1.2 Fast 1.2 Furious - VBox Drift

[kulakovich]

I am not seeing a resolution in the previous thread, so I thought I'd drop in my two kopecks worth.

My VBox (I) drifts like mad. I only go between three satellites because the drift is so bad it is not worth programming more sats until I figure this out.

From AMC6, to Telstar5, to AMC10 and back to AMC6. Do this twice, AMC10 does not hit for squat. Even though it returns to the same numbers, I believe. I will check this after reading that last thread.

I am wondering if it has something to do with load, or do we all have damaged actuators, like with a tooth missing on a gear someplace.

My actuator was brand new when I installed everything. Though I can't speak to how the ground is grounded. Anyone with new data? Or did everyone run out and get that fancy st550?

~kulakovich

 

[Shawn95GT]

Most of us that tried the VBOX I had the exact same experience.

I believe a couple people here have having success with the VBOX II that Sadoun is now carrying.

I gave up on my VBOX I and used an old analog receiver until I went to 4DTV. I was using my VBOX to operate an actuator on my workbench when it finally let go the magic smoke.

I got revenge on my VBOX I :

 

[kulakovich]

that is -awesome-

Ok. So I do feel a little better from your pictures. Very cathartic. I see the same guy does your lawn too.

Yes - I read the thread that some folks were going to get IIs, and that some folks had swapped out the wires going to the spring clip ground, though I am unsure as how that last bit helps.

After that the thread darkens. Were any of these things successful? Did anyone get a VBox working properly? Particularly a I ? I'd like to not have to re-buy.


thanks,
~kulakovich

 

[Shawn95GT]

Mine paired with the Pansat 3500 seemed to do good for about 5 sat positions before I noticed the positions drifting.

My guess is that the VBOX was somehow mis-interpreting a postion save for a re-sync which would shift all of the postions. I noticed that if I wrote down the count numbers and moved back to them numbers the sat was right there. I wasn't losing counts at all.

My lawn came back and then fried once summer set in. It looks about like those pics right now - lol.

 

[kulakovich]

Did you try any of the other posted tips? Swapping the wires out, switching things around, etc?

I really don't want to eBay this thing to get it to do what it is supposed to do. I have an analog box as well, that could handle positioning, but that adds a level of complexity I was trying to avoid.

Did anyone pick up that slick ST550 box? I can't find it anywhere anymore. I figure it wasn't offered in the states.

I just replaced my old c-band feedhorn with ku-adapter with a legit Corotor II wideband (wideband price was only $10 more, what the heck.) and my guages went through the roof on Ku. Very nice. But my C-band LNB continued its death spiral of the past 4 months. I have a new one arriving soon - hopefully in time for the shuttle launch. :up


~kulakovich

 

[kulakovich]

Shielding of servo leads, in same cable as actuator.

If anyone reads this - perhaps I have to post in a different forum, but ...

I am using a seven strand solid "bell wire" line to send my actuator, servo and ground, and separate RG6s for my LNBs.

This bell wire is not shielded - I have seen this mentioned, but since I am "just" carrying heavy and light DC and not really "signal" I didn't see this as a problem. Is this generally a bad idea, or is this what is making my VBox crazy?

I can say that from time to time I can hear my servo "whispering" while I am beside the dish.


Any thoughts or insights would be greatly appreciated/

~kulakovich

 

[drhydro]

I think the problem you are having is inherent to the vbox (dp710) itself. Mine would work for a little while, then it would start loosing positions.

 

[dem0nlord]

Did anyone pick up that slick ST550 box? I can't find it anywhere anymore. I figure it wasn't offered in the states.

I have the 450 which is the same other than the lack of imbedded Irdeto.

It has some issues.

1. No way to pull a channel list off. So you can't yank it off, edit it, and put it back on.
2. No way to manually add a channel through the remote.

So, if a particular channel is not found during a scan(and some aren't), you're hosed, no way to put it in there.

3. The software they have to put all the transponder info in via satcodx files flat out doesn't work, you only end up getting one H and one V, forcing you to have to do blindscans.



It's all about the lack of ability to pull files off and put them back on these boxes, if it wasn't for the total failure of functionality there, I'd be very satisfied with this box.

 

[kulakovich]

I think the problem you are having is inherent to the vbox (dp710) itself. Mine would work for a little while, then it would start loosing positions.

Did you find an alternate solution? What are people doing to point BUD with Disecq receivers?

 

[drhydro]

There is at least one person over in the c band forums that is testing the V box II, so far it seems to work well for him.

 

[Stefan]

There is at least one person over in the c band forums that is testing the V box II, so far it seems to work well for him.

I've had a Vbox II for a long time. I use it to move my 8.5' birdview and it works great for me. Anyway, I don't think this discussion and the "drift" that's talked about relates to the Vbox II. Most of the people who complain about this do so in relation to the older dp710 that's being dscussed here. So, that issue seems to be isolated to the dp710. I don't own a dp710 and never have so I can't comment on its performance. I will however say this. I did see a post once in another forum where someone indicated that they had one and had the same issue and that they had either fixed or at least thought they had fixed it by adding a resistor in series with the motor to slow it down a bit. Their conclusion was that the motor was moving too fast and the DP710 was attempting to stop the motor too abruptly thus resulting in the motor overshooting or moving past the location before actually coming to a stop. The person who said this mentioned that most dish movers start to ramp down the power going to the motor, thus slowing it down, just before it approaches the stopping point to help prevent this from happening but apparently the VP710 did not. Anyway, he claimed that adding the resistor and thus slowing the movement helped his problems. Of course this is all hearsay and I can't confirm the legitamcy of it. I'm simply relaying what I read on another forum, but for those of you using the DP710 and having this issue, it might be worth a try.

 

[kulakovich]

Wow - thanks - I'll have to check that out. Sadly, I was turning back to NASAtv the other day and watched the dish stop, and then slowly tick off another 12 clicks. It was alarming. It moved right off the bird and into the black.

I am going to google for dp710 - if I find any confirmed fixes, I'll be sure to bring them back here.


kulakovich

 

[Likvid]

Most often problems due to drifting is that people use the wrong cables.

You need to shield the pulse cable, otherwise it will drift as outer interference will make it drift if you live in a heavy intensed interference area.