Using diseqc 1.2

[turbosat]

Seems I have gotten my motor working somewhat, but I'm not getting how the receiver is supposed to work it yet. This is prob a receiver bug, but when I try to blind-scan the satellite I'm watching, as soon as I hit the OK button to start the scan, a box pops up that says MOVE TO SATELLITE. I'm already ON the satellite, all I can do is hit exit and give up.
Is there some trick I'm missing here , or is this #@! Icon rec just buggy?
Thks

 

[Tron]

Is the motor moving when it displays that message? Have you let it sit for a minute or so before canceling the operation? It could be that this particular receiver (with which I'm not familiar) always sends the command to move to proper satellite before scanning, whether the dish is already there or not.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Seems I have gotten my motor working somewhat, but I'm not getting how the receiver is supposed to work it yet. This is prob a receiver bug, but when I try to blind-scan the satellite I'm watching, as soon as I hit the OK button to start the scan, a box pops up that says MOVE TO SATELLITE. I'm already ON the satellite, all I can do is hit exit and give up.
Is there some trick I'm missing here , or is this #@! Icon rec just buggy?
Thks

Turbosat,


Does the motor actually move?

If it remains stationary, then just ignore the message. I assume that it is just seeking a carrier signal from the first TP and probably hasn't found it right off, so it displays the message as a sort of blanket statement that it is seeking the signal. In this case, I would just let it proceed. When it finds a legitimate signal, the message should go away. I am guessing here as I don't have the same receiver, but it sounds familiar to what my Coolsat 5000 does in certain instances.

If the motor is moving off the sat, then there is another discussion.

Let it go and see what it does. If it goes to the reference position and then back to the satellite, let it go ahead and do its thing.

If it goes to some other satellite and remains there, then that IS a problem.

Also, did you drive the motor to this satellite using DiSEqC 1.2 or by using USALS? Your topic mentioned DiSEqC 1.2, so just wondering if you are supposed to save the poition before scanning.

Tron, I must have been typing my response while you were submitting yours. You are thinking something along the same lines that I am for this topic. I think that we are right, but without knowing the specific receiver's response, I couldn't be certain.

AcWxRADAR

 

[starman345]

Is there anything in the menus where you can turn off that "move to satellite" notification? Dvb software applications sometimes have that as an option. The only time I've noticed it working is with Usals enabled though, not DiSEQc1.2 like you have yours set. Thats a pain if it pops up and stays there. Do you have older or newer firmware you could load to the box to see if it clears it up?

 

[Lak7]

I hit the OK button to start the scan, a box pops up that says MOVE TO SATELLITE.

Have you just waited to see if it goes away and the scan starts.
Which receiver are you using?

 

[skysurfer]

Is the motor moving when it displays that message? Have you let it sit for a minute or so before canceling the operation? It could be that this particular receiver (with which I'm not familiar) always sends the command to move to proper satellite before scanning, whether the dish is already there or not.

yep, sounds like my traxis 3500. Change a channel and it will say "Moving to satellite" and that box will only go away when the other channel pops in or after some moment of time delay when the Traxis assumes the satellite probably has been arrived at.

Using an example of my due south sat with no full time DVB on it, Traxis says moving when I try to see if an occasional service is active and I can see the dish moving towards the zero position. The dish arrives there and stops and the Traxis retains that message since the service/freq for the channel isn't active and eventually will go away if I hit a key to exit or if I wait for the timeout delay to be reached. If the service/freq is active, then the Traxis removes the "Moving to satellite" and displays the video/audio when it notices a lock has occurred.

 

[AcWxRadar]

yep, sounds like my traxis 3500. Change a channel and it will say "Moving to satellite" and that box will only go away when the other channel pops in or after some moment of time delay when the Traxis assumes the satellite probably has been arrived at.

Using an example of my due south sat with no full time DVB on it, Traxis says moving when I try to see if an occasional service is active and I can see the dish moving towards the zero position. The dish arrives there and stops and the Traxis retains that message since the service/freq for the channel isn't active and eventually will go away if I hit a key to exit or if I wait for the timeout delay to be reached. If the service/freq is active, then the Traxis removes the "Moving to satellite" and displays the video/audio when it notices a lock has occurred.

