Technomate DiSEqC Satellite Motor, with Dish & separate Freesat dish.

[cloudy]

Hello,

Although I have been a member for a while, I absolutely count myself as a novice; I am here for some expert advice, which I hope that I can get.

I have a DiSEqC Satellite Motor with its own large dish, I mainly use it to look at Astra 19.2E for Eurosport, I also have a Freesat dish, which looks at Astra 28.2E, both feeds connected through a DiSEqC switch, the output of the DiSEqC switch goes into my Crypto Box 752HD Combo, so that I can see the Astra 19.2E sat ( I move the motorized dish to see that sat ) but I also have that same single DiSEqC switch feed looped through the Crypto Box receiver to my TV Freesat tuner, so that I can see the Freesat TV tuner feed.

I am here to ask the following. When I move the motorized dish to Astra 19.2E, I can no longer view my Freesat Astra 28.2E on my TV using the TV tuner Freesat channels. None of the channels are available, is this because I need to do something here on the Crypto box Antenna settings page? I know that I could just use the motorized dish to move back to Astra 28.2E using my Crypto box to view Astra 28.2E, But I am curious to know the reasons why I cannot see the Freesat TV tuner feed if the motorized dish is not looking at Astra 28.2E via the Crypto Box.

The answer I think is staring me in the face on this settings page below jpg attached, but I have no idea what I am looking for. However, what I did notice is that when I put the coaxial lead feed out of the DiSEqC switch into a multimeter I hear a large alarm sound, so I think that a short circuit exists somewhere.

The DiSEqC switch is on the roof of my house, taped up by the previous satellite installers many years ago, the DiSEqC switch may well be faulty ?

I hope that I have made sense here. Thanks for reading this.

 

[ozumo]

You'll need to change the DiSEqC 1.0 settings on the TV to whatever port on the switch the 28.2°E dish is connected to.

 

[cloudy]

Thanks for your reply which is most welcome.

Ok, so the Antenna page starts up looking at Astra 28.2E on the crypto box menu as this is always the default position of the motor that I return the dish.

When I cycle through DISEqC1.0, I see the following.

None, LNB1, LNB2, LNB3, LNB4, BurstA, BurstB so how do I work out which port the freesat coaxial is attached too ?

Apart from going onto the roof and unplugging them both ? Is there a way I can ID that feed without calling out a satellite engineer.

Thanks

 

[cloudy]

I forgot to add, this page above is obviously the crypto box looking at the dish position the motor has found Astra 28.2e, not the separate Freesat dish that I need to find the port it is connected too, so how do I know that I am actually looking at the Freesat dish before I find the port.

 

[ozumo]

On that page set Motor to OFF. Then go to another none-Astra satellite (Hotbird 13°E should be fine) so the dish moves away from 28.2°E. Then go back to the Astra 2 28.2°E settings and try LNB1, then LNB2 etc in the DiSEqC 1.0 settings until the signal bars burst into life.

 

[cloudy]

Before your reply, I did exactly that ( however what I didn’t do ) was to move away from 28.2E and then back again which I have now just done.

So, I get signal strength of 83% and Quality 95% on all the ports from LNB1-4, also on Burst A&B, I also get the same readings even selecting Auto.

I am now wondering, if the alarm noise warning coming out of the multimeter is actually telling me the DiSEqC switch is broken, or is it a DiSEqC switch at all ?

Maybe the fitter just shoved a digital splitter on the roof, instead of a DiSEqC switch ?

Do you think it’s best I get a professional on the roof, as I think this is where my problem may be ?

 

[ozumo]

Did you set Motor to OFF for 28.2°E first and then confirmed the dish was pointing at another satellite? It's odd that you get the same signal readings from all DiSEqC 1.0 settings. You could try the DiSEqC 1.1 settings incase it isn't a 1.0 switch.

Alternatively you may be able to get the TV to control the motor.

 

[cloudy]

I tuned in the crypto box then I moved the remote curser and selected Astra 19.2E I can now see German Eurosport ( snooker on right now ) so I know that I have moved away from 28.2E using the crypto box to view it, I then turned off the box, and back on again, selecting 28.2E, I can see the dish moving back to Astra 28.2E is this what you mean by motor OFF ?

The antenna page has an LNB power 13V/18/V or 0, do you mean that I should change the setting to 0 for OFF ?

I tried DiSEqC 1.1 which has 16 ext LNB’s, all of them arrive at strength 83% and quality 95% when I select each one of them it’s all very strange.

