FTA receivers with controls for moving a big dish?

[kraftwerk76]

--Hi, all. Does anyone know of an FTA receiver that can be easily purchased in the USA that has a built in "big dish" mover? I don't mean the USALS, or [FONT=Verdana, Arial]DiSEqC stuff, but one that puts out 36VDC? I've looked at 8 or 9 different places and have found nothing yet. Thanks for your help.
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[Anole]

Yes, that was discussed here recently.
Though, I think maybe the receiver might have been out of production, as opposed to a new design.
I'll take a look and update this post if I find it.
Or, someone else will chime in with a link.

Also, you might consider a fairly low cost "Vbox".
They're around $50..80, and take the diseqc commands from ANY FTA receiver, and drive the dish motor with 36 volts.
Here are a couple, listed on the Sadoun site.
But also search this forum for other discussions; just use "vbox" as the search key word.

 

[dishMIKE]

I think the Pansat 2700 & 3500 do, but I sorry I don't know which others do. Mike

 

[lumpkin666]

Be aware that some (all?) of the FTA receivers that have the built-in 36v mover will not have the ability to adjust skew for Horizontal and Vertical channels.

 

[Anole]

Oh, good points.
I think both the Pansat 2800 and their 3500 have the ability to control the skew motor in traditional (old-style) LNBs.
They don't do the main dish-mover @ 36v, though, and that's what the Vbox is for.

However , if you have a new LNBF, which is voltage controlled for V/H switching, then any modern FTA receiver can talk to the Vbox and move ya around.

 

[kraftwerk76]

Thanks. Might get the Vbox.

--Thanks for the replies. The receiver I have is a Fortec Star Mercury II, but I would be willing to sell it if I could find a receiver that at least had terminals for skewing H/V. So, tell me if I have this down, properly:

Assuming I have a Pansat 2700 with H/V skew controls, I would hook up the 2700 (via coax) to the Vbox, and then, another coax comes from the Vbox to the LNB? I am assuming that would be for the DisEqC that actually controls the box? THEN, looking at the back of the Vbox on the Sadoun site, I am guessing you just attach the ribbon cable from the big dish into the back of the Vbox (M1 and M2 to the RED terminals? and the H/V motor to the SENSOR/White terminals?)

--One last thing. What was kind of making me shy away from using something like the Vbox instead of a receiver with a dedicated H/V skew and 36Vdc output, was that I thought that every time I wanted to move the dish to the next satellite in the arc, I had to use the remote control included with the Vbox (Ugh!, just one more remote to mess with). So basically, the Pansat 2700 gives commands through the coax to the Vbox and "tells" it where to move, without the need for the Vbox remote control? If so, I might just purchase this thing.

 

[kraftwerk76]

--One last thought/question: Anole mentioned something about if I had an LNBF, any receiver could talk to the Vbox. If that is the case, then, I will just keep my Mercury II and not mess with hooking up the skew control wires to the Vbox. So, tell me if I am correct in my LNBF choice. Would the LNBF I need be the BSC621-2 C/KU Band LNBF? An example can be seen here BSC621-2 C KU Band Prime Focus LNBF Should I get that one, or the LNBF listed without the "-2" at the end of it? I'm guessing the one I need is the "Universal" one.

 

[Anole]

So basically, the Pansat 2700 gives commands through the coax to the Vbox and "tells" it where to move, without the need for the Vbox remote control?

Yep, cool isn't it?
Well, you -do- have to set it up, but when you're done, it should be pretty much automatic.

As you can see on the Sadoun site, the -2 is universal.
If you want Universal, there ya go.
However, if you want to have it talk to any old-school C-band receivers, you need Standard, because the oldies don't do Universal.

But , before you go off half-cocked, you really should ask Iceberg to move this thread to the C-band section and get the input from those guys.
They'll give you lots more reasons to stay with the old style LNBs, I'm sure.

Personally, I like the Mercury (I have one) and the BSC621, but you need more input.
It's only fair to get both sides.

 

[vfrjim]

Manhattan has some that do that, here is a link to one of them: Manhattan - Products - Plaza ST 450 CI-P (PVR-Ready)

 

[Zorak]

I also recall seeing a Satcruiser (?) model that supports moving a big dish directly. There was a dealer with a website in New York state. I'll try to find the details and post them. I don't have any personal experience with this product though.

 

[kraftwerk76]

Cool. Thanks for the info.