motorisation

howard

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After reading previous posts I understand that my receiver (humax f1-vaci) only has a 1.0 diseqc and therefore can only operate a fixed dish system. Does this mean that to motorise I would need a different receiver ?
Also what is the difference between a polar mount, a H to H and an actuator ?
cheers
H
 

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DiSEqC v1.0 can indeed only switch between LNBs, not drive a motor. For that you need DiSEqC v1.2 (or higher) and even then you need a special kind of motor which can understand the incoming DiSEqC commands.
Some receivers are able to work with both, and indeed many receivers originally marketed with only DiSEqC v1.0 capability have since had software upgrades made available for them which give them the v1.2 capability. You should check whether that applies to your own receiver.

With regard to "actuators" - you should find it defined in any english-language dictionary. In the satellite world this and the term "motors" are synonymous . Mericans usually refer to "actuators" while Yerpeans usually refer to "motors". They are simply the devices that drive the dish.

A mount is what attaches the dish to the mast or wall or whatever.
A Polar Mount is intended for use in combination with a motor/actuator. It is a mount angled in such a way that when the attached dish is driven, it traces an arc which follows the Clarke belt of satellites. An alt-azimuth mount by contrast would not follow an arc but would offer two linear movements: up/down or left-right. So lining up each satellite on the arc would become quite tricky.

"H-H" I have already defined (have you forgotten already? ;-)
See http://www.satellites.co.uk/scripts/webforum/DCForumID3/50.html#

I would repeat the advice I gave in that post: namely to consult other sources for these basic definitions. I just tried typing in "what is an actuator?" in Alta Vista, for example, and it immediately gave me a site with a good definition. Or consult the glossaries in the many satellite publications around (the UK magazine What Satellite has one every month). Or see if your local library has a book on satellite technologies.
I'm sure you'd find that these basic concepts fell into place more easily and quickly that way.

2old
 

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Not strictly true

DiSEqC 1.0 can be used to drive a Digiquest rotor to up to four positions and it has been used to good success for many small systems running 16, 13 East ,7 and 15 West for a number of Arabic clients with a 1m dish in this country

Ill admit its not perfect but a Humax VA Fox, 1m dish and motor costing just under £250 it was the cheapest way to get them exactly what they want (without dodgy cards)
 

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Presumably then this Digiquest rotor incorporates some kind of programmable module that you need to initialise first, in order to translate a command saying "switch to LNB3" into something like "move to 13east".
Sounds a bit contrived, but intriguing. Do you have more details?

2old
 

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Useful idea, but at what cost?....One thing has intrigued me though, is the version of DiseqC a software control or harware, or both.

I've been trying to get PentaMedia to say whether an upgrade to DiseqC1.2 is on the cards but no answer.


rolf
 

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Hello Howard

Even though you may not be able to get your Humax to position the dish, it is possible to buy a Satellite Positioner which when used in conjunction with a polar mout and a motorized arm, will give you quite a good capability.

I use such a system myself with an EZ-2100 positioner which remembers up to 32 positions [which is more than I do - but thats another story alltogether].

If you want some more advice come back again.

Regards

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rolf - I know that it is predominantly a software feature, since many digital receivers that hit the market about a year ago initially only offered DiSEqC v1.0/1.1, with new firmware later offering upgrade to 1.2.

However, I recall reading somewhere that the receiver needs to have certain basic hardware in place to be capable of 1.2 at all - and that relates to the need to feed a fairly strong current up the co-ax to drive the motor.

2old
 

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Oh yes of course, I hadn't thought of that aspect, it isn't just the tone pulses that need to be modified.

Thanks 2old that's answered my question.

Rolf
 

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Basic minimum current supply recommendation from the tuner is 500mA which could cause some damage with tuner rails, internal conections etc.

Some out of spec DiSEqC receivers (it is after all an open standard) reduce this to just under 400mA with an interruption of the LNB supply current after the motor whilst the dish is moving

This causes havoc with the signal strength and afc of some receivers leading to a signigficant delay time between moving and recovery of data - picture and sound.
 

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I'm wondering whether this current draw problem could be solved by a power injector?

Rolf
 

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Not sure how to inject something that purely increases the current drive availability ut retaining the 13/18 volt LNB arrangement.

You would have to tap off the DiSEqC protocol from inside the receivers main board, couple this with the voltage and tone protocol from the receiver power supply (with the appropriate command from the CPU), isolate the tuner output to the demodulator circuit (to prevent two sets of identical commands running outside), and then feed erything back into the cable running up to the dish using as you say, an injector box, which has the right current drive ability

Best solution by far seems to be the converter (Aston and clones) which convert the DiSEqC protocol back to a standard four wire motor. Dish size is then virtually unlimited

Im testing a budget version at present to be built into a receiver as a standard upgrade. Will let you know its success and the pitfalls.
 

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Yes, thanks C.H. that would be interesting, I've got an Echostar actuator and 1 metre dish that i was going to put a twin Lnb on and use my old Monterey 40 to drive it, but that would perhaps be a neater solution.

My ideas on the injector were asssuming that an injector was available that allowed through power and tone pass as well. I have found that on occasions where people have had two receivers running one Lnb with a splitter the Lnb seemed to work fine on both voltages, but obviously the higher voltage overriding when in conflict. Not sure whether this would long term have a detrimental affect on the LNB though.

Rolf
 
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