Going Motorised

[McrRed]

Hi Guys & Gals,
I couldn't decide whether this was an Installation or an Openbox question but here goes:

I have a motorised dish setup as a single sat at the moment on 28.2E.
All channels working fine.

I want to get the motor setup properly and I'm hitting big problems with the way the Openbox wants to set things up for me.

The normal way to set up multisat is to locate reference. Set long/lat for USALS then let the receiver do its thing.
When I follow this procedure the dish always rest too short off 28.2E (for example) ie it doesn't drive the dish far enough around the arc.

If I set it up manually from the motor itself everything is fine. I can get 28.2E, 26E etc etc with no problem.

As soon as I try to get the receiver to do the work in USALS it loses position and the channels/sats don't match up. Eg if I try to scan for channels from a known position instead of just scanning those channels, the Openbox tries to move the dish first cocking up all my best intentions.

I'm tempted to set it up as DISECQ 1.2 to at least get it working.

I'm doing something wrong, but what?

You guys have been great getting me this far, any ideas?

[Satbeam]

Re: Going Motorised

Once you set reference lat / long in usals menu , select 28.2 e channel . Try manually move dish mount on pole in order to reach 28.2e rather than with motor using signal level on receiver (if you don't have sat meter) . The key is move and adjust very slowly .

[toby69]

Re: Going Motorised

I'm tempted to set it up as DISECQ 1.2 to at least get it working.
-----------------------------------

i set mine using diseqc 1.2 way, started 0.8west, and used nudging facility to move to next available sat using live fta transponder number to gain signal, but each have there own prefered way of doing.

[McrRed]

Re: Going Motorised

Once you set reference lat / long in usals menu , select 28.2 e channel . Try manually move dish mount on pole in order to reach 28.2e rather than with motor using signal level on receiver (if you don't have sat meter) . The key is move and adjust very slowly .

Yes. I can get any single satellite and its channels by itself. The problem is when I try to string them together as a properly motorised setup they all go out of configuration.

So, for instance, if I go to 28.2E then try to go to another bird I can get back to 28.2E without doing it manually (using USALS).

I'll see if I can get a basic disecq setup going...

[Mobley3]

Re: Going Motorised

May seem like a daft question but did you reset your motor to Zero before you put in your
Long/Lat and then driving to 28E and then manually fine tuning the motor on the mount ?
Regards Mobley

[Satbeam]

Re: Going Motorised

Yes. I can get any single satellite and its channels by itself. The problem is when I try to string them together as a properly motorised setup they all go out of configuration.

So, for instance, if I go to 28.2E then try to go to another bird I can get back to 28.2E without doing it manually (using USALS).

I'll see if I can get a basic disecq setup going...

It may be worth inputting ofset longtitude . e.g if your lon =3.00 try incremental change to 2.5 ,3.5 , 2, 3 ,1.5 ,4 . If this works , it indicates that mount is not level , hence your geographical longtitude doesn't work in usals .

I've just re-read your post . Considering that usals returns you to 28.2e , it indicates that elevation and declination angle of your dish need to be corrected .

[microchick]

Re: Going Motorised

Hi Guys & Gals,
I couldn't decide whether this was an Installation or an Openbox question but here goes:

I have a motorised dish setup as a single sat at the moment on 28.2E.
All channels working fine.

I want to get the motor setup properly and I'm hitting big problems with the way the Openbox wants to set things up for me.

The normal way to set up multisat is to locate reference. Set long/lat for USALS then let the receiver do its thing.
When I follow this procedure the dish always rest too short off 28.2E (for example) ie it doesn't drive the dish far enough around the arc.

If I set it up manually from the motor itself everything is fine. I can get 28.2E, 26E etc etc with no problem.

As soon as I try to get the receiver to do the work in USALS it loses position and the channels/sats don't match up. Eg if I try to scan for channels from a known position instead of just scanning those channels, the Openbox tries to move the dish first cocking up all my best intentions.

I'm tempted to set it up as DISECQ 1.2 to at least get it working.

I'm doing something wrong, but what?

You guys have been great getting me this far, any ideas?

I would suggest to set the motor as DiseqC 1.2 and use the nudges system to set the position of the satellites. Store each satellite at different position like 28.2 is Position 1, 26 is 2 and 23.5 is 3 and so far. When you have completed your list of position, write these positions in a safe place for the future reference. This will work. Its a tiring job so you would need to be patient.
Once all the positions are stored then you are done. Press the satellite key on remote and select a satellite from the list. The motor will drive the Dish to the desired satellite.
Good Luck

[cannydo]

Re: Going Motorised

McrRed unless your very lucky the nudge will work but for the rest of us Openbox users the nudge just makes the box crash. You either have to stick to Disec 1.2 or alter your Long Lat by a couple of degrees to get it spot on you7r sats on Usal.

[microchick]

Re: Going Motorised

McrRed unless your very lucky the nudge will work but for the rest of us Openbox users the nudge just makes the box crash. You either have to stick to Disec 1.2 or alter your Long Lat by a couple of degrees to get it spot on you7r sats on Usal.

My gathering is that the nudge system only works with the Diseq 1.2. It doesnt work with USALS because USALS straight away take you to the proper degree. If You are using Diseq 1.2 then you will have to adjust the correct degree with Left-Right. I think 3 nudges move the dish by 1 degree.

PS: I haven't heard any openbox users so far that their box crashes with a nudge. There were some news that openbox crashes as soon you run a motor with it, doesnt matter if it is diseq motor or a USALS. They had problem with the power supply.

[cannydo]

Re: Going Motorised

I have two Openboxes and a Spiderbox 7000HD personally I don't use Usal and both boxes crash when nudging sometimes you can get up to 5 nudges but no more.

[microchick]

Re: Going Motorised

To be honest you are the first person i have heard that thier box crashes with the nudge. You might need to have a look at your set up. May be a loose connection somewhere. Usually the F connectors get lose with moving the dish a lot. Make sure they are tightly connected from LNB to the Motor and from Motor to the receiver. Also make sure they are water proof.

[cannydo]

Re: Going Motorised

Please do not presume because you have not heard of it that my setup is at fault. My connections and setup are perfect checked quite regular to be honest.
PS Spiderbox works perfect

[microchick]

Re: Going Motorised

I am not assuming that but sometime the motor needs resetting when there are loose connections. The motor stops at one place and nothing works to move the motor. You would need to reset the motor from Left_Right keys on the otor manually.

[cannydo]

Re: Going Motorised

I agree with the motor getting stuck but in this case my Spiderbox works perfect so this has to be an Openbox problem ie software or FW update required. It is the latest SW and FW on both boxes. Anyway back to subject McrRed try change your longtitde by 0.5 at a time you should see an improvement.

[McrRed]

Re: Going Motorised

Many thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I'll try nudge and offset. I think my pole is a touch off vertical so might be causing these problems. I've bought some new fixings that should sort it out.
In the meantime I'll have a go at offsetting and keeping the disecq 1.2 settings written somewhere. Incidentally, if I save the receiver data will it save disecq 1.2 data along with channel info?)