problem solved

Mr. Gaherty emailed me yesterday to see if I was going to Starfest. I told him, no, I wasn't. Not going to Rainfest. Or Thundernlightningfest. Or Highwindfest. No thank you.

He explained that the Vixen GP-DX mount he had recently sold to a RASC member in Orillia wasn't working. The same mount that I had hacked the hand controller for. Only 3 years ago! Neither the RA nor Dec motor seemed to be working... He said, "I'm pretty sure it was working then, but I can't rember how thoroughly I tested it." Oh oh.

I offered that the new owner, Gord, visit the CAO. We could take a look. Maybe plug the controller into another mount; or a different controller into his mount. They hatched a plan to do this.

But Geoff reported by today saying, "Problem solved: the slew rates were slower than Gord expected." Whew! I didn't break anything. And it stands the test of time!

He want on to say that Gord might still stop by the Carr on his way to Mount Forest. Roger dodger.

I took the opportunity to ask if he charged Gord extra for the fancy red LED.

The reply: "Of course! It was an essential part of my sales pitch. I explained how every other GP-DX owner has to struggle with an ugly bright flashing green light, but this one has the Nancarrow™ 'EZ on the I' flashing red light!"

He cracks me up.