HELP! Motor acting up!
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On my Sadoun SG2100, I could motor to the west but couldn't motor to the east and the problem was intermittent. It was driving me crazy, so I decided to void the warranty and take the cover off the motor. Worked great with the cover off, but when I put the cover back on the problem returned. The cover has a divider between the motor and the printed circuit board. My circuit board was mounted crooked and some of the wires sticking out the back of the board were long and touching the divider on the cover. I trimmed the wires flush and fixed my problem. Not saying it is like your problem, because yours is acting differently, but when you reset the motor it could have pushed the circuit board against the housing and caused a wire to ground out against the case. Just a thought.
Interesting. I really appreciate all the input. I think this thread should be printed out for reference 
OK, I by-passed the motor, and same problem. So I would guess it isn't the motor. So, maybe this weekend or sometime when I have some extra time, I will try yet again to realign the assembly and try again. I have a new motor coming from Sadoun, so I will have that to play with to. If I get the current motor working, I will then have the new one too, so what should I do with it? Ideas?
Put it in service, use them both! Provided you have another receiver. If not, get one...
Al
I have a SatPros in the bedroom. I also have a spare Primestar dish. I wish I had a spare 80cm or 90cm. Maybe I should buy another system to have the extras I "need" But, if I can get my current motor working right again, I really don't have a need for the new one. I got it for a real good deal from Sadoun's $1 auctions
But, if I can get my current motor working right again, I really don't have a need for the new one. I got it for a real good deal from Sadoun's $1 auctions 
OK then, it is Sadoun's fault for giving away FTA gear! THANKS yet again to SADOUN! I wish I lived in their town, but I would be broke!
an interesting comment is that it mentions to adjust the motor elevation and leave the dish elevation alone. I was allways told the oposite. set your motor elev to your lat and fine tune elevation using the dish...
any comments from others ?
missing step: declination
I read over the section of the Stab manual in question, and it seemed to leave out an obvious step.
So, if you were to follow the instructions to the letter, you'd be doomed to failure.
If what I'm about to say is elsewhere in the manual, please point that out.
It damned well should be located -with- the above info on page 10 of that PDF.
Section 8, Fine Tracking.
In 8.2 and 8.3, the info is substantially correct for curing the problem described.
You twist the motor on your mounting mast to bring it into alignment.
That's not hard to understand, nor to accomplish.
For 8.4 and 8.5, where you raise or lower the motor on its mount , you must then apply a counteracting adjustment to the elevation of the dish where it's mounted to the motor shaft.
Go back to (for instance) your south-most bird (or a close one), and tweak the dish's elevation.
What you are actually doing is changing the declination angle of the dish, leaving it still pointing to the same bird.
That is exactly what is required to cure the problem where you are high or low on both ends of your travel, but right on at the middle (south).
I've read a lot of alignment info, and "got it" reading some fine descriptions of C-band dishes.
I never did understand why people had so much trouble tuning up the Ku dishes on motors.
The bottom of this page at Geo-Orbit.Org seems to be where I caught on.
I know the page looks like outdated garbage, but it's full of useful info.
Beating a dead horse:
Just to make sure this is understood, here are a couple of clarifications.
When I say "mast" , I mean that thing in the ground or on your roof, that the motor is mounted onto.
When I say "move the motor up 'n down", I mean adjust on the motor's mounting bracket, how high up or down the motor is tilted.
When I say "motor shaft", I mean that crooked thing sticking out of the motor that twists.
When I say to "adjust your dish's Elevation", I mean swing the dish up 'n down at the elevation adjustment right on the back-side of the dish itself, where it mounts to the motor's shaft.
I read over the section of the Stab manual in question, and it seemed to leave out an obvious step.
So, if you were to follow the instructions to the letter, you'd be doomed to failure.
If what I'm about to say is elsewhere in the manual, please point that out.
It damned well should be located -with- the above info on page 10 of that PDF.
Section 8, Fine Tracking.
In 8.2 and 8.3, the info is substantially correct for curing the problem described.
