Twinhan ProgDVB and USALS

[Spin]

I have an SG2100 and am trying to control the motor with the PC. I tried using the plugin for ProgDVB and it isn't working. Is there something I'm missing? I fill in my Lat and Longitude and select the sat I want to go to and nothing works.

Spin

 

[CharredPC]

Ah-HA!

Sorry, lol, but I've been wondering if there was a Twinhan issue wth this. I have the exact same setup (Twinhan 102g / SG2100 / ProgDVB) and I can't get USALS to work. So let's see if your situation is exactly the same (so Cascade will stop accusing me of letting all the smoke out of my equipment using FrankenLNB... sorry, inside joke):

Park yourself on a working satellite, preferrably your true south bird (or close). Notice your signal / quality levels. Now tell your ProgDVB to USALS to the next satellite over. It'll appear like nothing happened. Going out to the motor, you'll see the motor barely moved, if at all. Now try the next bird over. Nothing, right? Okay, now choose a bird more than 20-25 degrees away. Did you finally lose quality? I do. Going and looking at the motor at this point, mine's barely moved at all.

This happens to me even with a fresh ProgDVB installation, and a new DiseqcU plugin. I've theorized that maybe the Twinhan card isn't working properly with angular "Go to" commands, though simple Diseqc movements are fine. Please try this and let me know!
I need my dignity back... lol.

 

[Spin]

Mine is similar. It only moves a small amount when connected to the twinhan. When connected to my coolsat pro it works correctly. But the sg2100 doesn't do anything close to correct when connected to the twinhan. I can't get it to move more than a little even when motoring from 93 (True south) to G10.

 

[Cascade]

Hi Spin, try unplugging the LNBs then see if your positioner is moving.
Let me know if that works.

Edit:
If that doesn't work try this:
1. Turn your machine off for 15 mins, let it cool down.
2. While it's off unplug the LNB/switch, keep the motor plugged in.
3. Restart your machine, load up the software and see if your motor moves.

If that works try steps 1 and 3 (Plug your LNB back in)

Where did you buy the card?

Edit 2:
On some revisions of the card the Loop/LNB F-connectors are labelled incorrectly, try plugging your cable into the other socket, it shouldn't harm anything but the usual disclaimers apply.

 

[jerryt]

I didn't know that the SG2100 supported USAL?

I have a Stab HH90 which worked perfectly with USAL under the original Twinhan program and card, but would have problems locking up, just like my SG2100. (See Positioner Heart Surgery)

My SG2100 never responded to USAL commands, but works fantasticially under the Positioner Console of MyTheatre. I get 90 impulses or steps to one degree of movement, and 20 step to fine tune the signal. Now I can find satellite just by entering the number of step from a known (saved) satellite.

I got the CBS 4:2:2 feeds on 107.3 last night, just by going x number of steps west of 105. Awesome being able to find new satellites this way.

 

[Cascade]

SG2100 works with USALS perfectly, used it on my Nexus and Coolsat with no probs.

 

[CharredPC]

Sounds like no one who owns a Twinhan can get USALS working!
I feel better... in a way. Kind of bites. Maybe somone smarter than me can actually find out what bad data is being sent to the SG2100..? Also, if somone knows the exact hex commands for USALS direction, those commands can be entered in manually, and we can see if it's just the card sending the wrong thing.

For now, all I do is use the Drive Motor commands in ProgDVB and MyTheatre to find tune each satellite, then save it in MT. This has worked fine, though having USALS would be nice. I use a set-and-drag type system in which I set the frequency to a known transponder on the bird I'm looking for, then click over by 2, wait a few seconds, and do it again, and again, etc. Eventually I find the bird (scan the transponder and make sure) then save the bird's position in MT.

 

[vj9999]

I have never had problems using USALS with Twinhan, SG2100 and Twinhan's original software. The only tricky thing is to set longitude as a negative value.

 

[greyskies]

Nexus-S rev. 2.3, ProgDVB and USALS or Positioner Software?

SG2100 works with USALS perfectly, used it on my Nexus and Coolsat with no probs.

Hey there Cascade (or anyone else with information):

I have finally made my htpc operational with an Abit Motherboard, Nexus-S rev. 2.3 PCI-DVB tuner card, ATI Radeon XL 800 PCI-Express graphics card, etc., etc., etc. Its really a great feeling to get your system to actually work in both hardware and software modes. Now, I am starting to fine tune my unit.

So my question is whether there is any software that I could install that would let me control my SG2100 motor by software in order to switch between satellites on my htpc? As stated above, I am using ProgDVB version 4.62.4. I would like to stay with it, before switching to pay as you go software, like MyTheatre.

Also, I have tried graphedit and graphmaker, but having the darnedest time getting ProgDVB to recognize filtergraphs in .xgr format for software codecs. Any programs that people are using to create their own graphs for software mode?

Thanks for your guidance and thoughts,

greyskies in sunny South Florida (post-Wilma - may not have a water proof roof, but my 2.25" steel mast and 75cm Hotdish are still standing)