Twinhan and USALS

[newera]

Hi all,
New member in this forum. Hope someone can help me with my problem.
I got a new Twinhan AD-SP400 and I am finding problem to tune to satellites.
I am using DVBViewer and I can tune to Astra channel when I move to position 2.
However when I try to go to Hotbird 13E satellite it seems that motor is not moving correctly. Actually it is moving to 16E. Basically motor is moving but not correctly.
Can someone tell me how I can fine tune my satellite or else maybe there is software which is not a plugin and maybe has some more feature which can let me know whether the satellite is ok.
I also use ProgDVB, MT with no luck since the same thing is happening when I am trying to move to position 1.

Thanks

 

[satcom1]

If it is a SG2100 or varient of it and you are using USALS it may not work correctly.

Some of these motors had a problem where they would not go to zero. 4 degree west problem, they cannot track the arc correctly.

Some of these motors have an overshoot problem and you over shoot the sat by as much as 10 degrees. This has a work around, take lat and lon out or software and use Diseqc 1.2 and store sat positions. See ProgDVB site for Diseqc 1.2 Manual.

 

[newera]

HI Thanks for the reply.
Can you please explain more in detail on what I need to do?
I installed ProgDVB 5. Should I use its positioner and try to use the GOTO TO STEP that it has?
Moreover when I store positions will I overwrite the motor positions?

My motor is for sure USALS since it is a STAB 1100 or something like that and I have a friend of mine who has the same motor and is working well with USALS.

Thanks

 

[satcom1]

Ok, you should have said you have a Stab Motor in your first post, you can never put in too much info ;-)

Stab is a very good motor and you really should not be having this kind of problem with the motor.

In ProgDVB are you sure you entered the correct lat and lon in the USALS window?

Did you enter (minus XX) for your longitude? ie: -89345l lon 45.234l lat.

Diseregard the Diseqc 1.2 for now. Try to get USALS working right.

 

[newera]

Hi
No I did not input a negative number for the longitude. So, if I am understanding correcty if my long. is for ex 42 I need to input -42.

Today I went on the roof to check what is happening and these are my findings,
With ProgDVB motor is not moving at all. I am using latest version of ProgDVB (version 5 something).
With DVBViewer and MT motor is movng but as I said it is not point correctly to Hotbird when I select position 1.

A funny thing is also happening. Sometimes when I give a command to the motor, the motor goes to the position, then it returns to another position and finally moves to the position I am giving it.
Sometimes the motor even goes to 4 different positions before actually stopping to the original position I give it.
This iis something that was happening even with my Skystar DVB-S. In fact I changed to Twinhan because I thught that the problem was with the card but it seems it was not.
Now I do not know whether the motor that is causing the probem or my PC.

Thanks very much for the help.

 

[starman345]

It sounds to me like you are using both Usals and diseqc1.2. No need to store positions if you are using Usals. Usals is a lot easier to use. You mention Hotbird and Astra, if you are in Europe, west of London, there is no need to input a minus sign before your longitude. Nothing personal to you newera but I wish people would include their location and list their equipment in their signature file. It would make helping people a whole lot easier.
If you are used to storing positions in the motor then disable Usals, it sounds like the motor might be confused by both usals and diseqc1.2 commands.

 

[satcom1]

Newera,

From your last paragraph it sounds like you may have a defective motor. __it happens.

If you can't move the motor with ProgDVB then you don't have your software se t up right. Did you go to the Prog site and download the Diseqc 1.2 Manual and read it?

You don't give us a clue as to where in the world you are so maybe you use minus or maybe you don't.

Did you go to one of the lat/lon sites and get your numbers? Did you copy them in right? If you have that screwed up then usals WILL NOT work right.

 

[newera]

HI all,

Sorry for not giving you enough information. So I live in Malta and these are my coordinates Latitude : 35.92N, Longitude 14.45E.
I use my GPS device to get the coordinates.

Since previously I owned a Technisat Skystar 2 I used to use Diseqc 1.2 to move the motor. Since I was having problems to move the motor with Skystar 2 I decided to get a Twinhan AD-SP400 to move the motor.


Since I got my Twinhan I installed new versions of DVBVIewer, MT, ProgDVB and DVBDream. As I said in my previous post I cannot understand how ProgDVB is not moving the motor.


Since Twinhan is USALS approved I nowadays use USALS to move the motor.

I did not read ProgDVB diseqc manual since when I tried to use help it redirected me to their website and I could not find any manual.

My other concern, as I said earlier is that the motor acts in a crazy way. Sometimes before it moves to the location I send it, it moves to 3 other locations. Let me give you an example,

If the motor is in position 2 and I tell it to move to position 1 it does this,
First it goes to position 1 correctly, then moves to position 2 and then moves to position 1 and then stops. This sometimes is also repeated for more than 2 times.

If want move information I will give it to you since I am getting crazy with this motor.

Hardrware used : AMD Athlon X2, Windows XP, Motherboard : Foxconn socket 939.

Thanks very much for all your help

 

[satcom1]

Download ProgDVB 5.x

This is the manual link.

In ProgDVB if you tell it to go to a channel you have not scanned in it will go there not see the channel and go back to the first channel.

I don't trust your GPS. go to www.satsig.com and get your decimal equivalant lat and lon. you may be entering your lat and lon in degrees/minuts/seconds which wont work.

 

[newera]

HI
The long and and lat were correct because I have placed a note of these values from the previous installation. In fact my values were Long 14.26, Lat 35.55.
But anyway, today I went to a sat shop and he told me that to reset the stab motor I have to take off the lnb from the motor and leave only the cabe going down to the PC, then move west and then east. He told me that this wll reset the motor.

