what do you think of the V box II?

[drhydro]

I am thinking of getting a V-box for controlling my BUD via a FTA reciever (probably the Fortec because it will control a polarotor). I realize most of you slave your FTA to your analog or 4dtv reciever, but for this setup I am going strictly FTA. What do you folks think of the v-box? Does it work as advertised?

 

[jcrunch]

I'm going to bump this up, because I too am thinking of using a V-Box II for an application, albeit a slightly different one.

I have a couple of questions someone here can probably answer, as well.

What I want to do is install a motorized Ku dish to pick up analog wild feeds (college football--my alma mater puts up its games on this type of feed for the in-state stations on various satellites). This is a slight problem, as there are few analog receivers being made today, and none of them (as far as I know, with the exception of the SatCruiser 2040) are both digital and analog and drive a Diseqc 1.2 motor.

So what I'm thinking of doing is buying an old analog C/Ku receiver, a V-Box II to drive the Ku dish, a Winegard .76 meter dish with a Ku LNBF, and an SG2100 (or GS120) motor to move the dish.

Will this system be able to track and view Ku wild analog feeds? Will I need to set both the receiver and the V-Box to the correct satellite/feed, or will the V-Box drive the old receiver, or what?

Thanks in advance to the combined brain trust here for your knowledge and advice. I realize this is kind of an odd use and mix of these technologies.

 

[tdti1]

I myself would slave it to a 4dtv or analog IRD, to catch analog fta (wildfeeds) but I would guess the V-box works good for what you are looking for.

 

[Shawn95GT]

The New VBOX (DP710) is a little different. You don't get a remote with it - it depends soley on DiSEqC commands from a DiSEqC 1.2 reciever. You can manually move the dish with the DP710 but you have to do it from the buttons on the box itself.

This doesn't help you cause much and frankly would be a pain in the rear to use.

I'd reccomend picking up an inexpensive DVB receiver to control the DiSEqC motor. Pick up a blind scan receiver such as the Fortec Lifetime Ultra and you'll add that much more functionality to your system.

Slave the Analog IRD to it and you've got the best of both worlds.

I'd reccomend getting a standard Ku LNB - especially if you don't get a remote with the analog box (common problem).

With this setup you could get both analog & DVB feeds / backhauls that are in the clear on however much of the arc your LOS allows.

The VBOX (& VBOX II) is intended to let a DVB box control an actuator (via diSEqC 1.2) for a 'big dish' system. It won't control a DiSEqC motor. I think there is or was a box that did the opposite but I can't find it for the life of me right now.

 

[jcrunch]

Shawn,

Thanks for the advice. Can you (or anyone here) direct me to a thread or other source for slaving the analog receiver to the Fortec?

 

[Shawn95GT]

There are a few options.

What most the guys in the FTA forum do is connect the analog receiver to the IF out on the DVB reciever. The 'gotchya' with this is that you are stuck with whatever polarity the DVB receiver it set to. Most receivers when turned off will pass the polarity switching through from the analog receiver.

The second option is to use a dual LNB and make two RG6 runs back to your receivers. 1 run will be a straight shot, LNB to the analog receiver. The other goes from the LNB to the motor and then from the motor to the receiver.

I haven't tried it, but you can also split a single LNB output with a HF splitter but you'd be at the mercy of the master receiver's polarity again.

The best bet would be a dual LNB and two RG6 runs.

I have a HTS System 20 Analog receiver that will be slaved to the Pansat when I get done with all the cabling. The Analog is just all the more channels and feeds I can watch .

Shawn

 

[iammike]

I'm very interested in hearing vbox II results as well. I just bought a Von Weise 24" actuator for my new-to-me 8 foot BUD, and did a lot of research on the vbox. I basically came to the conclusion that the vbox may be okay for smaller actuators and smaller dishes, but doesn't deliver enough power to reliably move a larger dish/arm. I thought about going with a Superjack before settling on the Von Weise, and the Superjack tech. support guy said that the vbox power output was marginal for use with their 18" arm. Basically the voltage is sufficient, but there just isn't enough current. From the power consumption chart that came with my arm, I'm pretty the Von Weise won't work with the vbox either. The vbox II is supposed to have a larger current output, but not by a lot. If somebody hooks one up to a larger dish I'd love to hear the results.

 

[Dishpointer]

I use a Vbox 710 to move my 1.2m Channelmaster microbud and 18" actuator. Iit was very easy to setup and it works great.

 

[bidaw]

I have a Channelmaster 1.2 and a 7.5' mesh. Trying to decide which to go with has been a chore. I have an 18" actuator, DMS ASC421 C-band LNBF, the VBOX, the ribbon cable and all. I would like to set up the smaller dish, but don't know how to mount the actuator to the channelmaster. At least on the mesh dish, there is an old actuator on it that I think I can just replace. Anyway...my question is (so I wont be hijackin the thread)...can you run the vbox via usals? I have set that up before and am comfortable with it. If not is there a guide somewhere to run 1.2?

