SB Alignment issue? (motorised)

[jonmknight]

Morning, I'm hoping the community here can help as I'm at the end of my tether..

My Setup:
Gibby 1m
Inverto Black
DarkMotor Supreme (or superior, can't remember)
Spiderbox 7000HD
000.7W / 52.4N
West Limit: 9e
East Limit: 42e
I have the coax from dish coming into the house into a socket, and a flylead from that socket going around my living room (under floorboards) to my TV.


The Problem:
Went from ~90% signal on 28.2e to 30%, now 0% over 2 days.. I can move the dish when selecting different sats or via motor setup but can't pickup any signal on any sats. The positioning if the sat when moved looks to be in the correct place in terms of elivation and E/W. When selecting a 28.2 chan and then selecting another sat I briefly (<1second) get a picture before the dish moves more via motor.

I have a feeling that the dish may have slightly become out of alignment in the wind.

I've taken the 'fly lead' out of the equasion by plugging the SB into the feed directly from the dish.

I've confirmed that my lat/long positions are correct on the SB.

I've taken my SB round a mates house who has a fixed dish at 28.2e and can confirm that the Spiderbox displays all sly channels - so I know it's not the box or chan list..

I've emailed the guy who did the install who suggested the below to me. How do i replicate this with spiderbox? I don't know of a calibrate / go to zero feature?

Actually that elevation looks about right.
I remember 9e is the furthest West. Send the dish to 9e, unplug the satellite cable. Now on the receiver, calibrate motor settings/ goto zero. At this point check and insert your long/lat and then select 9e on the receiver. Plug the satellite cable back in and you should see 9e channels.

The dish may have moved in winds but from the shot you have emailed, it all looks ok.


Is there any way that I can move east/west in very small increments to check signal?


Please help

Thanks in advance.

 

[wiz569]

Have you tried another box on the same feed or else a new run of cable,even loosely to check?

 

[jimihendrix]

If using DiseqC to move your motor you can give short pulses on the left/right arrow keys this will fine step the motor.
I think if 9e is as far as your dish can move then get it re sited if possible I can swing my dish +/- 45 degrees form "0" a 90 degree arc. Your span seems very limited at 43 degrees.

 

[jonmknight]

@Wiz569: I'm going to try a new run of cable first, it's possible that the cable entering my house directly from dish may have been bent at the point where it screws into the 'flylead socket'.

What I don't understand though is if the cable were defective - how can I get the dish to move at all?



@Jimi: With reference to my acute arc - yes, it's frustrating. I bought all of the kit on the premise that I could pickup 4.8e, I knew it was going to be tight due to an obstruction..

When the chap came out to fit he stated that I wouldn't be able to pickup anything heading west-wards past 9e [obstruction] - so he fitted a short-profile bracket (for cosmetic purposes) meaning that my dish physically won't move further west of 9e without hitting the side of my house.

If I'd have had a survey before purchasing the kit I'd have gone for a much smaller dish, and would have probably discounted a motor and gone for dual lnb setup.

Still, I am where I am.. will teach me to be impatient..

My house is in a really crappy location with obstructions so was greatful for anything at all tbh. So, re-sitting isn't going to achieve anything.

With reference to DiseqC, (if the new cable doesn't help)

I'm currently setup on USALS. Is the best thing for me to do:

1) Drive the motor to 28.2e.
2) Switch to DiseqC
3) Fine tune by going left and right [what is the option on-screen do to this??] to see if the signal stregth increases?

 

[jimihendrix]

Ok I have the 9000 but basically the same, select a free to air channel on 28.2 say a BBC or ITV channel. After your dish stops moving press menu, select motor setup press ok, set motor type to DiseqC 1.2, select an active transponder (use 10714 H sr 22000 for instance), go down to drive step and use the left/right arrow keys to move the dish.
Note press these keys only briefly just pulse them or the dish will move to far, when you have maximum S and Q readings go down one place to command and again use the left/right keys to select "store sat Position" press OK.
The position for 28.2e is now stored.
Using tp 10714 H I get S (green bar) 89% and Q (blue bar) 96% your levels will be different and will depend of dish size and location.

To be honest I would try the above before replacing the cable as as you say the Spiderbox can move the motor.

 

[wiz569]

@Wiz569: I'm going to try a new run of cable first, it's possible that the cable entering my house directly from dish may have been bent at the point where it screws into the 'flylead socket'.

What I don't understand though is if the cable were defective - how can I get the dish to move at all?

I would imagine just because power can get to the motor doesn't always mean its good enough connection for a decent reception,I think

But I would try jimi's advice first and then either a different box or new cable,depending on which is easier,

of course it could also be the lnb

 

[Rumpelstiltskin.]

