1.3m Dec Controller Reset

Occasionally, the 1.3m observer may notice that they can no longer move the telescope in declination as well as sometimes right ascension.  More often than not, this problem stems from the declination motor controller tripping.  While this problem completely eliminates telescope control, it is thankfully an easy one to fix, as long as someone is on-site and able to access the 1.3m telescope.

In the housing behind the polar axis are a set of doors.  Inside, on the right wall are a) a light switch, b) the dec motor controller box and c) a large 220V-power knife switch cutoff.  See Figure 1.  The dec motor controller has an LED display on the front.  In the even of a failure, it typically (but not always!) is flashing "err".  Reseting the system is as simple as grabbing the knife switch and pushing it down into the OFF position.  Count to 30 then flip it back up to the ON position.  When OFF, the dec motor controller display will turn off.  Once powered back ON, the dec motor controller should settle to displaying "r   0" or "r   1" (see Figure 2).  That's it!  Be sure to turn off the light switch and close the housing doors.  

Figure 1:Dec Controller System

Figure 2: Dec Controller Display