dg380 hardware reset

[crackt]

does anyone know how to properly reset the reference point on a dg380. mines about 3 degrees off of 0 and i cant seem to get it to reset. at the motor ive tried to disconnect the coax and hold both buttons for 5 seconds. ive tried to release the buttons and then connect the coax and hold the buttons while connecting coax and neither will reset the reference point. any advice?

crackt out,.

 

[phlatwound]

Souns like you have already tried it but this is what I have in my manual:

HARDWARE RESET BY RECEIVER
1. Execute the command: Go To Reference (Go To “0”).
2. Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.
3. Reconnect the coaxial cable.
4. Execute the command: Shift “0”.
5. Then, its memory erased, the receiver rewrites the satellite table to initial one and corrects the “0”

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”

BUILT-IN SATELLITE TABLE RESET
1. Press and hold both EAST / WEST buttons for 5 seconds.
2. LED1 and LED2 blink for 5 seconds.
3. Then, its memory erased and rewrites the built-in Satellite table to initial one.

 

[crackt]

yah i read the manual. thanks. the procedure just doesnt seem to work.

crackt out,.

 

[pendragon]

All three DG-380s I have played with were off on their zero point, one to the same extent as yours. Doing a hardware reset does not fix this because they are not properly adjusted inside. Try this:

1. Take the top of the motor off (three screws on the bottom)
2. Take the nuts off the F-connectors (may require a thin socket) and lift the circuit board out (no need to disconnect the cable)
3. There are three screws aligning a cam, that engages three microswitches, to the drive shaft. Loosen these and turn the cam in the opposite direction of the error. Tighten the screws so the cam doesn't slip.
4. Connect coax to the connector(s) while making sure the circuit board is not shorting to any part of the case
5. Drive the motor 10 degrees off center with the buttons or a DiSEqC command
6. Send a GO TO 0 command by DiSEqC
7. Look at the gauge on the bottom and repeat procedure if necessary
8. Make sure cam set screws are really tight
9. Reassemble

 

[crackt]

thanks pendragon. that did the trick. i didnt have to pull the circuit board. instead i drove the motor to a limit so i could loosen the back screw. its crazy you have to void the warranty to adjust the reference position. thanks again.

crackt out,.

 

[Babadem]

does anyone know how to properly reset the reference point on a dg380. mines about 3 degrees off of 0 and i cant seem to get it to reset. at the motor ive tried to disconnect the coax and hold both buttons for 5 seconds. ive tried to release the buttons and then connect the coax and hold the buttons while connecting coax and neither will reset the reference point. any advice?

crackt out,.

I know you have corrected this error, but I would want to ask you a question. Was this problem happening when using USUALS or DiSEqC ?

 

[Babadem]

Souns like you have already tried it but this is what I have in my manual:

HARDWARE RESET BY RECEIVER
1. Execute the command: Go To Reference (Go To “0”).
2. Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.
3. Reconnect the coaxial cable.
4. Execute the command: Shift “0”.
5. Then, its memory erased, the receiver rewrites the satellite table to initial one and corrects the “0”

You have excuse my lack on comprehension on the highlighted! I have never understood how to perform step 4 as indicated above. Can you explain this a little bit?

 

[Babadem]

All three DG-380s I have played with were off on their zero point, one to the same extent as yours. Doing a hardware reset does not fix this because they are not properly adjusted inside. Try this:

1. Take the top of the motor off (three screws on the bottom)
2. Take the nuts off the F-connectors (may require a thin socket) and lift the circuit board out (no need to disconnect the cable)
3. There are three screws aligning a cam, that engages three microswitches, to the drive shaft. Loosen these and turn the cam in the opposite direction of the error. Tighten the screws so the cam doesn't slip.
4. Connect coax to the connector(s) while making sure the circuit board is not shorting to any part of the case
5. Drive the motor 10 degrees off center with the buttons or a DiSEqC command
6. Send a GO TO 0 command by DiSEqC
7. Look at the gauge on the bottom and repeat procedure if necessary
8. Make sure cam set screws are really tight
9. Reassemble

I have this issue now with my new replacement motor. I may have to perform this "surgery", or send it back for the adjustment.

 

[Babadem]

All three DG-380s I have played with were off on their zero point, one to the same extent as yours. Doing a hardware reset does not fix this because they are not properly adjusted inside. Try this:

1. Take the top of the motor off (three screws on the bottom)
2. Take the nuts off the F-connectors (may require a thin socket) and lift the circuit board out (no need to disconnect the cable)
3. There are three screws aligning a cam, that engages three microswitches, to the drive shaft. Loosen these and turn the cam in the opposite direction of the error. Tighten the screws so the cam doesn't slip.
4. Connect coax to the connector(s) while making sure the circuit board is not shorting to any part of the case
5. Drive the motor 10 degrees off center with the buttons or a DiSEqC command
6. Send a GO TO 0 command by DiSEqC
7. Look at the gauge on the bottom and repeat procedure if necessary
8. Make sure cam set screws are really tight
9. Reassemble

thanks pendragon. that did the trick. i didnt have to pull the circuit board. instead i drove the motor to a limit so i could loosen the back screw. its crazy you have to void the warranty to adjust the reference position. thanks again.

crackt out,.

