dish gone mad - moves itself

[ckrys1]

My mate has a Pace 508 analogue receiver connected via 4 terminals to a H-H mount to move a 1m dish with a Humax 5300 looped to the Pace to watch digital.
The dish has started to move spontaneusly, without anyone touching the Pace remote - The Pace will switch itself on from standby, go to a random channel, and the dish will move to the satellite where that channel is. Often before it gets there, the Pace will go to a different channel and if that`s on a different satellite, the dish will head there. The Pace does respond to its remote, so that he can go to a satellite to watch the Humax, but has to then switch off the Pace at the mains - otherwise the dish will be off somewhere else in a few minutes. Putting it into standby doesn`t help - the Pace switches itself on and off it goes!
He`s checked all the connections at the receiver, and visually at the dish. Is this likely to be a receiver software problem, cable problem, or motor problem? He seems to regard me as an expert, but I havn`t got a clue here!

 

[cjgall]

It looks like your friend may need a priest, demon possessions can manifiest in all kinds of bizzare ways.

Seriously though, it sounds like a software(/timer?) problem as the receiver is changing channel before the dish is moved. Maybe resetting the receiver may help. Failing that how about reloading the firmaware?

 

[ckrys1]

Thanks - when u say resetting, do u mean switch off and on? Certainly he`s tried that. Suppose it`s most likely to be a receiver problem and he might be better replacing it with a cheap one off Ebay. Just wondered if it could be the motor at the dish telling the Pace to change channel, or if anyone else had had the same experience.

 

[cjgall]

No, I don't mean switching on and off. I meant restoring the factory settings. Its very unlikely (if not impossible) that the motor and dish are telling the receiver to change channels. I think its a software or receiver hardware problem. Maybe your friend can borrow a receiver so he can test the cables, motor and dish.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I would first take the remote out of the room, or remove the batteries

It may be there is damp in the contacts of the remote rubber

I dont think the Pace can be factory set or have new firmware loaded into it

If it persists, get a DiSEqC motor box (V box) and run the dish from the digital receiver, using the Pace as a slave for analogue only