Problem with Vbox II from Sadoun

[linuxman]

Just got my VBox II in from Sadoun, which was shipped out very rapidly, and I want to thank them for that.

The problem referred to in the title is in the specs in the book with the box I received and what is on Sadoun's website. http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Moteck/V-Box-II-control.htm

Motek's website is here.
The specs from Sadoun's website are below.

Specification:
Model V-BOX II
Input 110 VAC / 60Hz
Output 36 VDC
Max. Dish Diameter 3M No Max. Dish diameter specified in book
Max. Output Current 3.5A Book says 2.2A/3.5A (High Power Version)
Max. Power Consumption 80W Book says 70W/100W (High Power Version)
Protocol DiSEqC 1.0 / 1.2
Positions Memories 99 book in box says 60
Controled by DiSEqC 1.2 Receiver or Optional Remote Control
Display 3 Digit LED
Resynchronize Function YES
Manual Buttons Power ON / OFF, EAST / WEST
Protection Software Limit Protection
Electric Overload Protection

When I called to ask some questions about the conflicting specifications, which are in bold above, I was a little surprised by the response I got from the salesman. He basically gave me the run around, and passed me off to a lady salesperson who was very patient, and asked if I wanted to leave a voice mail for the boss. I said yes, and she gave me to a voice mail that was full.

I had to call back at least half a dozen times because the system kept hanging up on me. I finally got a live person again, and they said they were having problems with the phone. I asked that the boss give me a call and gave them my number as the boss was out for the rest of the day. Hopefully he will call me back.

Has anyone here ordered the VBox II from somewhere else? If you did, what were the specs on your box?

With all the talk about trouble with the original VBox, I am a little concerned about what I was sent. Also please don't misunderstand, I am not trying to bad-mouth Sadoun either. Just a little surprised with all the good things I have read about them on this site.

If you can help me out with these questions, please do so.

 

[linuxman]

Thanks Iafirebuff.

I'm sure it's just a misprint on the information. Just overly cautious about the problems with the original VBox.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Position memory is more of a problem with your receiver than with the Vbox .

I think the dish size limitation is kind of silly on this part. It is a guestimate. The only factor is how much current you're sending down the wire to run the actuator.

I hope it works out good for you!

 

[linuxman]

Hi Shawn95GT,

Thanks for your encouragement. I hope it works out too.

There is nothing worse than waiting on something to come in, and finding out it is the wrong thing or not, and maybe having to exchange it, and wait again.

I am ready to get on with the show, if my receiver will just show up now.

 

[voomvoom]

I hope you get this thing working too. I've seriously been considering an order for this, so I can have a 10' dish that runs off diseqc commands. I would love to have my Pansat or Coolsat control a 10' dish. I agree with Shawn, the dish size should be moot since the actuator will be moving the dish. As long as it puts the proper voltage to the actuator and knows when/how to stop and in the correct position, there shouldn't be any concerns. Why not go ahead and hook it up, and see how well it works?

Al

Al

 

[dfergie]

Me 3...

 

[linuxman]

I'll give it a shot in the morning as a stand alone positioner instead of moving it with the Drake, and see if it works ok.

As Shawn said, as long as it move the dish, and stops and starts in the right places, there probably aren't more than 60 birds to have positions for.

Right now, I have to make a run into the city. I got a call that a cousin of mine is in the hospital and probably won't last much longer.

I'll play with this tomorrow.

Thanks for your replies, we'll see how it turns out.

 

[iammike]

I think there's a lot of us that will be very interested in your results. If we can get a viable diseqc solution for moving a BUD, I might just put up a second one dedicated to FTA.

Sorry to hear about your cousin.

Mike

 

[bidaw]

I recently hooked up the same vbox II from Sadoun to replace my vbox that drifted all over the place. The new one is spot on!!! I think it moves a whole lot quicker as well.

 

[linuxman]

Thanks iammike and bidaw,

I won't have the Pansat 3500sd in my hot little hands until Tuesday. I intend to hook up the Vbox today as a stand alone positioner for the Drake, just to see how that works out.

I also had an idea about allowing the Drake and the Pansat to be able to control the Polarity on the Corotor independently.

I stopped at the Rat Shack as Iceberg calls it, and picked up a stereo 2-way speaker selector which will allow me to wire the controls from the analog unit's polarity to one set of wires, and the Pansats polarity controls to the other set of wires, thus allow me to change from A (analog) to B (DVB) and allow each box to control polarity. When using the Pansat, it will control dish movement with DiSeqc. When using the Drake, dish movement can be controlled by the Vbox as a standalone positioner with it's remote control. The only thing I will have to get up off the couch for is to switch the A-B switch. The only thing I have to do on the A-B switch is rig up something that will disable being able to move it to the A+B position which allows both (speakers) to be heard at the same time which would probably kill the servo motor.

Thanks for the sentiment about my cousin. I did see him and he is pretty much gone. They are supposed to pull the plug today. He won't last long after that.

 

[Sadoun]

Linuxman

The specs you see on our website is what the manufacturer have sent and confirmed to us. It is also similar to waht is listed on the Moteck website. The difference in satellite positions could be a misprint on the manual. We will confirm that with the factory as well.

I think you will will have plenty of satellite positions to store into the VBox II.

 

[linuxman]

Thank you for responding Sadoun,

I merely had questions about the discrepancies from what is printed in the manual and what is on your website and Motek's.

I am one of those people who actually reads the manuals, and simply had questions. I had some things come up today that didn't allow me to hook it up and try it out as a stand alone positioner. My Pansat won't be here until Tueaday when I can try out the DiSeqc.

Thanks,

Linuxman

 

[Sadoun]

I am one of those people who actually reads the manuals

Good for you . I do that as well. I find it if you read the manual, it saves a lot of headaches and wasted time in trying to figure out what all the buttons are for

 

[iafirebuff]

Read the manual? I thought that was just a cushion to protect the product

 

[linuxman]

I used to sell welding supplies and industrial gases years ago and I worked with a guy who didn't like to read manuals. I sold a high dollar welding positioner and he said he would help me put it together to take to the customer. We spent almost a whole day working on that thing, and after about 4 hours I said that maybe we ought to read the manual. His reply was "that is so common".

Needless to say, at about 4 in the afternoon, we got out the manual and had it put together in about 2 hours.

I taught myself computers, networks, servers, and linux, all by reading the manuals and trying out what the manual said to do. I started learning computers in 1990, and have been paid to work on them since 1993.

I will confess, that the elevation/declination on a satellite dish almost had me stumped untill I found this website. It has the clearest instructions on how to set the elevation and declination on a polar mount that I have found. All the others are good, but this guys spells it out. The sum of two parts equals the whole.