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bhelms

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Last reply Feb 2, 2010 · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Question for scuba divers with UW video experience

Hi all. I'm headed to Cozumel in about 10 days for a week of drift diving. It's been a while since I have been in open water so I'm taking a refresher course in preparation. Also bought some new gear "just in case"...

I'm hoping to venture into a new world on this trip as well - UW videography. Once I'm sure I'm OK diving again I want to haul the camera and light underwater and try my hand at it. I have some limited experience with a self-contained UW still camera, but that's about it.

I ordered an Ikelite housing (below) and have a camera that will work in it. I also ordered the small 15-watt light. Not the best but something to start. It should do OK for close-up. For the rest I will be relying strictly on available natural light. Fortunately the housing comes with a filter to enhance the longer wavelengths, and the camera I have does very well in low light.

Digital Video Housing for Sony Video Cameras

The question I have is about wide-angle lenses. Ikelite recommends one (the linked article gives reasons, notably decreasing the scattered light due to suspended particulate) and offers several choices, also linked. What do you recommend?

Anything else you would recommend or provide comments on? Any particular favorite spots in Cozumel (land or sea) I should check out?

TIA for any advice you can provide...

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bhelms

Jan 19, 2010

Don - As always, tks for the great advice. There's apprarently no end to your technical experiences and competency !!

I've been thinking about this a LOT since I first posted. My skills are stale, hence the course I'm taking. I'll be in confined water this week for a couple of hours and will use that opportunity to also do a "dry" run on the housing (to only about 15' however) and brush-up on my skills. I'm anticipating Cozumel to be a challenge just to dive it without distractions. Most if not all boat dives will be drifts. I know the skill levels of the group I'm going with and I am certainly less experienced. Just keeping up with them - literally - might be all I can handle. If conditions are rough, well, the camera experience will just have to wait for the next trip. I won't be happy about that, but I realize the health/life of me and my buddies are always the top priority! Maybe one of the other guys will be willing to try it out. (Two of them are taking still photo equipment.) All three of them have been in Cozumel before.

I'll at least take the gear out on the boat with me. First dive (maybe more) will be completely sans camera. If I'm OK with that, then the next one (presumably shallower) will be with the empty housing for check-out. (I'll weight it to equal the camera.) Then if everything seems OK, the next dive will be equipped. I'll save the light for any night dives we might do, no drifting (if even available in Cozumel!) where I can try some mid- to macro stuff while stopped. There might be some shore dive opportunities as well where I can try some closer stuff. The little 15-watt light I have now will otherwise do nothing in wide mode. Unfortunately that's all the budget allowed at this point. We'll see how well that little Sony can do in natural light. Maybe on the shallower repetitive dives I'll have better luck with it.

I decided to hold off on the domed port for this first experience. The Raynon lens and adapter for the above-linked housing were a bit more than I wanted to invest at this time. I did however order an external WA lens/filter I can install while on the dive and expect to use that most if not all of the time while drifting. If things go well overall and I decide to continue with this then I'll probably upgrade to the domed lens.

The linked housing with camera is intended to be about 1 lb negative for stability according to Ikelite. Should I change that to completely neutral? (I could mount a styrofoam block to the bottom or such.) We have a half day at the hotel before the first dive day so I'll have more time for pool check-outs. If I make it just slightly negative in the pool water then it should be close to neutral in salt. I'll have a hand lanyard to strap around my wrist but I'm planning to also have a retractable cord attached to a ring on my BC and to the housing handle with a "beener" to prevent it from getting completely away from me if I let go of it. The boats are supposed to have platforms. If the waves are calm (I won't even try the camera if they're not) then I expect an assistant on board should be able to hand it/take it to/from me before so I don't have to enter/exit the water holding it.

Tks again for your advice...!

(PS - I re-upped with DAN and bought equipment insurance from them. Won't help if I lose the gear overboard, but will protect me from a flooded housing or theft, etc...)

bhelms

Feb 1, 2010

I made it back! Great first experience with UW videography!

Update for anyone interested: I got back from the diving trip to Cozumel essentially in one piece. I have some ear issues from not clearing properly (had them in prior dives) but I expect that to resolve itself in a day or two as in the past. Otherwise my 13+ year open water hiatus has been set aside in grand style! I was completely comfortable again on about the 3rd dive and I regained substantial buoyancy control by about the 5th. Ended-up carrying 20lbs. weight, more than ever but necessary on a drift for optimal control. I was eventually able to stride off the boat platforms with the camera/housing in my left hand, no issues.

