LNB , how to know is dead?

[Yawwilson]

@Loquacious .. there are quite some interesting sat-finders available to ease the task ahead.. you could take a look at smart S2(by Hellobox) and also the gtmedia ones..(all on AliExpress)

 

[Loquacious]

 

[Mickha]

At least the labgear, and maybe the older one, should light up, if your receiver is on, and the power is reaching the meter, and your LNB.
Equally the meter should make a noise, if you turn the knob, to the lowest level, even if your dish isn't pointed at the satellite, providing the meter is working.
Try removing the cable, from your motor, connect it to your meter, and then connect that to your LNB.
If that fails, try removing the LNB, from your dish, take it to the receiver, make up a short cable, attach this to your receiver, and the meter, which should be connected to your receiver, and see if that works.
If you have a friend, or family member, with a dish, ask them if you can connect your meter, to their setup, just power off their receiver, connect the meter, to their receiver, and then to the cable going to the dish, this should prove your meter is working, and it is your LNB, that has failed.

 

[Channel Hopper]

You might as well stick with OpenATV, for now, as they are all similar.
You could choose OpenVix, or OpenBH, which are similar, and appear to be the most popular.

Now that you're back to an English menu, you can go into setup, tuners and set up your Tuner motor and enter your latitude, and longitude.

Can you please post the make/model of your satellite meter?
Personally I just use a cheap, standard, meter:
View attachment 152089
The one advantage, with these cheap meters, is that it lights up, if everything is working, if not then there are only a few things, that can be wrong, Cable Connections, broken cable, dead LNB or dead motor.
View attachment 152090

If you have easy access, to your dish, you could try a new cable connection, direct from your receiver to LNB, bypassing the motor, or try a replacement LNB.
Once you post details, of your satellite meter, then other owners, of that meter, should be able to provide advice.

For larger dish reflectors, I run one in series with the analyser to carry out wet towel testing.

 

[Loquacious]

At least the labgear, and maybe the older one, should light up, if your receiver is on, and the power is reaching the meter, and your LNB.
Equally the meter should make a noise, if you turn the knob, to the lowest level, even if your dish isn't pointed at the satellite, providing the meter is working.
Try removing the cable, from your motor, connect it to your meter, and then connect that to your LNB.
If that fails, try removing the LNB, from your dish, take it to the receiver, make up a short cable, attach this to your receiver, and the meter, which should be connected to your receiver, and see if that works.
If you have a friend, or family member, with a dish, ask them if you can connect your meter, to their setup, just power off their receiver, connect the meter, to their receiver, and then to the cable going to the dish, this should prove your meter is working, and it is your LNB, that has failed.

Ok. I did the test with the meter. The meter only works from the receiver. I connect together with the LNB , nothing appears. No power. So, I bar a spare LNB. Should I replace right away? Is tha why the motor didn't move as the LNB is faulty? Or is something else? Thanks

 

[Loquacious]

 

[Mickha]

Most of the time it is the LNB that fails, sometimes the motor, and other it's due to a damaged cable, or water ingress, into the cable, and/or LNB, due to failed water proofing.
A spare LNB is relatively cheap, you might even want to upgrade, to add extra outputs, twin, or even a quad, 2 or 4 outputs.

 

[ozumo]

Ok. I did the test with the meter. The meter only works from the receiver. I connect together with the LNB , nothing appears. No power. So, I bar a spare LNB. Should I replace right away? Is tha why the motor didn't move as the LNB is faulty? Or is something else? Thanks

Receiver -> meter = meter lights up
Receiver -> meter -> LNB = meter doesn't light up?

That might indicate the receiver can't supply enough power, you could try a different power supply, 12v and at least 1.5amps or whatever the supplied PSU is rated at.

 

[Terryl]

You could always try this....Buy a good satellite meter on Amazon, do the testing, once your done return it, they have a good return policy.

