Winegard SF 1000 Sat Finder causing interferrence ??

[slywuf]

I ran into a weird problem when I installed my Micro HD Geosat Pro receiver. I have this connected to a SG6100 DiSEqC H-H Mount. I put my SF 1000 signal strength meter in series with the LNBF and the SG6100 to tweek the antenna. The SF 1000 worked like its supposed to, but I noticed that when I told the receiver to move to another satellite (USALS) the dish would not move. Take the sig meter out and the dish moves just fine. Put the meter back in and at one point, the dish moved a couple of degrees all by itself, which resulted in the USALS calculations not being right anymore.
I had to do a factory reset on the receiver and start all over again to get things back in sync. Something definitely whacky going on when I put this meter on. Do I have a bum meter; wrong type of meter; or whats going on here?

 

[primestar31]

Is the meter BETWEEN the lnb and the motor LNB port? <(Where it should be) Or did you install it in the line between the receiver and the motor IN?

 

[slywuf]

Yea, for sure I was placing the meter tween the LNBF and the motor LNBF port.

 

[Lak7]

Remove the cable from the Motor to the LNBF, leaving cable from Receiver to Motor connected, and try moving Dish.

 

[slywuf]

What will removing the meter and LNBF prove? The system works just fine (dish moves just as it should) with the LNBF connected
and signal strength meter OUT of the circuit. Its only when I place the meter in series with the LNBF that goofy things happen.
Logical conclusion must be that the meter is bad. Just wanted to know if anyone else has ever run into this problem.

 

[FaT Air]

Might not be 'bad' but 'as designed'. Just not designed to be 'commands' compatible.
Got a feeling that the meter is loading the 22khz excessively. Causing the command signals to be attenuated or lost totally. May be some large value caps doing it. Confirmation/'work-around' could be had with a LNBF splitter with one port power blocked. Power blocked port to the meter. Power the meter with a couple of 9v batteries (wired in series) to the meters 'to receiver' port.

 

[slywuf]

Thats pretty much what I was thinking, regarding the Winegard SF 1000 meter not being compatible with the new FTA systems. I think this particular meter was left over from the early C band days. I'd have a look inside the meter, but its sealed up tight. Perhaps over time, some component inside the SF 1000 has changed that is loading the 22 khz as you pointed out. How about the cheapie Chinese signal strength meters that are now being sold on eBay.... should one of those work just fine on my FTA system?

 

[Titanium]

Save your money! Signal Strength meters are not a great tool for aiming FTA systems.

The meter inside the DVBS/S2 receiver is much better. The STB meter shows the Signal Quality, which is a estimate of the percentage of good digital signal vs noise. Signal strength meters only show if the dish is aimed at a signal source. It will not provide feedback for optimizing the polarity skew or provide any indication of what satellite the dish is aimed at.

 

[Lak7]

What will removing the meter and LNBF prove?

One of my motors will not run unless an LNB is connected

 

[slywuf]

Yes, I agree that the signal quality meter built into the Micro HD is a much better indicator, but for doing fine tuning adjustment of
the dish position, while out at the dish, the little in-line signal strength meter works well. Beats dragging a little TV out to the dish.
Speaking of polarity adjustment..... is it true that for a motorized KU dish that you leave the skew adjustment at 0 ?

 

[Lak7]

is it true that for a motorized KU dish that you leave the skew adjustment at 0 ?

Yes - when the Dish rotates, the skew is taken care of.

 

[Titanium]

Common misconception... An inline analog meter will not give appropriate information for fine tuning. Often dish aiming is optimized by using a single polarity and transponder , not the all horizontal and vertical signals from all carriers dumping on the analog meter! No way to fine tune the skew and also remember the 3rd axis, sliding the LNBF towards and away from the dish will change the SQ and will not be reflected with the analog meter.

Gets the dish aimed towards the ballpark, but not for optimizing...