CGEM HC Questions

I have a 5 month old CGEM mount that has been pretty much trouble free, except for the HC. I am about 99.9% sure that the RJ-11 crimp has an issue. If the cable flexes near the jack during operation, the mount freezes or resets (not the Error 16 or 17 no response issue). Yes lots of fun after you just did the 2 star align and added 4 calibration stars! I tested this last night and I could repeatedly reset the mount by gently flexing the cable (or wiggling it) near the RJ-11 where the HC plugs into the mount; the issue also occurs in the AUX port as well. If I tape this down, the mount will generally work all night without issue. A few times the tape (called Gorilla tape - just like duct tape, but narrower and does not leave a gummy residue on the mount plate) came loose and the mount resets. The other test I did was with the little hub Celestron sells to plug in multiple accessories. When this cable is plugged in to the HC or AUX port, I can wiggle it all day and it is fine, however on the hub, as soon as I wiggle the HC cable the mount resets…so that is why I am sure it is the crimp on the RJ-11 on the HC!
So, tired of this I called Celestron and I was politely told I needed to RMA the controller for replacement and it would take upwards of 20+ business days for turn around including shipping time. I explained to the Celestron tech that I found this very inconvenient as I would be without the use of my mount for almost a month and I expected better from a company I had given $1400 to for a mount, granted not the high end, but this is not a popcorn maker either. They would not entertain cross shipping me a controller, even though I offered to provide a CC # they could charge if I failed to ship back the defective controller!
So, here are my questions:
1) I have a flashable HC for a CG5 GoTo mount that I am not using. Can I flash that to use with my CGEM while my HC is visiting Celestron?
2) Has anyone here re-crimped their Nexstar controller cable? I can see the wire pattern. It looks like a six pin jack with no wire attached to pin 1 followed by brown, red, green, yellow blue. Not that I am going to do this, as I am sure it would void my warranty!

Thanks,

I have a 5 month old CGEM mount ....
...lots of fun after you just did the 2 star align and added 4 calibration stars! ....

When you lose power on the mount and then regain it, hit the "Align" button and scroll to "Last Alignment." That'll restore your last alignment.

So, here are my questions:
1) I have a flashable HC for a CG5 GoTo mount that I am not using. Can I flash that to use with my CGEM while my HC is visiting Celestron?

As far as I know, the HC is the same so you should be able to flash it as long as it's a version 4.xxx.

2) Has anyone here re-crimped their Nexstar controller cable? ....

It's not an easy task even with a crimp tool unless your practiced at it. Crossing one of the pins in the process can blow a motor board. A new HC costs about $150. I'd call Celestron since it's under warranty.

I'm sure I'll be quickly corrected, but I believe the Hand Controller hardware for the CG-5, CGEM, CGE and CGE-Pro are all the same. At least according to this product page at OPT.

You should be able to flash your CG-5 controller to use with your CGEM

I'm sure I'll be quickly corrected, but I believe the Hand Controller hardware for the CG-5, CGEM, CGE and CGE-Pro are all the same.

Yes. So is the firmware so it shouldn't require any reprogramming.

The hand controller are interchangeable. I was sent a new replacement for my defective CGEM under warranty. It was flashed for a CG5 with instructions to flash it for my cgem.
Works like a charm.

The hand controller are interchangeable. I was sent a new replacement for my defective CGEM under warranty. It was flashed for a CG5 with instructions to flash it for my cgem.
Works like a charm.

Yup. You don't really have a choice; there's only one firmware rev for all German EQ models so if it's programmed for one it's programmed for 'em all.

There is only one download but during the flesh you will be asked what mount you have. There will be seperate choice of CG5 and CGEM as well as several others. It may not make a difference but you do have to choose.

When you lose power on the mount and then regain it, hit the "Align" button and scroll to "Last Alignment." That'll restore your last alignment.

Thanks Fred. I have tried that, and sometimes it works...other times the goto alignments seem to be off..weird!

Thanks all for the replies. I will be sending my HC back to Celestron for replacement. Hopefully that will be the end of my CGEM issues, as it has been a great mount in every other respect.

Yup. You don't really have a choice; there's only one firmware rev for all German EQ models so if it's programmed for one it's programmed for 'em all.

John, you always have the right answer. I plugged in the HC from the CG5 and powered on the CGEM and it comes right up with "Initializing...CGEM ready"! The bonus is the mount does not reset when I wiggle the wire!

Thanks again everyone!

It might be worth doing a factory reset because otherwise the CGEM might inherit the mount errors of the CG5. It will sort this out once it's done a full 2+n star alignment but the initial pointing could be affected.

Chris