2 motorised dishes - one receiver.

[Yorks]

Posted as requested. (First posted some time ago, but must have got lost in the move from SH).

System still in use with no problems :-

Well I finally got a round-tuit!

I have added a second motorised dish to my system - my first attempt at installing a motorised system , and have both dishes working fine (if a bit quirky) on my TM1500 receiver.

There could well be compatibility issues, with different combinations of equipment (some may work better some may not work at all), so I will give a full inventory of my system:-



Dish 1: Triax 88cm solid dish with Lemon 0.2 lnb and Fortec Star FS2100 motor.
This dish is situated at rear of house tracking the arc from 53E to 8W.

Dish 2: Raven Aries 80cm mesh dish with Lemon 0.2 lnb and Moteck SG2100A motor.
This dish is situated at front of house tracking the arc from 12.5W to 61W.

Technomate TM1500 CI+ Super receiver.

Global 2x1 DiSEqC switch (connecting dishes to receiver).




I have tried several combinations of DiSEqc switch settings - these work best for me:-

Dish 1 is connected to 'LNB A' on Global 2x1 DiSEqC switch and Dish 2 is connected to 'LNB B'.

In the 'Motorized Setting' menu I have tried 1.2 and Usals - both work equally well.

As you can see from attached photos below, in the 'Satellite Setup' menu, I am using DiSEqC 1.0 on dish/motor 1, and DiSEqC 1.0 and 1.1 on dish/motor 2.

The quirk is this. When I switch from Dish 2 to Dish 1 by selecting a channel or sat, the motor 'misses' the 1.2/Usals command and does not move. I think that the DiSEqc 1.0 command is taking priority - as dish 2 doesn't try to move instead - fortunately. The result is that if Dish 1 is already parked at the chosen satellite - then it switches to LNB A and works. If not - it reports 'moving to ....', and after a few seconds times out. After it has timed out, by selecting a different sat on dish 1 (it thinks it's already at the one chosen in the first place, so selecting the same one again doesn't work!) - it receives the command and moves to that position. After that, it skips between sats on that dish fine. I can live with that!

I had the same 'quirk' on Dish 2 when switching from Dish 1, but by using a combination of DiSEqC 1.0 and 1.1 - any number from 1-16, it moves fine - on it's first instruction! (If DiSEqc 1.0 is switched off it doesn't work). This combination doesn't work with Dish/motor 1.

Another quirk is that Dish/motor 1 won't nudge when rooted through the Global switch on either LNB A or B connection, but Dish 2 will nudge on LNB B but not on LNB A - although it will receive initial command on LNB A and move to relevant sat. I have tried all DiSEqC combinations and think this must be down to the switch. Dish 1/motor 1 behave the same on LNB A and LNB B switch terminal, so Dish 2/motor 2 is better suited to LNB B, giving full functionality on positioning and nudging.
To fine tune dish 1 if required (seldom now there is no Fox Sport ME), I just bypass Global switch and plug directly into receiver.

The newer SG2100A motor copes better on my system, although it could be a combination of receiver, switch and motor and DiSEqC protocol. A different combination would no doubt give different results.

So basically YES it does work - suffice to say that I've ditched the manual A/B switch, and my arse is getting wider by the minute!

Regards,

Yorks


DiSEqC settings for Dish 1 (First Photo) on 28.2E at the time

DiSEqC settings for Dish 2 (Second Photo) on 30W at the time

[crossbones]

Nice one Yorky bar! Would it work with 2 vbox`s in line do you think?

[Yorks]

Dunno Crossbones .

Possibly could work better than my system (seamlessly), as you would not have both DiSEqC 1.0 and DiSEqC 1.2 protocols in the equation with the V-Box.

Yorks

[redoxide]

Great info Yorks This is just what i needed as this is what im looking into doing.

[Yorks]

No problem Redoxide.

If you don't mind getting up off your backside, then a manual A/B switch definitely works. The major drawback with this however is that if you select a satellite on dish 2 while on dish 1, then dish 1 will try and go to the location. This may not be physically possible if your dish doesn't have enough clearance, so you need to set the hard limits on the motors. You can't use soft limits in the receiver menu as you have two motors and therefore four parameters. Hard limits on the SG2100A can only be limited down to a minimum of -20 degrees and + 20 degrees.

The setup that I use, automatically switches depending which satellite or channel that is selected. I have also limited my second dish's East limit to 20E ( just in case). I reckon it may hit the wall at about 40E, but in reality doesn't got past 12.5W unless I do a reference to '0'

My first dish can physically track the full arc, although anything further west than 12.5W is obstructed by the house next door.

Cheers,

Yorks

[arden]

interesting as ive got the same problem

my dish cant go much past 15 west as next door is in the way

is there much open now on 30 west ?

[rossiuk]

hi could you tell me where to get a motorised dish from

[bwanaish]

Hi Yorks,
i am new to this forum would appreciate your help. I have twin LNB
on 80cm fix dish for astra and hotbird with a fortecstar receiver. Upto
now the receiver was working fine but have lost all the channels and
there is no signal coming through. I have reset the receiver to factory setting and tried again but no joy. Can you pls advise on how to set-up
the freq, lnb, etc..just like you have posted the details on a tv in your
post.

thanks
bwanaish....

[bu abdulla]

hi sir how much i will bay to complete this job

[sby64]

Just thinking aloud, could'nt manual A/B switch be made automatic by adding a 12 volt relay?