I use a Vbox 710 to move my 1.2m Channelmaster microbud and 18" actuator. Iit was very easy to setup and it works great.

 

[Shawn95GT]

I have a Channelmaster 1.2 and a 7.5' mesh. Trying to decide which to go with has been a chore. I have an 18" actuator, DMS ASC421 C-band LNBF, the VBOX, the ribbon cable and all. I would like to set up the smaller dish, but don't know how to mount the actuator to the channelmaster. At least on the mesh dish, there is an old actuator on it that I think I can just replace. Anyway...my question is (so I wont be hijackin the thread)...can you run the vbox via usals? I have set that up before and am comfortable with it. If not is there a guide somewhere to run 1.2?

No on the USALS.

According to the manual with the VBOX it says to use the 1.2 commands on the receiver to steer the dish where you want it. This didn't work at all for me. I'd command West and the dish would cruise all the way to the west limit. If you sent another command it would stop but it wasn't really usable for peaking the dish.

I ended up using the E/W switches on the VBOX to set the position. Once I had the position set I'd hit store in position #28 or whatever on the receiver and I'd see P28 pop up on the VBOX's display.

I don't know if the Pansat is just goofy with 1.2 or if it's a side effect of the VBOX. The Coolsat handles 1.2 completely different. On the Coolsat you don't know (or care) what 1.2 position number you are using. Also with the E/W controls the dish would just nudge either direction.

There must be a nudge feature on the Pansat.... I just haven't found it.

It doesn't help that the dish swings at about 100 MPH with the 18" actuator / VBOX. Ok, maybe not that fast but I'm thinking 5 secs or so 45w to 148.

 

[kelleyga]

I use a VBox DP710 with a Pansat 3500s to move my BUD 10 feet. No problems so far, and I move it a lot fron side to side. 24" SuperJack actuator.

 

[jcrunch]

There are a few options.

What most the guys in the FTA forum do is connect the analog receiver to the IF out on the DVB reciever. The 'gotchya' with this is that you are stuck with whatever polarity the DVB receiver it set to. Most receivers when turned off will pass the polarity switching through from the analog receiver.
Shawn

Let me see if I have this straight. So using this method I would either:

1. Keep the Fortec turned on, and adjust the polarity on the Fortec (is this a fairly easy menu choice?); or

2. Find the correct satellite with the Fortec, then adjust the polarity with the analog receiver (assuming that the Fortec passes the polarity off to the analog receiver when it's turned off).

Is that right?

Can anyone with a Fortec Lifetime and a slaved analog receiver help here?

Sorry to have switched topics. Just trying to come up with a useable system, V-Box or not.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Let me see if I have this straight. So using this method I would either:

1. Keep the Fortec turned on, and adjust the polarity on the Fortec (is this a fairly easy menu choice?); or

2. Find the correct satellite with the Fortec, then adjust the polarity with the analog receiver (assuming that the Fortec passes the polarity off to the analog receiver when it's turned off).

Is that right?

Can anyone with a Fortec Lifetime and a slaved analog receiver help here?

Sorry to have switched topics. Just trying to come up with a useable system, V-Box or not.

Maybe one of the mods will split your question off over into the FTA forum. Analog receivers slaved is pretty common over there.

1. - What I did was set the first two channels on each sat so 1 was H, the next was V. You could do it in the menu too at may the dish pointing screen but changing the channel up and down is faster

2. Right. This 'should' work. Aim the dish with the Fortec, when the dish arrives on the sat, turn off the Fortec. Now the Analog receiver should be able to control the polarity (Assuming the analog receiver will do voltage switched H/V control). My HTS System 20 does and it looks ancient.

Unless a mod splits this off, you might consider asking over in the FTA forum.

Shawn

 

[iammike]

I use a VBox DP710 with a Pansat 3500s to move my BUD 10 feet. No problems so far, and I move it a lot fron side to side. 24" SuperJack actuator.

I assume you mean to move your 10 foot BUD, otherwise I'm really impressed.

Seriously though, that's good to hear. I'm thinking results must vary depending on the setup, as I also know of at least one dealer who has dropped the vbox due to too many returns. Is your BUD, mesh or solid?

 

[drhydro]

No on the USALS.

According to the manual with the VBOX it says to use the 1.2 commands on the receiver to steer the dish where you want it. This didn't work at all for me. I'd command West and the dish would cruise all the way to the west limit. If you sent another command it would stop but it wasn't really usable for peaking the dish.

There must be a nudge feature on the Pansat.... I just haven't found it.

Shawn,
I had the same problem with the "nudge" on my 2700. What I could do was hit east/west and then almost immediately hit east/west again. I got it down to where i could stop the dish pretty quickly, maybe as low as 6 "counts" on the actuator postition sensor. Not quite a nudge tho, with my analog reciever i can nudge a single "count" at a time.

 

[raydio]

I use a Vbox 710 to move my 1.2m Channelmaster microbud and 18" actuator. Iit was very easy to setup and it works great.

What receiver are you using?