I never had one. Gemini II, Mini.

My power is "Daisy Chained". That is, my 12 volt supply comes from a single bench type power supply and gets tapped off to every device needing 12 volt power supplied. That power wiring begins feeding at my Gemini controller, and ends at my main camera. Tapped off to the Gemini II, Powered USB3 Hub, focuser, and Main Camera.

I use a 12 volt powered hub for my data devices. It takes the 12 volt and distributes up to 2 amps @ 5 volts to each of the 7 ports. IE: it powers things like my ASI290MM Mini guide camera, PA Flats Master Panel. etc.

So, instead of having many fallible plug connections, I only have the ones at the certain devices. (Less to go wrong or deteriorate.) The distribution harness has soldered and secure insulated taps.

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I can understand how having many places to pick off power can be handy for some. But I see every connector as a potential connection problem. So in my case, I eliminated several of the problem places.

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Sonny Edmonds
GM811G HD

Maybe but having that power out point is very handy :)

On Tue, May 20, 2025 at 05:16 AM, Trevor wrote:

Can someone tell me why the power out socket on the latest iteration of the mount controller was removed ??, thanks? :)

Can someone tell me why the power out socket on the latest iteration of the mount controller was removed ??, thanks? :)

Thanks Tanya. ?My concern is that they actually look like AVEOX PCBs but missing the Losmandy information….. meaning there is possibly a leak of these from mfgr! ?(I could be wrong but it is an original board from what I can tell).

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Which is “a worst nightmare scenario”! ? Someone most likey lifted some boards.?

if it is I hope you can plug it quickly. ? ?

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To others….if the board does not work, honestly it’s no good for parts unless you have specialist soldering gear. ? Even then I wouldn’t re-use parts unless they cannot be obtained new! ? Even then ….!

If it does work ….I guess it’s a win for ypur pocket but remember, research development, firmware and mfgr etc is not cheap and if you want ongoing products and support then buying one is a sure way to kill the product.?

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FWIW

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Brendan

This is a great response. Thanks!

Hello Losmandy Community,

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We thought we would chime in on this subject.? These boards are not from a Losmandy known source.? ?We have been in close contact with the owner of AVEOX and he is taking action with eBay about these postings.? ?We can tell which ones are not from Losmandy and AVEOX and we will not support the boards that are not official Losmandy Gemini 2 boards.??

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Since we test each board, hand controller, and motors before they leave our facility we know if there is a defective board.? When we get a defective board (which we do get at times but very small percentage)? we do not sell these on the used market.? They are put in a bin as defective and are saved for "spare parts" so, when customers that have a board out of warranty but it is able to be repaired we have the parts to fix the unit and saving customers from having to buy a new standalone unit.?

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So if you decide to purchase, please know that you are doing it at your own risk and possible loss of money and NO warranty from Losmandy.

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We appreciate everyone who made us aware of this.? With your continued support we are able to keep the Losmandy Brand solid and continue to provide quality products.

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Thanks for taking the time to read.?

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Any questions, please feel free to ask.?

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Scott and Tanya

Thats a tough definition of fake. i bought my g11g second hand off "some website", not from an authorized dealer or reseller, its not fake.

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ebay and paypals buyer protections are top notch, but you are 100% right, anyone buying this (DONT BUY IT) is taking on $100 of risk. for me that risk is acceptable, as just in salvageable parts and a potentially functioning bare pcb there are $100 of parts.

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to the point of some of the others, we dont know if this is a legitimate source or not. they seem to all be shipping from the USA, (seems like utah), they have a great ebay rating, and ebay classifies them as "

CJ Collective is one of eBay's most reputable sellers. Consistently delivers outstanding customer service

. whos to say these sellers arent in some way affiliated with AVEOX, the company that designed and built the actual control board that losmandy is using? or that they were not purchased because some authorized place went out of business and these are extra inventory. the seller seems like they move a lot of assembled PCB's. so who knows where they came from.

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theres a bit more nuance here than "If its not from losmandy its fake and bad" My power supply isnt, the grease i use to lubricate the mount isnt, lots of the upgrade parts like gearboxes ive seen aren't from losmandy, and even the repair services ive seen offered from a couple people arent official losmandy.? losmandys own firmware upgrade kit is a rebadged PIC programmer, its great they found one they like and heat shrink it and sell it to people because they know it works, but they dont even have available for sale anymore (waiting list) and if people want to do the FW upgrade, they can just go buy the PICKIT3 on amazon and do it themselves.

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i get this isnt for you Sonny, i appreciate that. and i think there is a topic unsubscribe button so you dont have to see us eventually fail and waste $100, as it seems like you're really worried we will. Thank you for your concern.

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once more, DONT BUY THIS. but for $100 for me its worth a shot.?

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: Not coming through a legitimate source. In this case, NOT Losmandy.

You may very well find a wall if/when you try to return it.

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You tried to cut a fat hog, now the tusker has you.

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PT Barnum said it best.

