I agree. I guess I will have to break down and buy a new receiver.
What do you all recommend?
What do you all recommend?
Coolsat 5000 or SG2100 problem
- Thread starter walt991
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I would try to re-load the factory FW via the serial port first. Flash memory can get corrupted and still work on some but not all features/subroutines. I dont know if the Factory FW is posted on the board for the 5000, but I'm sure someone could post it for you.
Here is the link to the OEM FW on the Coolsat page, but it appears to not be in a compressed format (*.zip, *.rar etc.)
http://coolsatusa.com/html/software/coolsat5000_100_20051007.stb
Normally that would be a non issue, especially in the case of media files, but for binaries, it can be a potential problem. Running a corrupted *.exe can be a pain, but the worse that can happen is locking up the PC and you will have to re-boot.
Loading corrupt FW to a flash, which is essentially BIOS and Operating System can kill your box if corrupted.
Compressing a binary seldom yeilds much 'gain' as defined by making the desired data package smaller, in fact it can actually increase the size in some cases. This is not the purpose for compressing binaries. The advantage is that the compressing proggy has to 'tokenize' the original data and 'de-tokenize' according to some standardized algos. If the received data isnt what the decoding proggy expects, it gives an error and wont let you use the data.
This added level of checksum and sanity checks keeps you from loading data that was corrupted during download to your STB. It is always best to avoid using FW flashes that were downloaded in there uncompressed form.
The 5000 is the sibling of the 6000, one of which I own. If it is as good as is reported, and as good at FTA as my 6000, you should try to find a way to make it work, if possible.
I dont know what to suggest, it is a matter of budget and what you intend to use it for. A pvr capable box would be nice. Dual tuner is cool too. Blindscan is a must. If you see HD in your future, A DVB-S2 compliant unit would be on the high end of the price range, but nice to have too. There is also the PCI DVB card method if you have a PC w/modern day memory and uP specs. There is a usb alternative as well. Both are fairly high on the learning curve, and you need to be computer savy and pretty well versed in DVB theory of operation.
Dont give up on the CS yet, and certainly dont trash it if you cant get motor control. It should still serve you well for other FTA needs.
Here is the link to the OEM FW on the Coolsat page, but it appears to not be in a compressed format (*.zip, *.rar etc.)
http://coolsatusa.com/html/software/coolsat5000_100_20051007.stb
Normally that would be a non issue, especially in the case of media files, but for binaries, it can be a potential problem. Running a corrupted *.exe can be a pain, but the worse that can happen is locking up the PC and you will have to re-boot.
Loading corrupt FW to a flash, which is essentially BIOS and Operating System can kill your box if corrupted.
Compressing a binary seldom yeilds much 'gain' as defined by making the desired data package smaller, in fact it can actually increase the size in some cases. This is not the purpose for compressing binaries. The advantage is that the compressing proggy has to 'tokenize' the original data and 'de-tokenize' according to some standardized algos. If the received data isnt what the decoding proggy expects, it gives an error and wont let you use the data.
This added level of checksum and sanity checks keeps you from loading data that was corrupted during download to your STB. It is always best to avoid using FW flashes that were downloaded in there uncompressed form.
The 5000 is the sibling of the 6000, one of which I own. If it is as good as is reported, and as good at FTA as my 6000, you should try to find a way to make it work, if possible.
I dont know what to suggest, it is a matter of budget and what you intend to use it for. A pvr capable box would be nice. Dual tuner is cool too. Blindscan is a must. If you see HD in your future, A DVB-S2 compliant unit would be on the high end of the price range, but nice to have too. There is also the PCI DVB card method if you have a PC w/modern day memory and uP specs. There is a usb alternative as well. Both are fairly high on the learning curve, and you need to be computer savy and pretty well versed in DVB theory of operation.
Dont give up on the CS yet, and certainly dont trash it if you cant get motor control. It should still serve you well for other FTA needs.
Sorry to hear about the results.
The manufacturer may be able to fix it for a cost.
There are other CS5000s that pop up on eBay. One I bought from eBay works just fine.
I would go that route to save money. I'm holding out until FTA goes to HD on most of the birds. At that time, I'll upgrade to HD receiver myself. Sorry I wasn't more help, but it does look like your receiver is the cuplrit.
Lastly, you could use it in another room as a second receiver like I do. I have the living room SC5000 drive the motor, while the bedroom SC5000 just receives whatever bird the other is on. Works fine for my family.
The manufacturer may be able to fix it for a cost.
There are other CS5000s that pop up on eBay. One I bought from eBay works just fine.
I would go that route to save money. I'm holding out until FTA goes to HD on most of the birds. At that time, I'll upgrade to HD receiver myself. Sorry I wasn't more help, but it does look like your receiver is the cuplrit.
Lastly, you could use it in another room as a second receiver like I do. I have the living room SC5000 drive the motor, while the bedroom SC5000 just receives whatever bird the other is on. Works fine for my family.
Well that is odd. Do you have any means of testing/driving anything DiSEqC or 22khz switched? It they all fail to respond it sounds like it may be a HW issue with the 22khz tone generator circuitry.
If you can get the proper responses from known good DiSEqC switches, then I'm at a loss as to what is next.
Without another rx to test the motor, you cant determine if it is seeing the commands. The electronics that decode the commands at the motor could have problems as well. If you can drive switches to the proper port with the 5000, the next thing I would do is put the switch after the motor and test it again to see if the commands are passing thru. If not that is a pretty good indication that the motor command handling electronics have issues.
As posted, dont toss the 5000. If you really feel the need to, I'll send ya an addy and shipping costs to a trash can near me!
Good luck!
This is great advice.
Some searching in the forum and Internet reveals many simple testers for switches, but very few for testing the motors.
This site, DiSEqC Home Page has a PC controlled tester I wouldn't mind having on the bench.
This thread discusses how to test a switch using simple resistors and LEDs:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/104373-bench-testing-diseqc-switch.html. The test will tell you if the tone burst is working.
I could have the same problem someday, so properly troubleshooting to the receiver or motor is a prudent thing to do.
Some schematics to ponder:
AVR Projects - Juras-Projects
I have an O-scope. I may hook it up to my box just to see the tone burst.
But melgarga is right. A second receiver (or motor) will tell you much faster which has malfunctioned.
Glad to here you resolved it but hate to hear your 5K is a dud for switch/motor control. Prolly just a 39 cent cap on the board or something equally as trivial in the 22khz source circuit that went TU, question is WHICH ONE?.....
Like the proverbial tootsie roll pop, the world may never know.
Well it can still be used as a slave off a splitter from the input to the working unit, but it can only see what lnb/polarity the 'master' has selected. That's how Dishnet did their 2700s a looooong time ago, pre Dish 500.
Like the proverbial tootsie roll pop, the world may never know.
Well it can still be used as a slave off a splitter from the input to the working unit, but it can only see what lnb/polarity the 'master' has selected. That's how Dishnet did their 2700s a looooong time ago, pre Dish 500.
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