Servo Motor, HELP

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ECruzBUD

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Sep 8, 2008
358
58
SEATTLE, WA.
Hi,

Some of you may already know ME here in Seatac, Washington.
And I have a 10 foot mesh dish antenna, which I also have
a GI 650i analog C/Ku band receiver that moves the dish and
controls the servo motor.

I've been having a problem with a servo motor on my
Co-Rotor II feehorn.

My 26 years old nephew had replaced it for me on
January 20th. It worked for a while with the NEW
blue servo motor I bought on ebay.

Lost Vertical channels with it.

Then I have a friend, a Samoan guy from Samoa, to help,
but I think he made it worse on the servo motor.
Because he has never have any experience with
the satellite C-band dish. But he's 6 ft 4 inches tall guy.

I think that he made it worse by turning the
couplet disc on the servo motor by hands, for a few times
before he insert it back onto the feedhorn.

When I try changing the channel for the TEST,
all he heard this sound ZZZZZZZZZ

He said when I change d only work once, than
it stops. And does not go any further beyond.
The probe on the feehorn only runs once and
stop and doesn't go any more.when changing
the channels.

The Samoan guy wants to do test the servo motor
by bringing it in to hook up onto my satellite receiver,
to see whether if it the servo motor or something else.
Again, he has no experience with satellite system.

The reason I asked him to, is because I cannot go up
any higher on the ladder, myself.

So, ALL I want to know, is it true that the servo motor
is NOW NOT working, is it because he was turning the
couplet disc back and forth by hands before putting it back onto
the feehorn??? I heard him turning it. And I do not
know is that the right thing to do???

In my spare time, I checked it out with the old servo motor
with the couplet disc on, and tried what he did by hand.
I noticed when turning the couplet disc, when it reach to it's end,
it locks up.
Maybe that's why the servo motor isn't working, right???
Because he did that????

He stripped the wires from the servo motor and the ones from
my satellite receiver that runs outside to the feedhorn, and
he was testing it by twisted them together, and it only worked
a very short while, as I described at the above.

Then he inserted the stripped wires into the plastic connectors,
and clamp them, and test it when I change the channels, same
problem. The probe on the feehorn doesn't rotate and it sounds
like ZZZZZZZZZ

So, what should I do when he brings in the servo motor
on Tuesday night?? Or on Wednesday morning???
Should I take off the couplet disc and put it back on
the servo motor, and DO NOT TURN the disc vby hands,
and just TEST it to see IF it movies when change the channels?????

I'm referring a blue servo motor with
RED, WHITE and BLACK wires.

What do you think???

Hope that you understand it all about the problem with
the servo motor. The blue one with 3 whites and with
a blue couplet disc.

Thanks,
Eugene
 
Never attempt to manually rotate the probe or the servo motor shaft. This could damage the servo or break the shaft coupler. A servo motor only rotates approximately 180 degrees on each side of default center then stops against a mechnical end-stopper.

With the servo motor removed from the feedhorn, gently rotate the probe to verify that it smoothly and easily rotates 360 degrees inside the feedhorn. If the probe does not easily rotate, it may need cleaning or is damaged. A sticking probe may not rotate or lead to servo failure.

A zzzz sound without the probe rotating might indicate to me that the probe may be stuck, the coupler wasn't properly aligned during assembly, the servo motor was installed incorrectly, the probe wasn't centered before attaching the servo, etc. It could even indicate that the servo motor is now damaged and the gears are stripped.

Been following your threads on this and another forum. It appears that the servo was purchased because the the system was having problems with receiving channels on one polarity. Since the new servo was installed, the system still has problems with receiving the other polarity. Maybe the problem wasn't with the servo? Maybe the new servo was installed 180 degrees out or rotation?

Check the legacy receiver polarity skew settings for each polarity using the satellite that is selected to change polarity. Are the two skew settings offset by from each other by 90 degrees? If not, this is the problem, as horizontal and vertical polarities will be approximately 90 degrees rotational difference.

Remove the servo motor from the feed so you can observe the motor shaft, but leave all wires attached. Watch to see if the servo motor shaft rotates 90 degrees when switching from horizontal to vertical (channel 1 to channel 2 on the legacy receiver). If so, the servo is working properly. If the shaft rotates too far and hits the rotation mechanical end-stop, the skew setting is not adjusted correctly or there is another problem. Hitting the end of the rotation repeatedly will damage the servo.

Watch the shaft rotate as the legacy receiver's skew setting is slowly changed through the range of -90 to +90. Does the servo motor shaft rotate? If it rotates, does it rotate to angles corresponding to the legacy receiver's skew angle setting? If not, bring inside and connect directly to the legacy receiver servo terminals and repeat the above testing.
 
