"How-to" store motor positions/ scan satellites

**mhku** · 27-10-2005

My System:

Dreambox 500s, Moteck SG2100

Problem:

After flashing my Dreambox with a new image I had no satellites or channels.

Answer:

I needed to find and store all the motor positions for each satellite, and then to rescan the

transponders on each satellite. I read the various guides mentioned in the Idiot's Guide but was still a bit confused as to how to do it (and this is after having successfully done it 6 months ago). So I wrote down how I did it in case I need to repeat the process in the future.

HOW:

1. Go to Expert Setup (button 6) > Motor Setup.
2. Select the "drive to zero" option from the Mode dropdown list and select "go".
3. Select "postion" from the Mode dropdown list.
4. Select "Atlantic Bird 3/ 5W" from the Satellite dropdown list.
5. Select a strong transponder from the Transponder dropdown list e.g. for 5W I chose 12543.
6. Now click the left Direction arrow to turn the dish 1 "click" west. Repeat this until the SNR/

AGC levels begin to rise. Once the "Lock" and "sync" checkboxes become ticked, click east or west direction arrows until the maximum SNR/ AGC and zero BER levels are achieved.

7. Now click "store". On the next page enter a sensible number e.g. for 5W I entered 5, and then click "save".
8. Now you are ready to scan the satellite for channels. Click "Search" and on the next page select "5W" from the list of satellites, and then click search. When the satellite is locked and synced click you will see a message "A valid transponder has been found. Verify that the right network is selected". Now click "search" to scan all the transponders on that satellite (this will take a few minutes, depending on the satellite).

When finished you will be shown a list of number of transponders and services scanned.
Repeat for each satellite you want to scan.

Test by going to TV Mode (1) and selecting a channel.

Big thanks to these sources of information:

http://www.satellites.co.uk/php-bin/forum/showthread.php?p=274393
http://www.klona.4t.com/v3.1/guide_eng/dbox-howto.htm and

**T_G** · 27-10-2005

Hi MHKU
Nice writeup. I got a few questions though as I am not familiar with the 500:
1) Can't you use dreamboxedit or some other program to load up a saved channel list?
2) Can't you use the go to xx function rather than to have to scan all the channels?

It seems such a complicated thing to do evety time you change images...

**mhku** · 27-10-2005

DreamUp did load all the sats back in but didn't work ie the dish didn't turn. In my case the problem seemed to be that the dreambox had lost all the stored sat positions.

gotoxx has always been discouraged for the 500s (don't know why, something to do with the 500s and the Motek not working very well when gotoxx is enabled- I may try it tomorrow).

The write-up was more for new Dreamboxers needing to do it for the first time. I think my setup is still a bit wayward

**T_G** · 28-10-2005

Originally Posted by mhku

DreamUp did load all the sats back in but didn't work ie the dish didn't turn. In my case the problem seemed to be that the dreambox had lost all the stored sat positions.

gotoxx has always been discouraged for the 500s (don't know why, something to do with the 500s and the Motek not working very well when gotoxx is enabled- I may try it tomorrow).

The write-up was more for new Dreamboxers neededing to do it for the first time. I think my setup is still a bit wayward

i got double vision

I am not knocking your write up, I appreciate the effort and I will also include it in the guide. I was just finding out why you have to do this all the time.

The dreamboxedit will not save your sat positions, that one is 100% correct.
You are saying that the go to xx does not work, this is new for me. I would try to see if you can get it to work, as this is the best way of doing it. I must say that sometimes it does not work well, usually a reboot gets it going again.

Let us know after you played with it what you found.

**mhku** · 28-10-2005

sorry for the double post

How do I use the gotoXX method?

This is the first time I've had to rescan since I set it up in March but it may a problem with the motor?

**T_G** · 28-10-2005

Originally Posted by mhku

sorry for the double post

How do I use the gotoXX method?

This is the first time I've had to rescan since I set it up in March but it may a problem with the motor?

Well, I am not familiar with your box, but you should have somewhere in the motor setup something similar to the screenshot. There you will need to put in your exact location.
Have alook for it.

