Help! It was going so well

[heyho]

So I sat down yesterday and went through the excellent setup guides on this site. And I got a result pretty much straight away - KU-Hotbird found and channels added. Nice. So then I decided on following the instructions and choosing several satellites. Then I went for a coffee as instructed - well it was a tea actually, maybe that is what I did wrong. When I come back I had noticed that the dish had moved quite a bit but no channels were found.

After trying to just find Hotbird again and nothing coming back I tried a factory reset but still no good. The dish is still in this new position and I can't get it back to zero (it's a ***** Supreme Intelligence Dark motor).

Can anyone give me any advice please.

Like I say I did have Hotbird channels but now I can't get anything and it appears that the dish has found its new position (shows around 315 on the motors LCD display) but I can't reset it.

[jbvid]

Hi
Are you using Diseq or Usals to set the dish up? Also the Spiderbox model please. Usals is easy with the Dark motor.
jb

[heyho]

I thought I had tried Usals - i.e. selected 'go to satellite' option and input my lat and long a sthere isn't an actual Usals options on that box.

It's Spiderbox 6000

[jbvid]

I thought I had tried Usals - i.e. selected 'go to satellite' option and input my lat and long a sthere isn't an actual Usals options on that box.

It's Spiderbox 6000
Re-read the Satellite setup section in the Guide, print it out and follow it. The Motor option has DiseqC1.2/USALS when selected from None.
https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?162474-Setup-Guide-for-Spiderbox-6000HD

[heyho]

Re-read the Satellite setup section in the Guide, print it out and follow it. The Motor option has DiseqC1.2/USALS when selected from None.
https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?162474-Setup-Guide-for-Spiderbox-6000HD

will do

[hianta]

Like I say I did have Hotbird channels but now I can't get anything and it appears that the dish has found its new position (shows around 315 on the motors LCD display) but I can't reset it.

Just on this point did you try sending the dish to zero in the sat settings/ motor/ mode and select zero . Then check dish is moving. This should tell your motor to go to it's zero settings and synchronise the box with motor as far as I can remember lol

[heyho]

Just on this point did you try sending the dish to zero in the sat settings/ motor/ mode and select zero . Then check dish is moving. This should tell your motor to go to it's zero settings and synchronise the box with motor as far as I can remember lol

Yes I did try this but it didn't seem to move.

On the dark motor should I just see a little red dot flashing?

[hianta]

Yes I did try this but it didn't seem to move.

On the dark motor should I just see a little red dot flashing?
will leave the dark motor to someone else as I do not have one sorry. but make sure in sat settings that the motor setting does not say NONE and does say DiseqC1.2/USALS for each sat that you have put a tick on? and in that you have got the go to satellite?

Edit... Could you put your old box back on and see if it can still control the dish?

2nd Edit
On the other point? scanning? It only has 6000 ch for storing TV and Radio So if you select the all option wile in scan mode you will fill up the memory with all the radio stations and will reach FULL well before you have scanned all sat's . At this point It will just stop? It could have reset your box but usually just keeps your scanned ch's so far. hope this help's .....

[heyho]

Just one plonker question then. If I can (or could) get a full channel listing from KU-HOTBIRD am I correct in assuming that my dish will be aligned correctly?

[Aldo]

No it will not, please read this again:

Go to Menu / Sat Settings, scroll down the left hand list and click OK to select all the Sats you want to scan, this will give them a tick.
Right arrow across, scroll down to Motor, right arrow to select ‘Diseq/Usals’, OK, Scroll down to Mode, select Drive to Satellite, scroll down to Set Location, OK, Scroll down Set Long then Lat then save, scroll to Go ‘Save Data and run’ thats it.

[hianta]

Just one plonker question then. If I can (or could) get a full channel listing from KU-HOTBIRD am I correct in assuming that my dish will be aligned correctly?
Did you get control of your dish back?
If you set your dish up you will already know Aldo's answer?
What STB did you have before or is this a new set up?
If you wish radio and tv for hotbird then scan ALL then change to TV ONLY for rest (You can delete ch's to make room)
Back up your ch list with each change
AND you are not asking plonker questions! If you don't ask you never learn! regards hi an ta

[heyho]

I thought all was fine (again!!!).

Got it setup to pickup Thor and it transmitted a load of channels.

But then once again I added several satellites including Astra and Hotbird. When I came back it had picked a few from Astra and Thor but trhe dish is now fixed toward Astra and when I try and select a Thor channel it wont move.

The channels are there but I get no signal when I try and select them

Tried just to select Thor and scan but the dish wont move to where Thor is now.

[echelon]

seems to me that if you are scanning all these satellites you keep on breaking the maximum transponder and channel limits

you need to save your list to a usb stick and see just how many of the above you have listed (both radio and tv channels)

on my 7000 you can check this using the all sats section and then check the total tv channels , flip to radio and check the total radio channels, then add together for an overall total

but the old spiderboxes like mine have a much larger maximum limit compared to a 6000

[heyho]

It doesn't make sense. I have just unselected all the sats except Thor and let it scan that. Bare in mind it picked up 100+ channels before the latest scan has just picked up 32 scrambled and that's that

I checked the LCD display on the motor and it is saying it is back at 8 degrees where it was originally.

[echelon]

thor is at 0.8 degrees west, so looks like its the wrong satellite you are scanning

[heyho]

I 'might' have a solution.

I was putting in the long and lat for Leeds (seeing as that is where the dish is). Just tried setting it to London and Thor channels sprang into life. Just doing a scan of several sats now (selected free channels) and it is picking them up from all the sats I selected

Not counting my chickens yet but it does look a lot more promising.

Obviously the recent winds must have moved Leeds. Make it cheaper getting the train now ;-)

[echelon]

it would seem that your motor is not set up correctly, or has moved , causing that issue

mine was blown wayyyyyy off course a month or so ago, needed a quick "move" back to my markings on the pole , same as barneys did, and was reported at that time in the thread about the wind causing dish and motor movement

[heyho]

Well I am getting no where fast with this install and frustrated even faster!!!!

This is what is happening:

(1) I have aligned the dish and motor (which on its LCD display shows 8 degrees) to Thor. Don't know if people have come across it but there is an app for a smartphone called satellite director which is great for aligning to any satellite you choose.

(2) On the Spiderbox 6000 I then went into satellite settings and noted a strength of 77% and quality of 57%. A scan of Thor then brought back a load of channels

(3) I then downloaded the latest 6000HD channel list from this site and uploaded it to the receiver.

(4) I then went into the satellite setting again as you need to re-input the motor information including selecting the 'go to satellite' option and input the lat and long of my area.

(5) If I do this and then select Hotbird I get a disk 'moving' message and I get good strength and quality (and I can get channels from Hotbird)

(6) BUT if I then start to select some of the other satellites such as Eutelsat and Astra I don't get anything. Then when I try and select Hotbird again I don't get any reception of channels (and no quality). But after around 30 minutes of leaving it alone the strength goes green and you start to get quality again (around 25%).

