alberio wrote:
What kind of problems did your AVX give you?
Oh, nothing that Celestron couldn't fix after sending the Whole thing back, twice.
(Why do they need the tripod for an electronics problem? Chinese business model.)
I have a theory based on 42 years doing electrical maintenance and troubleshooting, and failure analysis.
I've watched for and read as many problem posts as I could find about these No Response 16 and No Response 17 codes in the NexStar systems. Specifically in the AVX and lesser telescope systems.
It is not an isolated incident, it's a World Wide problem. And their approach is to change parts.
But the problems persist. So a deeper look finds us looking into Synta Corp, and problems in other lines they manufacture. It gets harder to track, because these other lines use somewhat different trouble codes.
Because of that the waters get muddied, it gets harder to see the problem.
Now, go outside of
Synta Corp. Who else is manufacturing mounts, and what are the trouble reports coming in? Here is where the plot thickens.
One I am aware of is iOptron. iOptron hit the market running full speed. They built a really good reputation, but of late they too are suffering electronics problems.
We now have to zoom out and take a wider view. What is in common with these troubles? China.
The Chinese business model is fix, fix, fix, but never refund. Never! How do they fix?
They replace only. And only what must be replaced. Never any failure analysis. IF they did failure analysis, they would change the components causing the failures, and shore up their reliability.
I know for a fact the AVX suffers from voltage issues. If you go outside of 12 volts, it blows holes in their chips. If they could manufacture better components, they could make products worthy of the good names they bought and are destroying with their crappy business models.
These are not pink paper umbrellas. You don't just replace the bad paper umbrellas with the same faulty paper umbrellas.
Because eventually, the customer base will find more reliable items.
And that... is why I put my money into a Losmandy Mount as my replacement. Made in the USA, by a one man band, where the quality is controlled each step of the way. If a problem arises, it gets corrected.
Do you think a CEO and Owner of Synta Corp would actually pick up a tripod and pack it in a box for a customer? I don't.
But Scott Losmandy himself put my HD Tripod into the box while I steadied it. Tanya is a little gal, and a 35 pound tripod is a bit much for her.
Scott himself was putting together
a dual mount for a customer when I arrived and was invited back into the factory. He was making sure the clamps worked to his satisfaction as he built up the mount, and that the parts were perfect.
My new mount has worked better than I could have ever dreamed it would. And it's just getting better and better as I learn the nuances about running it. And this is only week 3 now.
I wasn't doing this good with my AVX until after a year of coaxing it, and two trips back to Celestron to fix it. (My AVX died suddenly in November of 2019. And I knew I would not be repairing it.)
I found my way around the Chinese mount dilemma. At first I thought I can't afford that.
But as I tried to justify why not, I came to the conclusion that I could not afford to invest in another China mount, and rolling those dice again.
I did learn a lot from my AVX. It was a hard and cruel mistress. I coaxed a lot out of it. But it cost me $200 a year, and a whole lot of aggravations.
I can't see any of those in my future. I'm of the opinion I have my lifetime mount now.