Leroy
>From my short experience with this focuser I suggest
that you keep the mating ring tightened.I tried
loosening it a bit and after a few times I focused it
went totally loose and I had to re-attach it.
Also pay attantion that the ring is not too close to
the focuser retainer(where the focus knob meets the
OTA) so that the set-screws wont touch the OTA .This
can produce strange noises and make it harder for the
motor to work.
Here in Israel the temperture variations arent so high
and it never drops too close to 0 deg celcius so I
cant say anything about its affect on the focuser
operation.
Did you checked that youre in the LX200 main menu and
that the speed is one of the two highest ones?AFAIK
the focuser only works from the main menu and doesnt
work at all in the slowest rates (1,0).
HTH
Assaf B.

> Well, I'm glad to see the Dec problem was solved.
> Interestingly enough,
> I have received and starting working with the Meade
> #1206 Electric Focuser.
> This seems to be a sturdy device mechanically. I
> have had it operating in the
> field with my 12" on two occasions, and once in the
> garage.
>
> The first night I had it installed, I tried to use
> it in my backyard with the
> setup on AC power. Here in Colorado in January and
> February, it has been
> quite cold. I would say in the 'teens degrees F
> perhaps dropping toward
> single digits. First use had the motor almost
> racing, at least by what I had
> expected. I suspected that perhaps the motor gear
> was not aligned properly
> with the mating ring that tightens around the focus
> knob. Later that same night, I think I tried it
> again, and got no sound
> whatsoever.
>
> A few days later, I checked things out in the garage
> where I store my scope.
> The gears were mated up fine as far as I could tell.
> I checked the clutch nut
> on the bottom of the motor (the telescope end) and
> it seemed to be tight
> enough. I tightened the mating ring's set screw
> some more.
>
> Next time out, again in 'teens degrees F, this time
> operating on a 12ah
> battery, charged only to 40-50% of the operating
> life for the LX200, the
> electric focus motor made no sound at all. The
> battery operated the telecope
> for several more hours before it got too cold and
> gave its last amp second and
> I shut down.
>
> In all cases, I tried rotating the plug from the
> focuser into the LX200 panel,
> to no effect.
>
> One last thing. The focus knob is not one bit
> loose. I would describe
> it as tight if anything, but not so tight as to make
> it unmanageable. In the
> very cold, it does get tighter of course, as would
> be expected. In the
> testing in the garage, the motor would turn the knob
> when the OTA was
> corrector down. I did notice a slowdown in the
> turning of the knob when the
> part of the mating ring gear's set screw would reach
> the closest
> point to the focus motor.
>
> I observed no other scope malfunctions during these
> sessions. The keypad
> worked fine in all other respects.
>
> Overall, I
>
> Is this just the cold? How can I test this? Just
> operate it indoors to see
> if I get failure again? Is testing corrector down
> non-representative of
> normal operating conditions? Should I try loosening
> the set screw on the
> mating ring?
>
>
> Leroy Guatney
> 12" #126548
> N 39 39'/W 103 56'
> http://home.rmi.net/~lwlg/SCI/astronomy.html
>
> Proud Owner Page
> http://home.rmi.net/~lwlg/SCI/meade-lovers.html
>
> "Astronomy: General" mailing list
> http://home.rmi.net/~lwlg/SCI/ag.html
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>
>
>
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