Fortec dish position indicator (help)

paults2 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-12-2004, 08:22 AM

I have a Fortec 786v3. It doesn't seem to have any indicator for where the dish is positioned. This makes it difficult to point the dish manually. On my Satcruiser receiver, there is a 4-digit counter that tells me where the dish is pointing and also a graphical display that shows all the satellites in an arc and where the dish is pointing.

Are there any Fortec receivers that have a counter or graphical display showing where the dish is pointing? How about the Fortec Lifetime Ultra?

bobkat · #2 (**permalink**) 08-12-2004, 11:06 AM

Are you talking about the feature on SatCruiser called "SolarSat"? You need a special dish for that. It uses shadows from the sun for the alignment procedure -- looks really scary.

I don't think the Fortec has such a feature.

kat

paults2 · #3 (**permalink**) 08-12-2004, 06:41 PM

This doesn't have anything to do with solarsat. I was interested in having a simple counter or graphic that shows where the dish is pointing along the belt. The Satcruiser 2040 has such a feature. The on-screen counter will read, for example, '2013' if I'm on one satellite and, say, '4387' when I'm on another satellite. The number is proportional to where I am on the belt. I can easily pinpoint a location with this counter. You can see the counter changing as the dish is moving.

It's such an easy feature to put in the software and costs nothing. The software has to pulse the positioning motor and keep a counter going anyway. It's just a matter of the software displaying it on the TV screen. I'm surprised my Fortec 786 doesn't have it.

bobkat · #4 (**permalink**) 08-12-2004, 08:55 PM

OK, you have the Satcruiser 2040 with the positioner feature that moves a C-Band dish. The counter you refer to is pulsed by the reed switch in the actuator arm of the motor. HH motors don't have such a device. But now that you mention it I think that's a great idea. FTA receiver manufacturers should consider designing the software to show the HH motor counter position on the TV screen.

kat

paults2 · #5 (**permalink**) 08-13-2004, 12:53 PM

Yep. That's what I want. I will emaill Fortec and see if they can put it in the next software revision.

dtsexpert · #6 (**permalink**) 08-13-2004, 03:45 PM

Why do you need this if the USALS is already exist?

Quote:

Originally Posted by paults2

Yep. That's what I want. I will emaill Fortec and see if they can put it in the next software revision.

bobkat · #7 (**permalink**) 08-13-2004, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtsexpert

Why do you need this if the USALS is already exist?

Cuz we're geeks and we like to overcomplicate things. :lol: Seriously, it would be a handy way of knowing where on the arc the dish is, even before you get USALS working, which incidently, I never could figure out. When I was setting up my HH motor I lost track of where the dish was so many times and I blindly pushed EAST then WEST all the while not even knowing if the dish was moving in the right direction... had to run outside and look at the dish several times... PIA :roll:

kat

paults2 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-14-2004, 11:52 AM

USALS is good. It gets me almost to where I want, but it never hits the mark right on.

My Fortec 786 is also very touchy when it comes to moving the dish. Even a slight push of the manual move buttons sends it a little too far. A movement counter would allow me to pinpoint the position. If you have any satellite receivers with one of these counters, you realize how useful they are.

Also, a graphical display of all the satellites positions in the belt is a great help. On my Satcuiser, I see a little ball moving on an arc past all the satellites as the dish moves.

There's always a hundred reasons for not adding a great feature that costs nothing in hardware and only a few lines of software code.

bobkat · #9 (**permalink**) 08-14-2004, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paults2

Also, a graphical display of all the satellites positions in the belt is a great help. On my Satcuiser, I see a little ball moving on an arc past all the satellites as the dish moves.

Yeah, you're bringing back memories.... ever seen a Toshiba C-band receiver? They had such an indicator; it was really funky. :P

kat

paults2 · #10 (**permalink**) 08-17-2004, 04:34 PM

I haven't seen the Toshiba, but I have a number of old receiver from the 80s before there was Ku band. Those receivers were tanks. I was experimenting with satellite reception way back in the early 80s.