Weasner's Meade DS, DSX, Older Models User Feedback

DS, DSX, OLDER MODELS FEEDBACK
Last updated: 27 May 2011

This page is for user comments and information specific to the Meade DS, DSX, and some older telescope models. Accessories and Feedback items appropriate to the ETX models are posted on other pages as appropriate. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or answers to questions posed here, e-mail them to me for posting. Please use an appropriate Subject Line on your message per the Site Email Etiquette. Thanks. Remember, tips described on this site may invalidate the warranty on your telescope or accessories. Neither the submitter nor myself are responsible for any damage caused by using any contributed tips.

Subject:	DS-2102 mount slewing error
Sent:	Tuesday, May 24, 2011 12:57:04
From:	Saul Grijalva (sgrijalva@yahoo.com)
My telescope, a ds-2102 has a strange behavior. When start to align
procedure, the telescope moves in Alt and Az to locate the star but
never stop. It continues moving even when the autostar indicate "center
star and press enter".

If I dont perform an aling procedure but set observing objects to
astronomical, the telescope start to moving in Az and Alt with out stop.

If I switch on the telescope with out perform an align or change to
astronomical observation, pressing the MODE key to observe the
coordinates, they change quickly in az and alt but the telescope is not
moving.

I have done the following but the problem continues:
*Change batteries, internal and pack,
*Reset autostar
*Calibrate motors
*Change Autostar cord
*Download latest autostar software
*Reset again
*Calibrate motor again
Nothing works. Any idea what is wrong with my mount?
Thank You.
Regards,
Saul Grijalva
Mexico

Mike here: Doing the RESET and CALIBRATE MOTOR normally cures this type of problem. But you also need to re-TRAIN DRIVES after doing the RESET.

And:

Thank You for your response.
I just did a new reset, calibate motor and train drives but the problem
persists.
I think is time to start saving for a new mount :-(
Any way, thank you for you time.
Regards,
Sal.

Mike here: One thought: disconnect the AutoStar and leave it disconnected for 24 hours. Sometimes that cures problems. Also, remove the batteries (and any external power) from the telescope and let it set unpowered for 24 hours.

And:

I disconnected the AutoStar and removed all batteries for 24hrs but
unfortunately did not work. When put back the batteries, I reset,
calibrated and train drives but the problem persists, I cant use the
telescope with astronomical targets, the drives move with out stop.
Thank You again.
Saul.

Mike here: If you disconnect the AutoStar from the telescope and then power on the telescope, what happens? Do you see the same behavior as when the AutoStar is connected?

And:

No, the problem is only with the AutoStar. When power on the telescope
with out the AutoStar, nothing happens. But when the AutoStar is
connected and change to Astronomical Targets or start to align, then the
drivers go crazy. If I dont Align or set Targets to Astronomical I still
can move the telescope with a little difficulty with the direction keys
of the AutoStar and set the speeds too but even then when press MODE for
few seconds, the coordinates RA and Dec are moving and the Alt and Dec
too.

Mike here: OK. Some possibilities: a key is stuck on the AutoStar keypad, the AutoStar software is corrupted, or the AutoStar has gone bad. Cleaning the keypad may solve the first problem; see the article "Keypad Cleaning/Repair" on the Helpful Information: AutoStar Info page. Re-installing the software may solve the second problem (assuming there is no memory problem on the AutoStar). Replacing the AutoStar would solve the third problem. There are other possibilities as well, such as dirty encoders but I have my doubts about that being the culprit. But you might want to see the article "Cleaning Encoders" on the AutoStar Info page. That article is for the ETX, not DS, so I'm not certain how applicable it would be.

Subject:	DS series single arm mount
Sent:	Tuesday, May 24, 2011 10:03:46
From:	Paulw3tzi@aol.com (Paulw3tzi@aol.com)
On one of my single arm mounts I was having trouble with the alt lock
knob not being tight enough. I disassembled it to see if I could improve
things. I removed the jam nut on the knob shaft and tried to unscrew the
shaft from the little three legged piece. It was a bit tough but it came
off. I found that he knob shaft had a 1/4 28 thread on it and the jam
nut was 1/4 20. Not good. I have a set of dies so I used the 1/4 28 die
to clean up the threads on the knob shaft. On the outside there is a
large nut with two flats on it.  It was extremely tight but I managed to
remove it. I removed the scale in order to see what was under it. Not
much. I turned my attention to the area where the three legs of the
friction piece fit and found what looked like grease. I cleaned that off
the best I could. I began to re assemble. When I put the large nut back
on I now found that when It was tight as before it was too tight and the
elevation wouldn't move. I  backed off a little and things seemed
better. I then re assembled the lock knob. I then placed a 1/4 28 jam
nut on the end of the shaft. Now when I turn the lock knob everything
seems to work OK. I tested it by hooking up the  controller and doing an
align. Now everything works as it should.

The conclusion I came to was that during assembly someone supplied the
assembler with a tray full of 1/4 20 jam nuts instead of 1/4 28. The
assembler could not tell the difference because when you mix two
different thread sizes the threads jam up and it acts just like a jam
nut. I haven't any idea what the situation was with the large nut on the
outside but it seems to work like it should now. Additionally I removed
the scope ring from my other mount and found the same thing. A 1/4 20
nut on the end of the knob shaft. I will not touch that (yet).

I hope this story will help someone with a similar problem.

Paul Eriksen, Newark Delaware.

Subject:	Re: DS2090 battery box bad connections
Sent:	Sunday, May 8, 2011 00:21:22
From:	aws@mpe.mpg.de (aws@mpe.mpg.de)
in case it might interest your readers I update this saga.
The problem with batteries persisted. It went back to Meade who said
they tested the motor and it was OK.
Now I bought a mains adapter - this solves the problem. Things seem to
go better in general with that - I should have done it long ago.
Cheers
Andy

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