VBOX (DP710) causing dish postion to drift

[bidaw]

I had the drift problem too, but let me tell you what cleared it up for me...

I changed the +/- sensor wires at the back of the vbox. Since then and a reset of my count settings on my receiver, I haven't had drift yet. Albeit has only been 3 days, but drift before happened almost immediately.

Good luck to you....

Bidaw

 

[Anole]

is the fix this simple?

Yea ,that sounds like a good and workable fix.
What sort of wires or wiring did you use when it was touchy?
What did you change to?
How long have you had the box?

If there is a spec for the wires that the drifters have ignored, I'm all for getting the word out so they can be happy, too.

Let's hear from all people who have drift. What sort of wire do you use?
How long? What guage? Is it twisted? Is it shielded?
Does it run near some other wires? etc

 

[drhydro]

My wiring is all new ribbon cable, put it in just before i picked up the vbox. i have a 100 foot run, with no other wiring close by. I hope you all find a solution and make these darn things work, as i said after getting one DOA and then problems with the second one, i gave up.

 

[Shawn95GT]

200' of new ribbon cable here. I'll try flipping the sensor wires for fun but I still don't think that's it. The 'count' has been right, the target seems to be moving.

 

[bidaw]

I'm controlling my actuator with a run of Cat-5 cable. It is a temporary setup for me to test my C-band until I lock it down permanantly.

 

[raydio]

I am using about 60 feet of 4 conductor telephone wire and I will try switching the sensor wires as well.

 

[bidaw]

Last night, I changed channels and sats quite a bit to test out the drift factor. Still holding solid. 4 days, fingers are still crossed.

 

[drhydro]

The OP said it took a few weeks for drift to occur with his setup, hopefully it wont for you :-D

 

[Shawn95GT]

Mine seems to do it once I get about 10 sats programmed in working my way East. Starting at SOL 2 and heading East the positions have drifted by the time I get the far East sats dialed in.

As mentioned before, if I go back to the count number, it's dead on. The VBOX seems to be targeting a different count number. If I write down the count numbers, the sats are right there .

This is why I was suspecting that the 'save' command was somehow being interpreted as a 're-sync'.

Shawn

 

[Shawn95GT]

Grrrrrr

I think my DP-710 died tonight. I moved from AMC6 to IA13. I then chose G10R... and nothing happened. Now the DP710 is displaying P17 and isn't responding to DiSEqC position commands. It does let me command east and west manually though.

It's looking like that HTS System 70 might get put into action .

How goes the VBOX II Thomas?

The new game plan is attached.

Shawn

 

[drhydro]

Hey shawn, i havent had a chance yet to hook it up, i have been very busy. As soon as i do i will let you all know how it works.

 

[kelleyga]

guys, I am back... jejejeje.

Well, I have been reading this thread for some time now.

I entered several sats and swap the sensor cables and it is working for me. I did not entered as many satellites as before.

I will try entering all sats I can and try to see if it works. I will let you guys know.

 

[Shawn95GT]

VBOX II from Austrailia

For those still looking, there is a guy on Ebay Austrailia that is selling them fairly cheap. I'm looking at $85ish to my door.

The problem is, like Thomas found with his, that the power plug is for 230volt / 50Hz. This means we'd need to shop for a 'Step up voltage converter' which seem to be readily availalble on ebay for $35 or less depending on what you need watts wise. The VBOX II is rated for 80 - 100W so we could get away with one of the cheaper converters.

I'm thinking about it...

Shawn

 

[drhydro]

Shawn, there is a sticker on the back of my vbox that says "input 110 volt 60 hertz", so i dont think i need the step up converter. i do need a plug converter tho....

 

[raydio]

Well after continuous fighting with the vbox and since I am on vacation for the next week - yea!...I have decided to do what Shawn has done - let my analog receiver control my dish. I swapped the control over to the US Electronics Legacy receiver and have programmed in 11 satellites so far. It's a real pain in the arse to switch between receivers to move the dish and then to view the video, but it'll do until I can afford the Manhattan ST550 box with the 36 volt controller built in. Hopefully the drift issue is now history.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Jim,

I'm in a bind now. Just like you noticed - using the analog receiver to steer the dish / change polarities is a pain - especially once you've grown accusomed to a SG2100 or the likes of it.

Right now I'm debating if I should order a VBOX II from over-seas or break down and pick up a 4DTV.

Going to 4DTV seems like it'd be a no-brainer since I have a Analog sytem up, running, and subbed.

4DTV Pros:
Nice picture
Premium channels cheap

4DTV cons (for me):
My dish is too small.
4DTV doesn't play nice with Tivo (doable, but manaul)
Lots of money up front.

VBOX II Pros:
I can do everything from the Pansat.
It won't bother me to set the dish with the Pansat, tune with the Analog receiver.
I'll actually get my Pansat back in action.

VBOX II Cons:
Waste of money if I change my mind and pick up a 4DTV.

My other concern is that prevously my Ku side sucked. I re-aligned the feedhorn (it was way off) and I haven't had a chance to evaluate the Ku side since the fix. Before, my little P* dish would easily trump the 5' on Ku. If that has changed, I'll feel better going the VBOX II route. If not, having the Pansat slaved will have to suffice so that I can keep the SG2100 in action doing USALS.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[raydio]

Shawn,

Are you referring to the dealer "A Digital Life" down under selling the Vbox-II for 90.00 aud? If so, do you know about how much shipping would be? I am still thinking about the ST550 because of the positioner built in and you can add a HDD to record with and shipping is free to the US. Total about 350.00. So I have a hard decision to make as well. Spend the extra for a new box with the positioner for the added convenience or go through contortions to change sats. Also I found out yesterday that my C-Band LNBF crapped out on me. Thought it might have been the switch and changed ports but no joy. Will try direct to the Coolsat today but it does not look good. This sure is an expensive hobby!

 

[Shawn95GT]

Shawn,
Are you referring to the dealer "A Digital Life" down under selling the Vbox-II for 90.00 aud? If so, do you know about how much shipping would be? I am still thinking about the ST550 because of the positioner built in and you can add a HDD to record with and shipping is free to the US. Total about 350.00. So I have a hard decision to make as well. Spend the extra for a new box with the positioner for the added convenience or go through contortions to change sats. Also I found out yesterday that my C-Band LNBF crapped out on me. Thought it might have been the switch and changed ports but no joy. Will try direct to the Coolsat today but it does not look good. This sure is an expensive hobby!

That could be him. The US dollar is pretty stong against the AUD. He quoted me $85 US to my door via Paypal. His normal payment is some kind of money transfer direct to his bank.

It does sound like we are both in a similar situation.

At this point I don't think I'd be happy with 4DTV unless I put my bigger dish up. Even then it might be sketchy (8').

I'm leaning towards the VBOX II but will probably let the dust clear after the holidays to do anything.

Shawn