My telescope mount just died during a Perseid shower shoot

Was out near Lake Tahoe on Saturday night trying to catch the Perseids with my old Celestron AVX mount. About an hour in the motor started making this grinding noise then just stopped tracking. Tried resetting it a few times but nothing worked. Had to pack up and just watch the meteors with my naked eye which was cool but I was bummed about the photos. Anyone else have an AVX drive fail on them out of nowhere? Thinking about trying to fix the motor myself or just saving up for a newer mount.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oliver16d ago

Man that sucks but honestly I wouldn't recommend tearing into the motor yourself unless you're really handy with electronics. Better to put the money toward a newer mount, those AVX units are known for this kind of thing.

wendy_henderson2116d ago

I see what you're saying @the_oliver, but is it really that bad? I've got an AVX that's been going strong for about four years now with no motor issues. Maybe you got a lemon or something. If it's just a loose wire or a bad capacitor, a little soldering and you're back in business for under twenty bucks.