Why No Motor Control thru DISEqC Switch on Roof?

[jsattv]

Took the Sat Receiver up on the roof yesterday with small TV, disconnected the coax feed down to the House, and connected up a 8 foot length of coax out of the Chieta DISEqC receiver port to the Sat Receiver. L and C from the Invacom QPH - 031 LNB were (as before) feeding into Ports 2 and 3 of the Chieta Switch. I discovered that I could only look on S and Q Tp's for Sat 97.0W. Tried to go to other Satellites but it would not work. Did a complete shut down thinking it was the ViewSat Receiver acting up, but no dice. So adjusted Dish Elevation for best Signal Levels for 11966 Q = 50, and Icebergs' recommended 12152 Q = 61, and 12177 Q = 75 on Sat 97.0W then came down.

My question is: does anyone know why I couldn't drive the Motor to other Satellites thru the DISEqC switch up on the roof? When I reconnected the 100 foot Downlead Coax I had Motor Control again, when I hooked up the Sat Receiver back up in the house. Do you have to separate the L and C LNB outputs when up on the roof with the TV and Sat Receiver to drive the motor to other Satellites?? This just doesn't seem to make any sense! Replies would be very much appreciated.

 

[Tron]

Did you completely power down the receiver while changing the cables out?

 

[jsattv]

Thanks Tron, yes the Receiver switch on the back of the ViewSat was powered OFF and then Powered back ON again when I got back up on the Roof. Also tried powering Off and On with the Remote Control, but same results!!

 

[colbec]

Is there anything else on the coax that leads down to the house? I know that in some configurations with my SG2100 it can 'forget' that there is a motor in the lineup. What seems to work is to ensure that you are locked on a good signal so that when you power down and power back up it sees the same channel when it comes back. Then it will move the motor.

If by chance it forgets the channel it was on, I 'drive' the motor back to the channel it was on (through motorized setup, even though it is already there) and the signal comes in. Then it seems to see the motor again and I can drive to other sats. Sometimes this does not work and I have to drive the motor to a few different satellites and eventually it will see the motor.

I don't know much about DiSeqC versions, but I understand that v.2 is a lot better at handing motors in the lineup than is 1.2.

 

[gabshere]

lnb-->-- switch-->-- motor-- >--receiver
or
receiver -->--motor-->--switch-->--lnb

and as mentioned above always power off the receiver before connecting or disconnecting the coax -- this is to prevent damage to the switch -- use the power switch on the back of the receiver.

 

[dougruss]

lnb-->-- switch-->-- motor-- >--receiver
or
receiver -->--motor-->--switch-->--lnb

and as mentioned above always power off the receiver before connecting or disconnecting the coax -- this is to prevent damage to the switch -- use the power switch on the back of the receiver.

I think the answer is right here ?

The switch should be between the LNB and Motor then out from the motor to your Receiver...etc...

 

[colbec]

Are some switches not designed to allow current to pass through to a motor? Mine specifically states that it allows current to pass, so far no problems at all. In general I agree that if the switch is not designed to handle it, then it can of course be damaged.

 

[lumpkin666]

Passing current (13v/18v) is one thing. Passing the diseqc commands, that's another thing. From what I've read/seen most diseqc switches won't pass diseqc commands. Actually, I think that the one I have passes commands, but obvious it will only pass the command that makes it through the switch - which means if you set it to 'port A', then the only diseqc command that makes it past the swich is the command to switch to 'port A' (which makes sense, since you couldn't send another command through that switch, cuz it is designed to prevent that)

There are 0/22k switches that will pass diseqc commands forward. I use an Ecoda 0/22k tone switch before my motors so that I can select which dish/motor I want to move. Then past the motor, I have a diseqc combining c/ku on one side of the ecoda, and circular/linear/multi sats on the other.

 

[colbec]

13/18v is of course voltage; you can supply this voltage at very low current. My switch says it passes power (I guess it means current) to 500 mA, and the motor uses 350.

My reading of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseqc is that 1.2 is supposed to carry simple motor commands, but maybe there is an issue at some point.

 

[mastermesh]

Dumb question but think I'll ask it anyways... You did make sure that you hooked up the right ports on the switch and didn't accidentally hook up one of the ports that say to lnb going to the reciever, right?

Also, are all your connections good and tight?

