Supreme Dark Motor not moving?

[jeallen01]

Evening.
Having now sorted the Triax elevation problem (looks like the previous installer HAD set it incorrectly!) and got the dish set up and pointing to Thor, and getting good signals, I think I have now hit a big problem with the motor itself - it won't move at all!

Whatever I seem to be able to set the receiver to do to move the dish, and thus when the connected TV (actually a 19" PC monitor) shows "moving dish", or even when I push the E or W buttons on the mount itself, it does not move - just sits there all the time with the 2 dish LEDs flashing slowly together. From the mount manual that might indicate that the dish is at both E &W limits - and I can't see how to reset those limits on either the mount or in the receiver.

Any ideas, or is this brand new mount "f***ed"?

Thanks in advance.

John

 

[mariust5]

Sounds like a poor connection somewhere , check all cables , connectors , back of receiver .. i usually do a dry test before installing a motor .. i take the motor inside with a short cable and check it moves correctly .

 

[jeallen01]

Marius

I have already checked/tightened the following:
- F connector on back of the receiver
- F connector at the other end of the direct unbroken cable to the motor

Also when I insert my SMS DMS10 sat beeper, which also shows the motor/LNB current draw, into the cable at the mount end, then it's a steady 200mA when the motor is not being driven to move, and fluctuates between 150-200mA when the motor is being asked by the receiver driven to move.

Icecrypt receiver manual spec says it can deliver up to 500mA - so that should be more than enough!

BTW: saw a very noticeable drop in the signal level on the meter when the motor in in circuit (the Inverto LNB is a Twin, so did quite bit of the dish setup with a connection direct to the non-motor-connected part of the LN.

 

[skomedal]

If its this model try the following:-



HARDWARE RESET BY DiSEqC MOTOR
1. Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.2. Press and hold both EAST / WEST buttons for 5 seconds.3. Reconnect the coaxial cable.4. LED1 and LED2 blink for 5 seconds.5. Then, its memory erased, the receiver rewrites the satellite table to initial one and corrects the “0”

ALSAT Manual 0430

Good luck

 

[jeallen01]

skomedal

Unfortunately I have already tried that (it's in the manual), and (obviously) it did not work. - the two LEDs just kept blinking every 5 secs or so.

 

[jeallen01]

Update: I'm becoming pretty convinced that there is either a s/w or h/w fault in the motor and it is related to E/W limits that have been set and cannot be removed.

I think I have now tried (many times!) every combo of button-pushing/power disconnection/reconnection/timing that I can find on this and several other well-known forums - and nothing has worked!

Can't reset the limits from the IceCrypt Rx because I can't find anything in the set-up menus about setting/removing them - even then I am unconvinced that something like that is going to work with this motor.

BTW: when I push the buttons on the mount, I hear single clicks from the relevant switches but no other signs that the motor is trying to move the dish - and there is no physical/audible indication of the motor trying to start but then being prevented from doing so.

I am pretty sure this motor is going to have to go back to the supplier - but any other ideas first? (Please!)

 

[Lazarus]

I am not familiar with that specific motor, but all the Motek based ones have adjustable hard limits. Access to the relevant set screws is under a label on the base of the unit and cannot be achieved without removing the stub.

If those limits have been factory set to be very narrow, or if a screw has fallen out and jammed the mechanism, then inspection/retrieval/adjustment might do the trick.

 

[jeallen01]

Update = I think I have accidently now found the place where you can (I hope) disable them - it's in a sub-menu, which is not mentioned in the manual (!), of the selector for Diseqc/USALS when you select USALS.

However, when I did that, and then rebooted the Rx as advised on one of the forums, the dish still did not move - but maybe you have to go through the reset process on the dish as well. Not yet done that (again!) but will try later after some of the Bahrain GP.

 

[Terryl]

On some motors I have run across there is a small pin hole next to one of the East/West buttons, a paper clip is used to to a hard reset with the power on....This may not be the case for your type of motor.

 

[jeallen01]

Terryly

Looked closely and there is no such pin-hole - at least not anywhere near the F-connectors or push buttons (or anywhere else that I can see) - and that seems to confirm that only power/button-push combos can be used to reset Dark Motors (as I read on various forums).

Then having done several recommended types of Hard Reset again, then set the Rx back to the defaults and set up Thor & Astra 28.3 again (for starters) in the Satellite menus as Diseqc 1.2, I tried to get it to move the dish - but No, and then the motor was just sitting there but with was a clicking sound about once a second and I assume that to be some sort of mechanical relay that is trying to initiate motor movement but failing.

I am now almost 100% convinced that the motor is faulty. I have contacted the eBay supplier (Vuplus in N. London), and will be on the phone to them tomorrow morning with the intention of driving over there with the motor, Rx and my sat bleeper (because it shows the approx motor/LNB current) ASAP to get either a replacement (which they will have to show me works before I leave) or, better, a full refund - or else I will contact the Squaretrade Warrantee people because I bought one of their warrantees at the same time as the motor.

