SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

As several of my Clear Skies Friends here know I made the trip to deliver my Advanced VX mount to Celestron today.
Well, no tour, it was mainly offices and Tech Support. I didn't go there hoping for a tour anyway.
Lorenz came out with a cart to bring in the AVX. I shown him my printed out various papers, and gave him a copy of my proof of purchase.
I spent more time talking/listening to the receptionist overall.
See, the City of Torrance had had a power outage and Celestron's phone system was still down.
But after Lorenz and I got the AVX unloaded from my truck to his cart, he went to find WilG to see what would transpire about the AVX. Lorenz seemed surprised when I told him I had been told it would be replaced (Skeptical).
He came back with a rather sheepish look on his face and told me that, "Yes, this is to be replaced and you should have an all brand new one in 3 days, to a week at the most."
Great! I said.
He went on.... He told me that this is a Gen 1 Model. Generation 1 Model...
He said that when they came out with the AVX in 2013, the Gen 1 Models had several problems. Among them was the motor drive board failures.

He said there was one big difference in the Gen 2 Models, They decided that too many people were having trouble plugging the DEC motors into the wrong port. So.....
The newer models have an 8 pin cord from the motor drive, to the DEC motor. Instead of a 6-pin. That is the Caveat.

It seems folks were missing the part about the DEC motor cord actually plugging it on the top of the motor drive housing.
I didn't because of YouTube unboxing and set-up video's I had watched. (I research while waiting for a shipment to arrive. Call me hyperactive at times.)
So, the fix was to make it not fit in the wrong holes. ;) A Very Good idea.

Lorenz went on to tell me that at the warehouse where they ship from, a brand new unit would be pulled, opened and tested to make sure the motors run, then it would be shipped to me. Should only take 3 days before I will receive it, but it could take as long as a week.

I had a good feeling about Celestron. I have an even better feeling about them now.

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Congratulations Sonny. That is almost exactly what I was told would happen by my ex-employee friend. Now I need to check and see if I have the Gen 1 model.
Craig

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Far out Sonny.
Look forward to being able to start hassling you again.
You know its all in fun though so be prepared.
No Buds for you though.
;)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Well if you do, I would not worry unless it goes belly up on you.
If that occurs, use the Gen 1 card.
"I heard there was some issues with the Gen 1 Units, and I think I may have one...."
They apparently know there is something funky with some of the early units. And to be totally honest, who knows how long some of them sat in storage waiting for an order to give them a good home? (Thinking dog pound..)
When a Sale comes along, somebody is trying to move some stock.
Maybe that is what happened with me?

But Celestron sounds like they are going to man-up and do right by me.

But today there is an anomaly in The Force and their communicators are down. :roll: :lol: (Translation: No Email yet.)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

That's OK, Jim, it's like water on a ducks back.
It runs right off. ;) :lol:
But watch out buddy, one these days my poop will be grouped :roll: and I'll give you some pictures to look at. :shock:
(I can't really call anything I've taken a Photograph yet. ;) )

Confidence is high in Celestron. :-D

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

I have a Gen 1, 6 pin.
Craig

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Well, I would not worry until the cows don't come home.
You know how new releases are, a few glitches and it gets corrected.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I also have a six pin but mine has a big red sticker with aux and tracking in a circle with a line through. Universal don't even think about it.
Mine must be a later early release.

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

Mine's a Gen 1also, but has the red tag on the cord.
They must have a lot of the "ones" on the shelf. I just got mine end of April. Maybe that's why they had that big sale?
I wonder how many people fried their brand new toys the first time they set them up?

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Makes me wonder what other changes were made in the mount going into a version 2.
I also wonder if that is why I sometimes have spot on tracking and other times not so spot on.
Go figure..

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

""I also wonder if that is why I sometimes have spot on tracking and other times not so spot on.""
I have the same problem Jim. And yes I have the 6 pin Red Label too.
Craig

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Now that we are on the spotty tracking, I had that as well.
But once in a while, the mount seemed to go completely bonkers.
For Example: Wanting to get back to basics (without going to "Home" ) I entered Polaris. I thought the dumb thing was going to wind itself into a ball. I hit the main switch to stop it before it did any damage.

That didn't happen often, but once was enough to not look away while slewing. (In my case, with as many as 3 camera cords, I had to watch out anyway.)
Maybe 3-4 times in its short life.

Mine had NO "red tags" anywhere on it. So I'd imagine you guys with those red tag specials might be a little ahead of the one I got. ;) Probably even updated software (or firmware).

Mine also had a very early problem where it needed a firmware update. "Alex" sent me an adapter so it would convert the cord to a USB port. And an email to a Celestron page that walked me through feeding the hand control unscrambled brains. http://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/ (Login required)
He explained that some units needed that update after setting too long in storage. That was a bit illogical to me. But what the heck, I just wanted it to work and was relieved it did not require a trip back to fix it.

Unfortunately, Celestron has no serial number system. So, no real (external) tracking of an age for a mount. Only your proof of purchase date for a warranty start date, apparently.

There is no reason to doubt or panic about your mount. If you have a problem, Celestron will take care of it.
If you are out of warranty, they will still work with you to get it right again.
They have a vested interest in helping their customers.
And... they are nice folks.

Clear Skies! And happy slewing. It is currently raining a tiny bit here. :?

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

No s/n?
For something this sophisticated and spendy, that's kinda dumb...

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Hey, I resemble that remark! :mrgreen:

Yeah, I donno. Seems kinda different.
Please note I said "No real (external) serial number."
Many of us are familiar with EXIF data in our photographs.
So I surmise that maybe the circuit boards, or electronic signatures in the firmware has a determinable number or code. (Other than the connectors on a cable)
What S/N's do occur on their products are manufactures numbers. They don't keep a data base of actual serial numbers.
For example, no serial number was referenced when you registered for your warranty. :?

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Beginning to get a little miffed...
Still nothing from Celestron. My initial inquiry (mount failure last Friday) got an email reply from Alex today.
I explained that I had taken the mount down to them, the RMA number, and that I was told a new mount would be sent to me.
And then... nothing more, so far.
And could he please check on it for me?
That was this morning and I would have expected some reply today.
But nothin... :hunf: