dead dish motor?

[spacebug42]

I had discovered last night that the dish motor is not rotating the dish. My Fortec Star Dynamic receiver shows on screen that it is rotating the 90cm dish, but still no picture. I went outside and saw that the dish is stuck in the 121 degree position. I know it was working before and yes, the cables are connected correctly (LNB-motor-receiver). A couple of nights ago it was working great when I rotated between AMC9, AMC21, and G19. Last week, there was a 50 mph windstorm blowing through and seemed to have stopped the rotation of the dish for a while. Two weeks ago, there was another big windstorm and a huge downpour of 4" of rain (similar to what others reported here). Could it be that the big windstorms put a lot of stress on the DG280 motor shaft and damaged it? I will get up on the roof tomorrow (weather permitting - rain being forecasted) and test the manual rotation buttons.

I'm now seeing this as a potential opportunity to upgrade to a 180cm dish with an actuator, mounting the dish on a concrete-filled pole, and running an underground conduit directly to the living room where I mostly watch TV. I'm possibly looking at a whole weeks' worth of work to get the upgrade work done. At least it will give me a good reason to intensify my FTA fever while making it easier to service the dish.

 

[brentb636]

I had discovered last night that the dish motor is not rotating the dish. My Fortec Star Dynamic receiver shows on screen that it is rotating the 90cm dish, but still no picture. I went outside and saw that the dish is stuck in the 121 degree position. I know it was working before and yes, the cables are connected correctly (LNB-motor-receiver). A couple of nights ago it was working great when I rotated between AMC9, AMC21, and G19. Last week, there was a 50 mph windstorm blowing through and seemed to have stopped the rotation of the dish for a while. Two weeks ago, there was another big windstorm and a huge downpour of 4" of rain (similar to what others reported here). Could it be that the big windstorms put a lot of stress on the DG280 motor shaft and damaged it? I will get up on the roof tomorrow (weather permitting - rain being forecasted) and test the manual rotation buttons.

I'm now seeing this as a potential opportunity to upgrade to a 180cm dish with an actuator, mounting the dish on a concrete-filled pole, and running an underground conduit directly to the living room where I mostly watch TV. I'm possibly looking at a whole weeks' worth of work to get the upgrade work done. At least it will give me a good reason to intensify my FTA fever while making it easier to service the dish.

I like that ATTITUDE ! Every time that I have a component fail, I upgrade to something better, too . Good luck on the project, and take lots of pics for us.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Try the manual buttons to move it. Mine has a reset on it too. Just use a paper clip to reset it. I've had to reset mine once in the last year. Blind

 

[spacebug42]

worth a try

Try the manual buttons to move it. Mine has a reset on it too. Just use a paper clip to reset it. I've had to reset mine once in the last year. Blind

Blindowl1234, you gave me a good idea in fixing the dish motor problem. I know that there is a reset in the receiver, but I'll check on the motor. I'm still committed to the idea of getting a bigger dish, but I want to extend the operating time on the motor until the bigger dish is in place. After that, not sure what I'll do with the old 90cm dish - perhaps put it on eBay?

 

[spacebug42]

found the problem

I just went up on the roof to check out the motor and tried pushing the manual buttons - didn't budge. I didn't see the blinking LEDs on the back of the motor housing (indicating it was receiving power). I had two of the four Invaquad QPH-031 outputs put through a 2 x 1 switch which was not weatherproof. I had previously put the 2 x 1 switch inside a Ziploc bag and tied it shut with a rubber band. Bad idea! I found about 1/2 cup water inside the bag and it was rust colored. This explains why the dish was not turning - the switch is most likely shorted out. There was a big rainstorm two weeks ago and I'm surprised that the switch lasted that long before shorting out. Today after lunch, I'm going to run one cable from the LNBF to the motor and then to the receiver hooked up to a 7" LCD TV set and see if the motor still works. The 2 x 1 switch was meant to be a temporary setup until I run all 4 cables from the LNBF to the 5 x 8 switch inside the central multimedia panel in the house. I'll update everyone on the test results - it should still work.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Hi Spacebug,

Yes, sealing any outdoor device in a plastic baggie is a bad notion. You need to have some method of draining moisture as even a totally enclosed box will draw moisture into it. I believe that it is best to simply cover the device from above and leave the bottom open. This way any moisture that may collect will naturally drain to the open bottom and not collect in a pond-like manner.