All the equipment worked great! Got almost 6 hours of video spanning 12 dives. (The first was just a pressure test for the housing, missed a great turtle on that one!) Clearly amateur stuff but great to look at none-the-less and it will preserve my memories better than any still photos could ever do. The wide angle lens is a absolute must. The little 15 watt light I had was virtually useless on a drift but when I had still water and could take time to plant myself, remove the red filter, set up the light, and capture some close action, the colors really came to life. Interesting audio too! Still one repetitive sound I can't positively identify, probably just me clearing.

I also had some issues with the inside lens/port fogging-up in the latter dives. I need to find a reliable way to deal with that. The large dissicant bag I added inside the housing no-doubt helped but I guess it was getting saturated towards the end of the week.

Now I need to learn how to edit it all down to a nice half-hour long story. I have come far, but have so far yet to go...!

TheForce

Feb 2, 2010

Glad you made it back OK.

AS for fogging up, that has to do mostly with where you assemble the camera inside the housing. You need to do it in such a way that prevents condensation inside the housing- obvious, right? but not so obvious on the technique.

Here's the problem, You assemble the camera in the warm moist air trapping the warm moist air inside the housing. Then when you go underwater the water temp is cooler and you cause the moist air ( 100% humidity ) in most tropical environments at 95 degrees to be exposed to water temps of 80 or less. This causes the housing to "sweat" inside.

I would prevent this by first assembling my rig inside the cool dryer air of my hotel room and never open it up on the boat or outside in the warm moist air. If it was really humid outside and I knew the water temperature was especially colder, I would warm the camera up with a hair dryer in the room so that it would not appear like a block of ice that would condense the air trapped inside the housing.

The desiccant is a good idea if it were enough. Unfortunately, it is usually too small quantity to do any good. Plus, few people dry out the desiccant in an oven before use. Consequently, it is usually ineffective. I never used it, rather just used good common sense in preventing trapped moist air when assembling the system.

bhelms

Feb 2, 2010

Tks Don. I had assumed the environment where I assembled the camera/housing was the primary factor in the condensation issue. But my usage patterns were similar from day-to-day and the fogging only became a problem toward the end of the week so I was looking for additional factors. Another observation - only on the last dive did I see visible condensation inside the clear housing itself. The other times it was restricted to the lens. Condensation wouldn't begin to appear until about 30 mins. into the dive (as seen in the resulting video, not so noticeable while recording until extreme), of course getting progressively worse as the dive continued.

I assembled everything in the room before heading to the boat, but between dives I would swap cameras in the boat thus exposing the insides to humid air. There were 2 reasons for that: get a fresh battery in service and get the latest files out of harm's way until they could be backed-up. I wasn't completely faithful on the latter, but the battery issue was a potential literal show-stopper so I figured I had no choice. I ran the cameras for the whole dive (usually recording), surface to surface, thus consuming 40-45 mins. battery time on the first dives each day. The batteries I have (3 NPFH60s and 1 NPFH70) wouldn't last for complete consecutive dives that way.

I also thought about baking the dessicant bag but had no way to do that. It was a large one, like the size of a 2 lb soft (shot) weight except longer and narrower and it slid in nicely on the top of the camera towards the left side. My buddy gave it to me the first time we installed the camera and I had it in the housing constantly for the duration.

Interesting what you mentioned about warming the camera, which I had not considered. Another observation I had was that once I completed a dive and shortly thereafter opened the housing, the camera was noticeably warm just from use in a confined space. I assumed that was from both the HDD and LCD backlights running continuously. (With these 500/520V cameras both displays are working at the same time when the flip-out screen is reversed, same with your SR-12?) There was never any moisture on the cameras that I could detect, and I assumed that the heat from operation would be a positive influence on preventing or reducing condensation, but apparently just not enough.

Possible answers: get at least 1 NPFH100 battery that would last easily for 2 dives (the housing appears to be milled-out to accommodate the length of that battery), and have several dessicant bags baked and sealed so I can use a fresh one each time.

Like I said above - still lots to learn...!

Tks again...

TheForce

Feb 2, 2010

You're on the right track! My camera was a bit larger and I resolved the battery issue by using a custom made stick of D cell nicad. The only issue I had with it, even back in the 90's and 90's was the batteries looked like a stick of dynamite with a fuse hanging out the end.

