Sent:	Monday, May 7, 2012 13:55:02
From:	John Kerley (bjohnk@hotmail.com)
Having destroyed my #494 using ASU 5.9.3, (should have read your site
1st), I decided to use a spare #497 with my ETX-80AT-TC.

My #497 has the latest Control Software update (43Eg) which has the
ETX-80 as an option in the Telescope Model Menu.

All seems to work fine except getting the Date / Time from the ETX-80's
internal clock.

Looking through your site it appears that the #497 has a timing issue
with the ETX-80 when booting up which seems to be the reason for not
getting the Date / Time.

I have now been able to get the Date / Time from the ETX-80AT-TC by
doing the following;
 
1.    Turn the telescope on.
2.    The instant the #497 display appears turn the telescope OFF and ON rapidly 4 times.
3.    Then let the #497 go through its normal Boot cycle.
 
When you a Press '0' for Align or 'MODE' for Menu hopefully the #497
should now say, "Getting Time" rather than asking you to enter the Date
/ Time.

The #497 now has the ETX-80AT-TC Date / Time. This method seems to work,
with practice, more often than not. The Downside is the Wear and Tear to
the On  Off switch.

I would have thought Meade could update the #497 Control Software to
address this issue.

Hope this is helpful to other users and apologise if someone else on
your site has already suggested this method.

I would be interested if someone has come up with a more scientific way
to achieve the same end result.
 
Many Thanks for a Great Site.
 
John Kerley
Bristol, United Kingdom

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