Kinda like the tail lamps of a boat trailer. They are usually better off if the bottom is open to the atmosphere and the top sealed. You need a method to drain that water away.

Just remember this.... "Water always wins". That is why the Grand Canyon is there.

RADAR

 

[spacebug42]

another wierd problem

I unplugged the receiver, went up on the roof, connected one of the LNBF outputs to the motor, and came back down to plug in the receiver. There's good news and bad news. Bad news - the motor LEDS are still out and manual buttons still don't work. Good news - the motor does work, but with limited rotation. The dish will rotate between 125 degrees (AMC 21) and 105 degrees (AMC15), but it won't go eastward away from AMC15. This leaves me with just a few birds to watch. I saved the channel lists, reset the receiver, and restored the channel lists - still no change in operation. I find this problem a bit wierd.

I believe that I did a stupid approach in temporarily protecting the 2 x 1 switch with a plastic bag - causing more harm than good. I not only ruined the switch, but the motor is ruined as well. I think it's time to get the ball rolling towards a bigger dish system.

 

[turbosat]

spacebug do you think the motor limits somehow got changed/set to where they are stopping your motor in those locations? I would research how to change or erase the limits-perhaps a simple disconnect of the power might clear it up.

 

[spacebug42]

will check this out

spacebug do you think the motor limits somehow got changed/set to where they are stopping your motor in those locations? I would research how to change or erase the limits-perhaps a simple disconnect of the power might clear it up.

Turbosat, it had not occured to me that it might be a limit setting issue. I have the manual near the receiver and will look at the limit setting. I may have pressed some buttons while trying to get the system to work.

 

[turbosat]

spacebug, it can happen! When I was setting up my first motor, somehow I set both the east and west limits in the same place, and that happened to be my south satellite. Of course, it would not move either direction lol. I'm sure it was a receiver malfunction, haha. Anyway, I think all I had to do was unplug the receiver, then the coax line, then plug it back and repower the box.

 

[spacebug42]

gotten worse?

I had looked at setting the limits and it's only available for the DiSEqC mode. I set the parameters for one of the satellites next to AMC and put it on DiSEqC mode. I pressed the buttons on the remote to move it and nothing seemed to happen. I changed it back to the USALS mode and discovered that now the dish won't move past AMC15. I just read Turbosat's description of his problem with the limit settings and I'm thinking that I probably did it the same was as he did. I will try adjusting the limit settings again and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

I got the hole dug for the new pole to mount the dish and will order the new dish, LNBF, and actuator on Monday. I'm going to finish putting in the pole and conduit tomorrow.

 

[spacebug42]

trying again

I tried again in adjusting the limits on the DG280 motor - still nothing. I did find the manual for the motor so I am going to follow the directions on how to reset it and hopefully restore it.

 

[spacebug42]

problem solved!

I am updating everyone on the status of what appears to be a malfunctioning PowerTech DG280 motor on my Fortec 90cm dish. I followed the directions in the manual to reset the motor. Yay - problem solved! I am now able to go in either direction. I am still going ahead with my decision to install a 3" pole about 10 to 14 feet long (6 to 10 feet above ground) and mounting the 90cm dish on the pole so I will have easier access to the dish. I am debating on holding off on the purchase of a 1.8 meter satellite setup.

 

[AcWxRadar]

I am updating everyone on the status of what appears to be a malfunctioning PowerTech DG280 motor on my Fortec 90cm dish. I followed the directions in the manual to reset the motor. Yay - problem solved! I am now able to go in either direction. I am still going ahead with my decision to install a 3" pole about 10 to 14 feet long (6 to 10 feet above ground) and mounting the 90cm dish on the pole so I will have easier access to the dish. I am debating on holding off on the purchase of a 1.8 meter satellite setup.

HOTDOG!

Spacebug,

When all else fails... The instructions can often be relied upon! LOL The DG-xxx motor series manuals are really good in regards to their instructions. I do like these motors very much.

It is good that you were able to figure it out and that it was not anything that was defective. I assume that it had to do with setting or removing the east and or west limits. I personally never set these limits as I have been installing all my setups for myself and for friends/customers on pole mounts in the yard where there are no obstructions that require these limits. Unless you need them to prevent your dish from running into an obstruction, there is no need to set these limits.

RADAR

 

[turbosat]

Congratulations spacebug, maybe it'll work right for you now.