**mhku** · 28-10-2005

Yes I had done that and saved it. I meant what does gotoxx do? Surely I still need to find and store the sat positions that I want to watch?

Having got it all working again I decided to reload my old bouqet's etc. Stupid idea as it then stopped working.

Did a factory reset and am scanning again. When I did 30W and went to store the position it said something like " this position is currently stored at 0 do you want to store it at the new position?" Odd.

Also, keeping the left arrow (direction) button pressed down for along time stopped the motor (light off- again).

**T_G** · 28-10-2005

what you need to do is put in you location, and then save it and let the receiver do the rest. You go to a sat with a strong signal. and see what happens. If your dish is set up correctly you don"t need to do anything. What I do after I put in a new image I do this, and when the sat has been found, I go and move the dish a bit manually to see if it is still alligned correctly (i got a bit of a moving dish ). If I see that I need to move the dish to the west to get the strongest signal, I go back to the go to xx and add a little bit to the position, for instance I will change 12 000 to 11 800 and check it out. Ther eis absolutely no need to store every sat manually!

Also, I never use recalculate or anything...

**mhku** · 28-10-2005

You go to a sat with a strong signal

Exactly, how do I do that? I have no channel list and no sats at that stage.

Have just finished scanning the last sat. but will try your way next time (if needed!).

**T_G** · 28-10-2005

Originally Posted by mhku

Exactly, how do I do that? I have no channel list and no sats at that stage.

Have just finished scanning the last sat. but will try your way next time (if needed!).

Very easy: Load up a new image, and then set the communications so that your computer is connected. Load up the pre saved channel liost with dreamboxedit program. Set the go to xx to the correct settings, and you shold be able to just select a station and the motor will move it (if you got one that supports go to xx, which the SG does.) I am not exaggerating, I usually change an image with everything in a matter of a few minutes. It usually takes me more time to set up all the mounting for the recording than anything else.

Just remember that sometimes, if the dish does not move, you might need to do the following: Turn box on and off, Then flick through the chgannels of the same sat, and if nothing else happens reboot. The thing does not work perfectly, but good enough. I see it as a challenge, I refuse to store sats manually!!

**mhku** · 29-10-2005

if the dish does not move, you might need to do the following: Turn box on and off

A thought that was a feature?!

Thanks for the info, I'll print it out and stick on my DB.

**T_G** · 29-10-2005

Originally Posted by mhku

A thought that was a feature?!

Thanks for the info, I'll print it out and stick on my DB.

I seem to have a bug in my setup, could even be that it is the motor electrics. Often when I select a new sat, it won't move correctly. What I found out that if you do turn it on and off it probably sends the signal for the motor again, als when you flick through the chanels. Most of the times that does the job...I suppose when my motor packs up, I will find out....

**mhku** · 29-10-2005

Sounds similar to mine.

Sometimes when I select a channel on another satellite the green light on themotor goes out (starts to move and then stops). Pulling out the power cable seems to sort it out. Annoying though! Off to Argos to get a 1250ma psu and give that a try.

**john_graydon** · 29-10-2005

Originally Posted by mhku

Exactly, how do I do that? I have no channel list and no sats at that stage.

Have just finished scanning the last sat. but will try your way next time (if needed!).

Do you not use flash wizzard pro?? Save your settings. Then reload them back in to a new image. You dont have to scan all sats again. Exactly the same set up as in the old image. You will have to find the sat positions again though. On the 7000 I use Multiboot so dont have to find them.

redtez · 10-02-2006

Hi, I heard that it is possible to restore the motor settings after flashing a new image. Apparently, to do this, all you need to do is to create a backup first. After you have flashed the new image, you then ftp a file (don't know what this file is called) from your backup folder back into your dreambox. I have a DB500S. Can anyone tell me if this is true, and if so provide further details. This would save me so much time if I don't have to find all of the b100dy satellite positions each time!

