to do it to restore it to factory settings. I have read about updating the software but am leary of doing due to the fact that I heard you can really mess things up. Can someone please guide me to what I should do? Seems the polar ailgnment always works but I have issues after that. 
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2096
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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BATTERIES! These scopes like to see a decent voltage & don't always get it from internal batteries, try an external supply if at all possible. Or at least a FRESH set of premium branded alkaline batteries (Duracell or Energiser), cheapo batteries are not reliable & rechargeables don't deliver enough voltage (1.2V per cell not 1.5V).
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3605
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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I second that! BATTERIES! Buy a 12 volt power pack and a cigarette light power cable. Do not use the internal batteries. At about 60% power the hand controller goes CRAZY!
Do a calibrate motors when you get the new power pack.
--------------------
LX90 8" LNT, SV Nighthawk & TelePOD, SV 80/9D & M4 mount, ETX 90, Orion XT10i, 20x80 binoculars, SV-BV3s-- www.texasastro.org
"Great minds discuss ideas;Average minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people." Unknown
Edited by Joe Lalumia (10/04/09 12:10 PM)
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robos
journeyman
Reged: 09/15/09
Posts: 8
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Using external ac power source.
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robos
journeyman
Reged: 09/15/09
Posts: 8
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Post deleted by Shadowalker
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grendel
sage
Reged: 04/12/09
Posts: 243
Loc: Canterbury, Kent, UK
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Try Mike Weasners ETX site, it answers most questions there.
Grendel
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Shadowalker
Unpretentious Rocket Scientist
Reged: 11/23/04
Posts: 3519
Loc: Poplarville, MS, USA
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I agree - probably batteries. But if it still does it, there's a possibility the motors are out of calibration. The motors have an optical encoder and it needs to be calibrated by the autostar or it can lose track of where it is. Calibrate motors is a command in the Autostar somewhere.
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Tom Nicolaides
http://www.first-light.org
My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it
-- Dr. Edward Morbius
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Treehopper
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/29/08
Posts: 582
Loc: Upstate NY
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I concur... first suspect is batteries/power supply. If you can rule that out, then I'd recommend a RESET from the AutoStar, re-enter your location, date and time, and immediately do a calibrate motors and train drives. This usually works the kinks out of a wonky system.
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Tim
Champion of small aperture scopes everywhere!
Meade ETX-125PE
Meade ETX-80
Celestron FirstScope 76mm Mini-dob
 Updated: 09/16/2009
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2096
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
I concur... first suspect is batteries/power supply. If you can rule that out
First step in ruling out is to diconnect the external power & try again. If it does the same, the external power supply is faulty - not switching out the internal batteries when connected.
If still in difficulty, the most likely problem is that the connector is loose - breaking the connection intermittently when the scope rotates.
If the scope is new, see your supplier. Otherwise, try a new cable. Make sure you get the right size plug on the scope end, there are several sizes which are close but not quite right.
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Kfrank
super member
Reged: 12/20/08
Posts: 163
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Quote:
hi everyone
I aquired an ETX 90 with Autostar 497. Seems to me the Autostar aquired a mind of its own. I can align the scope properly and everything will work for a while slewing to the object I pick. The scope will work for a while then go crazy. I get motor errors or the scope will not slew to the object I select. I would like to know what should I do and in what order to do it to restore it to factory settings. I have read about updating the software but am leary of doing due to the fact that I heard you can really mess things up. Can someone please guide me to what I should do? Seems the polar ailgnment always works but I have issues after that.
'I'll concur with the folks who suggest getting off the internal batteries. Go to WalMart & get an auto jump start unit. You'll be glad you did.
As to the Autostar - Good luck!. I bought one with my 90 and wish I had not. I've never had any luck with Autostar and the process of getting it to work with even marginal reliability just doesn't seem to be worth it.
I belong to the school that believes in learning the sky and do not think goto units serve the hobby. Just my opinion. I read a LOT of postings in a variety of forums that would indicate to me that goto technology has a long way to go (at least in the lower price ranges). I volunteer at a local public observatory which contains an 18" Tinsdale classic cassegrain. The mount is driven by a custom designed goto system with software from Software Bisque. The goto operation is flawless - BUT, this software retails for several thousands of dollars and the drive hardware for thousands more than that. You just can't expect a whole lot from package where the whole package - scope, mount, drives and software - sell for less than $1000.
IMO, the ETX90 is a fine scope if you throw away the Autostar and just use the basic hand controller. I actually enjoy mine on an alt-az mount - light, simple to use and no batteries required.
--------------------
Ken
ST80
SV80ED
ETX90 (Deforked)
Orion XT8
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Shadowalker
Unpretentious Rocket Scientist
Reged: 11/23/04
Posts: 3519
Loc: Poplarville, MS, USA
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Quote:
As to the Autostar - Good luck!. I bought one with my 90 and wish I had not. I've never had any luck with Autostar and the process of getting it to work with even marginal reliability just doesn't seem to be worth it.
I belong to the school that believes in learning the sky and do not think goto units serve the hobby. Just my opinion. I read a LOT of postings in a variety of forums that would indicate to me that goto technology has a long way to go (at least in the lower price ranges). I volunteer at a local public observatory which contains an 18" Tinsdale classic cassegrain. The mount is driven by a custom designed goto system with software from Software Bisque. The goto operation is flawless - BUT, this software retails for several thousands of dollars and the drive hardware for thousands more than that. You just can't expect a whole lot from package where the whole package - scope, mount, drives and software - sell for less than $1000.
IMO, the ETX90 is a fine scope if you throw away the Autostar and just use the basic hand controller. I actually enjoy mine on an alt-az mount - light, simple to use and no batteries required.
Admittedly I've never used an Autostar with an ETX. But I've used the Autostar 495 and 497 with a variety of mounts in both equatorial and alt-az modes. I have to disagree that Autostar isn't reliable. Like most things it takes some getting used to and Autostar isn't without its idiosyncrasies. But it is reliable and a supeiror performer to many "Go-To" systems that cost much more.
As to Go-To not serving the hobby well... That's a different point entirely. Me, I enjoy looking. The less time spent finding, the better for me. Also, in astrophotography, go-to saves a LOT of time. Many times the object to be photographed isn't visible through an EP through a telescope of any aperture. Autostar served me well in astrophotography.
--------------------
Tom Nicolaides
http://www.first-light.org
My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it
-- Dr. Edward Morbius
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