It always would get the airport security people ( before TSA) excited. But these batteries would run my camera for 3-4 hours! I have a FH NP-100 and it runs the HD cam for a really long time. I suggest you get one to avoid opening up the camera between dives on the boat. I didn't know your desiccant bags were that big. If you could have a fresh one each day that should work too but I think sealing up everything in the room in dry air, especially with a hair dryer to warm up the camera too should work best.

The main problem with camcorders on the boat is when you take them out cold from an A/C room and they hit the warm moist air the cameras themselves would have condensate and cause the dew sensor to shut the camera down. This is why I would always heat the camera up before exposing it to the 100% humidity outside the hotel room.

You make me homesick for a good dive. Unfortunately, my health ( pacemaker) prevents me from scuba these days. But, I have made one, one-man deep sub dive since. And a two man sub dive with my wife two years ago.

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teachsac

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply 13 minutes ago · posted in TV Shows

House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, premieres on HBO Max on 8/21. I will be warching

'Game of Thrones' spinoff 'House of the Dragon' fires up release date at HBO, drops new character pics

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View: https://youtu.be/fNwwt25mheo

S~

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KAB

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That was as bad as the rest of the show. Jean Smart was mostly invisible.

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I prefer the trailer for the movie adaptation of Mario Kart. At least that had Pedro Pascal in it.

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"A new line of unsullied kings" would seem impossible given the GoT definition of "unsullied". :biggrin

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13 minutes ago

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

20 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Why New FCC Rules Could Crush Phone Privacy in the US

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teachtom

Last reply 55 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Problem when I switch from Bonus View channels back to regular Dish channels

Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

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HipKat

Today at 5:07 PM

teachtom said:
Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

First off, great TV. I'm torn between the 77C5 or the 77G5.
It sounds like the handshake between the Receiver and the TV is having a problem. Are you using the free cable that came with the Joey or a higher speed HDMI cable?? That's the f irst place I'd look

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RJT79

Today at 5:17 PM

teachtom said:
Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

First off, The analog to digital switch, also known as the digital television transition, is the process of converting older analog television broadcasting technology to digital broadcasting. It's used through coaxial cable for the an antenna during the mandatory switch from Analog to Digital on June 12, 2009. You either had to get a converter for your analog (Tube TV) or use a converter box that has the analog or digital tuner or an HDTV which your is and has the tuner built in. Your TV is HD and using an HDMI Cable and nothing is connected by coaxial cable so this wouldn't apply.

In my theory it probably means a new TV. I had a TV go out on my switching between the Smart Screen from the HDMI inputs before because they went faulty. Sometimes electrical surges can cause this. If you have an older home or rent an older home or apartment sometimes the electrical outlets are not grounded and these days HDTV's need a ground which can cause them to malfunction and go bad quicker. Never plug it directly in an outlet. It will damage the TV.

Hope I could be of some assistance.

RJ T.
From Illinois

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teachtom

Today at 7:33 PM

RJT79 said:
First off, The analog to digital switch, also known as the digital television transition, is the process of converting older analog television broadcasting technology to digital broadcasting. It's used through coaxial cable for the an antenna during the mandatory switch from Analog to Digital on June 12, 2009. You either had to get a converter for your analog (Tube TV) or use a converter box that has the analog or digital tuner or an HDTV which your is and has the tuner built in. Your TV is HD and using an HDMI Cable and nothing is connected by coaxial cable so this wouldn't apply.

In my theory it probably means a new TV. I had a TV go out on my switching between the Smart Screen from the HDMI inputs before because they went faulty. Sometimes electrical surges can cause this. If you have an older home or rent an older home or apartment sometimes the electrical outlets are not grounded and these days HDTV's need a ground which can cause them to malfunction and go bad quicker. Never plug it directly in an outlet. It will damage the TV.

Hope I could be of some assistance.

RJ T.
From Illinois

Thank you for the information. I do keep the TV plugged into a surge protector, but we have had pretty strong thunderstorms/lightning in the last month so that have contributed to my problem.The house was built in 2009 so everything seems to be grounded correctly. We have had a power surge also. Seems like no one fixes anything any more, so just get a new one or live with the problem. Thanks

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teachtom

Today at 7:39 PM

HipKat said:
First off, great TV. I'm torn between the 77C5 or the 77G5.
It sounds like the handshake between the Receiver and the TV is having a problem. Are you using the free cable that came with the Joey or a higher speed HDMI cable?? That's the f irst place I'd look

I think the HDMI cable is good, i used one of my own from my 4K atmos system, i'll switch it with another just to check. Also I have a bid in at Greentoe for 77" G5. Thanks

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HipKat

55 minutes ago

teachtom said:
I think the HDMI cable is good, i used one of my own from my 4K atmos system, i'll switch it with another just to check. Also I have a bid in at Greentoe for 77" G5. Thanks

I hope that works. I'm waiting til Black Friday sales

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natevw

Last reply Today at 8:02 PM · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support

GEOSATpro Does anyone recognize these channels (/audio loop)?