You twist the motor on your mounting mast to bring it into alignment.
That's not hard to understand, nor to accomplish.
For 8.4 and 8.5, where you raise or lower the motor on its mount , you must then apply a counteracting adjustment to the elevation of the dish where it's mounted to the motor shaft.
Go back to (for instance) your south-most bird (or a close one), and tweak the dish's elevation.
What you are actually doing is changing the declination angle of the dish, leaving it still pointing to the same bird.
That is exactly what is required to cure the problem where you are high or low on both ends of your travel, but right on at the middle (south).
I've read a lot of alignment info, and "got it" reading some fine descriptions of C-band dishes.
I never did understand why people had so much trouble tuning up the Ku dishes on motors.
The bottom of this page at Geo-Orbit.Org seems to be where I caught on.
I know the page looks like outdated garbage, but it's full of useful info.
Beating a dead horse:
Just to make sure this is understood, here are a couple of clarifications.
When I say "mast" , I mean that thing in the ground or on your roof, that the motor is mounted onto.
When I say "move the motor up 'n down", I mean adjust on the motor's mounting bracket, how high up or down the motor is tilted.
When I say "motor shaft", I mean that crooked thing sticking out of the motor that twists.
When I say to "adjust your dish's Elevation", I mean swing the dish up 'n down at the elevation adjustment right on the back-side of the dish itself, where it mounts to the motor's shaft.
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Back in the c-band days, you always set the declination(dish elevation) and leave it, do adjustments with the elevation bolt on the polor mount. It seems to have changed with the little dishes.
That Stab chart is confusing, the first two diagrams are pretty self-explanatory, but I think the last two are reversed(wrong).
It wouldn't surprise me a bit if that advice (tweak the motor elevation) is a misprint or incorrect translation from another language. The instructions for most FTA equipment are not worth the paper they are printed on.
UPDATE: I got it all working again!
Well, What was the fix ??
Well, I went out and took the dish off the motor arm, undid the motor, realigned everything, tweaked it and all is good. I even gained 30w out of it Not sure, since my problems started when I hit the reset button on the motor, and then I lost the ends of the arc. Then I tried realigning everything (twice) and still had the same problem. So, looking at it when I went out Friday night, it appeared the last time I tok the dish off, I did not have it perfectly aligned with the motor arm. I also think I had the motor mounting bolts of kilter. Anyway, all is good. I do have another motor coming (I bid on it before I had this problem), so now to figure out what to do with it. I might sell it, or if I can talk a someone that I know into getting into fta, I could set them up
Not sure, since my problems started when I hit the reset button on the motor, and then I lost the ends of the arc. Then I tried realigning everything (twice) and still had the same problem. So, looking at it when I went out Friday night, it appeared the last time I tok the dish off, I did not have it perfectly aligned with the motor arm. I also think I had the motor mounting bolts of kilter. Anyway, all is good. I do have another motor coming (I bid on it before I had this problem), so now to figure out what to do with it. I might sell it, or if I can talk a someone that I know into getting into fta, I could set them up
Nothing wrong with two motorized installations Add in a T-90 for good measure, gotta keep the hobby going
Add in a T-90 for good measure, gotta keep the hobby going
I have run everything through my mind. I don't really have a need for it, so I will probably just list it for sale. I still have 1 extra Primestar to put to use. I have 2 receivers, 3 dishes. Hmmm.......
The good thing about the Cband dishes is that the two adjustments were reasonably independent.
On the H-H motors, they interact.
The only way to change your Ku declination to get it right (assuming you are targeting your southern bird), requires you to change the motors elevation, then do an opposite direction adjustment of the elevation on the back of the dish, to bring it back onto the satellite.
More I think about it, that's what you do on a C-band dish, too
At lest there, you can dial in declination if you need it, often by using washers to shim the mount.
If you follow the printed literature, and leave the motor alone, but adjust the dish's elevation, you are doing two things:
. adjusting the elevation of your beam
. adjusting your declination
That can't be good, and may be a reason so many people have trouble finding the arc.
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