DiSEqC, USALS, life, the universe, and everything.

[flyznest]

I have an SG2100 motor. According to the manual, the motor is DiSEqC 1.2 compatible and additionally supports GotoX. My receiver is a Fortec Star Lifetime and supports USALS. Neither the manual for my motor nor the manual for my receiver explains how to set this up..

When I set this thing up I just set user defined positions for all of the birds that i wanted and that has kept me happy so far. Now, however, I have a whole list of new birds and channels that I wanna try and I really don't want to climb back on the roof to locate each one.

Now I did some reading and it seems to me that USALS is essentially DiSEqC 1.2 with the addition of GotoX... is this true? If so, does this mean that my motor and receiver are theoretically compatible? If the answer was yes to all of the above, what would be a reliable procedure for setting up GotoX/USALS? and finally.. the question of the hour... what are the odds that it will all work?

 

[Lak7]

USALS is in the Receiver. You enter your Long and Lat into the Receiver, and it Calcs where to move the Motor
In the Receiver's Sat Setup Menu, look for the Motor Options, select USALS, it should then give you the Menu to enter your Long and Lat

You must first "mechanically" Lock your True South Sat, then start trying for other Sats

 

[flyznest]

well.. herein lies a problem... I can't find a place to enter the lat and lon in my receiver. There are not that many menu's and I have searched them all... and there is no motor setup that I can find.

In the "antenna setup" menu you can setup the lnb and motor position of each bird... In this menu it gives you the opportunity to select "USALS" or "DiSEqC 1.2" for each bird... but there is still nowhere to put the lat/lon.

Out of curiosity, why does your receiver need your lat and lon? There is only one axis of rotation so all positions can be calculated using simple arithmetic. In theory all you should need to do is find one bird and the rest should be cake.

as far as mechanically locking my true south sat goes... My motor is already tracking well on the clark belt. I have 10 birds programmed in right now ranging from 125w to 79w and they all come in strong... it took me 2 days to get it as good as it is. I'm not sure I can get it much better. Is there something else I am missing?

 

[Lak7]

Out of curiosity, why does your receiver need your lat and lon?

It will then Calc the Sat's location based on the position of the Sat and your Location

In this menu it gives you the opportunity to select "USALS"

Select USALS, see if you get a Sub-Menu asking for Long and Lat..

Is there something else I am missing?

No, not really. But if you did not use USALS to setup to your Trues South Sat, you "may" be a little off.

 

[Lak7]

User Manual, show how to setup for USALS.....
FORTEC STAR CLASSIC NA Blind Search FTA MPEG2 Free-To-Air FORTEC CLASSIC

 

[qwert1515]

EDIT: Use Lak7's link for your instruction manual.

From the Fortec Lifetime Ultra Manual Page 17: It states that you have to select USALS and then press the "Blue" button to enter your Latitude and Longitude.

You need to enter the latitude and longitude so that the motor can calculate the spacing between satellites.

Example:

Location|Azimuth difference between 58.0°W and 61.0°W
40°N 120°W|2.3°
20°N 120°W|1.3°

At different locations the spacing between satellites is different.

 

[melbfla]

Press menu
then Antenna Setup
shows a whole screen of information
go to positioner
press that
should show you another screen
there you will find where to enter long and latt.
This should be set then for all the satellites store in the receiver

 

[flyznest]

this is not a Fortec Star Lifetime Classic.. or a Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra. This is a Fortec Star Lifetime... This is just a lil older than the ultra but looks cosmetically identical to the first gen ultra. The menu's are noticeably different than what I see in the manuals that you provided but they are most similar to the Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra.

When I go home tonight I will try what you say and report back.

Thanx for all of your help

 

[melbfla]

http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Fortec-Star/Receivers/Fortec-Star-Lifetime-Manual.pdf


Page 19 talks about entering long and lat.

This is for the Lifetime . The post before was for a Classic which I have ...

 

[Lak7]

Sorry for any confusion

 

[flyznest]

Lak7, melbfla, and qwert1515... Thank you for all of your help! That last manual made it more clear to me.... I do remember seeing those menu's so I will give them a shot after work.

But I am still a little confused as to the definitions of USALS, DiSEqC 1.2, DiSEqC 1.3, and GotoX. I know what their acronyms stand for.. but what exactly do they equate to? are either of the following true?

(DiSEqC 1.2 + GotoX) = DisEqc 1.3
DiSEqC 1.3 = USALS

Are there any incompatibility issues that I should be aware of? How consistent are these standards?

