Lose of Signal

[PRINCE]

Hi,

I have a Strong motorised system intstalled , however when I move the dish from one satellite(Astra)to Sirius and back to Astra I often lose signal on the Astra satellite and the only way I can get the signal back is to do another scan by changing the position of all the stored satellites location, does anyone know what could be causing the loss of signal after moving the dish to another location.

Regards

Prince

 

[2old4this]

I think you've answered you own question by saying you need to restore the satellite positions...
It sounds like it's not the signal that's being lost but rather the dish is not moving back to the correct position.
Is that actually what is happening? IE are you having to realign the dish (physically move it) to pick up the signal again?

There are many possible causes of dishes not moving to the correct positions: pulses being lost, or noise causing spurious extra pulses, both due to poorly insulated cable; or dish motor bearings being worn/sticking; or the mount having too much play in it; etc., etc. There are reports that the positioner in an Echostar 2500/2510/3000 can get confused of the dish moves at variable speed across parts of its arc (perhaps at some position on the arc there is extra resistance in the bearings).
Cause can also be that the sensor in the motor which sens pulses to the positioner is malfunctioning. Reed sensors are particularly susceptible to this (eg due to wate ingress).

2old

 

[PRINCE]

Hi 2old,

Thanks for your reply, it seems the problem is the dish is not moving back to it correct position and I have to then do a rescan of all the satellite position again and this is becoming a pain as I am now afraid of moving the dish from one location to another because each time I do I often lose the signal and I have to always move the dish Eastward which bring me closer to the East Limit set on the positioner and in order for me to receive satellite to the east of Astra I have to then do a factory reset, I was advised by the person who installed the system to change the motor( Gemini gold- 3 broken within 7 months) to Satracker which I did, however the problem is still occuring, could it be that the Strong 4375 is having the same defect as the defect on the Echostar.


Regards

Prince

 

[2old4this]

Does the Strong have a "dish offset" or "re-alignment" counter you can adjust, as well as the counter for each individual sat? The Echostar does, and it makes dealing with this kind of problem a little easier. On the occasions when the dish loses its way, you simply adjust the dish realignment, and all sats positions are effectively recalculated accordingly.

By the way, I wouldn't necessarily say that the Echostar's occasional "confusion" amounts to a defect as such. After all, dishes are supposed to track at constant speed and when they do there isn't a problem.

The root of your problem is in any event much more likely to be in the cabling, motor or mount.

2old

 

[Channel Hopper]

If the dish is creeping (or moving closer to one limit each time) then i would agree that the reedswitch is most likely to have a problem.

However two other causes are possible

1) the magnet on the wheel has been damaged and the poles of force (either four or eight ) are not causing the reed switch to count the same number of pulses when turning both ways- changing the wheel, or moving it closer to the rees switch may help

2) The 4375 does have some problems specific to movement and position of the limits. Please look at the version number of software in the system profile. If its 1.0 then it should be upgraded using the latest available on their website. Your friendly dealer that sold it to you should be able to help FOC if its within warranty.
Even so there are times when the receiver will move the dish outside the electronic limits so you MUST ensure you do not press the re-align function unless you are sure the mechanical limits are set and work - it will be expensive otherwise



Let me know the outcome