SG2100..... Digipower vs DMSI?

[B.J.]

I'm curious what people's opinion of the various kinds of SG2100 motors are, particularly between the Digipower and the DMSI?
As mentioned in other thread, I recently moved my 90CM Fortec to the top of my garage, and was having problems (which turned out to be mainly due to the flakey behavior of my Diamond 9000), so I replaced my old Digipower SG2100 with a new DMSI SG2100.

All I can say, is that compared to the Digipower, this DMSI motor is a piece of JUNK.
First of all, I went to put it together, and the nuts wouldn't even go on the U-bolts that hold the motor to the pipe. I had lost my tap of that size, so I basically had to tap the nuts by FORCING them on.
Also, the bolts that hold the bracket to the motor body were also VERY tight, and I had to force them into their holes too.
Then, I went to pre-align the thing with a digital level, like I've done with my Digipower version, but there isn't any flat surface on the things that you can use, and the bracket doesn't sit flat. Tried to use the latitude/elevation markings on the side, but they seem to be off by several degrees.
I FINALLY got the thing fairly well aligned, which wasn't easy due to the flakey behavior of my Diamond receiver kicking on and off on me, so I had to go out to the dish, and manually move the motor with the buttons, while watching for response on my meter. However THEN, I decided to to come inside, and tell the motor to go to a few sats via USALS, only to find that USALS doesn't work worth a darn on this motor. It's not too far off from 61.5 thru around 101, but after that it is WAY off. By the time I got out to AMC21 and CIEL2, it was off more than 5 degrees! And this ISN'T due to mis-alignment, I'm talking about looking at the degree markings on the motor. Ie I tell it to go to a sat, calculate the theoretical USALS angle, go outside, and the motor has gone >5 deg past the satellite! Manually move it back to the correct angle, and I get reception. This is making it a pain to get the sats programmed. My old Digipower was slightly off at the high angles, but generally it was close enough that I could still get a lock, and fine tune the sat in, But this thing is so far off, I have to give it 30-40 clicks back to the east before I see the channels lock.
Anyway, I'm REALLY sorry that I got this DMSI SG2100, basically I wasn't paying attention to the brand, only to the SG2100. I only got it because I thought that the parts might be tradeable with my old motor, but I wouldn't want to insult my old motor with anything from this thing. At least this motor so far has been able to remember diseqC-1.2 positions, which my old motor has started to forget. I think I'll probably eventually switch back to my Digipower, even though it has been giving me problems, but I'll probably play with this for a few days first.

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[DJ Rob]

Sounds like the same problems I posted about here a year or two ago. Do a search and you may find the thread. I think it was called "2100 issues" or something like that.

Mine wasn't accurate in it's tracking in the same way. As you go farther center, it would track farther than it was supposed to. Another member here had the same problem as well. It was a sensor problem if I recall right. I tried to work with DMSI and show they have a serious problem if people use these motors with USALS. We were all told that they were fine and it was operator error. As you can see my sig, I wouldn't deal with DMSI again.

 

[B.J.]

Sounds like the same problems I posted about here a year or two ago. Do a search and you may find the thread. I think it was called "2100 issues" or something like that.

Mine wasn't accurate in it's tracking in the same way. As you go farther center, it would track farther than it was supposed to. Another member here had the same problem as well. It was a sensor problem if I recall right. I tried to work with DMSI and show they have a serious problem if people use these motors with USALS. We were all told that they were fine and it was operator error. As you can see my sig, I wouldn't deal with DMSI again.

I bet I was probably one of those suggesting operator error too. If so, sorry. It wasn't until the past year or less that I even realized that there were more than one version of SG2100, and I've never had ANY problems with this Digipower thing, so I would have been skeptical of problems like this. I'm not sure where I got the Digipower, and I probably shouldn't mention where I got the DMSI, but I sure agree with you now. There was a thread a while back about different receivers or programs for PC receivers calculating the USALS angles wrong, and I can understand how programs could come up with small errors, depending upon how they did the calculation, but there is no excuse for a motor not being able to go to the proper angle.
It's hard to believe that it's a sensor error either, it's possible that they somehow calculated incorrectly how many sensor pulses equal a degree or something, but they'd have to be idiots to do that.
Anyway, I wish I had paid more attention to your previous post, but I guess with at least 3 different versions of SG2100 that all look alike, I would have never suspected that there was this much difference between them.

 

[Mikey11]

easy way to tell if your SG2100 is authentic or not.....

one manual east/west button on the motor = original authentic SG2100

two manual east/west buttons on the motor (one for east, one for west) = SG2100 clone

 

[SatelliteAV]

easy way to tell if your SG2100 is authentic or not.....

one manual east/west button on the motor = original authentic SG2100

two manual east/west buttons on the motor (one for east, one for west) = SG2100 clone

Except that the "authentic" SG2100 motors had the documented issue with not returning to the zero position on one batch and the "authentic" SG2100 motors were also imported for some time with the two button design......

With that said, The "authentic" SG2100 motors have returned to the single button design

 

[B.J.]

easy way to tell if your SG2100 is authentic or not.....

one manual east/west button on the motor = original authentic SG2100

two manual east/west buttons on the motor (one for east, one for west) = SG2100 clone

Both my Digipower and DMSI versions of the SG2100 have the one button design, but the motors are drastically different. I have no idea of which of the 3 or so SG2100s (I think Motec also makes a version too) is the original, which are clones, and which are made by the original manufacturer but sold under different names, but what I DO know is that the DMSI model that I just bought was very cheaply made, is hard to align due to inaccurate angle scales, and doesn't work on USALS.