 

[phlatwound]

This thread may answer some of your questions:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-faqs/133444-diseqc-1-0-1-1-1-a.html

 

[AcWxRadar]

This thread may answer some of your questions:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-faqs/133444-diseqc-1-0-1-1-1-a.html

Tony (Iceberg) did a really excellent job explaining the differences in the above thread. Concise and directly to the point with no extaneous mumbo jumbo.

Flyznest,

If your receiver is USALS compatible, you have it made. It will be backwards compatible with all H-H motors. Once you determine where the menu to enter your latitude and longitude is, you should be set. Then, all you need to do is calibrate (mechanically align) your dish and motor to your nearest true south satellite. The closer that satellite's orbital position is to your site's actual longitude the better, but it doesn't have to be exact. Being exact is a great plus, but you can work around any small discrepencies here.

Some folks don't have the luxury of a clear LOS to their truest due south satellite. They may have to pick a satellite that is 5 degrees or more away. This makes the alignment of the dish much less convenient, but it does not make it impossible. Utilizing USALS in these cases really makes life a lot easier.

RADAR

 

[Jim S.]

Out of curiosity, why does your receiver need your lat and lon? There is only one axis of rotation so all positions can be calculated using simple arithmetic.

I suspect there's a perspective issue. The celestial equator is at infinity, the satellites aren't.

 

[flyznest]

well you were all right... once I actually set up a bird as USALS, the menu gave me the option to setup my lat/lon.... and yep... once I did that I discovered that my alignment was off... now it is all working... Major improvement!!

Between this and the the Sonic Voom I just picked up a bunch more channels... and an upgrade to svideo completely eliminated a distortion problem I was having. Maybe this box isn't too bad afterall.

 

[melbfla]

Glad to hear.

 

[hd fan]

I just wanted to point out that if a receiver has the USALS sticker it means that it was tested by USALS and it is guaranteed to work perfectly. Any other receiver that the manufacturer has not sent it to be tested by the italian USALS then can only say Diseq 1.3 or Go To X (if it has that capability of course) but in general they perform ok in USALS mode. USALS is just a software embeded in the receiver that calculates the amount and direction of rotation needed for a particular Sat at a user defined Lat , Long value.

Well, it sounds simple but it is indeed an amazing thing!.

 

[AcWxRadar]

I just wanted to point out that if a receiver has the USALS sticker it means that it was tested by USALS and it is guaranteed to work perfectly. Any other receiver that the manufacturer has not sent it to be tested by the italian USALS then can only say Diseq 1.3 or Go To X (if it has that capability of course) but in general they perform ok in USALS mode. USALS is just a software embeded in the receiver that calculates the amount and direction of rotation needed for a particular Sat at a user defined Lat , Long value.

Well, it sounds simple but it is indeed an amazing thing!.

HD FAN is correct.

Only after a receiver model has been submitted to the USALS lab and passed their test criteria can that receiver "sport" the USALS logo. If the receiver doesn't pass their tests, then they cannot display the USALS logo. The receivers which do not pass the USALS tests can only label themselves with "Go To X" or "DiSEqC 1.3" logos.

I would not go so far as to say that any receiver labeled with "Go To X" or "DiSEqC 1.3" is not good or not reliable. However, these receivers become a sort of garage sale "grab bag" chance opportunity. They may be excellent, they may be a real piece of junk, you just don't know for certain. With the USALS label, you know what you are getting. A++

RADAR

With the USALS label, you can trust that the math is done correctly according to USALS standards.

However, there is more to this than just the USALS lab tests. The receiver may pass that test, but the receiver must also have a stable firmware program to go along with USALS and support it. The Coolsat 4K-5K-6K STBs are one set of examples that I know of first hand that meet all the criteria. These receivers are pretty simplistic, but sometimes the best things are just that.... simple.

The AZBox STB's are actually quite good in regards to USALS, but they have some programming issues that detract from their good points. I have learned to deal with these issues and work around them as best I can, but OpenSat should correct these quirks if they want to be top notch in the FTA STB field.

 

[guapoharry]

Perhaps a thread discussing USALS should have a link to Stab. Click the USALS link under the Stab/USALS logo.

Here is a PDF manual with instructions for installing a motor with USALS or with DiSEqC 1.2

This [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Satellites_Automatic_Location_System"]Universal Satellites Automatic Location System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] sounds good to me.