motor help

[octd]

Just set up the dish and motor (stab 100), brand new out of the box. However, the motor won't rotate. At first I thought it might be the cable (f connectors) but after switching them didn't change it, I ran out and bought brand new RG6 and that didn't solve the problem either. Suggestions? thanks in advance

[Anonymous]

We need a little more info about your system. What receiver, how long is
your cable run.

Just one thing I can think of at this moment is to have you disable the
motor software limits in the receiver. I have heard of others with that
problem.

[octd]

receiver is lifetime ultra.

The cable running from the lnb to the motor is 6 feet long, the cable from motor to receiver is 100 feet long.

The rest of the info (although may not be pertinent) is

latitude: 31.8
longitude: 106.4

southernmost sat: Anik F1 (i think, the one at 107)
True south: 170 (magnetic deviation = -11)

dish: Fortec star 90cm
dish elevation = 24

lnb: universal single lnbf
Am I missing anything?

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by octd

Suggestions? thanks in advance

The obvious question:

Did you enable Diseqc or USALS (or whatever the terms are) in the receiver to let it know you have a motor connected?

[octd]

yep

[pmb1010]

Bummer...

[Anonymous]

I have the same setup.

Ok, next thing to do is take the receiver to the dish and use short coax
cable around 10ft between the motor and receiver. That will eliminate
any voltage drop related problem. Go into antenna setup, diseqc and
disable software limits. then hit go to reference.
The dish at this point should move to search for the zero point IE back and forth a couple of times. If it does not move, its most likely a bad motor. You might also unhook the cable between the lnb and motor for this test also.
Double check the cables with a multi-meter.

[octd]

I'll try that tomorrow. I'll also see about taking the motor down separate and just seeing if it responds to move signals without the dish attached to it. Let you know how it goes.

[octd]

Just to give an update, I brought the motor down as was suggested and used shorter cable between it and the receiver and voila, the thing turns. Guess I just need to use shorter cable in my final set up. Thanks for the help.

[bobkat]

Hmmmm.... I have a cable run of over 150 feet between my motor (HH100) and the receiver and it turns no problem. Oh well; whatever works for you... 8)

kat

[Anonymous]

Ok.

Now that we know the motor works! There is only two possible problems.
One you have bad cables. Iam using over 100ft.
Two you have a receiver with a weak output voltage, unable to supply
enough current to the motor through the cable. You might try an
RG6 quad shield cable. Also check the resistance of your long cable with
a multi-meter. Should be no more than 1.8 ohm for the shield and under
1 ohm for the center conductor. (Checking from end to end)

Just thought of something else to check. If you purchased coax cable from
a local store with connectors already installed. Take a flashlight and look
at the metal pins inside the 'F' connectors on the receiver and the motor.
The pins are like a spring fork you should see no gap or a very tiny gap.
Coax cable from the stores have a very flat tip center conductor which
makes it easy to damage the pins of the 'F' connector on the receiver and
motor. You have to be very gentle when placing the coax cable on the receiver and motor.

[bobkat]

Good advice lintond. I have seen several cases where the receiver end of the F connector had widened pins and therefore poor contact being made with the cable end. Also check the cable connectors to make sure they are properly crimped and that no little strands of shield are touching or wrapped around the center conductor; I see this all the time on cheaply made cables... :roll:

kat

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by bobkat

Also check the cable connectors to make sure they are properly crimped and that no little strands of shield are touching or wrapped around the center conductor; I see this all the time on cheaply made cables...
kat

Yep, every time I call for cable TV problems, the first thing the cable tech guy does is cut the ends off the cables and puts on fancy slip fit sealed connectors. (even after I tell him there's nothing wrong with the cables)

Then he swaps out the defective cable box and I'm back in biz. I'm on my 3rd PVR recorder box. It's working ok so far, Scientific Atlanta quality control stinks.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by pmb1010

... the first thing the cable tech guy does is cut the ends off the cables and puts on fancy slip fit sealed connectors.

Mmmmmm..... Thomas & Betts Snap 'n Seal Blue Ain't nothin' finer !!!!!

kat

[octd]

Just a final update I replaced the final cable, installed my own F connectors and now have the thing working on about 70 feet of cable. It's weird that the other cables worked with my directv setup but wouldn't work on the motor but I guess the motor is just more sensitive to small drops in voltage.

Thanks for the help.

[ddywz]

Mmmmm.. First I'd like to thank Lintond for his very nice advises... Octd, you are saying that you use a Fortec ultra receiver. Well, if we are to blame the voltage drop then the F connector on back of your receiver should output two switchable DC voltages, 13V and 18V to change polarization V/H on LNB.
Questionoes your motor turn when you have the output for 18V DC using your 100ft cable? You can change the voltage from your remote control unit... If not then you either have a very bad cable and/or connectors, or your motor is faulty. You should fix this problem otherwise you might damage your receiver. Don't forget that you are limited to 500mA to use for external devices such as motors, LNBs. If I were you I would use a Ampere meter to measure the current that is drawn from receiver when the motor tries to move. If you see 0 or very low amp drawn, then you have a bad contact somewhere in the path. If you see values > than 500mA stop!!!! You might have a leak or short circuit somewhere in the path. Disconnect the cable on motor side and test it again. If Amp goes down to zero then you motor is to blame. For SG2100 for example the DC current values are 50mA stanby, 200mA for 13V and max of 350mA for 18V. Well, you can always use a dedicated positioner for your motor to off-load your receiver... Hope it helps,