So my thoughts:

(1) I am not meant for this Satellite game and should give it all up and sell it!!!!!
(2) There is an issue between the Spiderbox 6000 and the motor (***** Dark motor metal). It is worth noting that goto zero does nothing and also if I got to the motor when I have reselected Hotbird (scenario 6 above) you can here a click from the motor that occurs every second.
(3) The motor may be jiggered?

Help!!!!

[echelon]

doesnt look like you read my previous posts

thor is on 0.8w and there is absolutely no reason why you would align it on 8 degrees , west or east , here in the uk , as there is no place that is 8 degrees here in the uk !!

it ranges from typically 4 west to about 2 east at most

leeds has the following (from dishpointer)

Latitude: 53.7961° which is approx 53.8 N
Longitude: -1.5497° which is approx 1.5 W

so there is no way that thor will be on 8 degrees in either direction , in your case its approx 0.7 degrees east of you as its at 0.8w which is slightly east of your position

8 west puts you in Cork in Eire, 8 east puts you in Esbjerg in Denmark, so nowhere near Leeds !!

another point here is to decide if you are using usals or diseqc v1.2 on your box and motor

assuming you are using usals, put in the coordinates I gave you for leeds and save it on your box, having put in a channel list from somebody else on here , no scanning at all required

now choose thor and one of the free channels like bbc world and the dish and motor should move to where it thinks thor is subject to your location (close to zero but not quite)

if you do not get bbc world news at this point , your dish and motor are not aligned correctly so you need to smack the idiot who installed it , or blame the wind for moving the assembly (like mine was)

once you get bbc world news on thor, try fta channels on 30w and 42e , 5w , 13e , 19e and 39e to ensure its tracking the arc correctly

note:- no scanning was done for this, as you are merely checking the arc the motor works with, using fta channels

I believe that GOTO ZERO only works under diseqc v1.2 , not usals

lastly, a bad workman always blames his tools, therefore you are doing everything correctly so yes the box , motor and lnb + dish and coax cable are all jiggered !! well being new they would be wouldnt they ;)

but hey-ho , thats life, as human beings we do nothing wrong so its always faulty kit !!! ;)

[Mickha]

Thor is 1 degree West, or .8 degrees West, hopefully you missed out the decimal point, if not it could explain the problem.
When using Usals you zero the motor, enter your latitude, and longitude, on your receiver, send the dish, to the satellite you want to align it to, like Thor 0.8W, then physically move the dish to get the best signal quality, from that satellite. 57% doesn't seem that great, but it depends on which frequency you're using, general location and dish size.
Why not try using Diseqc 1.2 and manually moving your dish, using the arrow buttons, on your receivers remote, once you find the satellite, and get the strongest signal, you store it then move on to the next.
What strenth/quality readings did you get from Hotbird, 13E?

Beaten to it by Echelon

[heyho]

doesnt look like you read my previous post

thor is on 0.8w and there is absolutely no reason why you would align it on 8 degrees , west or east , here in the uk , as there is no place that is 8 degrees here in the uk !!

it ranges from typically 4 west to about 2 east at most

leeds has the following (from dishpointer)

Latitude: 53.7961° which is approx 53.8 N
Longitude: -1.5497° which is approx 1.5 W

so there is no way that thor will be on 8 degrees in either direction , in your case its approx 0.7 degrees east of you as its at 0.8w which is slightly east of your position

8 west puts you in Cork in Eire, 8 east puts you in Esbjerg in Denmark, so nowhere near Leeds !!

another point here is to decide if you are using usals or diseqc v1.2 on your box and motor

assuming you are using usals, put in the coordinates I gave you for leeds and save it on your box, having put in a channel list from somebody else on here , no scanning at all required

now choose thor and one of the free channels like bbc world and the dish and motor should move to where it thinks thor is subject to your location (close to zero but not quite)

if you do not get bbc world news at this point , your dish and motor are not aligned correctly so you need to smack the idiot who installed it , or blame the wind for moving the assembly (like mine was)

once you get bbc world news on thor, try fta channels on 30w and 42e , 5w , 13e , 19e and 39e to ensure its tracking the arc correctly

note:- no scanning was done for this, as you are merely checking the arc the motor works with, using fta channels

I believe that GOTO ZERO only works under diseqc v1.2 , not usals

lastly, a bad workman always blames his tools, therefore you are doing everything correctly so yes the box , motor and lnb + dish and coax cable are all jiggered !! well being new they would be wouldnt they ;)

but hey-ho , thats life, as human beings we do nothing wrong so its always faulty kit !!! ;)

Firstly apologies - duff info - meant to say .8 degrees (missed the dot out).

Oh and as an IT manager with over 25 years experience currently managing over 200 servers and 9000 networked PC's I do know how to thing logically and when to blame human incompetence (which I have alluded to in my post) or something mechanical (or o/s based). My suggestion of a hardware issue is born out of reading stuff on the A*sat site where a lot of people were reporting issues when trying to manually move the motor with the buttons on it only to find it didn't work.

[echelon]

so was the installation done professionally ? or by yourself

if by yourself, did you follow the dish installation procedures listed in our dish forum ?

if so, put in a channel list from here and set it to usals and select thor 0.8w and bbc world news and check it goes to close to zero on the motor and picks up that channel, also checking some other fta channels on 0.8w like the music channel too (to ensure its actually on thor)

if its not picking up thor from your leeds coordinates , then you are not aligned properly and this should be rectified on the actual motor and dish

once this is all showing correctly you should then check the arc is correct by testing fta channels on the known satellite positions, similar to those I mentioned earlier (methodical testing like in your technical profession - making sure all the basics are in place)

you should be able to step through the sats and fta channels and your motor will move (but being in leeds the actual motor readings will NEVER match the actual satellite being pointed at because your true south (zero marker) is actually pointing at 1.55 west)

anyone who deals with all that tech should find this task a relative walk in the park (to be blunt)

its just a case of setting the dish and motor alignment to track the arc
setting the usals for leeds (in your case)
then using a channel list that does not overload the maximum transponder and channel limits (which are very limited on your 6000)

in the current case of checking your system out , NO SCANNING should be attempted !!!

this is just the same as working out if one of your local terminals is getting a lan ip address and you are pinging back and forth, it would be pointless checking if it can access the net until you establish it has a working local lan address

ps:- reading back through this thread you missed the dot out on all the other posts too , so it seems that maybe 315 degrees was really 31.5 degrees ? (but we dont know if that was west or east because you never said)

as you know about lan ip addresses from your job, you would know that the dot is important when stating your local terminal is on 192.168.1.215

lastly, it should not be going to 0.8w for thor as you are not on the greenwich meridian !!

thor is 0.8 west of greenwich, but is 0.7 east of leeds

[heyho]

Cheers echelon. Your patience is appreciated. Will give this a try this evening (working at the moment).

Will download a channel list for the 6000 that has Thor included.