The dish is misaligned, you get a piturec temporarily as it is passing the selected transponder/satellite.
If using usals send to 28.2e, switch to diseqc and then use the move motor function to move west and then press store sat statusonce satellite is tuned in.
I only say west as I think if you are getting a pic when sending to 28.2e temporarily from say 13e then it is going to far east.

 

[jimihendrix]

I would imagine just because power can get to the motor doesn't always mean its good enough connection for a decent reception,I think

But I would try jimi's advice first and then either a different box or new cable,depending on which is easier,

of course it could also be the lnb

Funny you mention the LNB, a few years ago a friend ask me why he was able to get satellites east and west of 5e no way could he get 5e. I knew his dish had been correctly setup and was on a low wall. I took a look and he was right no 5e, then I noticed a very fine crack in the top of the LNB casing this fine crack allowed seepage of rain into the LNB as to why it only affected 5e but replacing it cured the problem I cant say why other satellites were ok but there you go.

@jonmknight check all connections are waterproofed as rain can enter the leads if their not.

 

[jimihendrix]

The dish is misaligned, you get a piturec temporarily as it is passing the selected transponder/satellite.
If using usals send to 28.2e, switch to diseqc and then use the move motor function to move west and then press store sat statusonce satellite is tuned in.
I only say west as I think if you are getting a pic when sending to 28.2e temporarily from say 13e then it is going to far east.

Yes I often find that when people look up their positions for USALS instead of decimal figures say 54.1 they use the older base 60 which would give the 54 degrees ok but then the remainder is in minutes and seconds. OK a pocket calculator can convert the minutes and seconds but it's easier to look up the decimal.

 

[jonmknight]

Thanks all for your help - is indeed out of alignment. I needed about '10 drive steps' West.. Damn wind!

OK - next question - is it going to be as easy as that for all of the other sat's?

To be fair, I'm mainly only interested in 13e, 19.2e and of course 28.2e for the time being.. I assume that the drivestep option won't work as easily with sats with low signal strength as the arch my dish knows about will be slightly off now?

 

[jimihendrix]

Yes use the same method and it will work fine, give me a little time and I'll come back with some active transponders for you.

 

[jonmknight]

Thank you very much, that was going to be my next question ;-)

Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk 2

 

[jimihendrix]

Apologies for the delay unexpected guests :

19.2e tp 10744 H sr22000 my S&Q readings 90% 88%
16 e tp 11011 V sr 27500 79% 86%
13e tp 10719 V sr 27500 87% 92%

These transponders give a strong signal but more than that they have FTA channels on them, if you were to use a transponder which only had encrypted channels then you sometimes have a delay before you get the green and blue bars and could easily pass the satellite and not know it.
Good luck and let us know the results.
Note scan the transponder first then do a satellite scan.

 

[jonmknight]

Ok I have the 9000 but basically the same, select a free to air channel on 28.2 say a BBC or ITV channel. After your dish stops moving press menu, select motor setup press ok, set motor type to DiseqC 1.2, select an active transponder (use 10714 H sr 22000 for instance), go down to drive step and use the left/right arrow keys to move the dish.
Note press these keys only briefly just pulse them or the dish will move to far, when you have maximum S and Q readings go down one place to command and again use the left/right keys to select "store sat Position" press OK.
The position for 28.2e is now stored.
Using tp 10714 H I get S (green bar) 89% and Q (blue bar) 96% your levels will be different and will depend of dish size and location.

To be honest I would try the above before replacing the cable as as you say the Spiderbox can move the motor.

Hi Jimmi,

not tried fine-tuning all sats yet, only 28.2, but I have a question..

How exactly am I going to be able to do this with other sats?

I mean - I start of in USALS, go to sat#1 (28.2), then switch over to DiseqC and fine tune, Save - easy..

Then, I'm going to have to switch back into USALS to get the dish to move to sat#2 .. but, in doing so, the position i've just stored for 28.2 will revert back to the "USALS position"?

So, I'm not going to be able to do:

1) USALS
2) Go to Sat #1
3) Disqec
4) FineTune
5) Store
6) USALS
7) Go to Sat #2
8) Disqec
9) FineTune
10) Store
..

Does that make sense?

 

[jimihendrix]

Dont worry about it it's an easy matter once you've stored the positions to switch between DiseqC and USALS. Now a little tip you can if you wish save the channels list to a USB stick as you go along so you dont lose anything if you make a mistake :
Press menu find USB press ok then press green (save data) all done.
Note selecting any satellite to either DiseqC or USALS sets them all.