Did I neglect to mention that my Celestron AVX mount is on the fritz? The drive is only a year old and at the worst possible time, a clear August night in Harvard, MA, scope setup rough aligned with Polaris I hit the on switch and nothing. I checked the fuse in the 12v cigarette lighter plug and it was burned out. I replaced it and still nothing.
I called it a night and when I got home emailed the Celestron AVX Yahoo group for advice. The quick answer was there's no internal fuse. The drive's likely died. WTF?
Contacted Celestron and arranged for a warranty return. Celestron warranties are two years. I hope the Discover card automatic 1 year extension* also applies because this sudden failure does not give me a lot of confidence in Celestron's manufacturing care. Celestron advises repairs take a minimum of six weeks. That really sucks. Meanwhile, here in Maryland, a state not known for clear skies we had had about ten days of clear, low humidity pre-Fall skies.
I'm fuming with Celestron.
*Discover has since taken away this benefit. That really sucks.