Talking of IP addressing I can't get wireless to work on 6000 either (wired works but won't allow me to input a static IP and googles DNS server). I can see the SSID of my network but it won't connect. I suspected wep / wap aes security issues so tried to add the SSID manually and select the correct security protocol but to no avail. Not a big issue at the moment as I am homeplugging.

I did notice that if I try to manually assign an IP there are loads of greyed out fields that relate to Chinese telecoms stuff. Are these a red herring or can they be changed somewhere. I also have a wireless repeater and operate on several wireless channels (just to hack the neighbours off lol) to get around a signal issue in part of my house but the signal where the receiver is is fine (despite an RSJ and Kingspan thermal insulation which can play havoc with wireless).

[echelon]

unfortunately I do not have your 6000 nor do I have the supreme intelligent dark motor either, so experience of some answers elude me in this thread, including the wifi aspect as none of my boxes have wifi access (just tablets, mobile smartphones, laptops etc)

I am sure there are members on here that do have this equipment and could answer your questions, but I would prefer that you use one thread for each "fault" or "topic" so that the main issues in this one do not get sidetracked, I am sure in your profession you prefer to have separate fault dockets for each topic instead of one 10 page do***ent that lists numerous issues and none ever get fixed

in my case I have the spiderbox 7000 on a superior dark motor , normally used in usals mode , with fta channels set at each and every sat position right at the top of each sat list and I always check fta channels before any others are checked, ensuring that my dish is pointed at the correct satellite and receiving unique fta channels only available on that position , like THE MUSIC CHANNEL on 0.8w thor for example, possibly a german fta channel like arte on 19e , c4HD on 28.2e etc , so ones that are obvious and instantly recognisable which instantly tell me if I am where I think I should be, signal strength and quality etc

I have also then switched from usals to diseqc v1.2 mode and peaked the same channel in diseqc mode on the motor, then stored it into the motor memory too , so I can use diseqc mode or usals mode to check dish and motor alignment

when I set up my motor, I ensured that my zero marker pointed at true south by aligning it in usals mode , selecting 0.8w and 5w and splitting the difference as my zero is about halfway between them, using fta channels as I said earlier , then testing the arc from 30w to 42e using fta channels (from a pre-made list)

I also still own an old tm1500 box that I can use for double checking the above , in usals and diseqc mode , but my spider 7000 is brilliant at doing this task so rarely use the tm now

if I had a 6000 and your motor I could tell you more about what you see, but I dont have them, so can only tell you what 13 years of experience tells me, having setup several motors and dozens of boxes in that time span

the basics however, never change , same as on your lan at work , the equipment may change, but lan ip addressing etc and basic internet access , host ip addresses etc never do, no matter what the os is , this is similar in design and performance , ie:- if a terminal has no lan ip its definitely not getting google , and if the terminal wont boot, it wont get a lan ip or google , so you troubleshoot the system by substitution and checking what does work and why it works, compared to the one with the fault docket

good luck

[heyho]

once again many thanks for your reply echelon.

Can I clear one thing up. the excellent setup guide for the 6000 found on here states 'select ‘Diseq/Usals’, OK, Scroll down to Mode, select Drive to Satellite''' etc. i am right in thinking that The 'Drive to satellite' which is 'Go to satellite' on my receivers menu is how it selects Usals isn't it. (I then put in my lat and lon).

What is the correct setting to just use Diseqc?

[echelon]

many members had difficulty in finding the usals/diseqc option in the 6000 menu so the tutorials were amended to give the exact details in locating this "elusive" setting within the spiderbox menu , I know because I copied and pasted those instructions into the aldo tutorial at the top of this forum and in the main compass tutorial in the TUTORIALS section of your spiderbox section too

so afaik the details in those tutorials is now correct

as for diseqc v1.2 , there are no settings , you have to locate and store each sat yourself , with no help from the "audience" or "friend" , even Chris cannot help you on that score , lol ;)

the diseqc v1.2 method is old and laborious which is why the USALS method was born , in order to simplify matters (I have used both methods over 13 years but when I started diseqc v1.2 was the most common method used as very few people had usals motors back then)

usals relies on your motor and dish being aligned correctly for your location, then all you do is input your latitude and longitude and that tells the motor your position on the planet (like GPS) and the satellites are selected and are worked out according to that "base station" , same as finding how to get to london from leeds on a tomtom, it knows where you are and the map tells it where london is. In this case no satellites are "found" or stored as its using your GPS location as a base and finds all the sats relative to that base

[jbvid]

@heyho
Agree with echelon just use Usals its all auto and far easier.

Spiderbox 6000HD Wireless setup.

Menu, Multimedia, Network settings, Right or Left arrow on remote to select Wireless Network, Down arrow to set Wi Fi IP to AUTO, Up arrow to Settings and press OK.
This will show local routers, scroll to your Router and press OK.
This will bring up the type box, type in your correct password in the correct case and move over and ok on the Disc icon to save, THEN WAIT until a (true) appears by the side of your Router name, then press exit which will show your IP Address and Wi-Fi Quality, exit back out of menu’s.
To work the Wi-Fi IP in Manual mode you will have the option to Enter the IP Address, Netmask, Gateway and DNS.
jb
Admin or Mod can add to main Spiderbox 6000hd Sticky if needed

[echelon]

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?162474-Setup-Guide-for-Spiderbox-6000HD has the usals/diseqc instructions under satellite setup (which was also given in page 1 of this thread by him too, in post #10)



Satellite Setup

Go to Menu / Sat Settings, scroll down the left hand list and click OK to select all the Sats you want to scan, this will give them a tick.
Right arrow across, scroll down to Motor, right arrow to select ‘Diseq/Usals’, OK, Scroll down to Mode, select Drive to Satellite, scroll down to Set Location, OK, Scroll down Set Long then Lat then save

[heyho]

@heyho
Agree with echelon just use Usals its all auto and far easier.

Spiderbox 6000HD Wireless setup.

Menu, Multimedia, Network settings, Right or Left arrow on remote to select Wireless Network, Down arrow to set Wi Fi IP to AUTO, Up arrow to Settings and press OK.
This will show local routers, scroll to your Router and press OK.
This will bring up the type box, type in your correct password in the correct case and move over and ok on the Disc icon to save, THEN WAIT until a (true) appears by the side of your Router name, then press exit which will show your IP Address and Wi-Fi Quality, exit back out of menu’s.
jb

Cheers jbvid. As echelon has said I don't want to ****** this post with another topic. But I think the issue might be to do with connection because of the wireless security im using. I've got 'N' rated devices I connect so have to use WPA2 Personal and AES. Might prove my point and drop it to G only and see what happens to the Spiderbox connection. Will post my results in another thread.

[wellwell]

had the same trouble with mine years ago,changed the motor and was ok so changed cable and was ok on dark motor.so seems d motor needs higher capacity cable to be reliable

[viduka]

Correct me if I am wrong (& I know someone will :hurray:) but didnt the set up menus change after the 'select ‘Diseq/Usals’, OK,with the lastest patch ? I seem to remember that after loading the last patch they were different & It took me a while to work out how to input & save my long & lat this time. Now I cant remember what I did exactly (which doesnt help much) but If its now different from the sticky, then perhaps thats whats causing some confusion here ? Just a thought.............


once again many thanks for your reply echelon.

