nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I got my AVX back from repair last week. Pretty good repair service I might add, 3 weeks from the day I shipped it until it was in my home.....I was floored as I was initially told they were 1 month behind with Christmas repairs and to expect 6 weeks to 2 months.

I used the mount last night (first night I had a chance to do so) and it worked to perfection. This mount has NEVER - NEVER put alignment stars in my laptops FOV. After doing a 4 star alignment - I was able to slew to anyplace in the sky and be dead centered. This had to be a quirk...so I cycled down the mount.....moved the mount back to the indexes and repeated the same 4 star alignment. Dead on. I was using an 8 inch SCT with a 2033 focal length and very narrow FOV. Insane alignments equal to the Atlas Pro.


But, between the Atlas Pro and iOptron I have my mount needs covered - I wish the Atlas was lighter but that is what makes it such a good piece of kit....built like a tank and it sits on a pier extension which is very nice.

So, if anyone is interested in buying it.....I will sell it for 700.00 and along with the mount is SkyLink and SkySync - WIFI connection to your iPad and GPS both made by Celestron. .....the first cost 90 or so and the GPS was 180 or in that neighborhood. I bought this mount for Christmas 14 months ago and have used it 10 to 15 times. It has never left my home. I take the iOptron when going offsite.

Derik Devecchio with TEAM CELESTRON was the one who guided my mount through repair - he had new encoders put on and changed the dec cables (8 pin) along with a few upgrades. For some reason Derik took a liking to me - I had posted my issues on the Team Celestron forum - he responded by email and got involved in expediting the fix and return.

So, if you are interested - PM me.....if not, I will take that as an omen that the Cosmos has spoken and wants me to hang on to it.

Either way..I am tickled to have it back and working - had this mount worked this well from the gitgo.... I would have never bought the Atlas Pro.....and I understand why you AVX owners like your kits so much!

Man oh man how I love "up" photography! Like Forest Gump says, "You never know what you are going to get."

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I am glad to hear that you were able to get a good resolution to your issue.
Now you see why we like our mounts. When they are on, they are on.
I think Craig and I are the only ones to not have issues with our mounts.
Hopefully I didn't just jinx us.
:shock: :shock: :lol:

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I plan to use it again Sunday. (instead of watch the Super Bowl) We have some good skies predicted then overcast for a week or so.....I may head up to our cabin in NC - from our back upstairs porch, I have a clear view of the West to North sky....something I don't have here. Problem there is bears and I have to be back Monday night for a photoshoot. Plus it is a 2 hour drive. I can't leave the kit out as they climb up to the back porch looking for food and will tear it up. They destroyed a bar-b-que grill. I can record the game, if the Panthers win I will watch it....if not, I won't.

Decisions decisions!

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Congratulations Ed!
Glad Celestron decided to break the neck off the bottle.

Well Ed, you are Preachin to the Choir.
Most of us are AVX owners.

You can add that your AVX mount is a Gen II.
Celestron had a flurry of problems with the Gen I because, in their words, people were plugging the Dec cable into the wrong sockets.
So their 'fix' was to put an 8 conductor socket into the motor drive board and Dec drive. That they dubbed the Gen II.

It is conceivable to me they might have their poop grouped about how to get the AVX Mounts repaired. Mine (#3) came back working well this time.
I believe I have the answer to keeping it that way, pure battery power exclusively. Batteries produce pure DC power.
It is my experienced opinion the China move Celestron did brought a degrading in the components being used to assemble their electronics.
Electronics are funny things, usually they will fail open. But they can have catastrophic failures as well, that usually will let the smoke out.
Since 2 of them have not let the smoke out, it is safe to say the components in the motor drive board have failed open.
That shows they are using components (diodes, resistors, ad nausium..) that are sub-standard to the original design perimeters. And why they are having their rash of Nexstar drive problems. Because I have found that other mounts around the world are also having motor drive failures, and not just AVX mounts.

I would recommend that the mount be fed ONLY Battery power. And never have the battery charging when the unit is plugged into it.
That may be why Craig and Jim have never had a problem with their copies.
Since mine returned this last time it has only had battery power and has performed well.
So I recommend the mount never have 'dirty' power applied to it, only battery DC power.

Something they stated about mine was that the technician also adjusted the backlash in the gears. Couldn't say if they did, or didn't. And don't care.
I have 15 months left of warranty, then I can fix it myself, if the need arises. ;)

Best wishes for a quick sale. The extras sound nice. :)
Try EBay or Craig's List...

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Hopefully you were able to image this weekend.
Sorry to hear you wont be watching the game you recorded.
;-) :twisted:

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I got time in imaging on Friday - Saturday was overcast and last night was ok until 11:00 and clouds moved in.

I did watch the game - the Broncos defense was playing lights out! Folks back here are shellshocked. I couldn't lose, I was pulling for the Panthers but to lose to Denver, led by one of if not the greatest ambassador for the NFL, P Manning was very easy. I was equally happy for him! Wade Phillips did a great job against NE and Carolina!

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

I too am really glad you finally got the AVX Mount you expected in the first place Ed.
TG I have had really good luck with mine.
Craig