Last edited:
Hi Titanium,

Than you sooooooooo much about what would happen when my friend, a
Samoan guy turned the couplet disc on the servo motor.
What does he knows????

YES, this week on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning,
He want to bring that NEW servo motor in connect to my
GI 650i analog C/Ku band receiver, to TEST it.

What do we expect to see???? And what to expect that isn't something
that we do NOT expect to see happen???? Like what IF it NOT working???
Should he think it's the feehorn????

He did looked at the servo motor by removed from the feehorn, and
I changed the channel for him to watch the couplet disc rotate.
He told me ti only rotate half shaft once after the first channel, and it stopped
when when I was continuing changing the channels. Forward and backward

So, can you tell us what to expect on the servo motor with the receiver???
What IF this, what to know????
What IF that, what to know?????

I do NOT want him to make a assumption on what may caused the problem.
In other words, I do not want him to make decision for ME. Should ask ME, first.

Thanks,
Eugene
 
I have already indicated in the last post how to test the feedhorn probe, how to test the servo motor, how to test the receiver and what to expect.

You also received good advice from an old post in this forum and in the past months on the other forum. I have nothing more to add to the information that has been already been provided.

If you or your assistant do not understand the testing steps, I would highly recommend hiring a commercial installer. I see one was already suggested from across the sound in Gig Harbor, there likely are many, many more capable commercial satellite technicians in the greater Seattle area.

Good luck!
 
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Why not just ditch the servo and get a cheap and simple voltage switching LNB and be done with it. Not worth the hassle if you can't figure it out IMO.
 
One of the reasons that I enjoy SatelliteGuys is because we are typically helpful and friendly. In this case, I know that Eugene has been provided with a plethora of solid advice and needs to simply read, reread and read again the hundred plus posts that have been written by dozens of hobbyists who have clearly articulated testing steps and alternative solutions to resolve his reception problems.

I am certain that we all want him to succeed and once again be able to watch all available channels, but unfortunately, in this case it seems that there are physical limitations, and I suspect communications are complicated by English as a second language.

Eugene, I am willing to assist if you have a SPECIFIC simple question.
 
Hi Folks and Titanium, : - )))

The question for now is..

What to expect to see the servo motor react when testing directly with
the analog GI 650i C/Ku band receiver???? Which controls both the
actuator arm and the servo motor.

IF we hears the servo motor works, and IF the couplet disc is STUCK
from rotating, what would this mean????

Further details...

My friend who's a HUGE, BIG 6 ft 4 inches tall Samoan guy from
Samoa, wants to help. His name is "Pouli".

He have helped the Mormon church people for building houses
for them, and done electrical wiring for their houses.
But NEVER before on a satellite system. He thought it's easy,
compare with helping with the Mormons.

He told me that he doesn't have times to watch TV, and
he told me he doesn't know anything about satellite system,
but only understand the wiring works.

Last Wednesday he was up on the ladder with my walky-talky
to communicate me, and he wanted to TEST the servo motor
without the feedhorn, just to see what what does it looks like
on the servo motor itself when I do change the channels.

So, I did changed the channel while the servo motor is off the
feehorn for the TEST.

Pouli said from what he saw....

"Only go forward one time about a quarter rotation, and then stops.
Then it would not move anymore to forward or backward channels."

While doing this, he also heard the ZZZZZZZZZZ sound from the
servo motor. NOT from the feehorn.

That was Wednesday April 11th.

So, now Pouli wants to bring in that NEW servo motor
to test it directly from the GI 650i receiver, either tonight
or tomorrow morning, before he goes to work at the airport
nearby for Horizon Airlines.

He wants to see IF the same interpretation with the receiver,
to determine what may caused.

So, I'm asking you, what to expect to see from the servo motor
write with the receiver???

IF it working with a ZZZZZZZ sound, and the couplet disc isn't
or rotate only half way, or STUCK trying to rotate, what this mean????

Pouli is trying to determin whether if it the feehorn or my receiver.

Como on, my receiver is working, I bought the dish down so that
we can work on it. : - )))

What do you want me to know when I see the TEST outcome with
the receiver?????

One thing I do notice about Pouli. Last week, when he was going to
put the srvo motor back onto the feehorn, I notice I heard a rrrrrrrr
sound, or whatever you describe, when he was TURNING THE
COUPLET DISC AROUND BY HANDS A FEW TIMES. Hmmmmmm.