Can I clear one thing up. the excellent setup guide for the 6000 found on here states 'select ‘Diseq/Usals’, OK, Scroll down to Mode, select Drive to Satellite''' etc. i am right in thinking that The 'Drive to satellite' which is 'Go to satellite' on my receivers menu is how it selects Usals isn't it. (I then put in my lat and lon).

What is the correct setting to just use Diseqc?

[echelon]

so is this motor/usals/diseqc problem sorted yet ?

(I can see you have worked on the networking by reading your new and informative networking thread)

[jbvid]

so is this motor/usals/diseqc problem sorted yet ?

(I can see you have worked on the networking by reading your new and informative networking thread)
Hi
Yes the Sticky is correct and works fine 'Drive to Satellite/Go to Satellite' pretty self explaining what that means, I would close the thread now.
jb

[echelon]

thanks, but what I meant was, has the OP sorted his problems out ?

[jbvid]

thanks, but what I meant was, has the OP sorted his problems out ?
Ahh ok, will await heyho's reply.
jb

[heyho]

Sorry for the delay. To avoid divorce proceedings I have had to put a halt on this. And when I was playing yesterday I managed to trip and fall on my head lol

I decided to resite the dish and ensure it was level. Got Thor (including BBC World) working fine. Did a scan and got 1500 channels. All looked hunky dorey.

Downloaded a channel list and made sure it was correctly set up for Usals but it couldn't find any of the other satellites. Did play around with the positioning and found that I could get several Astra plus a Eutelsat but not Thor!!!!. Noticed echelons advice regarding testing the arc.

So a question please - I can get a good strength/quality on Thor when the transponder is set to 11862/28000/H. Should I also be getting a signal at all the other transponder settings for the particular satellite.

If I get a good 'fix' on Thor and then try another satellite such as Hotbird do I need to be selecting a particular transponder?

Also the dish has a scale on it was well. What should that be. The actual motor is set to 36 for the latitude

Also has anyone got the 6000HD hooked up with a Dark Motor and is using USALS successfully?

[echelon]

your latitude should be set to your current latitude of about 53.8 n , not 36 , the dish will then be at something like 27 degrees but can be between 20 and 30

I believe I gave you the latitude and longitude back in this thread some time ago, so your dish should match your usals with thor about 1 to 1.5 degrees east of zero on the motor

once you obtain thor, you will receive (but not necessarily decode) any and all active transponders that can be received for your location (on a beam that we can get here in the uk, seeing as its not aimed at us so we are on its edges , not in its main focus)

once the arc is correct you will be able to obtain any active transponders available to us in the uk from the other positions, especially strong ones like 13e and 19e and 28e , also 39e and 42e and 30w too , plus many others as well to a lesser degree

you will also find that myself and DOG MAN had quite a discussion about that scale on the motor, compared to the booklet, the booklet incorrectly named it from what I remember but you are welcome to check his thread about it, probably in the dish forum here ?

it is quite clear to me that you have not read it judging from your last post, so here it is

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?163320-Problem-setting-up-dish-and-motor

your dish will be near vertical when its on thor , looking at it from the side position, not tilted forward or backward

[heyho]

So I braved the rain and went and set the motor latitude at 53 and the actual dish setting at 28 (that gave me a fix on Thor).

Loaded a channel list and select BBC world news off Thor. Result. Went to Hotbird and picked a free to air channel - broadcast fine.

Then went to Astra 28.2 - no signal. SO I went back to BBC World News on Thor - NO SIGNAL!!!! None on Hotbird either

All my setting are correct for USALS.

Frustrated me - VERY!!!! lol

[echelon]

at least your motor and dish settings seem more accurate now , given you are using settings that seem correct and very similar to those dog-man used when he was frustrated with his ( cant believe you went out in this appalling weather though !! ;) lol )

[Knacker]

HeyhoI have ben reading your posts and everyone else's who are trying to helpand I am still not sure what is wrong so I suggest you do a factory reset making sure you have everything switched off that should be off, you will find where you are at with Google world /find your address,look at bottom of google map and you will see your co-ordinates put those co-ordinates into Stb,there are several Sats in the box as derfault and are checked,under Satelite settings go to 28.2 when you pass the Satelite you will see the signals nudge for the best reception then go back one page and press the scan button after which you must save (important if you dont save the chanells you will go back to 28 .2 and see nothing ) next go to 19.2 ( app nine steps by west button will have you near) and follow same procedure,do th4e same with all the Sats you require making sure you dont go over 6000.When you have all this done then have your coffee and say well done Heyho,I hope this mini guide will help you,regards Knacker

[heyho]

Cheers knacker. That is my next challenge i.e to use DiSEqC rather than USALS.

One thing I want to clear up. If I manually find the satellites using the 'Position' setting apart from looking at the display on the dark motor how do I know where I actually am. the 6000HD does not display any coordinates on the screen. I can be merrily pressing the left or right buttons and watching the satellite move but without rushing to me satellite I won't know exactly that I've hit the spot..

Also when I get my 'fix' on thor (which I can do and easily get BBC World news) should my motor display be showing the actual 0.8w (and then any subsequent satellite its actual position i.e, 13e, 28.2e etc.) or should it be fixed at 0.7e for Thor (which is (-0.8)-(-1.5)=+0.7e where -1.5 is my setting in Leeds).

The reason I ask is that whatever I have set the fix for Thor to (-0.8 or 0.7) when I use USALS the display will always revert to 0.8 when the satellite is selected.

[Mickha]

You set up Diseqc 1.2 using your receiver, not by manually moving your motor.
If your dish is now tracking the satellite arc, just go into your receivers menu, select the Diseqc 1.2 option, select a satellite, move the dish, using your receivers remote, and menu options, to the satellite, store it, then select the next satellite.
Continue doing this until you have all the satellites stored.
You should know if you're on the right satellite by viewing some of the channels.

