Thanks Dick,
I knew I was in the ballpark but just couldn't
remember the specifics. Thanks for setting it right.
Jerry in Arizona

--- autostaretx <rseymour@...> wrote:

> --- In Meade-DS-Telescopes@yahoogroups.com, Jerry
> <crazyj1251@...> wrote:
> >
> > Matthew,
> > The encoder is what causes the motor unit fault.
> There
> > is a light emitting diode that the encoder must
> spin
> > near. When the encoder blocks the light the
> computer
> > sees it as a turn of so many degrees at the motor.
> If
> > the diode or encoder are not working correctly the
> > computer doesn't see the motor spin and gives the
> > message.
> > Most of the time the encoder wheel itself is dirty
> or
> > has grease blocking the windows in between the
> flats.
> > Rarely but possible the diode will go out. It
> gives
> > off ultra-violet light so don't look for it, you
> can't
> > see it without certain filters.
>
> Actually, the LEDs are infra-red, not ultra violet.
> That means that you -can- "see" them, if you look at
> them
> with a video camera's electronic viewfinder (a
> digital
> camera's display screen will probably also work...
> i've
> only tried it with a video camera)
>
>
> > Clean and align the encoder wheel first and see if
> > that fixes it.
> > The diodes can be had at Radio Shack I am told but
> I
> > have not gone and looked for them.
>
> Simply having the LED or photosensors dirty can
> cause a MUF,
> or having them knocked askew so that they're not
> seeing
> eachother through the encoder vanes. The
> photosenors is
> really -two- detectors (it's called a quadrature
> detector),
> and can be swamped by ambient light if you're
> running it
> in daylight... keep it in shadows when testing.
>
> good luck
> --dick
>
>


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