motor connections

rover3

Hello, new to forum and hoping you will get me started by answering a basic question as I know absolutely nothing about motorised dishes and am keen to get into it.
(Ex Marconi & RAF RADAR eng so OK with radio theory etc but newcomer to this subject)
I have moved into a flat (Malta) & it has a dish about 1.8m on the roof.
it is presently pointing at Hotbird and receives OK. My problem - it is a motorised dish connected up at the dish end but in the flat next to the incoming sat coax is the power cable which looks like telephone cable, it has 4 cores, Orange, Blue, White and White orange.
Could someone please explain what they do (voltage etc) and how are they connected ie do they connect to the rear of a suitable receiver or some sort of mover box? Dont know what to buy as yet.
Thanks for looking.

pgh13

Welcome to the forum!

Motors run on 36v, the polarity governing the direction. The other 2 wires are for the reed switch which sends pulses as the dish moves so the positioner knows where it is. You'd probably want to check at the dish to see what colour code has been used (or you could maybe deduce it by measuring resistances).

pgh13

Modern receivers commonly use Disecq for satellite selection which is a system for signalling through the co-ax. You can get something called a V-box to convert your 4 wire dish motor to disecq control

satelliteman

Yes, best to check and find the corresponding ends of the cables. Connecting to the wrong terminals on a positioner will result in damage.

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rover3

Thanks for replies. 78 ohms between Orange & Blue, open cct everywhere else.

Llew

Sounds too high for a motor cable. Normally around 15-25 ohms. How thick are the wires with that resistance reading? Something like a 5A mains cable?

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rover3

Wires are look just like those in an old BT telephone wallsocket not the diameter of 5A

rover3

ps so if its 70ohms and if its 36v mine would be about 0.5A whereas what you suggest would be 1.5A say?????????

Llew

Probably what it is then. Sure the White's not White/Blue?

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Llew

1.5A at motor startup (starting torque) with 36V into my suggested ohms value for an actuator +wire resistance.

A BT style telephone cable should never be used to run a dish motor. If that's worked before, I'll be surprised.

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rover3

You are right of course - White / Blue

rover3

Thanks all for the help

rover3

Have some progress, can select sats and move onto them by operating the V-Box remote but cant drive it from the receiver, sorry I know it is a stupid question- the choices on the receiver menu are
DISEqc 1.0/1.1
DISEqc Sw Disable/Mode 1 2/4 etc
Positioner None/DISEqc 1.2 /USALS
Can you give me a start please?

rover3

Sorry forget the stupid question the penny dropped at last.

wod

did you select diseqc 1.2 and then search and store the positions as thats all you need to do

rover3

Yes thanks now have dish driven by receiver all labelled up.
My next problem is very very basic and have done alot of forum searching but just have to ask. Presently I have set everything up using a very basic 50 euro FTA Liddl's receiver and am now considering a Echolink which has 2 CI slots and a cam I think.
Is there a definitive list of what cards do what ie are they linked to specific satelittes. eg say I wanted to look into Hotbird 13 where do I find out what to order.
Do receivers come with cams or do you have to buy a cam first then a card.
Any basic help appreciated and I will keep studying the forum / rules while hopefully making some progress to learn the subject.
Thanks for looking.

wod

what cards are you looking at getting ?

for example aljazeera sport on hotbird use viacess so will require a viacess cam or receiver which is compatible with that encryption

a receiver like a technomate will read a lot of the official cards without the use of a cam

Channel Hopper

Which particular Echolink might you have, or are getting ?

Embedded CAM versions on their own are basically a FTA bx these days.

Software for ECHOLINK

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rover3

Thinking about Echolink EL-7020 no point getting another basic receiver I would only want to change it in a couple of weeks, open to advice though possibly Technomate? Would like an HDMI output but perhaps most receivers have that anyway. Otherwise the most convenient & useful box for cards etc. Ill pick up the rest as I go along.
Thanks for looking.

caracash

1. Go to en.kingofsat.net and you will find detailed info on satellites. programs encodings and cams to decide what subscription you need.
2. Your "very basic 50 euro FTA Liddl's receiver" (e.g. SL55 or 65) may be tuned up to surprising performance. Visit the appropriate forums.
(You seem to know which end of the soldering iron is hot, so making a nullmodem cable must not be a problem.)

rover3

Many Thanks

rover3

Back again with another silly question if someone will please oblige.
Eventually got the Vbox driving from the receiver (Echolink 7020) and saved some sat positions in the receiver menu having scanned channels in. Now the system often changes to a different satellite without me asking it to, is this usual? Could it be when it is near to the setting of another satellite position with stronger signals.
Do I need to save the same position on the V-Box itself?.

(Had no problems with my old chepo Silverline FTA which also seemed to have far better sensitivity and found more signals).
What am I doing wrong?

Technomate V-Box 3
Echolink 7020HD
Satellites presently stored Astra 28.2, 23.5, 19.2 plus Eurobird 1 28.5 and Badr/Eurobird 2.

Thanks

ps I am in Malta so anything can happen plus I am still stabbing in the dark.

caracash

Check your channel list. Channels of the same satellite should be grouped. If you use an ordering of some kind (Favorite Channels, alphabetic order etc.) channels of different satellites might get mixed up in the Ch list. Stepping through the list may make the drive move to and fro.
(Possible but not very likely explanation)

caracash

Afterthoughts.
"...my old chepo Silverline FTA .... seemed to have far better sensitivity ..."
It's funny: I have the same experience with my very old Comag and my new Echosmart

Looking at the coverage map you seem to be rather far out of reach for Intelsat 10-02 DigiTV xmissions. But it would be a very interesting experiment to turn your dish to 1°W and set up your chepo FTA box to the following FTA channels:

Intelsat 10-02 (1°W)
DigiTV Info 12608.00 H - 27500 3/4
U (Romania) 12643.00 H - 27500 3/4
DDTV 12643.00 H - 27500 3/4

rover3

Thanks for that you may be onto something there as I have noticed it when going quickly through channels and on the satellites I have there are a number of channels which are the same but on different sats. eg QVC etc .

Will try for Intelsat 1 W when I can get the TV off her indoors again.