[echelon]

when using usals, your gps location is put into the box , that is all it knows !

all the satellites are known to be in fixed positions so when sending to thor in usals it will show 0.8w as you have sent it there
if you send it to hotbird in usals it selects 13.0e and it goes there , so it goes to the fixed positions where the sats are
this is totally reliant on your motor and dish being installed correctly , also your gps stored correctly

think of a satnav, it uses fixed maps and known cities, but has to know where you are first (from your gps location/position)
so now you select bradford, it knows where this is from its map, knows where you are and displays how to get there
so the map shows your position, and the gps location of bradford and requires your "motor" to move from your gps to bradford
this all happens because your gps changes, so although the map doesnt, it still needs your gps before starting

in diseqc v1.2 , none of the above is known, so the dish is driven to the correct satellite, checked using active transponders and channels, peaked on signal and quality, then stored , this is repeated for each and every satellite (the old and laborious method which is why usals was brought in) the wiki on usals and diseqc tells you all this

so in your own particular case for diseqc v1.2 , it sends the dish to 0.7e for thor , something like 14.5e for hotbird etc

I used usals to set up my motor and channel list on my spiderbox 7000 , then selected diseqc v1.2 , moved the dish to peak the test channel , then stored it
changed back to usals , move to next sat, changed to diseqc , peaked the test channel, stored it , repeat , repeat , repeat , repeat , repeat , you get the idea ;)

so using a pre-made channel list is very helpful in order to aid the above, and with usals all that is done is to add your gps, job done as the sat "maps" are already known, so are their exact reference points compared to london greenwich too (the greenwich meridian)

so , about your question , how do you know which sat you are on ?
the simple answer is that you use a lacuna or rover or similar sat meter , pre-programmed with the sats and active transponders
this expensive meter tells you what you dish and motor are pointed at, then you lock (store) it into the receiver and motor

but the majority of us do not buy them , so we do as mickha says , manual movement, test known active transponders and channels, and save it into the motor and box. it helps in this case if you can use active transponders that are unique to each satellite, so not found on any other, this gets harder to do year on year due to the proliferation of satellites as they tend to use the same bands and tuning details

most people dont even do that method nowadays, because they are using usals , so dont have to, the old methods are dying out and less and less people know how to do it as the usals method has taken over, especially for the hobbyist or amateur who prefer the lazy methods that get quick results

[heyho]

You set up Diseqc 1.2 using your receiver, not by manually moving your motor.
If your dish is now tracking the satellite arc, just go into your receivers menu, select the Diseqc 1.2 option, select a satellite, move the dish, using your receivers remote, and menu options, to the satellite, store it, then select the next satellite.
Continue doing this until you have all the satellites stored.
You should know if you're on the right satellite by viewing some of the channels.

Sorry Mickha, didn't make myself very clear (my fault),

Plan was to get a fix on Thor using the buttons on the remote and not touching the actual motor itself (just need to know whether the motor should be showing actual satellite position or Leeds offset). Then as you say move the dish via the receiver.

Regards knowing I'm on the right satellite by viewing channels do I use the guide published on here that shows a specific satellite, a specifc channel and its transponder i.e. Eutelsat Hot Bird 13A at 13 degrees East - Bloomberg 11137 H27500

[echelon]

Sorry Mickha, didn't make myself very clear (my fault),

Plan was to get a fix on Thor using the buttons on the remote and not touching the actual motor itself (just need to know whether the motor should be showing actual satellite position or Leeds offset). Then as you say move the dish via the receiver.

Regards knowing I'm on the right satellite by viewing channels do I use the guide published on here that shows a specific satellite, a specifc channel and its transponder i.e. Eutelsat Hot Bird 13A at 13 degrees East - Bloomberg 11137 H27500

I have never used your motor so cannot tell you what the display has on it, most motors do not have a display , just a marker and a rough template in degrees, so most of us ignore it completely once the correct thor position has been set (0.7e in your case)

after that, we use an active transponder list to try to find the sat using the remote control, looking for that active transponder and checking its the correct channel using the box and a tv monitor , then store it, move on to the next one , same methods , store it , move on etc

those active transponder guides can be out of date quite quickly so always check the details with king of sat or lyng sat

bear in mind transponders can appear the same on multiple satellites , but if checking 28.2e its obvious that THE VAULT or PICK TV are only on that one satellite, even if their tuning details appear on several sats

just gone through the STRONGEST TRANSPONDERS here in post #6 https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?58680-install-FAQ-thread

altered a few and put ???? on what I cannot test , so all the ones listed in the strongest transponders part are working for me (not tested the weakest transponder section so that is 6 months old at least)

[heyho]

Cheers echelon your a star.

Will have to buy you a pint next time I'm doing a pub crawl in Manchester. Maybe not in the Temple of Convenience though!!!!

[heyho]

Well I made a lot of progress last night doing it the DiSEqC way. Managed to sort out Thor and then manally (via the receivers remote buttons) also latch on to Hotbird. Couldn't get Astra at 28.2 though so I suspect a bit of Arc tweaking is still required but I do feel a bit happier now.

I was helped by an app for my android phone called Satellite Director. I blutack'ed the phone to the LNB arm. With the app you can select a satellite and the device bleeps when it has found it. good if you are miles away from the dish when you are fine tuning the receiver.

Thanks for everyones help with this.

[heyho]

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - rain did stop play last night BUT...

Does anyone know a good satellite dish installer in the Leeds are. I can set up computer servers connected via fibre channel to terabytes of SAN or NAS storage that 15,000 people connect to with my eyes shut but get this bloody dish working, well let's just say there is a very small dint in the dish now and my knuckles on my right hand are a little sore. :banghead:

[Knacker]

Hi Heyho,I can understand your frustration I find the same difficulty with the thing (hunting information in the skies),firstly I am not of you can get either Diseqc or Usals on the 6000 Ithink if you have your house co-ordinates entered in to Stb then it will operate as per Usals if not it will operate as per Dyseqc I could and are probably wrong and I would like to find out anyway assuming that your dish is within about 12 feet,facing South without any offending obstructions ensure that your motorised dish system is as perfect as you can have it ie whethyer on wall or ground it must be straight up test with level on cir***ferance of pole,next the motor,and dish there are guidelines that will help posted on forum but most importantly use the dish/motor guides on the equipment ie what ever many degrees north your position is then that is where you set your motor bracket will set you right for instance mine is 52.2 so I set my motor bracket to 52 plus a tad,now the dish the way I did it was I got roughly where 28.2 was if you have a sat meter then that will make it easier to find Sats, move your dish up and down slowly until you have the best signal either by looking at a T V positioned where you can see a picture and do the same for the checked Sats on your Stb,Usals knowing your position co-ordinates the degrees either East or West enter them to get a Long/Lat , my Longatude is 7.4 W so my set Sat will be 7 degrees West I think you are from Leeds so you may be as our friends have already told you yours may be due South,line up everything on the pole (motor/dish) to South now get a picture on 28.2 and 08 W and 30 W seeing a picture on those three Sats tells you you are on the arc,play around until youare satisfied that you have a satisfactory view from all,remember each Sat you enter on Stb you must scan and save,this may help you get some idea that will benefit yougood luck,Knacker

[echelon]

the above should read that his LONGITUDE is 7 degrees w , not his latitude which will be in the fifties for the UK and Ireland

usals uses longitude and latitude to tell the motor your location on the planet

diseqc does not require that GPS info so its never used , diseqc v1.2 requires the motor to be setup correctly and then each and every satellite found and stored manually

[heyho]

Cheers to you all. After getting a quote for £175 for just the first hour for a professional installer (and being born n bred in Yorkshire) I have just invested in a 'better' signal meter that has an LCD display and can negate the need to look at the 6000HD.