Hi all, I recently inherited a FTA system off Craiglist and have been trying to get it set up. What I got was a Glorystar-branded ~90cm offset dish with a ground mount (/flat roof) frame, and GEOSATpro DSR200c receiver. From that initial equipment, I've replaced the old LNBF with a (cheap!) new one and also splurged on an SG-2100 H-H motorized rotor which does respond from the receiver's USALS menu.

The previous owner had it set up for religious programming on Galaxy 19 and I've been trying to start by finding that same bird at least. After a couple sessions I'm not sure I have, but I've found *something* at least! A handful of motor ticks further than the dish wants to be for 97W after starting from motor 0 pointing as much south as I can guess at. (I don't have great references to aim for and it's really hard to sight where exactly the dish is pointing anyway….)

Anyway, so far there's only one transponder that I've ever been able to catch as I search. It's 12146 V and when the receiver scans it I get this list of video channels:

1.1 Srv_1
2.84 OU_Chan
3.2 Srv_2
4.5 Srv_5
5.3 Srv_3
6.4 Srv_4
7.6 Srv_6
8.7 Srv_7

There's iirc three audio channels it finds too but I didn't get a good snapshot of those. All the channels except for one seem to be dead (black screen and silent audio), except for the OU_Chan one which on both days I found it was just rolling one same ad over and over on a loop. I won't repeat the full roll since I don't want to spam the forums as my first post

but it's a long-winded spiel about "you know us as an industry-leading satellite solutions provider with over a quarter million sites" and to call them For All Your Every Needs™ type thing.

While I get little blips from other frequencies, this is the only strong transponder I've been able to come across. My receiver shows it as S 75 and Q up to 85 when I adjust it. It actually seemed to get better as I **un**skewed my LBNF — iiuc G19 was supposed to be -20º for me but however I'm supposed to be reading/referencing the angles the puck is now basically at 0º relative to the dish/arm got the strongest on this transponder.

Anyway sorry this is so long winded already… my question is, do I even have the right satellite? None of the other transponders that are supposed to be active on G-19 seem to come in. And if not the right satellite does anyone happen to recognize which one I might have found instead? I think knowing that would help me then adjust for a truer south aim and then hopeful the USALS will work automatically once I can get it dialed in.

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cyberham

Jun 2, 2026

Correct LO setting to 10600 MHz. Set receiver to 12053 V 22000. Use USALS to motor over to 97W Galaxy 19. Then, loosen bolts and rotate entire assembly (motor & dish) very slightly east or west until you peak on that transponder.

You should be able to blind scan in 6 transponders (DVB-S) and dozens of channels.

When using a motor, just set skew of LNB for 0 degrees and don't change it. The motor automatically rotates the dish to the correct skew.

natevw

Jun 4, 2026

cyberham said:
Correct LO setting to 10600 MHz. Set receiver to 12053 V 22000. Use USALS to motor over to 97W Galaxy 19. Then, loosen bolts and rotate entire assembly (motor & dish) very slightly east or west until you peak on that transponder.

Done and done and done! I ended up doing a bit more iteration (back and forth between the left-right and up-down adjustments) but I've now got it landing on G19 at its default position for 97W.

cyberham said:
You should be able to blind scan in 6 transponders (DVB-S) and dozens of channels.

Yep, ended up with a page or two full on my receiver's search. Didn't double-check that my receiver has all six of the right transponders but I can mess with that later if it turns out I'm missing something interesting but still DVB-S / MPEG-2 compatible.

cyberham said:
When using a motor, just set skew of LNB for 0 degrees and don't change it. The motor automatically rotates the dish to the correct skew.

Yep, can see definite signal degradation as soon as I skew the LNB either way from "straight" (seam on the LNB lined up with the clamps on the mounting bracket). Will make setup easier if I want to try swapping anything else in!

I don't know if there's any good (unencrypted, DVB-S) satellite farther away to really check the sweep against, but I was at least able to program in my original find at 101.0 W back in (now at the correct "12000 V 20000" setting) and can get both birds automatically.

