cold throwing BUD movement off?

odinbear

SatelliteGuys Family

Original poster

Nov 27, 2010

117

0

central NY

• Jan 22, 2011

• #1

Cold here in central NY. Late last night Watching W5, moved Dish to W3. No Channel found, took me a few moments to figure out that the "clicks" for W3 had changed approx 30 clicks, was 3907, now 3880. This morn, It looks like the entire arc of sats, may have moved the same direction around 30 clicks. So, I head out to dish to make sure the Actuator clamp is tight (pretty tight it was).
2 questions, is there a quick way to take either W3 or W5 and reprogram the entire arc at once?
If it's not the clamp, was it the cold? (which hasn't never affected it?) (also same prob happened earlier this summer and tightening the clamp seemed to fix it, then). Not clamp? what is failing?

 

Lone Gunman

SatelliteGuys Pro

Mar 19, 2010

3,201

866

southeast

• Jan 22, 2011

• #2

You said that you were watching W5 then moved to W3 and it was 30 clicks off?? Did you try to go back to W5 to see if it was off also? If it is off then it's likely that your clamp on the arm might have slipped, which would explain why ALL sats were off about the same amount.

On mine I have marks on the tube on BOTH sides of the clamp so I know if it moves or not. I used a black Sharpie to do this.

If it has moved, then you would probably need to move it back very close to where it originally was. A little time and patience and you'll probably be able to get it back where it was and not have to change anything.

 

odinbear

SatelliteGuys Family

Original poster

Nov 27, 2010

117

0

central NY

• Jan 22, 2011

• #3

yup, went right back to w5, n did a "crap, wuz there a minute ago", then, Did a confirm on the Openbox. (cause at first I thought the key expired, it was about midnight.) but after stopping and checking G0, I went back and corrected w3 to it's "new position/", haven't played much with it since I retightened the clamp (which was pretty tight, hadn't appeared to have moved off my score mark). if i haven't mentioned this is with the dsr922.

 

Lone Gunman

SatelliteGuys Pro

Mar 19, 2010

3,201

866

southeast

• Jan 23, 2011

• #4

Well it the arm didn't slip and all sats are off by about the same amount you probably got a reed switch that's horking up missing counts. Seems I remember someone else had a problem with a reed switch acting up in cold weather? Could also be wiring bad connection too. Either way it's an intermittent problem because your 922 didn't error out from counts stopping completely.

What dish mover do you have?

 

odinbear

SatelliteGuys Family

Original poster

Nov 27, 2010

117

0

central NY

• Jan 23, 2011

• #5

the dsr922 moves the dish, von weiss motor (if I recall correctly)

 

J

jsattv

SatelliteGuys Pro

Jul 4, 2006

1,061

8

• Jan 23, 2011

• #6

Odinbear, I have the same Von Weiss Actuator on a 12 Ft Mesh Dish, and have noticed a similar problem. Except mine has varied about 10 - 12 Ticks or Counts on V Box III. But 30 counts seems a bit much. I'm pretty certain the Inclination and Declination settings on my Dish have changed a bit. You may want to recheck your setup. Up here the temperatures have gotten as cold as 35 degrees below zero, and I've had lots of snow to clean off on the Dish at least 5 to 6 times this winter. And as Lak7 and Lonegunman have noted I need to mark my pole and Actuator travel with a felt pen, but with all the snow and the cold I'm waiting for a break in the weather.