Meade LX125 - motor failures

I have a Meade LX 125 - new since April last year and used about 2-3 times
per month. The last outing in mid-December, I got a message on the Autostar
that there was a motor failure and the 'scope would try and go past the hard
stop during Autoalign, using the 2-star method. I switched off and on again
and, whilst it seemed OK, the fine tuning motors did seem to have trouble. A
week ago I re-calibrated the motors and everything was fine. Last night,
same problem - went well past the star it was aligning on and had a motor
failure message. I switched off and on again and it worked fine (but clouds
plus moonlight made seeing Mars). Is this a common problem with Meade
scopes?

Thanks

Peter,
Mine is at least a year older - never had this problem. My Autostar lead
became intermittent a few months ago, probably my fault for hanging the
handbox from the lead, even dropping it a few times! Lead replaced, no
problems.
I find that pointing North fairly carefully and levelling the tripod makes
the GoTo work surprisingly well!
Good luck!
Pat

"Peter Tomlin" wrote in message
news
I have a Meade LX 125 - new since April last year and used about 2-3 times
per month. The last outing in mid-December, I got a message on the Autostar
that there was a motor failure and the 'scope would try and go past the
hard stop during Autoalign, using the 2-star method. I switched off and on
again and, whilst it seemed OK, the fine tuning motors did seem to have
trouble. A week ago I re-calibrated the motors and everything was fine.
Last night, same problem - went well past the star it was aligning on and
had a motor failure message. I switched off and on again and it worked fine
(but clouds plus moonlight made seeing Mars). Is this a common problem with
Meade scopes?

Thanks


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"Peter Tomlin" wrote in message
news
I have a Meade LX 125 - new since April last year and used about 2-3 times
per month. The last outing in mid-December, I got a message on the Autostar
that there was a motor failure and the 'scope would try and go past the
hard stop during Autoalign, using the 2-star method. I switched off and on
again and, whilst it seemed OK, the fine tuning motors did seem to have
trouble. A week ago I re-calibrated the motors and everything was fine.
Last night, same problem - went well past the star it was aligning on and
had a motor failure message. I switched off and on again and it worked fine
(but clouds plus moonlight made seeing Mars). Is this a common problem with
Meade scopes?

Thanks

Motor failure messages can occur for a variety of reasons. The most common
though are poor connections and low power. Check that the cable plugs to the
handset to the scope are clean and secure. You don't say what power supply
you are using. If you are using the built-in batteries, then it's likely
this is the problem - the ETX doesn't like the voltage to drop by much. It's
preferable to use an external power supply (220v input to 12V output) or a
lead/acid gel battery, which is what I use for all my scopes. Try getting a
good power supply if you don't have one. Most Autostar issues can be
resolved by doing a RESET, CALIBRATE and TRAIN DRIVES. I've only had one
'motor failiure' message and that was down to the power dropping in my
external battery on a very cold night. Check out the ETX-guru Mike Weasner's
site for all things Autostar. www.weasner.com

Bob Hill" wrote in message
news
"Peter Tomlin" wrote in message
news
I have a Meade LX 125 - new since April last year and used about 2-3 times
per month. The last outing in mid-December, I got a message on the
Autostar that there was a motor failure and the 'scope would try and go
past the hard stop during Autoalign, using the 2-star method. I switched
off and on again and, whilst it seemed OK, the fine tuning motors did seem
to have trouble. A week ago I re-calibrated the motors and everything was
fine. Last night, same problem - went well past the star it was aligning
on and had a motor failure message. I switched off and on again and it
worked fine (but clouds plus moonlight made seeing Mars). Is this a common
problem with Meade scopes?

