Mercury II / V-Box II problem?

[bill190]

Problem with losing various satellites "position" and having to again tell the receiver/positioner where that satellite is located...

Equipment: Fortec Mercury II with Moteck V Box II (diseqc to 36 volt positioner controller).

The satellite list which came with my Mercury II has only one listing for many satellites which are in fact both C and Ku.

So I for these satellites, I am adding a duplicate name with C after it and adding Ku to the end of the existing satellite name. (So I can specify the C LNB for the C frequencies, and the Ku LNB for the Ku frequencies.)

I'm doing this as I go along. I started with the west America satellites (I am on the west coast) and am working my way east. I have my satellite list in the receiver sorted by position, and am working my way up the list (going west to east).

So I have about 12 satellites at the bottom of the list for which I have renamed the listings or added duplicate listings as needed, found the satellite, saved the position, then run a search and added channels.

Here is the problem...

As I rename and/or add satellites higher up on the satellite list, some of the satellites lower down on the list lose or change their position. (I'm also deleting paid only satellite names.)

I go to click on a channel I have added several days ago, and there is nothing! So I go into Antenna set-up, then to positioner menu, then notice that the dish is not pointed to where it should be. (I am keeping a record of the positioner numbers for each satellite as I go along.) So I move the dish back to where it should be for that satellite and save the position, then the channel works ok.

Then I go and rename/add/delete more satellites and again there will be satellites which have lost their position. Not every satellite, just some.

Anyone know how the satellite position memory works in the receiver software?

I'm wondering if in the receiver software, they number each satellite 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Then positions are saved in a table like "satellite 3 = position number 6"?

So when I go and add a new satellite which becomes satellite 2, all the other satellites further down the list would shift their numbers up one? Satellite 3 would become satellite 4, satellite 4 would become satellite 5, etc. (when I insert a new satellite name in the list)???

Anyway I'm going to add all the satellite names I need to and delete those I don't need, then reset all the positions. See if the problem stops occurring when I stop fiddling with the sat names.

Also I can't add new sats with the computer editing program. Bug?

 

[linuxman]

I can't tell you how the Mercury II operates, but I can say the following:

The position numbers are stored in the receiver, whatever brand.

The position location (number of pulses/counts) are stored in the VBox II. It doesn't care what order they are in. You can have position #49 stored for the middle of your arc and the VBox II will put it there.

One thing you should be sure of, is that your C-Band and Ku band on each satellite uses the same position number, and is stored at the same place (count) or everything will get hosed up, and you will run out of position numbers.

If all else fails, you might need to reset your VBox II to factory settings. I would only do that at the True South Satellite position.

Hope that helps.

Fred

 

[colbec]

Is your receiver supported by ChannelMaster or other software? One approach would be to create and edit this list entirely outside the receiver, using the CM software ability to rename, sort and arrange satellites in the list, and upload the finalized result. To try this on my coolsat would work, but take at least 10 times as long.

CM has the ability to add a satellite. Is there a reason why this approach would not work with a V Box II?

 

[linuxman]

Is there a reason why this approach would not work with a V Box II?

It will work fine with the VBox II. Then all he has to do is move to the respective satellites and set the count for the position number.

I do it that way with the Pansat. That way I get to start with #1 instead of #27 or whatever it is.

Fred

 

[bill190]

Is your receiver supported by ChannelMaster or other software?...

No, ChannelMaster does not yet support the Mercury II.

 

[Anole]

....mumblings...

How many C-band, and how many Ku band satellites are you saving?

I guess this problem is receiver-related, not specific to the Vbox...?
But, ya might be in untested waters because most people use usals...?

 

[linuxman]

As long as he saves each satellite with both the C and Ku at the same position he shouldn't have any problems saving all that are viewable from North America.

That is provided he has a way to re-claim the first 26 numbers from USALS reserved spots. Can't use USALS with a VBox II anyway, unless it is hooked up to a separate motorized Ku dish.

I don't know how the Merc II works in that regard, but I can do it on my Pansat.

Fred

 

[bill190]

How many C-band, and how many Ku band satellites are you saving?

I guess this problem is receiver-related, not specific to the Vbox...?
But, ya might be in untested waters because most people use usals...?

I have created quite a few new satellite names, have not kept track.

Basically I looked at lyngsat and wrote down which sats were C and Ku, then on the satellite list on my receiver, whenever there was just one listing for these sats, I created a new listing - to make a C listing and a Ku listing.

Basically I went through in one day and created all the new names I needed, deleted all the pay sats. Then almost every sat had changed its position!

I have had no problems since. So it is only if I create a sat name or delete a sat name that the problem occurs.

So I think there is a table in the receiver like this...

First sat on list position A
Second sat on list position B
Third sat on list position C

Now if I add a new sat and it goes between the first and second listing to become the second listing, then it changes the list to look like this...

First sat on list position A
New sat position B
Second sat on list position C
Third sat on list position (no position)

However note that the way the list is listed for the receiver probably is not the same as it would appear to you on the screen....

 

[Das Hammer]

I also have a MercII running through a VboxII positioner. I have also been adding new sats through the on screen menu as needed (store position, add a new sat, move the dish, store position, repeat). However, I have not experienced any position loss as you are describing.

I'm not so sure that I've ever deleted a sat from the list after I had already stored some positions. I usually go through the sat list and delete all of the Echostar and Nimiq sats because that frees up a lot of room for new transponders.

I suppose you could also try a power scan when it goes to the wrong position, then you'll know which sat it is on. It may help prove your theory above.

For what it is worth, I sorted my sats by orbital position using the on screen menu. So, as I've been adding new sats, they show up throughout the list, not at the bottom.

I think all of your troubles have something to do with deleting sats rather than adding them.

 

[bill190]

...I think all of your troubles have something to do with deleting sats rather than adding them.

That makes sense. Each time this happened, I had deleted a sat listing (as well as adding more)...