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[garethr]

Hi guys

Anyone had issues with Astro eq freezing.  I seem to have an issue after issuing a goto command where the scope slews then astroeq seems to freeze and won't respond.
Have tried reloading but to no avail.
All seemed well until I upgraded the motors ( that problem else where on the forum)
Using windows 8 which was fine with the old skywatcher motors but since adding the nema14 motors it seems to freeze after each slew command.  Even slewing using the NSEW buttons seems to cause this as well as the park command.  Any idea please..

[TCWORLD]

Hmm, this is unusual, not come across it before. When it freezes, are the lights on the AstroEQ box still blinking?

[garethr]

Tom

Will check later tonight.
Another symptom is if I use the slew command on the Astroeq screen especially North for more than a few seconds it doesn't stop and I have to shut the power off. Will get back to you as soon as I'm home

Again thanks for the help.

[garethr]

Tom,

Ran everything up last night and got the following after a slew to target.
power solid red
link solid red
Status off
A blue circle on the eqmod screen.

Gareth

[TCWORLD]

Hmm, the link LED should never go solid - should always blink at a constant rate. I'm not entirely sure what would cause that to happen!

Out of curiosity is there some speed (if you use different speeds with the NESW buttons) that it stops working at, or is it whenever the motors start running in general?

[garethr]

Tom.

I tried a 400x slew which seemed ok
Changed all the cables and checked for good connections
This seemed to make it more stable and would slew to a couple of targets before the dreaded blue circle.  Deleted every thing and reloaded all software and seems a bit more stable.  Using 800x for slewing and astroeq belt upgrade as config. No over heating on unit or motors all seems ok then all of a sudden when issuing a slew the blue circle appears.  If I quickly unplug and re plug the PC cable to the unit it seems to recover.  Perhaps a hangover from overheating the unit when wired up wrong? 

[TCWORLD]

If you try doing the same, but with the motors disconnected, does it still crash?

[garethr]

Tom,

Just tried without motors and yes it seems stable. 

[garethr]

Tom,

Following yesterday's post about more stable without motors connected, went in and changed the voltage down a bit more to see if this would help. Now at 0.4v and seems stable.  Need a clear night to test but hopeful.   

Gareth.

[garethr]

Tom

Despite clouds tonight ran the telescope in the Obsy and happy to report all seems well.
Bounced the scope all round the sky and kept parking just to be unreasonable. Slewed across from East to West and North South and all good. Wonder if the freezing issue was caused by too high a voltage to the motors.  Just a thought. 
Again thanks for putting together a great piece of kit and your support that goes with it.

Gareth.

[TCWORLD]

It's possible that there are power spikes from the motors if something got damaged. But if its working well now, just see how it goes.