Thank very much

 

[newera]

Hi all,
Just an update. I removed the LNB wire and I move dish west and then east but I do not think the motor did actually reset.
However I managed to move to Htbird and now USALS position 1 and 2 are correct. Basically what I did is the following
I opened positioner in DVBViewer, used the goto step command and when I thought that the dish was on hotbird I hit halt and then stored position on 1.
Now when I move to position 1 it moves correctly to Hotbird.
What I stil cannot understand is that in the step box I inputted a very large number 100000 and the dish still moved for about 7 seconds so it still seems that there is a problem.
I also have to figure out why when I click on channels from Astra to Hotbird r vice versa motor does not move automatically. But this is smehing which should not be a big probem since I can use the positioner to move the dish.

Thanks for the help

 

[starman345]

Hi all,
Just an update. I removed the LNB wire and I move dish west and then east but I do not think the motor did actually reset.
However I managed to move to Htbird and now USALS position 1 and 2 are correct. Basically what I did is the following
I opened positioner in DVBViewer, used the goto step command and when I thought that the dish was on hotbird I hit halt and then stored position on 1.
Now when I move to position 1 it moves correctly to Hotbird.
What I stil cannot understand is that in the step box I inputted a very large number 100000 and the dish still moved for about 7 seconds so it still seems that there is a problem.
I also have to figure out why when I click on channels from Astra to Hotbird r vice versa motor does not move automatically. But this is smehing which should not be a big probem since I can use the positioner to move the dish.

Thanks for the help

Hi Newera, glad you are making some progress. I still think you are confusing, perhaps mixing Usals and diseqc1.2. With Usals you don't need to store any positions, just put in your longitude and latitude....thats it, when you select Astra, it will go there, select a channel on Hotbird, it will move there, and so on. With Diseqc1.2 you move the dish manually like you are saying, until you get to a satellite then store that position. You say you have stored the positions of the satellites in Dvbviewer, if so, then you are no longer using Usals and need to take out your longitude and latitude, or Usals may still be over riding your Diseqc1.2 postions. Hope you can get your problem solved

 

[satcom1]

Rotor Sat HH90 Manual

I did not have to do this when I set up my Stab HH motor but this is what the manual says;

Find a satellite and tweak the signal for maximum. send the "Recalculate" and all factory stored satellite positions will be realigned with this saved satallite position. Do not send another "Recalculate" command.

The manual does not have a reset procedure listed.

By the way there are different memory locations within the motor. One location is for the factory stored satellite positions and you can't erase this, it is in firmware. For Diseqc 1.2 another memory location stores up to about 22 satelite locations. These are in Volatile Memory and if you lose power to the motor while it is moving you will lose these and have to reprogram them.

That sounds like a hard reset.

In ProgDVB the software does all that for you. Once you find any of the satellites you have selected for channel searh the others are calculated by software. Also ProgDVB will do AutoFocus or Autotune with this motor.

 

[newera]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the help you are giving me.
I know that I did not do the ideal thing but it seems that it is the only thing that worked correct.
At least now when I am moving from Astra to Hotbird it is moving correctly. Previously when I was moving between these 2 satellites the satellite was only moving for 1 seconds when it should have moved for 3 seconds to find the correct position.
I know that the Stab motor has 22 defined positions then it has another 25 user defined positions.
I am really confused but at least now it seems that I can get these 2 satellites.
What I need is to get someone who fixes satellites and maybe he would be able to realign it properly.

Thanks

 

[newera]

HI,
It's me again.
As I said I have 2 positions Astra & Hotbird which are ok now. However I have a small issue with DVBViewer.
When I move from a channel in Astra to Hotbird, motor does not move. I need to go to the motor menu and click on GOTO myself.

Does anyone know about any solution for this?

Thanks

 

[starman345]

In dvbviewer, channel editor, select the satellite on the left(astra or hotbird), on the right, in the diseqc drop down box choose positioner, under that choose the position number you have assigned to that particular satellite, then click "update". Do the same with the other satellite. Hope this helps you

 

[newera]

HI
Thanks for the quick reply.
Yesterday I tried that. When I was selecting the root node and then selecting USALS and then POSITION 2 and then clcking on UPDATE, it was not saving. Therefore when I closed the window and reoponed it and went to the ASTRA root the DISEQC dropdown was empty and therefore did not save the new setting. I clicked on UPDATE and also on the SAVE button on the left. So it seems that the setting is not saving.

BTW, when I scanned ASTRA/HOTBIRD I made sure that in the dropdown I selected USE POSITIONER and then clicked on POSITION 2 or 1. The dish moved to right position and when I move to ASTRA and HOTBIRD channels the correct position is saved for each channel. However the root node ASTRA/HOTBIRD does not contain the position saved in the drop down.

Something else which is very strange is this. In order for the motor to move I need to press the GOTO button twice (in the DISEQC window) or else I need to keep pressing the GOTO button for about 3 seconds. This is really strange.

Thanks

 

[starman345]

If you are seeing root node, then you are selecting a channel not a satellite, highlight Hotbird or astra on the left and try the settings I outlined above then update. Then open a Hotbird channel in the channel editor and you should see the data you saved?

 

[newera]

All my channels have the correct position (both for ASTRA and HOTBIRD) and USALS is selected for each channel. This is because when I scanned channels I selected goto positioner.
Only the root has no position selected but as I said all channels have the coorect position so they should move when I select channels