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Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User
Scott S.
newbie
Reged: 10/11/09
Posts: 1
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Hopefully this is the place for this question, if not, please direct me to the right place.
I just bought a CGEM mount and when I select ANY alignment mode, it moves in DEC, sits for a while, moves again, sits for a while and will continue until I turn it off.
Does anybody know, isn't it supposed to get to the alignment star and then ask me to center it first in the finder and then the eyepiece?
I'm not sure what to try next. I reset to factory settings but it's acting like the HC isn't getting any feedback from the mount.
Any ideas would be appreciated. We have a two night star party this weekend and would sure like to use my new mount!
Thanks very much!
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Adam E
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 93
Loc: Orange Park, FL
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The way things should work is to enter the alignment, select an alignment star, the mount will go to star, after the mount stops moving the hand control will direct you to center the star in the eyepiece. Once you're all centered up, you press "Align," and the mount will ask you to select the next alignment star.
There's no aligning the finder and aligning the scope. You should have your finder aligned with the scope outside of performing the polar / 3 star alignment on the mount. They are separate entities. When doing my mount alignment, I've already aligned my finder with the scope, and I ignore it during the mount alignment. I look through the scope eyepiece to determined when a star is centered prior to hitting "Align."
Not sure if this helps or not, but I'm not exactly sure what you've got going on.
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Vixen ED80sf, Meade AR5 (LXD 55 EMC), Orion ST80 (Guidescope), Sky Watcher 8" Dobsonian, Celestron CGEM, Canon 350D (Modified), Celestron NexImage, Orion StarShoot AutoGuider, Astro-Tech Field Flattener
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Lane
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1514
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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From your brief description it is difficult for us to know if you are doing something wrong or if there really is a problem with the mount.
Did you aim the mount roughly in the direction of polaris before turning it on?
Did you level the mount?
Did you balance the telescope?
Did you lock the RA and DEC?
After you turned the mount on did it ask you align the marks on the RA and DEC axes?
Did it ask you to set the location and then the time? If not then the RTC (real time clock) may already be on, and in that case you may want to hit UNDO so you can make sure the correct Location and Time are set.
Which one of the Alignment processes did you select?
Did you pick an alignment star from the list it provided?
After you picked the alignment star and pressed enter it should have slewed to a location relatively close to that star. If not, then you may have the wrong location or time entered. If the time and location are correct then just ignore the place where it slewed and go ahead and use the hand controller to move the scope to the alignment star and center it in the eyepiece. Do the same for next aligment star. I would suggest you use Two Star aligment and add at least 2 calibration stars after that to get accurate GOTOs.
Once you have it working make sure you go into the menu and turn on the RTC so you don't have to reenter the location/time on your next setup.
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Mounts: CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager/motorized
SCTs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11,
Refractors: TV Pronto, Orion ED80
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CounterWeight
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/05/08
Posts: 1298
Loc: PDX chronoplast
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Scott,
Given the little information you provide, I would hazard a - yes, it should do just as you you say, providing all the prelimenary steps done properly (including balancing the OTA properly)- and verified. The more info you can give the more feedback you'll get. If you can post the setup steps and etc, it would help a lot.
A problem similar to this was posted on not long ago and I think had to be sent back. The motion in dec - stop - motion in dec - stop ... I think that is bad sign no matter what align mode chosen. Even if your way, way, off in level and rel north and time - it should at least try to slew steadily unless a stop or physical obstruction, or expected target area.
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 - 
CGE (Frankenmount mod.)
Onyx 80ED, Tak FS-128 #02058, TEC APO160ED #030
CCD: Orion SSPDSCIv2, SSI3, SSAG
diags, ep's, tubes, filters, Binocs
My CN Image Gallery
Experience is a difficult teacher, it gives the test first, and gives the lesson later
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waassaabee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/07
Posts: 2702
Loc: Central California Coast
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Check your power connector, sounds like intermittent connection. Ever so gently spread the split post on the mount power connector.
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Gary
34N 120W
-My kingdom for blue squares!-
WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF
AT8RC
mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD
CGEM
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o
My Friend Flickr
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mich_al
super member
Reged: 05/10/09
Posts: 124
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You've gotten some good advice so far. Try all those things. you may need to spread the contacts on the power connector a little (use a small flat bladed screwdriver). If you're not using the AC/DC Celestron supply make sure the supply is fully charged.
After you done all that call Celestron tech support they are pretty good and answer pretty quick.
If they don't get you going and suggest you send it in for repair think about this. Mine did a very similar thing. The first time they had it for 7 weeks. 3 weeks after it was returned it's back at Celestron again. I don't expect this time to be any faster or the repair to be any better.
If I had it to do all over again I would do whatever I could to return a new broken mount for a refund. My mount was at Celestron from 4th of July till Labor day. now it's gone again, probably till Thanksgiving. Some of these mounts are great and some repairs go great (though slow) but some not so good. Good luck with yours.
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mich_al
super member
Reged: 05/10/09
Posts: 124
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Post deleted by mich_al
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waassaabee
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/07
Posts: 2702
Loc: Central California Coast
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I also replaced the connector on my AC power suppy with a Switchcraft S760K locking connector. No more power issues.
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Gary
34N 120W
-My kingdom for blue squares!-
WO Megrez 90FD/TV 0.8x FR/FF
AT8RC
mini Borg 50/Q-Guide/PHD
CGEM
Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader mod - o.o
My Friend Flickr
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Lane
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1514
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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I think we already lost Scott - I would bet he returned the mount to the vendor the very next day after he started this thread.
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Mounts: CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager/motorized
SCTs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11,
Refractors: TV Pronto, Orion ED80
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