Stuck motor

[hicks107]

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I have an Sg6000 on my ChannelMaster 75E. I have had it for a few weeks now and all of a sudden it stopped moving. Its stuck on 87W. I select a satellite in my openbox S9 and it says "moving dish" for a few seconds but it doesnt move.

The motor has a button on it to manually move left or right. I have not pushed that yet because I dont know if it messes with the motor's knowledge of its position. (ex: I dont want to push it and move the motor to 91w and have it think its on 87w).

Its been less than 20 degrees in NY for the past few weeks but I doubt its causing the issue.

What should I do? I have tried a factory reset of the openbox. no dice.

As always, thanks!

 

[Mr Tony]

highly unlikely its the motor....I mean if it craps out when it gets below 20 then you got issues
Here in MN it hasnt been above 20 since Dec 30th when we hit 42 and my SG2100 has run great...actually I'm on year 7 of that motor surviving MN winters

Try and unplug the SSO from the outlet and replugging back in.

 

[hicks107]

I unplugged the unit for 30 seconds. It didnt help.

 

[putney]

Try some of these things:

Bypass the switch (if there is one.)
Take the box outside if you can and try to operate off of a short cable.
Try a new cable.
BTW, the button on the motor won't change any settings. The reset on the motor requires a paper clip to get to.


My first SG6000 was faulty (stopped moving). My replacement SG6000 is on it's second season.

 

[Lak7]

Pushing the button on the Motor will not mess up it's position.
Are you using USALS?
Try a different receiver - if you have one
Or, run a new cable from Receiver to Motor - could be a bad connection.

 

[hicks107]

OK, This is weird. The motor was set to USALS in the openbox s9. I changed it to Diseqc 1.2 and now it will move the dish east or west. So what is broken here? The USALS in the receiver or in the motor?? I had someone in the house change satellites while I watched the motor. It blinked red which indicates its receiving commands from the receiver.

Thanks

 

[thebaggins]

Blinking red is usually a bad command has been sent, it should blink green when moving and have a solid green light when not moving and has power. Is your location entered correctly?

 

[putney]

If I remember red is normal for the SG6000. (might be wrong, but I remember seeing it)

Is your location set for USUALS?

 

[hicks107]

Blinking red (orange) means its receiving commands. Steady orange means there is a problem. SG6000 DiSEqC Motor | SG-6000 DiSEqC Satellite Dish Motor use for dishes up to 120cm

My location is set correctly and the motor is set for USALS. This was working fine since January 2nd or so. The only thing is I had the receiver on for 3 days without using it. I usually turn it off at the end of the day but I forgot and didnt go to use it until a game was on that I needed to see.

I have an old CNX Mini but it doesnt have USALS. Well, the specs say it has USALS but I dont see it in my menu system.

 

[hicks107]

Do you think a reset of the motor might help? I could use the diseqc 1.2 to "try" and move the motor to 0. I want to do this only as a last resort because I know it can be trouble if the motor isnt exactly at zero.

About the CNX Mini. It does have a "goto x" and "goto 0" setting. I tried goto 0 and it did nothing. I dont know if thats the same thing as USALS or not. Or is the "goto" only referring to satellites I have manually stored in the motor, which is none at this point.

Thanks all.

 

[Lak7]

Have you tried a new cable yet?

 

[hicks107]

Yes, I tried a new cable. I even ran a direct cable from the dish to the receiver. I have a few couplers and various wires to get outside. I ran a wire through a window as a test. I ran it to both the CNX and openbox.

Keep in mind diseqc1.2 commands work fine. Just USALS which I guess is diseqc 1.3. Would a bad cable allow for 1.2 commands but not USALS?? I am still getting 70+ q on many transponders.

 

[Lak7]

Yes, 1.3 is same as USALS
If 1.2 commands work, I think you are good.

I had an issue that the Quality was fine, just not Motor control - it was a bad cable connection.

Triple check your Motor Settings, Location (long and lat) and the Sat's Location

But if both receiver's do the same thing, it's probably something else.