In the end, totally disconnected the motor and connected the cable to the "alternative" fixed dishes setup, and the Rx is now doing a AutoDiseqc set-up routine to (try to at least) identify all the LNBs on those 3 dishes.

BTW: in the end I intend to use the 0/12V output on the Rx to switch between one cable which leads to the Diseqc-switched fixed dish LNBs and a second cable which leads directly to the steerable dish Motor (and thus the LNB on that dish) - unless and until I get so sick of trying to get direct Diseqc/USALS control of that dish, and replace that motor with the old 36V Silent Gold motor which I picked up with the dish, together with the Diseqc to 36V controller box that I bought cheaply a long time ago.

 

[skomedal]

Bit of a thicko thought:-

BTW: in the end I intend to use the 0/12V output on the Rx to switch between one cable which leads to the Diseqc-switched fixed dish LNBs and a second cable which leads directly to the steerable dish Motor (and thus the LNB on that dish)

Are you trying to steer the motor through a Diseqc-switch?

 

[jeallen01]

Skomedal

No, I'm not - the steerable dish has a Twin LNB, and :
- the 1st tuner in the Twin will be connected through the Motor and then straight to the Rx via the o/p F connector on a 0/12V Global LNB two-way switch (still have that from the "old days") that it is Live when the switch receives 12V from the 0/12V o/p on the Rx
- the 2nd tuner in the Twin will be connected to the Diseqc system and then to the Rx via the o/p F connector that is Live when the switch receives 0V from the 0/12V o/p on the Rx.

That should allow me to switch easily and quickly between the 1st Tuner in the LNB on the steerable dish and the steerable dish and the Diseqc system LNBs on the fixed dishes as well as allowing me access to the 2nd Tuner on the steerable dish if I want to watch/record 2 channels from the same satellite - albeit that might only be possible if/when I get a twin-tuner Sat Rx and dispense with the 0/12V LNB Switch (but that's all probably quite a way off in the future at the moment, so nothing is anywhere near finally decided).

"Simples" - or at least I hope so.

Oh & BTW, with respect to possibly using a 36V motor, the required control cabling to the steerable dish pole is still in place from when I used a 24V NEC steerable dish system (it's THAT old) - although blanked off at that end - and so it would be quite easy to go back to a 36V motor if I should so decide.

 

[skomedal]

Re post #10

I am now almost 100% convinced that the motor is faulty. I have contacted the eBay supplier (Vuplus in N. London), and will be on the phone to them tomorrow morning with the intention of driving over there with the motor, Rx and my sat bleeper (because it shows the approx motor/LNB current) ASAP to get either a replacement (which they will have to show me works before I leave) or, better, a full refund - or else I will contact the Squaretrade Warrantee people because I bought one of their warrantees at the same time as the motor.

Please keep us informed as to the outcome of this phone call and eventual resolution to your "" faulty motor "" problem.

Regards

 

[jeallen01]

Will do, but I will also quote them reference to UK consumer protection legislation, notably the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and so hope for a quick & favourable resolution.

OTOH, that still leave the question as to which alternative dish mount to buy as I am not inclined to buy another Dark Motor?

 

[skomedal]

 

[jeallen01]

skomedal

Not sure whether I'm a pessimist or an optimist - but probably, from experience, more the former than the latter!

 

[jeallen01]

Spoke to the supplier this morning and going over there tomorrow morning.

PS: this morning I found out that my proposed 4x DiSeqc 1.o hubs set-up won't work - so now I need a couple of DiSeqc 1.1 8-port hubs (so trying to do a deal with someone who has both 8 port and 10 port hubs on e*** in the UK for both of them)

 

[jeallen01]

Update:

Took the existing Supreme Dark Motor and the Rx over to the supplier this morning - and that motor was swapped for the simpler (and cheaper) Superior version and shown to work with my Rx!

Why you may ask?

Well it seems (and the guy said this over the phone yesterday) the Supreme version is maybe not so "supreme" after all as it seems to be "picky" as to which Rxs it will work with! That seems to include my little Icecrypt AND some LINUX-based units (although he did not say which ones). OTOH, he could not get the old unit to move E or W whilst connected to my Rx, and so I'm not entirely convinced as to whether it was faulty or not.

Anyway, got it home at lunchtime and I have now managed to get that motor set up (my first time for a USALS motor/dish combo) pretty well, and it tracks well from 30W to about 52E with Signal strength generally 75%+ and Signal quality generally >60%.

I can’t get it to go further West because I can’t seem to be able to programme the Rx to accept the longitude for any satellite that is West of 0 degrees - and 30 degrees is the furthest W that is already programmed in!

The Rx also has a few other "quirks" like when satellites have been set up for USALS control and you are scrolling through the list in the Set Up menus, the motor seems to be continually trying to follow you and is diving E & then W all the time - so I think the Rx is continually sending movement commands even when a specific satellite has not be chosen.

OTOH, I only bought the Icecrypt as a cheap (£60) / relatively simple "starter" machine to get a bit more familiar with "modern" receivers before I decide what if any more capable unit to buy, so it's problems are no big deal at this point in time.