My logic is this though. Using diseqc I can get Thor perfectly. That is then stored. I can similarly get Hotbird. That is then stored. If I select channels from either satellite source it works ok. Then I go for Astra at 28.2. No signal whatsover. So I deduce from that, that my arc is wrong as echelon has mentioned. But my logic would think that I should still be able to get the stored channels from Thor and Hotbird that were previously successfully saved. But the motor (or receiver) doesn't put the dish back correctly and I do not get these channels. This doesn't make sense to me because even with a wrong arc (and no manual adjustment of the dish or motor - just position(step) moving from the receiver) it should go back to previously stored and ok satellites. Now if everything was loose (which it isn't) it could be argued that moving the dish would change the wrongly setup arc and so that is why you don't get back to the correct position.

I am still happy to believe this is down to a numpty of an installer but in teh back of my mind I am still thinking of compatibility issues between the receiver and the motor or a malfunctioning motor. But as echelons has said ' a tradesman shouldn't blame his tools' so more work is required.

Does anyone know a good divorce lawyer LOL

[echelon]

one of my points was also that :- in my case

1) I do not have your motor, I have the next model down , the superior (no digital display)

2) I do not own a spiderbox 6000 HD (mine is a 7000)

your theory is correct, and so without you checking it with a different sat receiver that is in the more "tried and tested" variety I am unable to make comments as to how good or bad your methods are , they are definitely logical - yes, so I have no idea why you lose the 2 you have saved on the box whilst in usals mode and this has remained a mystery to me throughout this saga

if you tried this using diseqc mode, you would find and store each one , so you would assume that once stored it would always go back to it

so that is 2 methods of finding and storing sats, usals and diseqc

its not always clear from your posts if you tried both methods above, or what results the 2 different methods give

you have never tried a different box on this motor so you have no comparison, whereas I clearly stated I had a tm1500 ready for use if I had problems like yours

as you are aware in your job, sometimes you need 2 of everything, or 10 of everything , just to narrow down the faults

if you thought a lan switch was playing up , you would change it for one you know works somewhere else
if an ethernet cable played up, you would change it to see if the fault disappeared

etc etc

substitution is sometimes the only way of tracking down elusive faults, so as you have never done this before, have too many variables to contend with, you cannot put your trust in any one item

so not the box, not the 2 coax cables, not the four F connector fixings , not the lnb , not the motor - no trust - so everything remains suspect until ruled otherwise

[jbvid]

@heyho
Forgetting the motor problem ATM and unless I missed it somewhere you don't seem to have ever received Astra 28e which seems very unusual knowing its strong signal. 28e and 39e here in the Uk are very low on the horizon, now that you have a meter I would try and receive Astra 28e and see what elevation or changes are needed on your arc or motor limits (if any)
jb

[heyho]

I've arranged to borrow a different type of Spiderbox off another member from here Echelon.

I do have concerns over line of site with Astra. I've got the dish on a very sturdy concrete post about 40 feet from the house (south is facing the house) and at a height of around 6 foot. The new meter should help me there. But that wouldn't answer why I am losing satellites just why i can't get Astra. I don't want to resite the satellite if there is an inherant problem with the motor.

Like I say I'm still going at this with and open mind i.e. it's me the numpty. But I also need to prove otherwise if there is a fault.

[echelon]

agreed, that is why I have reiterated ruling out everything you can by duplication as far as possible (but maybe not the dish and motor)

double check those F connections as not everybody does them correctly

if you can , try for astra 2 (not astra , astra is at 19e and sly + freesat are at astra 2 at 28.2e) , so the same way all the sly dishes are pointing

as jbvid says, maybe you need to work out why you have no astra 2 , maybe use a premade list like the compass one from here ? that will have sly and freesat and 28.2 in it, possibly other sats too

I believe I have already mentioned using a premade channel list until you can successfully get your sats, only after that using any scanning techniques

the point is to rule out as many variables as you can and to be absolutely sure of what you decide is sacrosanct and working 100%

ie:- I know my spiderbox 7000 or 9000 are perfect in this regard, as is my old tm1500 box too, so I trust them , with my sat beeper, to tell me what is correct and what isnt, because I hold them in such high esteem they are beyond reproach

in your case its all new, so you have no yardsticks to compare anything , but you should get astra 2 as jbvid says as its the strongest of the lot most likely

when you do decide what is wrong (maybe its your sat storing on the 6000 at fault) , I am sure there will be a dohhhhhh moment ;)

[gbmitie]

heyho before I give you a few tips, did you install the dish, motor, receiver yourself? This is very important.

[welshpaddy]

got my motorised system put up here in s.wales for £90 spiderbox 9000 and 1.1m triax dish and dark moto

r
Cheers to you all. After getting a quote for £175 for just the first hour for a professional installer (and being born n bred in Yorkshire) I have just invested in a 'better' signal meter that has an LCD display and can negate the need to look at the 6000HD.

[echelon]

heyho before I give you a few tips, did you install the dish, motor, receiver yourself? This is very important.

having read this thread through, I believe he has done this installation all by himself, in 2 different locations on his property

so all self service up to now ;)

[heyho]

having read this thread through, I believe he has done this installation all by himself, in 2 different locations on his property

so all self service up to now ;)

Yes that is correct. I have installed myself

[hianta]

Sorry to butt in but just in case I mist It in a post?
When you find and scan a sat and all that? Is the tick still on the sat's you want to use? ( even after you lose all channels?)
If you untick a sat by mistake it will ignore it and you will lose all channel's?
Sorry again but if you forget to check the petrol how will you know if the big end has gone in the car? lol
Probably nothing to do with this but thought I would ask.. Good luck..

OK just tried that and it kept my channels but am sure before the latest patch it dropped the sat and channels? so like I said sorry lol

[echelon]

more or less what I was wondering seeing as the 6000 setup appears to be different to any I have used previously

this was why I gave the caveats that I did not have a 6000 to test any of this, but from reading many posts including yours I know its not as straightforward and things like this saving it can be tricky , I was hoping that was his error to be honest about it, hence telling him to use premade lists that others dont have problems with and stop scanning for channels when he cannot rely on his installation yet

after all, to quote car analogy, if you buy a new car, you dont suddenly drive to Dakar and back in it whilst running it in ! ;)

[hianta]

Just to cheer Heyho up lol Just tried setting up DiseqC 1.2 by factory reset and sitting on 0.8W set position, then position number, then store, then goto stored position, then go and save! and found If I did not do all that and scan then It would ; put motor back to NONE and a few other tricks which took me a wile to realise after moving to 13E and doing the same. lol
It's better to use USALS and download the channel editor and make your own sat list and channels. If you wish to scan then delete the channels and TP's and scan?
So worth your wile to double check your settings on each sat before you continue with motor/dish?
(Was to dark to go out so got the signal meter indoors lol what a racket sqeeeeeeeel lol)
hope you get it sorted.. good luck..