 

[lumpkin666]

Just thinking outloud here (as I really only have a concept, but no absolute knowledge here). A Diseqc may pass power, but unless it actually forwards all of the related diseqc commands, the motor won't move. The motor actually uses Diseqc commands to know where to move. If you send the diseqc switch a command to select 'Port A', then send some commands for moving the motor, those commands should be stopped since they have nothing to do with 'Port A' functionality.

I agree that the diseqc switch "should" be smart enough to differenciate between motor commands and port selector commands, but apparently many are not

 

[colbec]

lumpkin666: perhaps I should clarify my setup, which is working with the one problem. (Mods please rap my knuckles if I am off topic, but it illustrates one situation where you can appear to lose control of the motor but not really).

I have

receiver - switch(diseqc 2.0) - port 1 to motor (diseqc 1.2/usals), port 2 to fixed dish, port 3 on C-Band dish, port 4 to fixed dish.

I realize this is in contravention of received wisdom but I have been experimenting and cranking that motor back and forth with no problems to the switch or motor to this point. I realize I am risking my switch and motor but if one breaks I will get another. The switch on diseqc 2.0 seems to be passing the instructions to drive the motor since it is on the far side from the receiver.

Say I am using the motor (P1) and I go to another sat also on the motor. No problem at all, swing back and forth all day.

Now select a channel on a fixed dish, port 2,3,4 instant on no problems. Click back and forth between 2,3,4 dishes and no problem. Select a channel on port 1 that needs the motor and I may not get a signal. It depends on whether I select the channel I was using before I went off port 1.

If I move from port 2 to a strange channel on the motor (P1) there is no signal. Back to a fixed dish and instant on. Back to P1 no signal. OK now if I move to another satellite on the motor, and then another, by about the 3rd selection the 'system' realizes it is working with the motor again and sends motor commands, back to normal motor operations.

Maybe I just like banging my head against the wall!

 

[McGuyver]

I just set up my new dish (fixed mnt) and dedicated it to Galaxy 10R 123W and linked with my other dish with HH120 through a 2x1 diseqc sw. I use a CW600SP rec'r and it works well.

I did create a new and separate antenna type with the proper protocols specifically for the fixed dish/123W and rescanned while replacing the former channels, I did this so that the rec'r should learn the new settings and associate them with the 123W sat.

when I am on 87W and I switch to 123W, it switches immediately although the dish is still moving to that 123W sat but the receiver was told to look through a diseqc sw at the other lnbf.

I also had to make sure of changing the lnbf type in the new antenna type for the 123W sat settings.

Hope this might help and you'll find the solution if not already.

 

[mastermesh]

receiver - switch(diseqc 2.0) - port 1 to motor (diseqc 1.2/usals), port 2 to fixed dish, port 3 on C-Band dish, port 4 to fixed dish.

A better set up would probably be

receiver->motor->switch
->port 1 to lnb on dish that motor's connected to
->port 2 to fixed dish
->port 3 to cband dish
->port 4 to fixed dish

I think going straight from receiver to motor is best way to set this stuff up. Just make sure that when you set it all up you leave enough excess coax and place it strategically so that as motor moves coax going to non-motorized dishes won't get pulled to tight or anything like that.

I currently have an invacom quad lnb with 4 ports on it - 2 c, 2 l.

My set up goes reciever->motor->switch->lnb ports for c1 and l1

The l2 goes off on a different direction and goes in to my comuputer to feed dvb world box and dvb dream. I eventually am going to add another switch so that the computer can see both c and l. This set up is more or less what yours is minus 3 dishes... the main thing is as little as possible between motor and receiver.

Someone else tried something like you are doing in another thread somewhere, and kept posting in here about how he kept busting switches all the time until he finally started putting switch between lnb(s) and motor instead of between motor and receiver...

 

[updatelee]

ird->motor->switch->lnb's works well for me, I have a motor with qph-031 on it and a T90 with 10 lnb's on it

 

[jsattv]

Guys thanks for all the great feedback. After reading the Posts I believe I went in ahead of the Motor with coax connection to the Receiver (instead of out connection from Motor), which would explain why the Motor wouldn't move. Will get back up on the roof soon, but extremely busy right now with yard work and planting my tomatoe seedlings in the garden - inside Kozy Coats (water jackets).