I got an e-mail from Patrick, from A.S.T.I. in Gig Harbor.
He said that he's NOT able to troubleshoot Satcom issues.
He said that they're commercial integrator. : - ((((

So, as for you, my question is how should we know that the servo motor
is working with the receiver???? Would it mean it would work on the feehdhorn????

Hope all helps with answers.

Thank you,
Eugene

 
Eugene, if I could try to be helpful for a minute: It matters not, and people don't care about your friend's size, national origin, his religion, his occupation, his employer, his name, or how much time he has to watch TV. When you insert these meaningless details into an already confusing discussion it makes it quite difficult for people to help you. Concentrate on the problem and the problem only.

Hope this helps.
 
Check the legacy receiver polarity skew settings for each polarity using the satellite that is selected to change polarity. Are the two skew settings offset by from each other by 90 degrees? If not, this is the problem, as horizontal and vertical polarities will be approximately 90 degrees rotational difference. Example: if Horizontal skew is set to -45, set vertical to +45. This is very important for the rest of the testing!

Connect the servo motor directly to the GI650 and observe the motor shaft. Watch to see if the servo motor shaft rotates 90 degrees when switching from horizontal to vertical (channel 1 to channel 2). If so, the servo is working properly. If the shaft rotates too far and hits the rotation mechanical end-stop, the skew setting is not adjusted correctly or there is another problem. Hitting the end of the rotation repeatedly will damage the servo.

If the shaft does not rotate back and forth 90 degrees when the polarity is changed, either the servo is damaged or the GI650 is failing. Try another servo to confirm if it works or not.

Watch the shaft rotate as the legacy receiver's skew setting is slowly changed through the range of -90 to +90. Does the servo motor shaft rotate? If it rotates, does it rotate to angles corresponding to the legacy receiver's skew angle setting? If the shaft does not rotate, either the servo has failed or the GI650 is failing. Try another servo to verify if failed servo motor or failed GI650.
 
Hi,

As for the test with the servo motor....

On the feehorn, the SKEW works on the GI 650i C/Ku band analog receiver.
But it won't change the channel.
I can see the channel numbers up and down on TV, but don't hear
the probe.

When testing the servo motor with the GI 660i receiver, ALONE, INSIDE.
The SKEW works....
But again, won't change channel.
This is with the receiver, directly with the servo motor.

I don't see anything in the menu that would prevent from
changing the channel.

The connections are fine on the back of the GI 650i receiver.
See picture. Look for RED, WHITE and BLACK on the
bottom terminal. +5V.

My friend who helped me thinks it's the receiver terminal that
isn't changing the channel. But SKEW works.

Eugene
 

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Hi,

As for the test with the servo motor....

On the feehorn, the SKEW works on the GI 650i C/Ku band analog receiver.
But it won't change the channel.
I can see the channel numbers up and down on TV, but don't hear
the probe.

But you said it only buzz 1 time!

When testing the servo motor with the GI 660i receiver, ALONE, INSIDE.
The SKEW works....
But again, won't change channel.
This is with the receiver, directly with the servo motor.

If the skew motor is inside at the receiver how do you expect it to change channel if it cannot move the probe out the dish???

I don't see anything in the menu that would prevent from
changing the channel.

The connections are fine on the back of the GI 650i receiver.
See picture. Look for RED, WHITE and BLACK on the
bottom terminal. +5V.

I would like to see a picture of the skew motor test in the house! At the receiver!

My friend who helped me thinks it's the receiver terminal that
isn't changing the channel. But SKEW works.

Eugene
 
Having installed and serviced C-band systems for over 30 years, I provided step by step instructions to determine what is wrong with your system. I am not going to waste my time or yours trying to figure out the testing that you and the assistant decided to perform instead. The testing information is incomplete.

Below are the highlighted questions in red. Please answer only with a yes or no or the displayed number. :eeek

TEST IN THIS ORDER

1a. Check the GI650 receiver polarity skew settings for each polarity using the satellite that is selected to change polarity. Example: Horizontal +45 degrees / Vertical -45 degrees or any other 90 degree offset. Are the two skew settings offset by from each other by approximately 90 degrees? YES / NO

1b. What is the Horizontal Skew setting? +/- ______ degrees


1c. What is the Vertical Skew setting? +/- ______ degrees


If the difference between the two skew angles is not approximately 90 degrees, STOP testing and report the above answers.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If the difference between the Horizontal and the Vertical polarity settings is approximately 90 degrees, CONTINUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



2. Connect the servo motor directly to the GI650, exit the menus and observe the motor shaft. Does the servo motor shaft rotate 90 degrees when switching from horizontal to vertical (channel 1 to channel 2). YES / NO

3. Go into the GI650 menus and watch the servo shaft rotate as the receiver's skew setting is slowly changed through the range of -90 to +90. Does the servo motor shaft rotate? YES / NO

4. If the servo motor shaft rotates, does the servo motor shaft rotate to the angles corresponding to the GI650's receiver's skew angle setting? YES / NO

5. Try another servo. Does the servo motor shaft rotate 90 degrees when switching from horizontal to vertical (channel 1 to channel 2). YES / NO
 
GOOD NEWS....

