Dreambox 500s and Nikkai DISEqC motor. I

tomthebomb1968

Hi everyone. I got myself a dreambox in January and spent a month reading about it and had it connected to my static sky dish just to get the feel for it. I took the plunge and got a 90 foretec dish and Nikkai motor from Maplin.

I have installed it but something aint right. I used astra 19.2 as my reference so when my motor is at 0 my dish is at 19.2.Both signals well in the 90%s. When i tell the dish to move to 28.2 the dish should only move 9degrees east but the motor is driving itself 28.2 degrees east and actually taking the dish to something like 48.4 east. I have tried both diseqc and usals to try to tell the motor that it is at 19.2 but it aint working. Tried my DB manual and the net but cant seem to figure it out. Can anyone help. I am using Gemini 4.2 and have read that I may need to put an original Dream image on it for the motor to work right,is this true.

Thanks in advance. Tom

rolfw

Tom, you need to read my guide in the sticky posts above. http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellit...or-others.html

It will show you why your setup isn't working, particularly the bit about reference satellite, yours should be more like 5W.

PS. I'm using an old Gemini Image and my DiseqC motor functions perfectly.

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tomthebomb1968

Thanks for getting back so quick. I used your guide as far as was posible for me. I knew that I should be looking for Atlantic bird 3 to start off but I spent hours on Saturday trying to lock on to it but I think my neighbours house is blocking it. I thought I could use another and recalculate it. If I understand right my dish is highest at 19.2 and ideally it should be highest at Atlantic bird3 5West as my house is at 5.980 West and 54.681. If i drive to 0 which takes me to 19.2 then manually store it at position 2 which is where 19.2 is by default then do a recalculate will this put the motor in the correct position even though my arc will be off.

rolfw

There is no ideally about it, your dish arc must be highest at 5W (or whatever your actual longitude is), anything other than that and you will not get a full range of satellites.

You set the motor on zero, add your coordinates to the Dreambox, send it to 19.2 East and then find 19.2 East and save it. Not ideal, as it is difficult to get the arc correct when aligning on an offset position, but should then work.

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holywarde

I am having the same problem. I used astra as my starting reference. Had 100% signal there. Moved it with my dreambox and found hotbird and Astra2a. Its very weak signal for them. I am finding it really tricky to get 5w, I think my neighbors house is blocking it. In the line of arc how many satellite can you pick up? Is there a picture somewhere that shows the arc and satellites.
Regards
Steve

rolfw

Yes, in a sticky thread listed above.

Aslo go to dishpointer.com and put in your coordinates and the satellite location, then take a screen capture and post it here.

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holywarde

I don't know how to so a screen capture.
This is the information i get.


Address: somewhere,galway
Latitude: 53.140°
Longitude: -8.940°
Satellite: 13.0E Hotbird 6,7A,8
Elevation: 26.0°
Azimuth (true): 153.3°
Azimuth (magn.): 159.3°
LNB skew: -15.6°



Address: somewhere,galway
Latitude: 53.140°
Longitude: -8.940°
Satellite: 28.2E Astra 2A-B-D
Elevation: 20.4°
Azimuth (true): 136.6°
Azimuth (magn.): 142.7°
LNB skew: -16.9°



Address: somewhere,galway
Latitude: 53.140°
Longitude: -8.940°
Satellite: 19.2E Astra 1E,1F,1G,1H,1Kr,2C
Elevation: 24.0°
Azimuth (true): 146.2°
Azimuth (magn.): 152.3°
LNB skew: -12.0°



So i think I have to point it at 5W. My latitude is correct. I am waiting on a compass from Ebay .



Regards
Steve

rolfw

Does it show that the house is in the way?

Here's a screen capture program

_http://wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter_free.htm

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holywarde

No. I'm in the county outside of Galway and my location isn't shown on the map. The compass will give me a guideline. Had to get it from a Ebay person in the UK, so it will be a week until i start testing.

rolfw

Get yourself a sat-beeper meter, will probably be more help than a compass.

Here are three from some of our forum supporting advertisers.

http://www.cdtronix.com/index.php?ac...&productId=166
http://www.satonline.co.uk/shop/products.php?p=8d1aef
http://www.pulsat.com/satellite/site...d=311&catID=11

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tomthebomb1968

Well Im all sorted now I think. Managed to get a sky installers meter that has the sat names on it. Got a 99% lock on Atlantic Bird 3. Used my n95 gps for an exact bearing and seems to be pulling in most of the birds now. Had a bit of trouble with the sats more than 30 degrees either way but can do a manual search and store them. Thanks for the advice. Well pleased with my efforts . just need to do a bit more reading now about how to get viewing . Will put a photo of my efforts on the appropriate page.