VBOX (DP710) causing dish postion to drift

[Virgil Gomes]

I set up my parent's BUD (7.5') with a Pansat 2500 and a DP710 (Vbox). It work well, but after a few weeks of satellite surfing, the satellite postions drift to the boint to where you must re adjust the postions via the DP710 and the Pansat 2500. It always drifts in the same direction.

Has anyone run into this? How did you fix it?

Thanks,
Virgil

 

[mkm4]

It's more likely that the problem is in the reed sensor in the arm. If you don't already have the ground wire for the reed sensor connected to a ground, you might want to try that first.

 

[Virgil Gomes]

Hi mkm4,

Thanks. I will check that. I have the reed sensor connected to the +/- Sensor. Could my reed sensor be bad?

Virgil

 

[mkm4]

Thanks. I will check that. I have the reed sensor connected to the +/- Sensor.

There should be a grounding line somewhere. It might only be on the motor.

Could my reed sensor be bad?

Bad or dirty or misaligned.
They cost about $25 - $35, depending on what kind you need.
Skyvision has them.

 

[drhydro]

Virgil,
The vbox seems prone to loosing satellite postions. If you look among the posts here and in the fta area you will see a few folks that have posted about having the same problem.

 

[Virgil Gomes]

Hi drhydro,

Before posting, I had done a search and notice people were having problems, but didn't see what they did to resolve this issue.

I wasn't sure if this is a problem with the DP710 (Vbox) or with other parts of the system, like the reed sensor on the arm.

If you know someone who had this problem and resolved it, can you let me know.

Thank you,
Virgil

 

[Shawn95GT]

The reason I (and others) have discounted the reed sensor as a culprit is that the satellite is 'right there' if you write down the 'count' number that you swung the DP-710 too. It's as if the DP-710 just forgets the count number. Mine seems to drift West but I'll have to experiment more to try and get some hard data.

Maybe we can turn this into or make a new thread - DP-710 troubleshooting.

I'm concidering pointing via my HTS System 70 now. I need to figure out how to program sats into it. I have 36 sats that I want to see.

 

[drhydro]

Hi Virgil,
My reed sensor works perfect with my analog reciever. As Shawn states above, the vbox seems to forget where the "count" is. Mine would drift east and west and would probably have drifted north and south if it could have ;-) So far, I dont know of anyone who has been able to resolve the problem.

I am looking into shipping a Moteck Vbox II into the States. If i can find a place that will ship them to the US i will post it to the forum.

 

[Virgil Gomes]

Hi drhydro and Shawn,

My parent's DP710 also drifts to the west.

How did you know that the count changed in the DP710?
Does anyone know how this box works (schematic and theory of operation)?

When the dish is to the east (example Pansat9 58 deg W) the actuator arm is extended out the most. Could it be the arm needs to be lubricated? I also spoke to someone with regards to the reed sensor and they told me that the sensor when dirty or old starts miss counts.

I'm going to email DMS International and see what the say. I believe the person I bought it from deals with them.

I would be interseted in getting a Moteck Vbox. Please let me know if you get one and who you get it from.

Thanks,

Virgil

 

[raydio]

I believe that Eye In the Sky sells the Vbox II. You might want to check out their site. Mine still is giving me problems. I have upgraded actuators and still have the same issue. I have also tried switching from the Coolsat Pro back to my Fortec Ultra and still have the problem - has to be the Vbox. I sent my original box back to DMS a couple of months ago when I first noticed the problem - they found no problem but sent me a new one. I seriously doubt the Vbox II would be any better - as far as I can tell, it looks to be the same box with the same specs with a remote control.

 

[Shawn95GT]

I seriously doubt the Vbox II would be any better - as far as I can tell, it looks to be the same box with the same specs with a remote control.

I was thinking the same as the cases look to be about the same.

The big difference is the 'II' looks like it'll drive a DiSEqC motor as well for DiSEqC-less receivers.

I can only hope that it does work as we would like!

Shawn

 

[raydio]

Regarding the operation of the Vbox - the Vbox stores the counts from the reed switch into a specific position for a specific satellite. The receiver tells the Vbox "Go to position X" for say T6 and the Vbox will move the actuator the proper? number of counts. The following is a reply to an email I sent to DMS Technical Services regarding my throughts of the operation of the box -

You are correct in your assumption. The box remembers the position only. The receiver has to assign the correct information to that position. When you change satellites, the receiver has to send information to the V-Box telling it what position to choose. While the V-Box does have a small amount of memory for the positions, the receiver is really doing the work and requires the ability (and memory) for several positions.

 

[raydio]

Shawn I like your idea of turning this thread into a troubleshooting thread!

 

[Stats8]

I am using the Vbox with a Coolsat as well, and have had the same problem.
It happened only once when both the Coolsat and the Vbox were unplugged from the wall.
I do not know if that was related to the problem or not. I had to reset the sats, and it has worked ok since, also after adding more sats.

 

[drhydro]

I believe that Eye In the Sky sells the Vbox II. You might want to check out their site. Mine still is giving me problems. I have upgraded actuators and still have the same issue. I have also tried switching from the Coolsat Pro back to my Fortec Ultra and still have the problem - has to be the Vbox. I sent my original box back to DMS a couple of months ago when I first noticed the problem - they found no problem but sent me a new one. I seriously doubt the Vbox II would be any better - as far as I can tell, it looks to be the same box with the same specs with a remote control.

The VBox II is an entirely different animal than the vbox dp 710. The Vbox II is made by Moteck, whereas i never was able to find who made the dp710. They are NOT successive models of the same device. There is a forum "down under" at vetruns.com where several people have used the vbox II, with different types of actuators, with no problems.

The problem is that the distributor who was bringing the Vbox II into the states is no longer doing so.

 

[raydio]

Drhydro Have you looked at the Vbox II @ Eye in The Sky? I cannot tell the brand name from the picture on their website - could be Motec I guess. It's 99.00 and has an optional remote control. From their description, it sure sounds alot like a Vbox sans optional remote control.

 

[drhydro]

Rayydio,
Yes that is the V box II, you can even see the Moteck logo on it. Ive been trying to reach eye in the sky all morning via phone, has anyone ever spoken to a real person there?

 

[raydio]

I think that charredpc has spoken to one of the sales guys by phone - I've done all my business via email with them.

 

[drhydro]

Well, Eye in the sky is almost impossible to get ahold of via phone. Emails are promptly answered tho.
I ordered the last moteck vbox II that EITS had available, i will let you guys know how it works out. Wish me luck ;-) If anyone else is interested in finding one of these, i did find one web site in the US that listed them as in stock.

http://www.mysatpros.com/cgi-bin/mysatpros/00484.html

I emailed these folks but have not heard back from them yet, so when EITS emailed and said they had ONE of the vbox II in stock i grabbed it.
Thomas

 

[Virgil Gomes]

Hi drhydro,

Please let us know if that works!!!

Thanks,
Virgil