ETX Autostar display fixed

my etx90 is up for sale. there are inquiries but not a serious buyer yet. the only issue with my set is the display on the autostar that 'disappeared' . so i opened the autostar again last night to try and fix it. just to confirm if the issue was with the lcd cable, i did a reseat then checked the lcd. tried to view it against a white paper first and i noticed it was working!

then looking at the white paper on the 'backlight', i noticed it has faded and is already off white. so i thought maybe it needs a bright white as a backlight.

fortunately i still have some photo paper w adhesive and cut a portion that will fit the backlight... and it actually worked :)

i hope this can help other etx autostar users out there

another thing i observed/learned from this...

at some point in setting up the autostar the backlight will dim and when that happens i noticed i cant read any text again. but if i use my cellphone's camera, the text is visible. asked help from my boys to try and read it - they can! after some experimenting i noticed i can read the text if i put the autostar at ~arm's length. i guess i need to have my reading glasses calibrated again.

btw, i decided not to sell it anymore :D realized it's expensive to have a light 1250mm scope so i'll just make the most of it and do more moon shots while learning more of post processing.

some pictures of the autostar:

Lunar Eclipse/First Light

Philippines experienced a full lunar eclipse last night. It will be my first time to use a couple of gadgets in my astrophography gear specially the Skywatcher Adventurer 2i which I got 5mos ago.

One issue that disappointed me was the 'backlash'. After the event I had to google and find the recommended fix while opening the unit and see for myself why the backlash is happening. Most of the video I found also included opening the unit...

I soon found out that the "fix" is a documented screw adjustment that can be found in the manual nyahahaha. Facepalm moments.

The screw is #24 called Worm Gear Meshing Adjustment Screw. There's not much mention of it in the document but looking inside made me realize that it's a very clever way of adjusting how to secure the worm gear. Just don't tighten it too much.

I hope this will help other owners out there :)

Some pictures from last night's event.

a7s2 with the rokkor 500rf, cropped

a99 with the etx90, camera struggling w the exposure :P

and just another shot for/from the a99. cropped.

I tried to keep the exposure as close to how I was seeing the eclipsed Moon. It was really dark even when using binoculars.

Cheers