HBX PLUG REPAIR & IMPROVEMENT Last updated: 21 April 2007

Sent:	Saturday, April 21, 2007 06:59:24
From:	Possma Net (possmanet@web.de)
i have another documentation for Your fabulous ETX site! Thanks a lot
for collecting and presenting all of this information - i learned a
whole lot from Your site!

As You can see in the first picture, my Autostar HBX plug was not
correctly assembled (ab initio). (This one is from an Autostar #494 from
Meade DS Mount (I described the EXT90-OTA-assembly-to-this-mount on Your
site.) - but should apply to all Autostar devices because the plug is
the same.)



After a while of usage, Autostar sometimes complained about motor errors
- this was the plug's fault, because it produced a defective contact on
the motor-related lines. I decided to repair it myself instead of
sending to meade and missing an lot of nights with clear skies. :-)



The plug is a standard 8-pin connector we call "Westernstecker" in
germany. (Do You call it "western-plug"?) However, it is the same as on
standard CAT.5 network cables - so, having the tool for crimping those
plugs, i put such a CAT.5 plug onto my Autostar cable. You just have to
take account of the cable colours carefully! (!!)



Now my HBX-plug has strain-relief _and_ a bend protection, which also
keeps the Autostar cable a bit away form my DS tripod-legs, which
results in less mechanical interefences on telescope turns. My motor
errors are gone. :-)

Greetings and clear skies,
Posma Net.

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