GEOSATpro Micro Timer issues.

[SatelliteAV]

The secret here is to not blame the user when the software doesn't work. Admit there is an issue and find a solution.

You will notice that the user has NEVER been blamed for a problem, only asked to be part of the solution (especially when it cannot be duplicated or the process of failure articulated.

Reports in this thread and sidebar conversations have been very vague with "Maybe, not sure, might be and I'll get back to you". It is very difficult to find a solution when it cannot be replicated in a test environment and reports are usually not followed up with trouble shooting suggestions.

I am sure that some type of timer issue(s) exists with the varied reports received. Are they related to connected equipment or system specific? Are there similarities between users equipment or services tuned? Is it related to power sources or ????

Your observations and input are valuable and desirable if it is helping to solve an issue or support fellow hobbyists!

 

[ihenry]

Thanks again, Brian,

I think you're onto something here. It takes about 25 seconds to move the dish from 125W to 87W and 30 seconds to move back. The moving dish notice is up for about 15 seconds. Sometimes I will get a no signal notice as the dish is still moving. I will try your suggestion on some recordings overnight. I'll let you know in the morning.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[primestar31]

The secret here is to not blame the user when the software doesn't work. Admit there is an issue and find a solution.

I don't think Brian has ever blamed the user.

You should try spending a couple years at a computer helpdesk for world-wide support, and try to get a straight answer out of an end-user without (hopefully) the chance of offending one, when the largest percentage of them aren't sure of how to even frame the problem.

You can go back and forth for some time, before you manage to hit the right one, and discover it's something as simple as they don't even have the device turned on.

"Rule of assumption" is a hard thing to beat depending on training and experience on either side, until you find the common ground between each other.

 

[rgk]

It seems to me that the wrong approach is being made to solving the problem of disappearing timers.There will always be conditions that make it impossible to complete a recording. It could be weather or mechanically related. The correct response is not to delete a weekly or daily timer. The options should be retry or give up and try again next time the event is schedule. Brians response was to bring up once only timers and a directTV commercial unrelated to the topic. I take that to be clouding the issue by mis-direction.

 

[SatelliteAV]

I saw the humor in one service provider blasting another over an onscreen warning. Thought that others might see the humor as it related specifically to your request.

Sorry will try to refrain from humor when discussing timer issues.... Back on topic...

RDK, Have you tried saving your .udf file, performing a Factory Reset, reload the .udf then set new timers? If so, we will go in another direction.

 

[ihenry]

Here are the results of the timer experiment that ran overnight. I had programmed 5 single event recordings, alternating between OPBS on 125W and LPBS on 87W. After each recording I set a non-recording timer to switch to the next channel to record. When I checked this morning, the MHD was on standby and the channel was OPBS on 125W. Only the first two recordings completed, OPBS on 87W and LPBS on 87W. All single event timers were set to off. The daily timer was still there. It looks like I will have to restrict myself to 2 single event times running at one time if using the two satellites. I'll try this again on channels on different transponders on the same satellite. Stay tuned. This is getting interesting.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[ihenry]

Here are the results of the timer experiment that ran overnight. I had programmed 5 single event recordings, alternating between OPBS on 125W and LPBS on 87W. After each recording I set a non-recording timer to switch to the next channel to record. When I checked this morning, the MHD was on standby and the channel was OPBS on 125W. Only the first two recordings completed, OPBS on 87W and LPBS on 87W. All single event timers were set to off. The daily timer was still there. It looks like I will have to restrict myself to 2 single event times running at one time if using the two satellites. I'll try this again on channels on different transponders on the same satellite. Stay tuned. This is getting interesting.

Cheers, iHenry

Oops. In above I meant to say "Only the first two recordings completed, OPBS on 125W and LPBS on 87W."

 

[SatelliteAV]

IHenry, thanks for sharing your testing. A few basics to help interpret the findings.
GMT ON or OFF?
Unit left in Standby or ON?
Amount of time between timers?
How much time between the alternating Channel/Recordings?

Enjoy the weekend!

 

[ihenry]

IHenry, thanks for sharing your testing. A few basics to help interpret the findings.
GMT ON or OFF?
Unit left in Standby or ON?
Amount of time between timers?
How much time between the alternating Channel/Recordings?

Enjoy the weekend!

Brian,

GMT was off. The MHD is running a manually set clock.
The MDH was left on standby last night and was on standby this morning.
There was at least one minute between any timer ending and another beginning.
There were at least 3 minutes between one recording timer ending and another one starting.
I hope this helps.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[primestar31]

I am running the 8/20 firmware at present.

I've had my MicroHD set to local time, standby OFF, permanently turned on for a little over 1 month now. I have a mix of some weekly, daily, and once timers set. Most of them are METV, some are THISTV (same sat) a few have been PBJ (KU- separate motorized dish, through a diseqc switch) So far, (once I noticed that sometimes when setting multiple timers in a row it changes the default to CHANNEL instead of the default RECORD, I now double-check each time) since that point, all my timers have fired flawlessly. I do have a few where I set them to say 59 minutes instead of 1 hour, to give a 1 minute buffer between the following back to back timer.

Here are a few bugs I have noticed when setting timers:

1: As mentioned above, when you are say programming 3 timers one by one, 1 and 2 are fine, but the 3rd one about to be set will "magically" change the defaults from RECORD to CHANNEL. I set these by pushing the CLOCK button (below the Blue button) on the remote, it brings up the timer screen, and then just going through that and making changes as needed.