Skysurfer,

Your observations agree with my assumptions. Since you also have a Traxis, and have witnessed this, I feel confident that it is correct.

It is normal operation, just need to wait? Correct?

Thanks Sky!

 

[turbosat]

more

I'm using the Icon, Lak. And trying USALS on it, or 1.2 it does the same thing, with the blind-scanning function. If I try to blind scan the sat I'm already on, a box comes up that says "Go to satellite" . And it stays like that until I cancel by hitting exit.
Nothing moves, no other messages, and it won't scan. There's only one update for this thing and I'm using it (guess I could look around for an old hacker file to try-could be a weird bug they never fixed) I let it sit that way for 2min or more, by then it could've run the arc and back or told me something else, I think. I may factory default it and try starting over today.
The Mercury2 doesn't have this problem using 1.2, but I just discovered that it also has USALS built into it. What I'm really curious about is, this motor,DG380 says nothing about USALS on the box it came in, nor its manual-only Diseqc 1.2. I haven't found, so far , any manual online for 1.2 or USALS, explaining every command, how to clear the receiver if I switch from USALS to 1.2....lots of questions and I'll research them more today. Seems like starting over completely with fta, but I do like the way this motor works, when it's working right. Mostly, it's 'operator error' lol

 

[starman345]

Maybe factory default will clear it up. I did a search here and vfrjim did a reveiw of that dg380 motor and he said Usals worked fine for him, not sure what receiver he used.

 

[phlatwound]

I'm using USALS with my DG380 and Visionsat IV200, it has been flawless from 72W-129W since day one, for right at a year now.

I always thought that USALS was solely a function of the receiver, not the motor? Is that correct?

 

[Lak7]

I always thought that USALS was solely a function of the receiver, not the motor? Is that correct?

I believe, USALS is just a Calculation Method. It uses the Location info you provide to calculate how far to move the Dish.

Now with that said, why doesn't my GBox (or VBox) react when "USALS" commands are sent.
My set up:
Receivers-------GBox------22KHz---------BUD
...........................................22KHz-----------------"USALS" motor-----80cm Dish

 

[Lak7]

Turbo-
Try this, drive the Dish to Sat "A", then select Sat "B" for Blind Scanning.
Does the Dish move?

 

[turbosat]

Starman, researching this, it seems that USALS is just an enhanced version of Diseqc 1.2.
Now, I have hooked the Icon back up for tests, and I find it works much better if you have
the latitude and longitude set properly. Inadvertently, I had my longitude as "E" instead of "W",
dumb and dumber, eh? Once I figured out how to changed that, motor's going places in the right direction.
Blind scan is still *up, still won't BS , it will autoscan, if I select a diff sat from the list, it will move to THAT sat and scan, but only existing TP's.. I won't be using this one for moving a motor if that's the best it can do. Luckily I still have the Merc2.

 

[AcWxRadar]

I'm using USALS with my DG380 and Visionsat IV200, it has been flawless from 72W-129W since day one, for right at a year now.

I always thought that USALS was solely a function of the receiver, not the motor? Is that correct?

I believe, USALS is just a Calculation Method. It uses the Location info you provide to calculate how far to move the Dish.

Now with that said, why doesn't my GBox (or VBox) react when "USALS" commands are sent.
My set up:
Receivers-------GBox------22KHz---------BUD
...........................................22KHz-----------------"USALS" motor-----80cm Dish

This is correct, USALS is nothing more than a math function and the results are stored within the receiver. USALS then uses DiSEqC 1.2 (which is a communication protocol) to tell the motor what to do. All the calculations are conducted and stored within the recever.

If you communicate with the motor and position it with the remote (by stepping it) and then do a save/recalculate you are using DiSEqC 1.2 communications, but the position of the motor is stored within the motor, not the receiver.


AcWxRADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Starman, researching this, it seems that USALS is just an enhanced version of Diseqc 1.2.
Now, I have hooked the Icon back up for tests, and I find it works much better if you have
the latitude and longitude set properly. Inadvertently, I had my longitude as "E" instead of "W",
dumb and dumber, eh? Once I figured out how to changed that, motor's going places in the right direction.
Blind scan is still *up, still won't BS , it will autoscan, if I select a diff sat from the list, it will move to THAT sat and scan, but only existing TP's.. I won't be using this one for moving a motor if that's the best it can do. Luckily I still have the Merc2.

Turbosat,

You are almost correct with that assumption. The exact answer is a little more than that.

DiSEqC 1.2 is a communication language that is used between the receiver and the motor. USALS is a math program stored within the receiver. USALS must have (use) DiSEqC 1.2 to communicate what it calculated to tell the motor which direction and how far to drive.

Radar

 

[starman345]

Starman, researching this, it seems that USALS is just an enhanced version of Diseqc 1.2.
Now, I have hooked the Icon back up for tests, and I find it works much better if you have
the latitude and longitude set properly. Inadvertently, I had my longitude as "E" instead of "W",
dumb and dumber, eh? Once I figured out how to changed that, motor's going places in the right direction.
Blind scan is still *up, still won't BS , it will autoscan, if I select a diff sat from the list, it will move to THAT sat and scan, but only existing TP's.. I won't be using this one for moving a motor if that's the best it can do. Luckily I still have the Merc2.

Too bad you can't get the full functionality out of that box. I remember when the SG-2100 wouldn't handle Usals commands, back then most of the receivers didn't have Usals, but slowly everything has moved forward.
You mentioned that box is the same as the Satopia? I wonder if their firmware is interchangeable? If you could find someone who's done it, it might be a thing to try. I wouldn't do it unless some one I trusted tried it successfully, it might hose the box for good.

 

[1captain]

I noticed the same thing Turbo on scanning a satellite with a Satopia, which is the Icon little sister. when you parked a dish on that sat an go to scan it would say on screen "Move to Satellite" then in about 1 minute it would start its scan on that sat.

now here working a motor (use 1.2 mode with a G-box) it has never fail on a blind scan, an have the latest factory software 10a in it. I think about its Blind Scanning is maybe software related for the Icon. is the more than 1 factory software you could try in it, have 2 for the Satopia 8a & 10a.

 

[turbosat]

Captain mine won't ever start blind scanning, I started to scan G17, the box popped up Go To Satellite, I ate lunch, came back and it was still sitting there. No big deal right now, most of my sports feeds are out of season!
** Success with tracking the arc, YES! My north/south was way off, can't read a compass any more,hehe.
MOST important question now, since I had the traxis in the yard, and could hit everything well from 129 to 72 by pushing the buttons on the motor : How the heck do I get the Merc2 setup for USALS ?? I thought by doing that I wouldn't have to program every location in the box, but the USALS instructions say I gotta go back out in the yard, loosen the motor bracket and screw up my north/south again by letting the motor move to where it thinks "A" satellite is, then seeing if I can find it by twisting the dish/motor.
Is there any easier way to prg all sats?

 

[starman345]

I had a Merc but sold it before I got used to it so I don't know the steps but basically, you need to switch from diseqc1.2 to Usals, there must be a menu choice with something close to that wording. Once in Usals mode, just put in your longitude and latitude and thats it. When you select a channel the dish will automatically move to that particular satellite. The box already has the orbital locations of all the sats in your list and with your long and lat it can calculate where to drive the motor. You don't have to do anything with the motor.
Your dish is already aligned so you don't need to touch it!!

 

[turbosat]

Starman thats what I thought too, but the merc2 started waving the dish around like a flag when I tried to get it to go to reference. I think its prob getting too full of junk and needs factory-defaulting. You sure find out how good these fta rec are when you start hooking up a motor to 'em. Gave up on the Icon for now, factory-defaulted it , deleted everything ,took it out to the dish, and it goes bump,bump,bump if you try to move to a satellite only2 degrees away, and sometimes others. Takes off across the sky all on its own.....what a piece of crap to have such a great scanning tuner in it lol. Well, with USALS (and an old hackerfile) it has found AMC9 about dark, so thats where I quit for the day! Now to clean out my merc2.....