Shouldn't be *that* exciting since it's just an ad, but still really fun to choose channels on the other one and have it jog over and lock on

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cyberham

Jun 4, 2026

Motor over to 123W Galaxy 18 and try for 12078 V 3680 (Korean Broadcasting System). It is DVB-S. And 12008 H 12660 (Daystar mux) on the same satellite.

Beyond these, you'll need your new receiver that supports DVB-S2.

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Brct203

Jun 4, 2026

natevw said:
Done and done and done! I ended up doing a bit more iteration (back and forth between the left-right and up-down adjustments) but I've now got it landing on G19 at its default position for 97W.

Yep, ended up with a page or two full on my receiver's search. Didn't double-check that my receiver has all six of the right transponders but I can mess with that later if it turns out I'm missing something interesting but still DVB-S / MPEG-2 compatible.

Yep, can see definite signal degradation as soon as I skew the LNB either way from "straight" (seam on the LNB lined up with the clamps on the mounting bracket). Will make setup easier if I want to try swapping anything else in!

I don't know if there's any good (unencrypted, DVB-S) satellite farther away to really check the sweep against, but I was at least able to program in my original find at 101.0 W back in (now at the correct "12000 V 20000" setting) and can get both birds automatically.

Shouldn't be *that* exciting since it's just an ad, but still really fun to choose channels on the other one and have it jog over and lock on

beside 123W, another one to try (if it's above the horizon at your location) is Hispasat @30W. It has at least 2 DVB-S transponders with SD/Mpeg2 channels

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natevw

Today at 7:36 PM

cyberham said:
Motor over to 123W Galaxy 18 and try for 12078 V 3680 (Korean Broadcasting System). It is DVB-S. And 12008 H 12660 (Daystar mux) on the same satellite.

No luck finding this one. I motor over and it seems like a pretty dead spot of sky. I did get a slight blip (Q up to 1% or 2%) if I lowered the dish slightly. So I wonder if my polar mount itself maybe needs a bit of fine tuning?

Even when loosening the bolts and manually nudging the dish up/down/left/right nothing seemed to really wake it [new receiver, see below!] up and never saw anything more than 4% or 5% which I don't know is even real or could have been just noise?

Brct203 said:
beside 123W, another one to try (if it's above the horizon at your location) is Hispasat @30W.

I'm in Washington state (northwest CONUS) so this one's not an option for me.

cyberham said:
Beyond these, you'll need your new receiver that supports DVB-S2.

I now have a V8 Finder 2

I've been able to scan in more now on G-19, and as well as watching the ad on SES 1 and getting some PBS stations there and G-16 both. So three satellites kinda in the general vicinity of each other (97W/101W/99.1W) programmed and able to rotate between.

Is G-18 at 123W as strong as the others? According to Satbeams I should be at least somewhat in its footprint although it looks like it's maybe focused more on Alaska.

Now that I'm back at my computer waiting for the Finder to charge back up looks like the Eutelsat(s) 117W have a couple Ku transponders I could look for too.

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cyberham

Today at 8:02 PM

On 117W, try for BVN. It has a C/N lock of just 1.0 dB so it's easy to receive. See transponder data on Lyngsat. 123W is receivable. Your motor is not perfectly on the arc yet.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 7:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Google’s New Translate Tool

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW3qReY-JYA

Direct YouTube Link - Google's New Translate Tool
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 7:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Another Cisco SD-WAN 0-day?

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zh1RgcJue0

Direct YouTube Link - Another Cisco SD-WAN 0-day?
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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natevw

Last reply Today at 7:19 PM · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support

OTHER Does the GT Media V8 Finder2 run rotor motors? (/DVB-S2 recommendations)

I'm having trouble finding a for sure answer on this. When I first started diving back into satellite stuff I noticed the GT Media V8 Finder2 which looks pretty cool and relatively low price point. But I can't find an answer, seems like some people (and Amazon's own AI guesser-bot) say it doesn't support motors.

The manual itself (the PDF that I found is named 20220718043903GTMEDIAV8FINDER2.pdf and it's on page 6 of 8) does show on the installation screen a "Motor Setup" menu item and says "If select DiSEqC1.2 or USALS, we can press ◀︎▶︎ to select IF Channel, and use number key to input Center Frequency."

