Hey Rocco,

Your best bet is to just collimate using the 3 screws in front and the eyepiece.  Here is a good how to guide.  http://skywatch.brainiac.com/collimation.pdf The only thing you may want is Bob's Knobs. Here is a link for them, http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_95col.htm its an easy job just take your time.

Yesterday I put the controller in the freezer, left it in there quite awhile. I removed it and hooked it up to the scope and fired it up. Aside from being VERY difficult to read it worked flawlessly. The scope started fine did its alignment went to targets and ran for quite some time. So....I brought the scope outside and setup temps around 50F. Scope worked well. Waited till the temps went down about 35ish. Turned it on again and it started fine but then random slewing, shut down restart and no go...while getting GPS fix (On at Startup) the scope starts moving on its own and continues till I shut it down.

I will assume that the controller is not the problem. I'm wondering if I pack the base with chemical heaters (as much as I can without interfering with motors and gears) And keep it nice and warm in there if the problem will stop.

Anything at this point is worth a try I guess.   

Thanks for the info Dave...Sounds like a good idea to heat the handbox.  I do have a controller and I will give it a try.

I was thinking (not always a good idea!) To test Doc Clay's theory about it being the handbox I think I'll stick in a plastic bag put it in the freezer for a few min take it out and try it. That should rule it in or out as the culprit.

Worth a try anyway.

Thanks DrClay for taking the time to help me with this.

You were correct I miss aligned the connector and missed one pin. It is properly connected now and all is well with that problem Thanks very much!

Now on to my cold weather problem.

If I connect the scope to my laptop and run Autostar suite, If I remember correctly it has a software driven hand controller. Could I start the scope with that leaving the real controller unplugged to see if that works? Or does the hand controller always need to be connected. If thats the case I will order another controller form Meade and see what happens. Oh BTW how does the wireless controller work well? I might get that instead.

Thanks again for all your help I know your a busy man and I appreciate the time you have given me.

Well the saga continues.............I took apart again and disconnected all the connectors in the base. Checking for loose or broken wires and anything that looked broken or loose. Put it all back together and fired it up. Well now I get a " NO SENSOR BOARD" Message it says " The telescope cannot communicate with its auxiliary sensor board. If the problem persists it must be sent back to the factory for service. "

It just goes from bad to worse....  What to do....what to do???     I wonder if the good Dr Clay has any ideas....Please.

Looks good Dave! A warm room...Hmm.....I have a scope that could use a warm room! 

Hmmm...well I looked and checked and all the wires seem to be making good connections. I setup outside and since the weather has been mild the scope worked great, until last night when the temps went down to the low 30's and it started again with its wild slewing and motor stalled messages. No Smart drive initialization and just bad behavior. I'm not sure what to do next.

Stumped.

Thanks Dave,

I guess I'll have a look see. I'll check all the connections I can and make sure they are all....connecting. lol

Thanks

I tried the other power supplies and had the same problems. Back inside and warm it works like a champ. I need a telescope heater...or I need to move to a tropical climate.

I'm wondering if it could be a bad connection somewhere? Maybe there is contraction going on (because of the cold) somewhere and creating a bad connection?

Might there be somewhere specific to look? There are a lot of connections and wires! 

Hi Dr Clay,

I'm using a 500w 25 amp regulated PS. The voltage is steady. I also have 2 portable power supplies (jumpstart battery type). I will try those and see what happens.

Thanks for your help. I'll report my results.

Craig

After a long period of inactivity I brought the scope out and setup. First indoors just to shake it down a little and make sure everything was in order. Test align, slew, goto objects everything seems fine. I let it run pretty much the entire day occasionally slewing to different targets. Worked well (indoors).

Now I bring it outside setup, let it cool. Temps are in the mid 30's. Turn on and no smart drive initialization. No movement in RA. Then just random slews all over. Shut down try again same thing. Reset, turn on, same thing random messages, no PEC, Motor stalled yada yada yada. Reload firmware (4.2g).  Try again and no go.

I bring the scope inside, after awhile I test again (indoors).  Works like a charm, smart drive initialization, align, slews, goto works fine.( been running for hours)  Seems like only when its cold does this malfunction happen.

I'm at a loss?  Any takers on a solution?

10" LX200GPS 
4.2g firmware.
Polar mounted, wedge, tripod.

Thanks Dave, I've missed it here very much. Yeah I have to spend some quality time with it, Right now shes up and running (fingers crossed) looking at ole Sol. 

Thanks for welcome back and I hope all is well with you.

Thanks Ron!

I think my scope is mad at me. I set it up yesterday and...well it just went crazy. Wild slews, stalled motors, no movement in RA. Then I tried a RESET and same things happened. I will try and reload firmware (4.2g) and see what happens. Thats what I get for letting it sit so long. 

Hello to all the good people at ASO. Its been a long time since I've been here. I've been consumed with other things that life throws your way for awhile and have had zero time for Astronomy. But things are calm now and its time to break out the scope and return to the star filled skies. I have missed it here.

Sorry to hear it Dave. I have an HP pavillion ZE5375us. Its about 4 years old,  2.4 P4 40 gig hd, 1 gig memory. I really abuse this thing and have never had a problem with it. It goes outside, in th car, dew, cold whatever and runs like a top. Thats just my experience with mine. Now my desktop on the other hand!!!!! I just replaced the MB, memory and PS. But thats another story....I like my HP laptop.