 

[Magic Static]

I have had 7 of these SG2100 and clones. They all were unreliable and did weird stuff during USALS operation at times. I ended my problems by doing a "external power modification" on them. Have not been up the ladder since Now most people would say that it's my cabling causing problems or switches. I screwed with them with no fix at all. But now all is good.

 

[Mikey11]

the only authentic SG2100 motors come from DMSI.....if your SG2100 does not have a DMSI logo and sticker on the top cover of the motor then you have a clone!!!

 

[jaray]

I was going to say that perhaps we should ask the couple common vendors that people on this site use most often, if they can confirm if the model they each sell is original or clone. Put the onus on THEM to tell US which they stock. And if a buyer receives one that is indeed a clone then send it back, and keep sending them back until the issue is solved. I think asking the very people who are selling these units will separate the good dealers from the shady dealers who sell clones and don't truthfully admit it.
I also think any reputable dealer who wants to stay in business and be considered the "place to deal with" would definitely be truthful when it comes to their products. If not, word gets around pretty quick.

the only authentic SG2100 motors come from DMSI.....if your SG2100 does not have a DMSI logo and sticker on the top cover of the motor then you have a clone!!!

 

[B.J.]

Now, I'm more confused, re who makes what and which is original, etc. I just looked at the box that the NEW DMSI came in, and I noticed for the first time, that the box says both DMS International, _AND_ "Digipower". After 3 or 4 years, I no longer have the box that the original Digipower came in, but my original motor ONLY says Digipower, not DMSI, and the NEW motor ONLY says DMSI, not Digipower. Also, the NEW one says made in Taiwan. The original one didn't say where it was made. If it's true that DMSI is the original, then I think that they must make different variants of the motor for different prices to different dealers, because this new motor is really different in appearance as well as function. I just noticed one additional interesting thing that's printed on the box, and that is that it says "Adjustable Hardware Limits". My original motor had hardware limits set by a cam wheel, and I can't see any possible way that they can be adjustable, since both limits are activated by the same bump on the cam wheel, and the switches can't be moved. It looks like on this NEW motor, you remove the bent shaft, which exposes a couple slider things that allows you to adjust the limits. The bolt/nut on my old one is so tight, that it bends the hex wrench before it comes off, so I can't look under the shaft, but there doesn't seem to be ANY possible way there could be an adjustment in there. So there are MAJOR differences between these two motors.

 

[SatelliteAV]

You are confusing a brand / model with manufacturer / model. An importer may purchase from several different manufacturers but label the product with the same brand and model naming. I am sure that you have an "authentic" unit, but the importer is distributing a different product using the same model name for marketing purposes of name recognition.

BTW.... Clones are exact replicas of the original that are passed off as being the original product. Not to be confused with OEM products that often originate from same factory, but with other branding and often varying quality of build parts.

 

[Wescopc]

The only thing "authentic" about the SG2100 is that it is a dish motor! LOL
DMSI used to tell every one that they were the only "authentic" distributor of the SG2100. But they have used different manufacturers and marked them as "authentic" SG2100, even using the Digipower brand marking on the box. I don't think you could ask them for the truth - because every motor they sell (even by different manufacturers) is marked with their genuine logo! Ergo AUTHENTIC!
Bob

 

[Tron]

I have two Moteck SG-2100s, and, although they feature single button operation, they are very different from the DMSI SG-2100s (of which I also have two).

 

[B.J.]

The only thing that is clear to me at this point is that there is basically no way to tell what it is that you are buying, and if it's true for the 2100, there's no reason that it would be any different for other models.

 

[AcWxRadar]

First of all, I believe that SatelliteAV hit the nail on the head regarding the MFG vs the brand. I think that the same company commissioned a different MFG at different times to create this motor with slightly differet specs each time, so there are probably several flavors or adaptations of the same motor.

I have used the DigiPower, the Motek and the DMSI labeled SG2100 motors and without recalling the obvious and specific variations, I really can't say that there was one that bested the others.

Obviously, there were differences that made one style a little more likable than the other. But, overall, I did not find a great deal of difference in any of them.

There were two specifics that I can cite that were noticeable, but I cannot recall which aspect went with one or the other motor style. The differences that I detected were that one was less "gutsy" and had a more difficult time driving the larger and heavier dishes. One had lesser quality switching relays installed which were prone to early failure.

However, like I stated, I don't recall which one was better and which one was worse, but there WAS a detectabe difference here.

I have since been using the DG-280/DG-380 series PowerTech motors from Sadoun and forgot nearly everything I learned about the SG-2100's.

RADAR

 

[DJ Rob]

I have since been using the DG-280/DG-380 series PowerTech motors from Sadoun and forgot nearly everything I learned about the SG-2100's.

RADAR

Me too. I would say if you want a motor, get a DG-280/380.

I spent many hours over a few months with the headaches of troubleshooting the manufacturing "issues" of the different 2100's and 6000's.
The money savings is not worth it and at least in DMSI's case, they didn't want to hear that there are any problems with the motors they are importing no matter what evidence was presented.

I installed my DG-380 in 10 minutes almost 2 years ago and it has worked perfectly since!

 

[Mikey11]

Me too. I would say if you want a motor, get a DG-280/380.

comparing the DG280/380 motors to an SG2100 is comparing apples to oranges....if you want to do a FAIR comparison then you compare the DG280/380 to the SG9120....and in my opinion the SG9120 wins easily....