Here is a good one (but found on the US website) look for the same model on the Amazon in your Country.

https://www.amazon.com/GT-MEDIA-Satellite-Measuring-Adjusting/dp/B0B4B84SLV/ref=sr_1_4?crid=14IDR3GDNLPP0&keywords=satellite%2Bmeters&qid=1696787921&sprefix=satellite%2Bmeter%2Caps%2C486&sr=8-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc&th=1

 

[Yawwilson]

I will prefer he keeps it(sat-finder)... maybe price could go higher.. it should be a very good choice!

 

[Terryl]

If your connected directly to the LNB you should get some sort of indication on the receiver, (satellite in view or not) if for some reason the receiver is not able to power the LNB then look at the solution Ozumo suggested.

I would go down to your local hardware store (or electronic store) and get a new length of coax (rated for satellite work) connect directly to the LNB, then to the receiver, if the dish was originally on a satellite before this problem occurred then you should have some type of indication on the receiver.

One other thing to check is if the receiver is putting out DC voltage on it's Satellite/LNB input "F" connector on the back, to test this you would need a volt meter, (or multi-meter/DVM) using a paper clip (small one) inserted into the "Sat in" "F" connector you should see +14 volts to +18 volts on this connector, (red lead to the paper clip, black lead to the case ground) this voltage depends on what transponder your on at the time, anything lower then 13 to 12 volts DC then your receiver has a power supply problem.

Your coax up to the motor/LNB could also have a problem, if you cam you can also look for the DC voltage at the end with it disconnected from the motor, if this is not possible due to location of the dish/motor then try the new run of coax.

In the last photo youre showing the setup as your testing it now, how are you connecting the coax from the receiver to the LNB? Directly or through an "F" barrel connector?

 

[Loquacious]

If your connected directly to the LNB you should get some sort of indication on the receiver, (satellite in view or not) if for some reason the receiver is not able to power the LNB then look at the solution Ozumo suggested.

I would go down to your local hardware store (or electronic store) and get a new length of coax (rated for satellite work) connect directly to the LNB, then to the receiver, if the dish was originally on a satellite before this problem occurred then you should have some type of indication on the receiver.

One other thing to check is if the receiver is putting out DC voltage on it's Satellite/LNB input "F" connector on the back, to test this you would need a volt meter, (or multi-meter/DVM) using a paper clip (small one) inserted into the "Sat in" "F" connector you should see +14 volts to +18 volts on this connector, (red lead to the paper clip, black lead to the case ground) this voltage depends on what transponder your on at the time, anything lower then 13 to 12 volts DC then your receiver has a power supply problem.

Your coax up to the motor/LNB could also have a problem, if you cam you can also look for the DC voltage at the end with it disconnected from the motor, if this is not possible due to location of the dish/motor then try the new run of coax.

In the last photo youre showing the setup as your testing it now, how are you connecting the coax from the receiver to the LNB? Directly or through an "F" barrel connector?

Hi, thanks for the advice.
I managed to change F connectors, did accordingly to the picture showed so I managed to get power to the motor and LNB as the Octagon was on the scan the satellite. ( the meter was near 9 so the dish is at 13.e) .
The problem was that when the scan finish ( no signal nor channels found) the motor went dead again. I tried several times and it continued. Only when it was in the part of scan the satellite, and when I pressed on to scan it works ( power to the motor)
I think , when , I set up the first time ( see my previous tread ) at least my motor was moving but it stopped when I messed up trying to chance to advance kind of satellite using Disec1.2 .
Everything is going to the point where I need to change all the cables and see if it improves.
Cheers

 

[Loquacious]

Receiver -> meter = meter lights up
Receiver -> meter -> LNB = meter doesn't light up?

That might indicate the receiver can't supply enough power, you could try a different power supply, 12v and at least 1.5amps or whatever the supplied PSU is rated at.

At that point, I managed to get power from the receiver and the meter connect to LNB.
But it was in the scan process so something is not right if I change to anything else in the receiver, for example if want to set up limits , move the dish, so really I don't have a clue.

 

[Loquacious]

At that point, I managed to get power from the receiver and the meter connect to LNB.
But it was in the scan process so something is not right if I change to anything else in the receiver, for example if want to set up limits , move the dish, so really I don't have a clue.