Thanks

Motor failure messages can occur for a variety of reasons. The most common
though are poor connections and low power. Check that the cable plugs to
the handset to the scope are clean and secure. You don't say what power
supply you are using. If you are using the built-in batteries, then it's
likely this is the problem - the ETX doesn't like the voltage to drop by
much. It's preferable to use an external power supply (220v input to 12V
output) or a lead/acid gel battery, which is what I use for all my scopes.
Try getting a good power supply if you don't have one. Most Autostar
issues can be resolved by doing a RESET, CALIBRATE and TRAIN DRIVES. I've
only had one 'motor failiure' message and that was down to the power
dropping in my external battery on a very cold night. Check out the
ETX-guru Mike Weasner's site for all things Autostar. www.weasner.com
Also make sure you have set the correct HOME position before aligning - if
it's trying to go past the hardstop, then it suggests that he HOME position
is incorrect: level tripod carefully: rotate in azimuth anticlockwise gently
until fork hits hardstop; rotate back clockwise until left-hand fork tine is
aligned centrally over the control panel (which should face West); place
tube in horizontal position level with the horizon (use a spirit level);
check scope is pointing true north - adjust tripod position/level if
necessary - recheck level; align. The more accurate you make it, the more
accurate it will be.

"Bob Hill" wrote in message
news
"Peter Tomlin" wrote in message
news
I have a Meade LX 125 - new since April last year and used about 2-3 times
per month. The last outing in mid-December, I got a message on the
Autostar that there was a motor failure and the 'scope would try and go
past the hard stop during Autoalign, using the 2-star method. I switched
off and on again and, whilst it seemed OK, the fine tuning motors did seem
to have trouble. A week ago I re-calibrated the motors and everything was
fine. Last night, same problem - went well past the star it was aligning
on and had a motor failure message. I switched off and on again and it
worked fine (but clouds plus moonlight made seeing Mars). Is this a common
problem with Meade scopes?

Thanks

Motor failure messages can occur for a variety of reasons. The most common
though are poor connections and low power. Check that the cable plugs to
the handset to the scope are clean and secure. You don't say what power
supply you are using. If you are using the built-in batteries, then it's
likely this is the problem - the ETX doesn't like the voltage to drop by
much. It's preferable to use an external power supply (220v input to 12V
output) or a lead/acid gel battery, which is what I use for all my scopes.
Try getting a good power supply if you don't have one. Most Autostar
issues can be resolved by doing a RESET, CALIBRATE and TRAIN DRIVES. I've
only had one 'motor failiure' message and that was down to the power
dropping in my external battery on a very cold night. Check out the
ETX-guru Mike Weasner's site for all things Autostar. www.weasner.com

Used my ETX last night and no problems (the problems actually started after
I changed the batteries), so I presume the power fluctuations are the
problem. I'll sort out external power for use in colder weather. I've put
weasner as one of my favourites.

Thanks

"Peter Tomlin" wrote in message
...

"Bob Hill" wrote in message
news
"Peter Tomlin" wrote in message
news
I have a Meade LX 125 - new since April last year and used about 2-3
times per month. The last outing in mid-December, I got a message on the
Autostar that there was a motor failure and the 'scope would try and go
past the hard stop during Autoalign, using the 2-star method. I switched
off and on again and, whilst it seemed OK, the fine tuning motors did
seem to have trouble. A week ago I re-calibrated the motors and
everything was fine. Last night, same problem - went well past the star
it was aligning on and had a motor failure message. I switched off and on
again and it worked fine (but clouds plus moonlight made seeing Mars). Is
this a common problem with Meade scopes?

Thanks

Motor failure messages can occur for a variety of reasons. The most
common though are poor connections and low power. Check that the cable
plugs to the handset to the scope are clean and secure. You don't say
what power supply you are using. If you are using the built-in batteries,
then it's likely this is the problem - the ETX doesn't like the voltage
to drop by much. It's preferable to use an external power supply (220v
input to 12V output) or a lead/acid gel battery, which is what I use for
all my scopes. Try getting a good power supply if you don't have one.
Most Autostar issues can be resolved by doing a RESET, CALIBRATE and
TRAIN DRIVES. I've only had one 'motor failiure' message and that was
down to the power dropping in my external battery on a very cold night.
Check out the ETX-guru Mike Weasner's site for all things Autostar.
www.weasner.com

Used my ETX last night and no problems (the problems actually started
after I changed the batteries), so I presume the power fluctuations are
the problem. I'll sort out external power for use in colder weather. I've
put weasner as one of my favourites.

Thanks


No problem. Glad to help. I never use the internal batteries now (in fact, I
don't have any fitted in the scope). A good quality 12v 17Ah battery will
cost around £40,00 or less. I use one designed for jump-starting cars. Well
worth it and cheaper than buying all those Duracells in the long-run!