No signal - cable or receiver postion?

[keith100]

I need a sense check to help eliminate the cause(s) of a problem with my motorised set up.
I've lost all signals, although the motor still turns. I had the LNB replaced after the initial signal loss, and got the signal back but lost it again the next morning. According to the installer, the LNB is OK as is the motor arc.

The installer suggested it was the receiver positioner settings that needed adjusted as have Technomate (the main receiver is a TM6900, but I've been unable to get anything using either USALS or disecq 1.2. I've tried the previous settings and highly unlikely ones and still get the same.

I have a couple of cable joins which I'm not 100% convinced are good, so could the receiver problems be caused by the cable given that the motor is turning correctly? I'm not convinced myself as once a loose join stopped the motor turning if the receiver was on one polarity.

My TBS5925 isn't set up correctly but crazyscan seems to give the same scan pattern in every satellite position.

Anyone have any other ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lazarus]

Yes the reception problems can be (and probably are) caused by the cable ................... Don't forget the cable is in two parts; Receiver to Motor, them Motor to LNB.

What often happens is that the cable from the Motor to the LNB works loose at the motor connection as the result of repeated panning of the dish back and forth across the arc.

As you pan one way, there is very slight drag on the cable and it will tend to loosen the F connector. As you pan back the other way, slightly pushing the cable, it won't re-tighten the connector to the same extent (A bit like pushing string). Eventually it becomes intermittent then just disconnects.

If this is the root of your problem, the remedy is simple: You simply shift the effective fulcrum from the motor connection to a fixed point on the pole or bracketry by judicious application of a cable tie to tether the cable and ensure the last few inches do not and cannot move.

You might think that it's unlikely the connector would come loose if given a hefty tweak with an 11mm spanner, but sadly that will just lead to the cable unscrewing itself from the connector instead (If using bog-standard cheapo screw-on F connectors)

 

[satelliteman]

Might well be a cable issue. If eliminated, reset and send the motor back to reference 1w and see if you have a signal. Report back.

 

[keith100]

Thanks for the advice Tivu, A disconnect between the motor and LNB definitely sounds logical and well worth checking - pity the thing's too high to reach myself.

 

[keith100]

Everything is sorted now - main problem was the cable between the motor and lnb.
Also turns out that the dish/motor hadn't been lined up correctly when originally installed so that got corrected as well so that should improve reception and motor accuracy - I can use the correct USALS setting with only minor adjustment now and I definitely saw a 20% improvement of some 13e channels that had been giving trouble before. Now to find the time to re-set all the other satellites I used to get and maybe find something new.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Lazarus]

Glad you have got it fixed: And did the Installer takes steps to prevent a recurrence by securing the Motor to LNB cable section to a fixed part of the assembly, as I mentioned above?

 

[keith100]

Everything looks secure from what I can see.

 

[Lazarus]

Splendid