Tonight's Disappontment

The control computer for the Losmandy mount started acting screwy last night.  There is a CR2405 battery that was down to 1V and when replaced all worked beautifully this even.  Goto Moon and boom.  There it is.

I took some video and stills and everything was going great... Then.

Of course the hand controller is on a coiled cord (RJ12 connector) and I was high enough above ground level that it did not stay where I put it on the ladder and it hit the ground. My bad.  I wish that I knew that many people use an RJ12 extension cord for exactly this reason.  The screen moved a bit and it no longer starts.  I disassembled and it appears that the screen moved enough for me to guess the ribbon cable to the PCB to pull loose.  

A replacement hand controller is $300. I am waiting to hear back from Losmandy if they have a repair manual for it.  If not, I will put my limited knowledge of electronics to work and see if it as simple as plugging the ribbon cable back in place and reassembling.

DigiKey sells a 14' extension cable for this for about $18 delivered.  I wish I had known about this a few weeks ago.