The motor doesn't move .

 

[Channel Hopper]

Ok. I did the test with the meter. The meter only works from the receiver. I connect together with the LNB , nothing appears. No power. So, I bar a spare LNB. Should I replace right away? Is tha why the motor didn't move as the LNB is faulty? Or is something else? Thanks

LNB , how to know is dead?

@Loquacious .. there are quite some interesting sat-finders available to ease the task ahead.. you could take a look at smart S2(by Hellobox) and also the gtmedia ones..(all on AliExpress)

www.satellites.co.uk

Nothing looks connected

Is there a possibility you are not tightening up the plugs enough for continuity ?

 

[Mickha]

I agree with Channel Hopper, it sounds like an intermittent fault, which doesn't rule out a hardware fault, but more likely the cable/connectors.

I once had a similar problem, which I tracked down to the copper braiding, I found that my F Connectors were slightly too small, and one of them had cut off most of the braiding, when I screwed them on, meaning that I was only getting intermittent contact.
It could also be water ingress, so look at the connection ends to see if everything is dry, and no sign of mould.
I would aso check the cable for any signs of damage, many animals love to chew cables, and of course age, and weather, can make them brittle, or damaged.

The picture looks like you might have 2 LNB outputs, 1 not connected, and do you have a rubber cover, on your LNB cable connection?

 

[Loquacious]

Ok. The motor F connectors seems a bit rusted , mouldy. They were without a rubber cover and also the LNB which is twin. So maybe it could be the problem. I will by rubber cover and also clean. ( Any electrical type of oil to clean? ) .
Another thing, the software.
Should I do that image that you suggested to see if will work better as well?
I will try to carry on the job some point during this week.
Cheers and thanks for your help so far.

 

[Mickha]

Stick with OpenATV, for the present, and once you get used to Enigma 2 images, you can try different ones, using the multiboot options, allowing you to run images from a USB stick.
You can find a lot of videos, and guides, on how to get the most out of OpenATV, OpenVix, openBH, etc..
Once you have your satellite working again, you can try Kodi, and various other plugins.

Make sure you cut off any damaged wire, and remake the connections. If it's had water, penetrating for some time, you might have to change the cable run, and the LNB, as water ingeress can cause intermittent problems, befor it deteriorates to much, and fails.

 

[Miika]

Receiver -> meter = meter lights up
Receiver -> meter -> LNB = meter doesn't light up?

That might indicate the receiver can't supply enough power, ...

There are lot of help provided, but above quoted description tells unambiguously, that there is short circuit or remarkable overload between meter and LNB, that activates the STB's short circuit protection.

As mentioned, fault can be in cable end, if F-connector shield has got in touch with centre wire, or in motor circuitry. LNB itself can have short circuit inside, but this is quite rare; usually LNB's fault is expressed as no signal with or without usual current consumption, or only one polarity/frequency band is working.
...
To check if LNB is ok, leave the motor unconnected and put cable directly from LNB to sat meter. If meter stays light-up, then try zap or search some channels; provided that antenna is aligned to desired or any other satellite, you can receive correct or wrong channels respectively. If there are no channels, it still doesn't say that LNB is faulty - in case when motor has moved the antenna between satellites, there is no and won't be any signal before antenna is realigned. But in that case it is preferreable to change LNB and cables with new on and try again to firmly rule out LNB's fault, because if you de-attach the motor, getting it back correctly is way more difficult (and expencive) than change LNB just to be sure it is ok.

 

[Loquacious]

Good morning.
Just to clarify: I only managed to have a free light ( on )in the motor when I was scanning the satellite, after it finished ( no signal nor channels scanned) the motor got dead. It's clear there a sort of problem in the receiver. I managed to get cable eneds changed as suggested ( coax cable/ F connectors put correctly). Although, I haven't managed to test voltages in the receiver, I think will try to change the cables at some point this week.
Could you please send me a good online shop to buy the right size of F connectors/ plus ruber covers ?
Many thanks and have you all an excellent week. I will keep you updated.