[gbmitie]

ok heyho you have to convince me that the dish, motor and pole are exactly 100% correct, also need size of dish and make of lnb, I know you are near leeds so you set up rig on 0.8west. You tweak set up on 0.8w, you align lnb focal length on 0.8w, you ensure skew is 100% true on 0.8west, you use a well known channel on 0.8west that we all use to align dish to our reference sat, your reference sat is ... 0.8w. You dont need a signal meter, the best meter is a picture so I use BBC WORLD news as its FTA and in english but they dropped one transponder that used to give 98signal and 96q, its lower now but if I know size of dish I can give an good idea of what you should get. The idea is you peak dish on 0.8west and when it is correct on .8west with usals it will be correct on the arc.

Imagine your rig as a gun it has to be dead straight at each satellite so, pole cant be out a bit, lnb cant be loose, motor cant be out a bit, sat is 24, 0000 miles away, 1% out on earth means 60 miles out when it gets to where sat is ie you miss it by MILES. There is an old adage - follow the 3 red dot principle. on u tube there is a video that shows this, its 5min 15 secs in, here is link but you should post pics of your set up as well, if near a low roof you are in trouble, you need a CLEAR view of the southern sky.

here is link for u tube.

hxxps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k_yhxmGlEA

nb you dont scan your sats, you use a ready made list, you only scan when you become expert.

[heyho]

Ok I'm going to show you some steps I have taken

1. Factory reset and reload of latest firmware
2. Secured a fix on Thor by using Diseqc1.2 and position. Note the motor will move when using the remote control arrows when mode is set to position and direction west or east
3. Ran a scan on Thor and got channels including Bbc world news
4. Downloaded a presaged channel list which goes from 28,2 to 0.8
5. Ensured Diseqc is set to mode go to satellite and correct long and lat entered
6. Tried channels on all satellites including Thor. No signal from all
7. Wiped all channels and ran a scan of all satellites.
8. Dish went off to somewhere resembling 28.2 but did not move again despite going to several satellites
9. No channels found
10. Selected Thor and tried manual diseqc move. Dish would not move at all
11. Ran factory reset receiver and tried manual diseqc move. Dish now moved and Thor located channels again

Also note I purchased a sat finder meter with digital display. This has ability to move motor using diseqc but the motor will not move.

I am now going to get a professional installer in.

[heyho]

By the way is it possible to download the factory (stock) firmware that this device came with?

[hianta]

Sorry to hear that.
It does seem that If you are certain that the box motor control are set correctly then It could be short in cable or motor and since you say that your sat finder can not move the motor perhaps you need to upgrade the motor?
There was the point at 7 about how you wiped the channels and did you check motor controls again but if your sat finder can move a motor and cant move yours then? That would be like checking the motor with another STB to me and would change the motor?

edit.. On most motors you have a manual reset pin hole and normaly you set to 0.0 then reset? Did you try that?

[echelon]

I always thought the repair firmware was the "stock" firmware ?

as for the above posts, I feel I should point out some things myself and gbmitie have mentioned several times between us

1) this obsession with scanning needs to stop !! period

scanning is done with freeview boxes and freeview tv,s etc , as the amount of channels and transponders picked up is fairly minimal and well within the designs of the boxes and tellys etc

2) the idea of not scanning and using a premade list is that the maker of that list has tested it and confirmed it works, so one less piece of the complex puzzle eliminated (gbmitie also clearly mentioned this in his post, as did I in a previous post)

3) when using diseqc v1.2 for movement, no longitude or latitude is put into the box , it is not needed , never was and never will be, it actually CANNOT be put into the box in this mode

4) USALS is the option where the gps longitude and latitude are used , usals, only usals and just usals (not diseqc) so its only when in USALS mode that the longitude and latitude can be put in the box

5) the 2 movement systems are separate and independent of each other , you can only use one at once

so usals relies on the system being setup correctly, your gps put in so it knows your location, then it finds the sats from its reference point, a bit like a satnav does

diseqc v1.2 knows nothing , nada , it relies on the system being setup correctly to track the arc, then each sat is located and stored , one at a time

scanning fills the box with unwanted transponders and channels, it can also break or fill the box limits for both of them causing all kinds of problems, very few boxes can actually scan and store every transponder and every channel on all the sats we see here in the UK , this is why its considered bad practice to scan , especially as a newbie to this hobby

this is what gbmitie actually said



nb you dont scan your sats, you use a ready made list, you only scan when you become expert.


nb:- I have not done a scan for many years, all my boxes have premade lists in them , adapted and refined to clear out the dross

I would not install a box and motor using any scanning method whatsoever , thought I made this quite clear earlier in this thread

I leave scanning to the feedhunters or very experienced people like william1

I also clearly mentioned that at this point a different box like a 9000 or 7000 should be used for setting up, or even an old tm1500 or similar like an older model tm5000 usb box , just to eliminate the spiderbox 6000 HD at this time

bear in mind here that if trying it using diseqc v1.2 with the 6000 and the meter, leave the box in diseqc v1.2 mode (no gps) and never change it to usals, never input the usals gps either, completely ignore usals and stay in diseqc v1.2 for the duration of this setup

[jbvid]

@ heyho
You started off fine, try following 4, 5 and 6 in the list.
1. Factory reset and reload of latest firmware
2. Secured a fix on Thor by using Diseqc1.2 and position. Note the motor will move when using the remote control arrows when mode is set to position and direction west or east
3. Ran a scan on Thor and got channels including Bbc world news.
4. New Next : Load another channel list and Manually move the dish as you did to find Thor to another Sat with a FTA Channel selected.
5. New Next: Store that Sat and continue to store other Sats required.
6. Last Next : Don't change any Diseq settings.
jb

[hianta]

Yes and of course you can't scan if you don't have a signal? (6 & 7 on Heyho) As echelon say's the easiest way to check a system is put another STB on It? Because you need to rule out one by one If it's the STB , cable, motor, Lmb and dish or alinement's ?
good luck and post back result's .

[heyho]

The saga continues

A fellow Satpimper brought his fully functioning and trusted Spiderbox 9000 round. We plugged it in and made sure Usals was correctly configured. Result Thor came through. Move it to Hotbird - result. Tried a load of other satellites. Dish moved fine and channels displayed(28.2E and 30W didn't display because i know i have got a line of site issue in the current dish position but the motor went to them).

This went on for about 5 minutes - choosing different satellites and displaying channels correctly.

verdict - the receiver is faulty.

Ermmmmmmm sadly not necessarily.

After around 5-6 minutes of happily selecting different satellites and channels using Usals and a premade channel list the dish stopped moving any more and refused to budge. You could hear the motor clicking about once a second but the dish didn't move an inch.

new verdict - either the cable has an issue or the motor is faulty. Is that right to assume now? given that I have tried moving the motor by having a meter directly attached I'm still coming out in favour of the motor. I have removed and replaced the connectors on the cable as well in case something was shorting.