My DG380 was about 3 degrees off and I took the steps above to correct it, but was unsuccessful. But I got messed up on step 3. For the life of me, I could not turn the shaft or cam to adjust the motor. Needless to say, I killed (No power) the motor in the process. For future reference, can you guys point out the areas on the motor that needs unscrewed, and the part that need to be turned. Did you have to manually have to turn Cam by hand, because I found it impossible to do so? I know your suggestions were "try at your own risk", so I blame no one for destroying my DG380 motor. I have included Pics of the DG380 without the cover.

 

[pendragon]

I marked the screws you need to loosen - once you've done that the plastic cam underneath the metal gear should rotate with respect to the gear. You can wedge the screws with a screwdriver to move the cam back and forth. Don't overtighten the screws when you're done as the cam is a fairly soft plastic and could strip.

 

[Babadem]

I marked the screws you need to loosen - once you've done that the plastic cam underneath the metal gear should rotate with respect to the gear. You can wedge the screws with a screwdriver to move the cam back and forth. Don't overtighten the screws when you're done as the cam is a fairly soft plastic and could strip.

There are 4 of those screws, not 3 screws as indicated on step three of your instructions. You know, I initially unscrewed the 4 screws (those marked in yellow in your attached pic. There is another one hidden ) and when I tried moving the shaft or cam to turn it, but it wouldn't turn, so i tightened them and then unscrewed the 3 screws (since they are only three of them I assumed they were the right ones) on the wired switches. See attached picture. This was the point the motor lost power after I plugged in the cable to the board! Anyway, this would help the next person trying to fix their DG380 Motor when the degrees are off. Oh, thank you for the clarification! :up

EDIT: For any one reading this, the green circled screws on the attached picture are not the right ones to unscrew when making degree adjustments on a DG380 Motor. The right screws to adjust are found on Post #10 here.

 

[pendragon]

Strange. I've done this procedure on three different DG-380s and would have thought I would have noticed four screws if they were there. Maybe it was just a senior moment(s), or maybe there are multiple variants of the gear in the wild. Regardless, those are the ones that have to be loosened to change the cam position with respect to the gear. The cam is what engages the microswitches to mark the zero and limit positions. I pried the screws from above to move the cam in the small increments I needed.

I'm not sure where you are at with your motors. If the zero point is off, a reset probably will not help. If the unit will only drive one direction, the cause is most likely with the soft limits, microswitches, relays or relay drivers. But a friend ran into a case where all of those were fine. The controller's memory had apparently gotten scrambled and an ordinary reset did not work. Resetting the memory based on the enclosed instructions seems rather erratic at best. I ended up clearing the memory directly in the circuit to solve this particular single drive direction problem.

Other than being off by varying degrees in their zero points, my two DG-380s were reliable from the get go. However I've retired both of them because they can't keep a dish stable in the high winds I experience. I doubt any off-the-shelf USALS motor would do any better.

 

[Babadem]

Strange. I've done this procedure on three different DG-380s and would have thought I would have noticed four screws if they were there. Maybe it was just a senior moment(s), or maybe there are multiple variants of the gear in the wild. Regardless, those are the ones that have to be loosened to change the cam position with respect to the gear. The cam is what engages the microswitches to mark the zero and limit positions. I pried the screws from above to move the cam in the small increments I needed.

I'm not sure where you are at with your motors. If the zero point is off, a reset probably will not help. If the unit will only drive one direction, the cause is most likely with the soft limits, microswitches, relays or relay drivers. But a friend ran into a case where all of those were fine. The controller's memory had apparently gotten scrambled and an ordinary reset did not work. Resetting the memory based on the enclosed instructions seems rather erratic at best. I ended up clearing the memory directly in the circuit to solve this particular single drive direction problem.

Other than being off by varying degrees in their zero points, my two DG-380s were reliable from the get go. However I've retired both of them because they can't keep a dish stable in the high winds I experience. I doubt any off-the-shelf USALS motor would do any better.

This was a brand new replacement DG380 that was about 3°+ degrees off from zero that I was trying to fix. I have ordered for another one, but this time asked them to make sure it resets to perfect Zero whenever needed, before it gets shipped to me. As to Motors that can withstand high winds, which one are you using as replacements now?

 

[pendragon]

Initially I adapted a C-band Moteck horizon-to-horizon motor to a 1.2m offset dish that had been on one DG-380. This works a lot better and moved the remaining stability issues to the dish mount itself. I had originally used the Moteck on a lightweight 1.8m prime-focus dish, which was far more than it could handle when the winds kicked up. But it can manage the 1.2m. That motor was one of the last in-production FTA HH motors and apparently was discontinued at least a couple of years ago.

Since then I found a heavy, 1.8m Prodelin fiberglass offset that I adapted to the top-of-the-line Ajak HH180 motor, normally used for 3m and above prime-focus dishes. This dish is in my most wind-exposed position on top of the roof, and is absolutely rock solid in the worst wind storms. I use this as my main Ku dish for critical and hard-to-get feeds. I've recently put up a 2.6m prime-focus solid Birdview with a dual ortho feed. This has a similar Ku gain to the Prodelin, but isn't as stable in high winds in spite of being mounted on a 6" schedule 40 pipe. But much better than the 1.2m Moteck or my second 1.2m offset that was still on a DG-380, and has since been decommissioned.

For everyday Ku feeds I have three Wave Frontier T90 toroids covering the visible North American arc. These don't have the sensitivity of the Prodelin, Birdview or 1.2m offset, but work well enough for most feeds. With the optional wind-stabilization parts that ship with the T90s, they are completely rigid and stable in any wind storm I've experienced.