Over the weekend, I decided to give a shot to
use my FTA receiver, which I slaves with the
analog receiver.
The FTA receiver is a GEOSAT PRO PVR3500.
With analog GI 650i C.Ku band receiver.

I was able to watch some digital satellite
channels which they're all on Horizontal
polarity. BUT NOT on the Vertical polarity.

So, the outcome to this result for this
past weekend, I can only watch digital
channels only on Horizontal polarity.

Yes I do have problem with Vertical
polarity. And beside that, looking
at the analog feeds on Vertical channel,
such as Meta Millions Live Lotto drawings,
and Powervall Live Lotto drawing,
doesn't come in clear at 100%/

I tried the SKEW and the closest and
poor signal in color is + 90. Which only
give me like 20 or 25% in color with
snow on top of it.

I took picture of it, which I included in them in this thread.

So, at least I gave a try watching digital
channel from a FTA receiver, but only
on Horizontal polarity.

The SKEW for Horizontal polarity is "0".
"H 0"

So, my friend, the big Samoan guy from Samoa told me
that "It's NOT the servo motor, it would have to be the analog
receiver that isn't sending the power when changing the channel.
The SKEW works, but NOT the channel part."

He said.

Now we know, we had test the spare servo motor which
I forgot all about it that I bought it from Titanium 6 years ago
So, my friend wanted to test that one with the analog GI 650I
receiver, to see if the couplet disc on the servo motor rotates
when I change the channels.
So, it only rotate half staff when I change the channel forward.
And it stop when I continued change the channel.
And it won't rotate when I changed the channel backward.

BUT it does work when I use SKEW.
He told me "That works!! The disc on the servo motor
moves when you use the SKEW." He said.

I learned this from a technicianback east is to test the
servo motor without the feehorn, and that what we
exactly did.

So, it's NOT the servo motor, it's NOT the feedhorn.
My friend, thinks something's wrong with the receiver
terminal.

I'm showing you pictures of the digital channel on my TV
that I enjoyed, but ONLY ON HORIZONTAL POLARITY.

And I'm showing you the picture of a analog signal of
Powerball Lotto drawing on analog signal that isn't good.
I also includes the SKEW setting where I can see the
Powerball Lotto drawing, barely. : - (((

Number 8 and 9 you'll see the digital channels on Galaxy 16 C-band.

Number 10 is the picture of Powerball Lotto drawing feed on
Galaxy 19, TP-23, Vertical, C-band. NOT in clear.
I can see in color with snow.
Number 12 shows the SKEW on that Powerball feed, SKEW V + 90
NOT GOOD.
Number 13 and 14 yo'll see snow on that same transponder when
the SKEW is at "0" SKEW 0

Same thing when I SKEW to - 90. SKEW - 90,
No difference.

So, basically I have no problem with the Horizontal channels,
because I can watch the digital channels from the FEOPSAT PRO
receiver, being slave with the GI 650I analog receiver.
That's GOOD NEWS!!!
But NOT GOOD on the Vertical polarity.

Let me show you the wiring hook up from the receiver to the
servo motor on the feehorn that the Samoan guy did for me.

Number 3 my friend hook up the RED, WHITE and BLACK
in the bottom terminal on the back of the analog receiver.
+ 5 V.
Number 18 and 19, you'll see he connected both from the
servo motor and from the receiver into the plastic connectors.

I was told by, again, the technician back East, said to make sure
that all wires goes all the way into the plastic connectors, under
the red socket.

But I kind of wondering about the BLACK wires, one of the black wire
in the connector with the servo motor isn't ALL the way in the connector.
But that's a GROUND wires, as well.

So, again, GOOD NEWS to watch digital satellite channels on the Horizontal
channels, for both analog and digital.
BAD NEWS for NOT able to see digital channels on the Vertical channels,
for both digital and analog, like the LIVE Lotto drawings. : - )))

That'a it.

NOTE: My friends and Advocates are WATCHING this thread, to make
sure that we're treated equally. : - )))))
 

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