The Freesat coaxial lead coming out of the crypto box loop through is plugged into the TV Freesat tuner, so I see that output on the TV Freesat output, the crypto box I view via an HDMI output out from the TV.

I am not sure what more I can find here, as I have looked through every menu page offered up, and I can see no motor OFF apart from turning off the crypto box and back on again.

 

[ozumo]

Change the underlined setting to Off or None for 28.2°E. Then change to a none-Astra satellite such as Hotbird 13°E (19.2°E has similar transponder parameters to 28.2°E so the signal meters will still light up). Then back to 28.2°E and hopefully the dish won't move.

As all DiSEqC 1.0/1.1 settings appear to give the same signals it may not be connected to a DiSEqC switch at all, and only the motorised dish is actually connected.

 

[cloudy]

Your help has been really appreciated. I am now wondering if this taped up item on the roof, is actually a switch, or if it is, it may be broken thus reporting an open circuit.

I don’t like heights, so I think the best option now is to get a professional out to see this through. I will update the outcome here once it’s sorted.

 

[ozumo]

It may just be the switch is not responding to DiSEqC signals. A better setup would be to get rid of the switch and run an extra cable from the Freesat dish to your TV, then you have two independent systems and no faffing on with loop-throughs.

 

[a33]

Change the underlined setting to Off or None for 28.2°E. Then change to a none-Astra satellite such as Hotbird 13°E (19.2°E has similar transponder parameters to 28.2°E so the signal meters will still light up). Then back to 28.2°E and hopefully the dish won't move.

Also a possibility is, that the A-port of the switch (port to which the motorized dish is connected) is shorted.

To test this:
- Go to another motor position than 28E,
- In the 28E screen: set motor to "none" (instead of diseqc 1.2)
- In the 28E screen: set diseqc 1.0 to D
- Check if you receive 28E signal (+picture). If you do, it seems like the 28E dish is still connected, via another switch-port; which makes things clearer.

If no reception/picture on diseqc 1.0=D, then check at C, and at B.

Please report the result.

Greetz,
A33

 

[Channel Hopper]

Your help has been really appreciated. I am now wondering if this taped up item on the roof, is actually a switch, or if it is, it may be broken thus reporting an open circuit.

I don’t like heights, so I think the best option now is to get a professional out to see this through. I will update the outcome here once it’s sorted.

It does look like a switch of some sort since all cables run into the back end of the tape.

Which part of London ?

 

[cloudy]

It does look like a switch of some sort since all cables run into the back end of the tape.

Which part of London ?

 

[cloudy]

It does look like a switch of some sort since all cables run into the back end of the tape.

Which part of London ?

I am in S West London. Would it be silly of me to suggest that maybe the taped up DiSEqC switch is actually faulty and not actually separating the two feeds at all ?

 

[Channel Hopper]

I live in Richmond S West London. Would it be a silly thing for me to speculate, that it’s not a DiSEqC switch on the roof, but a simple splitter which would be of no use at all.

Richmond is just inside my usual radius.
How did you get the picture if you don't like the altitude ?

 

[cloudy]

It may just be the switch is not responding to DiSEqC signals. A better setup would be to get rid of the switch and run an extra cable from the Freesat dish to your TV, then you have two independent systems and no faffing on with loop-throughs.

That’s actually a good idea. It looks like a bundle of mess on the roof which will need looking at

 

[cloudy]

Also a possibility is, that the A-port of the switch (port to which the motorized dish is connected) is shorted.

To test this:
- Go to another motor position than 28E,
- In the 28E screen: set motor to "none" (instead of diseqc 1.2)
- In the 28E screen: set diseqc 1.0 to D
- Check if you receive 28E signal (+picture). If you do, it seems like the 28E dish is still connected, via another switch-port; which makes things clearer.

If no reception/picture on diseqc 1.0=D, then check at C, and at B.

Please report the result.

Greetz,
A33

So LNB 1,2,3 4 would be the equivalent of ports A to D correct ? I am at work now, so I will look at that tomorrow.

 

[a33]

So LNB 1,2,3 4 would be the equivalent of ports A to D correct ? I am at work now, so I will look at that tomorrow.

LNBnumbers in your receiver can be chosen arbitrarily. Must be different for different LNBs, though.

Ports A..D follow the physical layout of the diseqc 1.0 switch.

 

[cloudy]

Richmond is just inside my usual radius.
How did you get the picture if you don't like the altitude ?

Apologies I never meant to post the answer you responded to here, I have reposted my reply. I never went onto the roof, the satellite installer did it for me many years ago, I kept the pictures of what he did.