2: Say I'm tuned to METV (101w), and I'm setting those 3 timers above, since I'm parked and tuned to MeTV, you'd think the default channel in that timer-set screen would stay on MeTV right? Wrong! it sometimes magically changes itself to a random channel out of any of the 1,000+ I have in my list. This happens on all subsequent timer settings past the 2nd one. I then have to scroll through the list, trying to get back to MeTV for choosing (or whatever channel I'm setting). Instead of a scroll list, could this be set to have the Search channel list come up, like when you press the "List ok" button?

Observation: There MIGHT be some component of either being in "All Satellites" list, versus having that particular sat picked standalone/singly whatever you call it. I have noticed for sure, that if I am set to that sat in particular AFTER a timer kicks off, it defaults BACK to the "All Satellite" list.

In other words: You'd "best practice" to ALWAYS only set timers when you are in the "All Satellites" list, otherwise you are guaranteed odd results.

 

[ihenry]

Good information on the timers last night. I set 9 timers to run 55 minutes each with a 5 minute gap, rotating over 3 HD channels and this morning 9 good recordings were waiting for me. The channels were PBS on a single transponder on 125W. The MHD was on standby last night and ended on standby this morning. This eliminates the hard drive (I thought it might be too slow) and some restrictive timer programming as a source of the problems. Tonight I shall set timers to record from different transponders on the same satellite. If this goes well the finger points to the motor and the timing and error handling of the firmware. We shall see. Perhaps there is a workaround this problem to be discovered. Intriguing.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[ihenry]

More good news. The timers from last night did as they were told, including two channels recording simultaneously. So now I have confirmed that the problem with the timers is somewhere in the the use of the motor in my case. I also suspect that if the timers are switching to a channel with a marginal signal an error may be generated, the timer process is stopped and the remaining timers lost. The basic problem seems to be signal error handling. I will have to try this by moving my dish slightly so Montana or OETA reception is marginal. And setting up timers to switch between strong and weak signals. Stay tuned.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[SatelliteAV]

Thank you for the updates with your tests.

Please confirm if the satellite selection in the channel list is set to ALL or to a single satellite.

 

[ihenry]

My satellite selection in the channels list is set to all. I have 7 satellites selected in my satellite list.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[chaskuchar]

my microhd timer incidents

just got my second microhd last week. set it up with a new antenna, 1.2 from satelliteav. have a dg380g motor from sadoun. big shaft on the dg380 and i don't have any other material between the clamps on the 1.2 and the motor. seems to be pretty solid. set the time and gmt is off. next day the time was off. was doing a lot of work positioning the dish. set the time again. the other receiver has changed a couple of time and twice it has gone to a stage that it is putting in different numbers that i am pushing. back up and keep insisting and it finally takes. one time i had to reboot to clear it so i could put in the time. i have the recorder working and the time works if the time is right. so far i do two programs once a week. charlie

 

[SatelliteAV]

just got my second microhd last week. set it up with a new antenna, 1.2 from satelliteav. have a dg380g motor from sadoun. big shaft on the dg380 and i don't have any other material between the clamps on the 1.2 and the motor. seems to be pretty solid. set the time and gmt is off. next day the time was off. was doing a lot of work positioning the dish. set the time again. the other receiver has changed a couple of time and twice it has gone to a stage that it is putting in different numbers that i am pushing. back up and keep insisting and it finally takes. one time i had to reboot to clear it so i could put in the time. i have the recorder working and the time works if the time is right. so far i do two programs once a week. charlie

One Paragraph loaded with so much partial information and about several systems. How about presenting organized steps and results separately for each motor?

What firmware version? Time off by how much? Power cycling during motor set-up? Taking into Standby and operate? Shorting the coax and cycling through voltage protection shutdown? Some of my random questions....

 

[chaskuchar]

timer incidents. all firmware 8-29. working with two units. i havn't been able to duplicate the change.

display different from key that is pushed: was only on my original microhd. first time was a major event where nothing i pushed was the same, and going out and coming back in to the task was the same result until i rebooted the microhd by unplugging power. second time after a couple of button pushes the number finally displayed correctly. this was coincidente with me checking the time when it changed on me. charlie

 

[SatelliteAV]

timer incidents. all firmware 8-29. working with two units. i havn't been able to duplicate the change.

display different from key that is pushed: was only on my original microhd. first time was a major event where nothing i pushed was the same, and going out and coming back in to the task was the same result until i rebooted the microhd by unplugging power. second time after a couple of button pushes the number finally displayed correctly. this was coincidente with me checking the time when it changed on me. charlie

Update us with the specific incident details if it happens again. Thanks for your help!

 

[ihenry]

The basic problem seems to be signal error handling. I will have to try this by moving my dish slightly so Montana or OETA reception is marginal. And setting up timers to switch between strong and weak signals. Stay tuned.

After a few days finally I get to try what I intended above. I was watching PBS on Tuesday night and got caught up in a show called "Election 2012". This American thriller had me up way past midnight. And last night I caught up on all the sleep I lost. Tonight I will set up as described above.

On another note, I noticed that the manually set MHD clock lags by between 2 and 3 minutes per day. I will make it a habit to correct this daily. I assume this is hardware related and cannot be corrected by firmware/software changes.

Cheers, iHenry

 

[SatelliteAV]

Do you keep the microHD in standby or operate mode when not in use?

If the receiver is left on, the manual time will stay in sync. If cycling between operate and standby mode, the seconds will round to the nearest minute during each cycle.

The power consumption is negligible between the two modes, so we recommend the unit not be placed in standby mode.