**skydreamer** · 10-02-2006

The satellite positions are stored in Enigma registry file, if you perform upgrade do not simply copy the file over as it will disregard registry upgrades between the versions.
I am not sure on 500, but 7000 has all preset satellites on one line in the registry file and it is tricky to save them after editing the file.
You need to open motor config, create one dummy entry and save it. Then edit the line in question, save the file and - that was the only way it worked for me- crash the dreambox, i.e. pull the power cord. Anytime I did proper shutdown the file got overwritten with default values but this is likely to be image specific.
Still better than thumb exercize I hated entering 30 satellite positions every time a new image was out.

**mhku** · 10-02-2006

Yes, it is true.

As John said, if you are upgrading your image, back it up with DB Edit or Flash Wizard Pro. I posted this thread more as a first-timers help... I was having problems (still am) so didn't want to do a backup- I wanted a clean install.

**john_graydon** · 10-02-2006

Only time I have to reload motor settings is when I change the front processor image, Currently I have music bobs still in there. If you have a usb stick in the dreambox (if avail on your model) and you place images on it, you dont need to load any settings. So get a usb stick and put loads of Multiboot images on it.

**T_G** · 10-02-2006

As far as I know it is not possible yet, but if someone would prove me wrong a lot of people would be happy. In any case, if you read through this thread I still maintain that if your motor is set up correctly the go to xx will do the work. Rather than to go and manually find sats spend some time to align your dish, or get yourself an disecq motor. Unless you got a monster dish greater than 1.2 m this is the best way to enjoy your Dreambox...

tornado-Odessa · 11-02-2006

@T_G,
Hi, I have read your post, and have the same problems as mhku.
I have a dm500s and a strong srt dm2100 motor. When I flash a new image like Gemini, and goto motor config, put in my cords. It does not work for me, I agree and would like for this to work automatically...after finding that it has not worked.. I go to the next motor config page, enter 13E and a strong transponder, adjust the stepping until I am satisfied, and store.

Then I do a second sat, lets say 28.2E, store save etc...I have tried gotoXX after that and it still fails....what have you learned that you can share on this..? drive to zero, also does not work, later this week my installer is coming over and I will try all this with the motor in front of me, and try and figure out what is going wrong...

In your post above I saw you said that you go in a tweak the gotoXX if your off a little on the sat.....

"for instance I will change 12 000 to 11 800"

Where is that, I don't see this... I only see 1/13.0E under the gotoXX box
with 1 as the number in the motor and 130 as the orbital pos.

**nezbit** · 11-02-2006

If you are using gemini and just upgrading the image its easy.

1. With the old image still on the box (with all your channels/satellites stored) open the blue button panel > Extras/Settings > Create Backup. Select which folder you'd like to save the backup in then select what you'd like to backup. I choose enigma & gemini settings. Then ftp this off your box.

2. Use Dreambox edit or similar to backup you channels/bouquets.

3. Flash your new Gemini image and setup network.

4. ftp your backup back onto the box and the use Blue button panel> Extras/Settings>Restore backup.

5. Use dreamboxedit or similar to restore you channels/bouquets.

Easy, thinking about it you may not even need to use dreambox edit to save you channels/bouquets as the backup may do it for you. I'll have to check that.

For what its worth I've never managed to get GotoXX working on my 5620, the motor never budges but as I only use gemini images and the sats are all stored now using the backup and restore routine suits me fine.

**mhku** · 15-05-2006

When you restore from a DreamUP backup guess what? No motor settings, no channels, no sats. Now that is what I call a useful backup.

And gotoXX doesn't work with dm500s either.

**skydreamer** · 15-05-2006

Originally Posted by mhku

When you restore from a DreamUP backup guess what? No motor settings, no channels, no sats. Now that is what I call a useful backup.

And gotoXX doesn't work with dm500s either.

If you store /var on the USB key then it is just a matter of copying it onto a laptop or PC, personally I do not think that it is a good idea to restore from backup as sometimes the structure and format of files change and the new image may do all sorts of funny things then.

**mhku** · 15-05-2006

If you store /var on the USB key

DM500s = no USB, no hard drive, poor person

***Leee*** · 16-05-2006

ftp the /var out to a PC
or
Put MS SFU on your PC so you can use NFS and link your /var to the PC; this might help (and I think relocate /var is done in either the sticky how-to for dreambox or on IHAD.....)