Which…… the USALS part seems promising, but I don't know what IF and Center frequencies have to do with anything? Can it drive the motor off its battery for one, and does it have options for e.g. using the ◀︎▶︎ arrows to change the aim and save adjustments?
The closest I've found to real-world experience here is in Long shot with TBS6909X card where someone is talking about a different rotor and says:

> when I connect my V8 Finder 2, it immediately moves the dish if it's not in the correct position

which seems really promising! Moving the dish is what I'm after here, with something newer than the old MPEG-2 receiver I have now. Even for other receivers its really unclear if motor support is just pretty much a safe assumption that they don't even mention it anymore?

The V9 Prime actually looks pretty nice too and assuming it runs motors maybe that'd be better than the V8 Finder 2 for actual long term use since it has networking. But I'm having trouble finding listings for it (and actually most other receivers I see mentioned here) on Amazon or eBay or even Aliexpress. I'm wanting a DVB-S2 receiver for at least MPEG-4 with H.264/AVC and maybe should just get H.265/HEVC while I'm shopping. Main criteria:

* run my "Goto X"-era SG-2100 rotator
* be able to view most/all modern FTA satellites
* ideally a scheduled DVR feature and/or network would make it more useful
* I don't mind if it has… "alternative" firmwares or features but just for broader compatibility/interest

My main goal is I guess just exploration, seeing what's up there. Honestly not a big TV guy and definitely not into infomercials but if I can time shift the occasional Bob Ross or Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, or catch some world events as they're being uplinked, that sort of thing might be interesting. (Honestly main goal started out as weather satellites but this is kinda a warmup excercise for what will likely be a separate setup due to the frequencies.)

My dish is kinda far from my house and even farther from my "radio shack" so if I could just run a PoE ethernet line to something in a box below the dish, or a coax only to the crawlspace where I have 110V but either way would need it full remote including changing between satellites. To avoid having to buy and pull tons more coax up and down through the house. I'm into open source and real standards, so I'd much rather something that I can say use with VLC or go2rtc via a raw IP address and protocol rather than some convenient but proprietary iOS cloud app thingy.

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cyberham

Jun 2, 2026

I have the GT Media V9 prime receiver. It's a good modern receiver for its price. I think it's no longer available new since GT Media stopped making receivers.

The V9 supports USALS and Diseqc motor positioning. I have 125 feet of RG6 to my dish. I'd recommend 100 feet of cable maximum due to voltage drop issues as the cable gets longer. In my case, my motor works but at times when I move the motor I stay tuned to horizontal (H) transponders which sends a higher motor voltage than if tuned to a vertical (V) transponder.

natevw

Jun 2, 2026

Thanks, great tips and yeah when I'd read how the H/V bias worked I wondered if the higher voltage was ever useful for better power transfer

It was perhaps slightly impulsive (though I guess not too late to cancel) but instead of the Finder unit I ended up going for kinda the opposite: a completely faceless USB tuner box (TBS5930) which should have RF support all the way up through DVB-S2X. If I'm understanding correctly the actual video/audio will then be whatever I can get software/GPU support for so my hope is that any unencrypted MPEG-2/AVC/HEVC feed can be viewed with VLC or whatnot. As well as access to what I assume is pure data like the Blockstream stuff just for example. (They had a lot of good resources for reception of their own signal in lots of various interesting ways and is kinda how I found the TBS options.)

And I think I will be able to control DiSEqC stuff through Linux including motor commands. So the idea is kinda what I mentioned, hoping this can just get chained in to an old thin client PC or if there's any Raspberry Pi that doesn't cost triple digits these days, somewhere physically convenient and then run it all over LAN from my laptop.

All this is somewhat theoretical of course based on what I'm piecing together but at a certain point I usually have to close all the browser tabs and just commit to try *something* that looks promising and go from there.

natevw

Today at 7:19 PM

natevw said:
I'm having trouble finding a for sure answer on this.

Had a mixup with the TBS5930, got sent a cheaper Lite model than I paid for and am returning that. Ended up with the V8 Finder 2 after all.

And can confirm that it *does* have motor support! There's options for each satellite:

* None
* DiSEqC 1.2
* USALS

If you choose USALS (after setting device lat/lon) then it simply goes to where it thinks the satellite should be. If you arrow over to the DiSEqC option then you can press "OK" on it and pull up a menu with the ability to save position presets and also a motor nudge feature.

So between the two I can first choose USALS to get my initial setting, and then switch to DiSEqC to see if fine tuning helps.

That's all in the "Installation menu". When just watching channels it automatically switches between satellites too. Can even do a multi-satellite scan although it seemed it maybe didn't wait for the motor to finish before starting the scan.