Help and advice needed!!

[jackflash]

Hello people, I have recently invested in a Dreambox 600 and a motorised dish, Ive had the dish professionally installed by a reputable local company but am having alot of trouble and am now thinking the dreambox could be at fault, it does not seem to be moving my dish correctly, Ive had the installers back to check the setup and he insists that the dish and motor are working fine. The dreambox seems to be intermitantly moving the dish, it seems to have a mind of its own and its very frustrating. After a fresh flash it seems to work for awhile, then it will stop moving the dish, its very strange and Im finding it hard to figure out a pattern, last night for instance I picked up thor at 1.0 west and from there swang round further to the west and picked up most satellites up till about 30.0 west, I then came round to the east and picked up13.0 east, 16.0 east, 19.2, east, 28.0 east and right up to turksat at 42.0 east. Shortly after this I tried to come back from turksat to hotbird and that was it, no more movement at all, the box seemed quite warm even though it is in a well ventaleted area, even so I removed the hard drive and left it overnight. This morning it still would not move the dish at all, so I hooked up another system I have here, got the dish back to due south, and then proceeded to reflash the box with the latest gemini image, sure enough it has now started working again, although it cant seem to find some of the satellites that I was picking up fine last night?? Its very confusing and any help or advice would be apreciated.

 

[B16MCC]

I've used both the 500 and 600 in the past and found them unstable in several ways, one of which being motor control. I had exactly these issues, I moved onto a DM7025 using USALS and have never had an issue. This ofcourse is no help as such, but maybe something to consider in the future.

 

[jackflash]

That is actually very helpfull as I can still return or swap the box for another, I was however thinking of going with the 7020 rather than the 7025 as I dont really need the 2 tuner option, sound like a good idea or do these boxes suffer with similiar problems...anyone?

 

[rolfw]

I've got the DM7000 and it has been operating my motor faultlessly for a substantial period of time, it seems to be a problem with the small boxes like the 500 and 600 and probably relates to the power supply.

 

[B16MCC]

I've just put 3 DM7020's in the local pub and they're working sweet ! I've worked with all current models of the dreambox within the last 12 months and I would reccomend you go for a higher spec model. The DM7020 or DM7025 are great !

 

[jackflash]

DM7020 here I come then, thanks for your input guys

 

[mhku]

One thing to check before you send it back is the voltage output from the coax connector on the back of the box - the "send" to the motor - it needs to be about 18v from memory.

This assumes you're not using a 36v motor and vbox (or similar).

From experience, the 7020 is far more reliable than a 500s- not 100% but much better than a 500s

 

[jackflash]

please view previous post

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/dreambox-general/119544-help-advice-needed.html

Have now got the 7020, but still having same problems, anyone come accross an intermitant motor before or compatability issues with certain motors?? by the way my Motor is a DXM-7000 thanks

 

[Robbo]

please view previous post

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/dreambox-general/119544-help-advice-needed.html

Have now got the 7020, but still having same problems, anyone come accross an intermitant motor before or compatability issues with certain motors?? by the way my Motor is a DXM-7000 thanks

Moved this post here, I thought it was more sensible than starting a brand new thread.

 

[jackflash]

ok ive managed to program in 2 satellites, turksat @ 42e, and hellasSat 2 @ 39e, I put 2 channels from each satellite into my Bouquet (fox turk on 42e and cartoon network from 39e) then I just sat there and went up and down switching from channel to channel, this worked up untill about the 10th time when i stopped getting cartoon network and the message "please wait while the motor is moving to 39e" was just staying on the screen, however i can switch back to fox turk no problem, now Im no genius but surely this points to a flakey motor??? bear in mind I have already swapped dreamboxes.

 

[Robbo]

Well, theres not much left to try is there?

You have a new box, it can control the motor, as demonstrated by doing it ten times, so it does sound like the motor could be a problem. If you got a new one, you might want to give it a good try, before actually installing it though.

Robbo

 

[RedDevil_UK]

another thing to mention is channel flicking.

all dreamboxes dont like quick channel flicking, they tend to lock up! its best to wait a second between channel changes.

also, the coax is the cable that transfers power as well as the signal, so if the plugs are not fitted corectly at either end, this may be a problem.

other suggestions are the image (make sure its the right one) and the satellite.xml file

its all trial and error im afraid, and im sorry your having problems with your new toy so early i know it can take the fun out of it. dont give up on the Dreambox though because when you get it working it will give you years of fun.

 

[jackflash]

i wasnt doing the channel flicking very fast and the dreambox didnt lock up as it I could go back to foxturk ok, so I dont think thats a problem, after leaving the box off overnight and trying again today I get foxturk but cannot move to cartoon network, "please wait while the motor is moving to 39e" is just perminantly displayed

 

[RedDevil_UK]

if its doing exactly the same with 2 boxes then it has to be either the Coax or the Motor setup.

is it aligned with true south?

oh one other thing..

in motor setup/config
where it says use motor input power?
is it ticked and if so, what do you have it set at?

i find 40ma works ok for me

 

[mhku]

Couple of things that spring to mind:

Are you selecting a channel that exists? Have you correctly found and stored the satellite position? Is the dish correctly aligned?

Do you get a good 39E/42E signal? Are these the only sats where the problems occur?

 

[jackflash]

ok yes my the motor power box is ticked, and I have 50ma as thats what it says in my motors manual, The dish should be aligned with true south as a professional installer set it up. Iam not storing the posistions as Iam using the goto xx function, although I have tried manually storing posistions instead and still get the same problems. Yes the channels Iam selecting do exist and have worked. I seem to get problems with all satellites, I can reset the box, do the exactly the same steps over and over and get different results each time.

 

[T_G]

I had the same problem with my box for two years, drove me mad as sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. I would strongly suspect your LNB. After I changed the cable my LNB finally gave up completely, and when I changed it for a new one I haven't had one bit of a problem since. LNB's cost only a 10er now, so try it out before you do anything else.

 

[mhku]

Is gotoXX reliable with a 600? It doesn't work with a 500 and I still use manually stored positions with my 7020. Anyone else using gotoXX?

 

[RedDevil_UK]

im using gotoXX

pain in the backside to get working but now it is, its OK

 

[jackflash]

whats more likely, an intermintant motor or a dodgy LNB??