AZBOX Need Old Timer Help With 10' Dish Setup

[ndennis]

I've been using my old 4DTV receiver to power my C/Ku 10' dish which sends the signal to my AZBox Premium HD.

The 4DTV is dying and it would be nice to have the AZBox power the 10' dish.

It's been many years since I've messed with this and I've forgotten much of what does what.

Looking at the back of the AZBox it appears there is no way to control a movable dish with the AZBox. Correct?

If I can leave the dish pointed where it is and figure out how to get power to it, then that is enough.

Does the AZBox send power to the dish through the cable?

I cannot find a way to adjust the skew with the AZBox so I have no idea what will happen when it switches polarities.


The cable running to the dish has a gang of four cables.

One is thinner and has three wires, black, red, and white.

Next to it is a cable with four wires, green, white (heavy gauge), red (heavy gauge), and brown.

The other two cables are for C and Ku band. The LNB has two cables going to it (as I recall). But I don't need C band.

Can my AZBox use these cables?

I have no idea how to connect anything to the AZBox other than the input.

If this is impossible, what do you suggest I use to power my dish?

Thanks for any ideas.

Dennis

 

[phlatwound]

Looking at the back of the AZBox it appears there is no way to control a movable dish with the AZBox. Correct?

Correct, Azbox will not move dish.

Does the AZBox send power to the dish through the cable?

Yes, but just to power your LNB(F)

I cannot find a way to adjust the skew with the AZBox so I have no idea what will happen when it switches polarities.

If you have a servo-type feed (CoRotor or PolaRotor with little blue box that moves the probe for polarity change) your AzBox will not change polarities. But the Az will control a voltage-controlled LNBF (LNB and feed are integrated in 1 unit).

The other two cables are for C and Ku band. The LNB has two cables going to it (as I recall). But I don't need C band.

I find it odd that you wouldn't want to have C-band...a lot more and better programming available on C. I guess you could use a C/Ku LNBF and just use the Ku part though.

Can my AZBox use these cables?

Yes.

If this is impossible, what do you suggest I use to power my dish?

As said earlier, the Az will power your LNB(F). If you want to move your dish you need a V-Box or G-Box.

Thanks for any ideas.

Dennis

You're welcome!

 

[ndennis]

The biggest reason I stopped moving my dish many years ago was the high cost of the positioner and they only lasted a year or two.

I found sadoun.com and I've contacted them.

If it's not too costly I'm going to try and get everything running again.

Is my 4DTV now a doorstop? Who is the best for getting it repaired?

Thank you phlatwound

 

[phlatwound]

...Is my 4DTV now a doorstop?

Who is the best for getting it repaired?

Thank you phlatwound

Technically, your 4DTV is not yet a doorstop, but it is getting close, definitely a dinosaur. The programming available for it is pretty sparse, and more is disappearing all the time. It can still be used as a dish mover and will receive some ITC DC2 programming, but I don't think there is much of that either.

If your 4DTV battery is already dead, and it's lost it's Unit ID it will never be able to be subscribed to programming again, so you need to check that if you are thinking of getting it worked on.

ATS Electronics is the place you want to send your receiver if you want to put some money into it and continue to use it. They can replace the battery and install the new maps.

If it was me I would kiss the 4DTV goodbye, look at getting a V-Box or G-Box to position the dish, get a microHD to view C & Ku-band, an LNBF (to replace the CoRotor servo-type feed) and then slave your AzBox to the micro for viewing 4:2:2 feeds. All of that would probably cost less than getting the 4DTV worked on and you would have a nice, modern FTA viewing platform.

 

[madmadworld]

what are you watching ?
want to watch ?

sounds like you need a actuator and you would be ok with everything if the wires are good.
the 4dtv should be ok as a mover and you don't have a lot of $$ to spend but if you buy a cheap actuator it will only last 2 years but a good one will last for many years Venture & Von Weise make good ones but $250+ get what paid for.
good luck

 

[ZetaMale]

Looking at the back of the AZBox it appears there is no way to control a movable dish with the AZBox. Correct?

The Azbox can move a dish with the help of either a Gbox or Vbox to do so. The Gbox or the Vbox will be inserted between the Azbox and the dish. The Gbox/Vbox uses Diseqc commands from the Azbox to position the dish.

Does the AZBox send power to the dish through the cable?

Yes. The LNBF is powered by the Azbox. If you're using LNB's with a polarizer then you'll have to replace the existing stuff on the feed with LNBF's.

I cannot find a way to adjust the skew with the AZBox so I have no idea what will happen when it switches polarities.

If you're using LNB's then you need to replace them with LNBF's. The LNBF uses 2 different voltages to change the polarity. These voltages come from the Azbox (or other FTA receiver) and are provided through the coaxial cable. This is different than LNB's which uses a mechanical polarizer and separate wiring - you don't need the polarizator with LNBF's.

The cable running to the dish has a gang of four cables.

You won't need the cabling for the polarizer.

The other two cables are for C and Ku band. The LNB has two cables going to it (as I recall). But I don't need C band.

Can my AZBox use these cables?

Yes. Since you're only using Ku band, you'll just need one of the coax cables and the heavy gauge wires for the actuator. The wiring from the dish will attach to the output connections of the Gbox or Vbox and you'll have a coax cable running from the Gbox or Vbox input to the Azbox. Once these connections are properly done you will be able to use the Azbox to program in the satellites.

 

[ndennis]

If you're using LNB's then you need to replace them with LNBF's. The LNBF uses 2 different voltages to change the polarity. These voltages come from the Azbox (or other FTA receiver) and are provided through the coaxial cable. This is different than LNB's which uses a mechanical polarizer and separate wiring - you don't need the polarizator with LNBF's.

Can you please explain how LNBF's get the skew correct if there is no fine tuning of the skew? Just curious.

 

[phlatwound]

Can you please explain how LNBF's get the skew correct if there is no fine tuning of the skew? Just curious.

The natural motion of a polar mount skews the whole dish as it moves across the arc, and the LNBF is skewed by the dish.

 

[pro96]

If it was me I would kiss the 4DTV goodbye, look at getting a V-Box or G-Box to position the dish, get a microHD to view C & Ku-band, an LNBF (to replace the CoRotor servo-type feed) and then slave your AzBox to the micro for viewing 4:2:2 feeds. All of that would probably cost less than getting the 4DTV worked on and you would have a nice, modern FTA viewing platform.

Why would he need a microhd for??? He already has an Azbox premium that can do 422 and c/ku viewing in one unit.

Unnecessary spending when his Azbox works fine.





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[Lone Gunman]

Why would he need a microhd for??? He already has an Azbox premium that can do 422 and c/ku viewing in one unit.

Unnecessary spending when his Azbox works fine.

The original post stated he has an AZBox Premium HD which DOES NOT DO BLIND SCAN. Blind scan didn't get included in the Premium model until the + version went on sale then shortly after that the Ultra showed up with blind scan also. I wouldn't buy any receiver now that didn't have blind scan capabilities.

 

[phlatwound]

If you really want to avoid unnecessary spending I would sell the AzBox...you can probably get enough from it to pay for the microHD, V/G-Box and an LNBF.

And if you are willing to do some hunting, start looking for BUDs with quality actuators that need a new home. You may have to take the whole works to get one but if you could find a nice newish Venture/Von Weiss/Saginaw it could be worth the effort.