DG380 won't lift 1.2m Fortec Dish after rotating 40degrees

[Das Hammer]

Hi, I finally got around to installing a DG380 that I picked up a few months ago. I purchased it to move around a Fortec Star 1.2 Meter dish which I also picked up from Sadoun. I chose the 380 because it had pretty good rotation (+/- 80 degrees) and claimed it would handle my 1.2 meter dish.

Install was a breeze and I'm able to grab anything from 43W to 123W (I'm at about 85W). However, if I go beyond 43W or 123W, the motor will not bring the dish back up. I have to go outside, press the button on the motor and lift on the dish to help move it.

I'm curious if this is "common" and the claims by the website were just totally wrong, or if I have a bad rotor. Unfortunately, I'm well outside of the 30 day return policy, but I still want to know if this is a real motor problem.

I have a 150'+ run of coax, and I was NOT using a switch during the test. With the 22KHz Sadoun switch installed I have the same performance.

 

[phlatwound]

Das Hammer, I have a DG380 installed on one of the .9m 3ABN dishes and it has worked well so far on that much smaller dish. I don't recall anyone else using this motor with a 1.2 meter but would think that you are not the first.

I hope you get it figured out, I was considering a 1.2 meter as a future upgrade and was planning on installing it on the DG380.

 

[woodheat/nooil]

[FONT=verdana,arial]Voltage-Controlled H/V Switching (13/18 V)
Have you tried it on H and V channels? Maybe the one with more power will help?
[/FONT]

 

[vfrjim]

I would definitely set it on "H" transponders when moving the dish. Also, what LNB are you using? I would say that a 1.2m and a QPH is pushing it's capabilities.

 

[satcom1]

Seems to me that when an American retailer claims that their product will do something, they stand behind it 100%. Or is this the age of oil companies and greed?

 

[hwboy4]

I would definitely set it on "H" transponders when moving the dish. Also, what LNB are you using? I would say that a 1.2m and a QPH is pushing it's capabilities.

I have the GeoSatPro 1.2 with a QPH and DG380 and sometimes experience the behavior Das Hammer describes. Changing to a horizontal transponder seems to resolve the problem.

Not completely thrilled, but at least there is a workaround.

 

[Das Hammer]

I didn't specify an H or V TP. I was just using USALS to move the dish around in order to blind scan. Using the manual buttons on the rotor results in the same behaviour. One has to assume that selecting a channel on Horizontal polarity would give the rotor a little boost.

 

[vfrjim]

Not that it should be a fix for this problem but I was reading about some STB's that allow an adjustment to increase the voltages by about 10% (~19.8v for a H transponder). I hope other manufacturers do the same thing

 

[c_perrone]

Not that I am having the same problem, althought it seems very similar. My motor is a DG240 and after about 3 weeks of working fine, it seems to get stuck in various positions from time to time. I did measure the voltage from the back of my pansat 9200 and I indeed have 19.8 volts on the horizontal setting and over 200ft away on RG11 I also have exactly 19.8 volts. I have ordered a new motor to see if things change.

Good luck

Clint

 

[brentb636]

Not that it should be a fix for this problem but I was reading about some STB's that allow an adjustment to increase the voltages by about 10% (~19.8v for a H transponder). I hope other manufacturers do the same thing

If I remember correctly , my old Fortec Classic NA had a voltage increase option. It was either the Classic NA or Ariza Extreme ( neither one is still around to verify ).

 

[jayelem]

I chose the 380 because it had pretty good rotation (+/- 80 degrees) and claimed it would handle my 1.2 meter dish.

However, if I go beyond 43W or 123W, the motor will not bring the dish back up. I have to go outside, press the button on the motor and lift on the dish to help move it.

I'm curious if this is "common" and the claims by the website were just totally wrong, or if I have a bad rotor.

Several replies on Sadoun's Technical forum about the DG380 have mentioned the same type of problem with a 1.2 meter dish.

 

[brentb636]

Hi, I finally got around to installing a DG380 that I picked up a few months ago. I purchased it to move around a Fortec Star 1.2 Meter dish which I also picked up from Sadoun. I chose the 380 because it had pretty good rotation (+/- 80 degrees) and claimed it would handle my 1.2 meter dish.

Install was a breeze and I'm able to grab anything from 43W to 123W (I'm at about 85W). However, if I go beyond 43W or 123W, the motor will not bring the dish back up. I have to go outside, press the button on the motor and lift on the dish to help move it.

I'm curious if this is "common" and the claims by the website were just totally wrong, or if I have a bad rotor. Unfortunately, I'm well outside of the 30 day return policy, but I still want to know if this is a real motor problem.

I have a 150'+ run of coax, and I was NOT using a switch during the test. With the 22KHz Sadoun switch installed I have the same performance.

If it were me, I'd take a receiver and TV out to the motor ( dragging my generator if I had to ) and see if the same problem existed on a minimal length of cable. If it did, THEN I'd talk to Sadoun about the issue. I, too , have the idea of a motorized 1.2M dish in my future, and I won't be sympathetic if a motor rated for the load doesn't perform up to spec . Hell, some people have a SG2100 driving a 1.2M dish
. Why bother with a higher capacity motor, if it's not really higher capacity.

 

[bloomdog]

I have that problem, ocassionally, with different equipment. If I give the motor the command to go to my south satellite, it seems to clear up the problem.

 

[Anole]

it's all about leverage (and voltage)

People discussing this problem really should list their latitude.
The more southerly you are, the more the motor has to work, I think
And our Canadian cousins should skate by with little trouble.

Likewise, some folks who've built their own light weight mounts for big commercial dishes (Primestar, et al), have picked a geometry to put the dish more over and/or closer to the motor, instead of hanging way off it.
So, that could lead to a false sense of success for some more crafty builders.

 

[coisado]

Hmm.. I have mine installed on 1.2m channelmaster powered by a twinhan 102g. I have never had any problems. I pull in sats from 72W to 148W. But then again I always tune to a H transponder when changing birds.

 

[satcom1]

One thing to check on is the backlash adjustment may have gone bad. On the DMSI site there is a detailed adjustment procedure for the SG2100. It may be similar to your motor An out of adjustment of backlash may cause the mtor control board to shut down as a fail safe. The new DG 380 on the Sadoun site has automatic backlash adjustment.

 

[satcom1]

OOOPS! yOU HAVE THE DG 380.....NEVER MIND.