[echelon]

thanks for the info, it certainly helps to know that it worked ok with a 9000 which proves your installation seems ok and also that all the theories put to you were correct too

unfortunately that info narrows it down to cable or motor and possibly an intermittent fault too

the cable could be proven easily by substitution , ie:- replace it with new cable and make sure all 4 of the f connector connections are done correctly, no shorts , good continuity on both inner and outer as both are required to power the dish motor and lnb

the cable faults could be a kink in it, bad connections at either end or a short circuit (common fault at any end)

receiver wise , maybe try to pick up a very cheap old box for substitution testing , like I mentioned before more than once , like an old tm5000 or something similar, just so its easy to rule out the spiderbox itself , but your failings with the meter also seem to point at the motor being faulty - yes

so it does appear to me that the motor could be at fault going by your scenario , which is a pain as its the hardest to change

also if your siting is bad for 28e then maybe you need to factor that into any motor change too ?




on a side note, but not satellite, my lads car (my old one) kept having flat battery issues , even with a new battery, but not all the time, so we had the alternator changed for a new (or reconditioned one) , but the fault still kept happening if he left it a week unused (due to his job). all sorts of things were thought about, and of course the new battery and new alternator seemed to rule them out of the equation, so one week it was left at the garage on the monday morning , tested wednesday , flat , brand new battery put on it for testing and left overnight , checked thursday morning , flat battery !!!!

it had flattened the new fully charged battery overnight , a brand new battery that had nothing to do with his car at all was totally dead

conclusion ? the old alternator was faulty, but the replacement was also faulty and flattening his new battery !!

a replacement for the replacement (alternator) was fitted under warranty and its not failed since !!

this was a PITA to diagnose both for us and the garage , but it got there once they could see the fault had happened whilst stationary on their premises

the only way to be sure about this is if you change that motor ( maybe change the cable too ? ) and resite the mount so that you get 28.2e and other popular satellites as well

if it is those items then its not the spiderbox in which case this whole thread is in the wrong section ;) LOL

its also worth having a feed from a sly dish for basic testing of your 6000 as well, this can even be used in conjunction with the motor using a diseqc switch (mine is)

regards

[heyho]

Once again thank you for your time and effort Echelon. It has been most appreciated.

I have booked a professional installer for thursday morning and asked him to bring a spare motor with him. I am getting the dish installed about 25ft up near the gable end where there will be a clear line of site of most the southern horizon. i was going to do the install myself but the wife has banned me after she was talking to a bloke on Saturday who could hardly walk 14 months after falling from his ladder!!!!

I shall update you when he has been.

[heyho]

Make sure cable is not snagging on the bolts holding motor to bracket.

cheers Manic

[echelon]

Once again thank you for your time and effort Echelon. It has been most appreciated.

I have booked a professional installer for thursday morning and asked him to bring a spare motor with him. I am getting the dish installed about 25ft up near the gable end where there will be a clear line of site of most the southern horizon. i was going to do the install myself but the wife has banned me after she was talking to a bloke on Saturday who could hardly walk 14 months after falling from his ladder!!!!

I shall update you when he has been.

its not uncommon, our resident satpimp Barney from the emerald isle tried to do something similar and ended up badly injured in hospital and presumably took quite some time to recover after falling off a roof or ladder. I think he tends to keep his feet firmly on the ground now and we are glad to have him back "up and running" although you never know the long terms effects of such a fall

mine is sited in a similar fashion to what you are proposing, but I can reach mine with ladders from the garage roof so it isnt as dangerous , but I usually use an old leather belt to lash them to the scaffold pole , just to be sure they dont slip !!

health and safety can be a real issue so I understand why you would get a pro in , hopefully you have learned a lot in your efforts and having your fellow satpimper there and seen his box actually running it all as it should be

what a PITA that fault is

[heyho]

Jobs a good 'un. Installer confirmed the motor was faulty. He installed the sat at the side of the house on a pole and installed it with a Technomate motor.

Channel list installed. Usals setup. Satellites and channels galore!!!

Many thanks for everyones help.

Wonders how many hours he 'wasted' because of an out of the box faulty motor. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[skomedal]

Wonders how many hours he 'wasted' because of an out of the box faulty motor. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Do you mean by """ out of the box """ that the motor was brand new?

If so have you since getting all up and running with a different motor been in contact with the supplier to return it as a faulty item/goods under the guarantee terms?

Regards

[heyho]

Yes it was brand new. And the supplier has arranged a return. Postage paid by them.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[gbmitie]

great stuff, and well done for posting back. and anyone who has a few hiccups and reads all this thread will be an expert at the end.

[heyho]

I've been happily viewing using USALS and my own edited channel list for various satellites between 28.2E and 0.8W since the installer set it up on the 16th Jan.

Been away for a few days and get back to find that the channels on 28.2 are heavily pixelated and I can't receive any channels from the other satellites.

I did try and manually configure using Diseqc and position and managed to get channels off Hotbird and better reception from 28.2 but thats it

Should I be asking the installer back to check to see if the dish is still aligned ok? Apperently we had a bit of wind!

[echelon]

think of this as being like an MOT on a car

the car is MOT`d and passes with flying colours

a week or fortnight later it hits a pothole or slips on ice or is damaged by a wind blown object and is no longer roadworthy , you have no claim against the garage that did the MOT as it was accepted by yourself as in full working order on the day it was done and the new problem is not of their doing, its force majeure or whatever

now if you read previous posts here, one aspect of doing it all yourself is that you can repair any faults such as this new problem yourself, having learned how to do it and set it up and can adjust it when it goes out of adjustment (which they do)

mine blew around on my scaffold pole in december with the high winds, so as I had marked it with a black marker I got the ladders out , lined up the marks and all was well again. if it hadnt been I would have fixed it myself at nil cost , which is what we have all been advocating to you

now if you were to call the installer out and the new fault has nothing to do with his installation, he is entitled to charge for fuel , time and any parts, as if its a new job or new repair , he may do it for "free" or for "fuel" but if he didnt cause the problem he isnt responsible for repairing it

so yes you could call him back out, pay any fees he charges , and keep on doing it every time there is a problem , just like you may pay a garage for every repair your car needs as and when it breaks down - and they do !!

that choice is yours , ie:- fix it yourself or call him out , its a choice we all make in life , whatever the problem

personally, I am of the fix it myself brigade , unless it needs a professional in , whatever the task , but some tasks are best left to professionals, like roof repairs , clutch repairs , gearbox repairs etc (but there will always be some diy persons that does even these jobs themselves)

[heyho]

Cheers echelon. Being a tight Yorkshire man I am normally opposed to putting my hand in my pocket. And as you will know the only reason I got in a professional was so that I could 100% prove it was the motor. oh that and the wife banning me from going 30ft up a ladder lol which may seem to some a very loving thing but I don't have life insurance.

I was just trying to gain a little bit of a heads up that from a logical perspective what I have described sounds like a physical dish move issue so that I can either brave the 30ft or work on the good nature of the excellent installer (he comes on here ;-)

[heyho]

I read through the thread on here again and followed Echelons advice regarding using Usals for a general satellite fix then using 'position' and storing these for each individual satellite. managed to get 28.2 and Hotbird sorted using this method (which to be honest is where the majority of channels I want are). Needed a slight movement to the west from what the Usals had positioned on both and it locked in with decent signal strength.

Didn't get anything from Thor using this method though and didn't try any other satellites.