 

[hicks107]

I quadruple checked my setup. Reset to factory defaults and tried again. Still no dice on USALS. I found USALS settings on my CNX Mini and it doesnt move the motor either. The CNX does move with Diseqc1.2 manual east/west movement commands. I am fairly confident that USALS is broken in the motor. I am tempted to reset the motor before requesting an RMA from the manufacturer. I have had the motor for less than 3 weeks. Ordered on ebay from a guy in PA.

 

[putney]

try reset. no biggie.
first set motor to zero (button on motor; push once/west, push twice/east)
you have to hit the reset button, remove power (unplug coax), and power back up.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Hicks,

I came in on the conversation a little late.... Did I catch it right that your receiver moves the motor using DiSEqC 1.2 motor control OK and you can manually move the motor using the buttons on the motor, but it won't move the motor using USALS?

If this is correct, then the problem is within your receiver or the motor control setup (parameters) for USALS in your receiver. Check your latitude and longitude setting parameters first. Are the degrees set properly for your site location? Are the selections for E/W longitude and N/S latitude parameters set appropriately? It is easy to miss changing the E to W when you are concentrating on other areas. This is a common human error.

RADAR

 

[hicks107]

Yes to all of your questions RADAR. What is odd is the receiver was working great for weeks. I made NO changes to the setup and quadruple checked them anyway. Factory reset the receiver and even tried another receiver I have. It would not move the motor on USALS either, only Diseqc 1.2. I contacted the US Distributor and they suggested resetting the motor like others did.

I reset the motor with a paper clip and my USALS is working again. Very odd!!

Thanks to all that replied.

 

[turbosat]

A motor hiccup!!! Glad you got it solved, in case there's another episode. I was voting with Radar on it being the box though, lol;.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Yes to all of your questions RADAR. What is odd is the receiver was working great for weeks. I made NO changes to the setup and quadruple checked them anyway. Factory reset the receiver and even tried another receiver I have. It would not move the motor on USALS either, only Diseqc 1.2. I contacted the US Distributor and they suggested resetting the motor like others did.

I reset the motor with a paper clip and my USALS is working again. Very odd!!

Thanks to all that replied.

A motor hiccup!!! Glad you got it solved, in case there's another episode. I was voting with Radar on it being the box though, lol;.

Yes, the entire scenario does not make sense to me. I would not be suprised if this problem does not reoccur again. And I still would not blame the motor.

Keep track of all the updates and major changes that you make from here on into the future. Keep notes in the back of your mind or on paper if you have a mind to. Like you stated yourself, it is an "odd" response. I have trouble following it if it is working from the receiver side using DiSEq 1.2 and not USALS if the USALS setup is correct. That is simply just a bit unusual.

Resetting the motor.... if it worked, it works. No one can argue the point there. Explaining why is a different matter.

What brand motor and model are you using? Which FTA receiver?

Keep close track of everything in case the problem does arise again. I like to troubleshoot with you, but after the problem has gone away, it is difficult to isolate the original cause. Not much anyone can do when the system is working. Maybe it was just a fluke.

RADAR

 

[hicks107]

I am using a SG6000 motor. The problem was in TWO receivers. I have an Openbox S9 when the trouble first started happening. I tried an old CNX Mini and the problem occurred there too. Everyone keeps blaming the receiver or user error. I am a newb, but Im not an idiot.

Here is what happened: I used the receiver (and motor) almost daily for a few weeks and always turn it off. On Tuesday Jan 11th I forgot to turn it off after watching something. I didnt use it again until Friday the 14th. On the 14th, I went to scan a satellite and the motor wouldnt move. From the 11th until the 14th I had not reconfigured anything on the box. I didnt even use it. I tried unplugging the receiver, resetting to factory defaults, swapping cables, you name it. I didnt reset the motor until last night. Now it works.

I am not blaming the fact that the receiver was left on for a couple of days, it should run 24/7 just fine. But on numerous occasion I have left the receiver on overnight and had bugs the next morning. The most common bug is no audio. I fire up my TV and tune to a channel and get no audio. A reboot of the receiver gets my audio back.