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Sonny Edmonds
GM811G HD

I guess a definition of fake would be useful. In my opinion a fake is made by a 3rd party as a clone of another companies part or product and typically is of inferior quality or is lacking some feature.?

this appears to be something different. I’d bet these came off the same production line. The date writing most likely happens when Losmandy or the actual engineering company AVEOX who makes motion control systems writes the firmware and runs them through tests on a jig. Then it gets the writing, etc. which explains why these are virgin boards.?

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I also don’t advise anyone buy these, but I don’t typically follow my own advice.?

I just got off the phone with Tonya. ?THE BOARDS are FAKE!!!!!

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Look at the white strip in the upper right hand corner. ?A real Losmandy board has a date and is 100% tested in Burbank.

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So there you go.

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Do the right thing and don't buy these Chinese fakes.

Looks like the seller wised up to this pcb being worth more, original listings "sold out" but he has another listing for the same board for 3x as much. and it now says "Gemini-2 losmandy telescope standalone unit" in the title.?

EDIT: oh wait, thats a different wholesale looking seller.?

For sure! i have some in my cart on amazon, i figured id put a little tiny heatsinks on the driver chip and the main processor with some thermal epoxy, and conformal coat the whole thing.?

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poor pcb was submerged overnight in dew. im also working on making some sort of sleeve or case for the controller to keep as much air off as possible.?

On Sun, May 18, 2025 at 07:45 AM, Sonny Edmonds wrote:

I would return it (I would not have bought it in the first place actually).

Then, if you really want a spare, buy a genuine from Losmandy.

IMHO.

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Sonny Edmonds
GM811G HD

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Dear Sonny E.,

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Please send me the $600 difference so I can return this board and buy a backup circuit board directly from Losmandy.? ??

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On Mon, May 19, 2025 at 09:42 AM, Rick Battle wrote:

Listen to Kevin O’Leary and you will know exactly what is happening. ?Dollars to donuts the board is made in China. ?They steal US Intellectual Property with impunity because no American company can sue them in their court system. ?They are free to break the law at will. ?Plus, they do not abide by the World Trade Organization rules. ?They do what ever the hell they want with no repercussions.

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Don’t buy these knock off boards. ?You are making the Chineses rich, they didn’t do any R&D they just stole the IP, and you are hurting Losmandy.

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Wise up.

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Rick Battle

Vero Beach, Florida

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I'm in doubt of your conspiracy theory on these boards.? It is pretty difficult to copy a multi-layer board and reproduce all of the details of a board like this so exactly right down to the coating.? Ask yourself who in their right mind would go to so much actual work to copy such a low value, extremely limited market product and then only offer one or two of them worldwide?? If it was a few $50,000 designer leather bags, absolutely it would be doable and financially rewarding enough to go to all of the trouble and risk to copy.? But a $100 circuit board?? This is about as likely as the L.A. Kings winning the Stanley Cup this year.? ?

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On Mon, May 19, 2025 at 12:42 PM, Rick Battle wrote:

Listen to Kevin O’Leary and you will know exactly what is happening. ?Dollars to donuts the board is made in China. ?They steal US Intellectual Property with impunity because no American company can sue them in their court system. ?They are free to break the law at will. ?Plus, they do not abide by the World Trade Organization rules. ?They do what ever the hell they want with no repercussions.

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Don’t buy these knock off boards. ?You are making the Chineses rich, they didn’t do any R&D they just stole the IP, and you are hurting Losmandy.

Don’t buy these knock off boards. ?You are making the Chineses rich, they didn’t do any R&D they just stole the IP, and you are hurting Losmandy.

Wise up.

Rick Battle

Vero Beach, Florida

On Sun, May 18, 2025 at 11:22 PM, Francisco wrote:

There are stories of manufacturers just “running some extra” of a part they got paid to make for someone. So imagine you get asked to make 100 units, and instead you make 200 for some reason , maybe to have backups in case there are defects or something. Losmandy most likely doesn’t have the ability to make their own PCB so it’s probably spun by an overseas manufacturer, then assembled there as well, but the software is most likely put on by Losmandy themselves here in CA. So the probably overseas company can make the hardware, but doesn’t want to / can’t figure out what the software is.?

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IDK if this is common in USA manufactured parts like this from a military grade contractor but this should be traceable by the contract.? This is a custom job not some normally stocked production part.? If Losmandy knew.about them and Losmandy wanted to trace them they probably could.??

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In Asia this is not uncommon which is part of the beef many companies have with Chinese makers, no respect for USA IP.? But it is or was what it is.?

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On Mon, May 19, 2025 at 02:22 AM, Francisco wrote:

There are stories of manufacturers just “running some extra” of a part they got paid to make for someone. So imagine you get asked to make 100 units, and instead you make 200 for some reason , maybe to have backups in case there are defects or something. Losmandy most likely doesn’t have the ability to make their own PCB so it’s probably spun by an overseas manufacturer, then assembled there as well, but the software is most likely put on by Losmandy themselves here in CA. So the probably overseas company can make the hardware, but doesn’t want to / can’t figure out what the software is.?