Home made diseqc positioner

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
since a few months i decided to make my own positioner :
-i need to manage 2 actuators (azimut elevation)
-i need polarotor command (co-rotor chapparal)
- 200 positions (c/ku/ka)
- and lnb changer !!!
- remote control + keyboard + usb for upgrade .

i have used an old moteck positioner and a 8752 developement board .
proto1.jpgproto2.jpg

a few weeks later
i have ordered from china a printed board ( one main and 3 slave)
proto3.jpg

i built the "prototype"!
proto4.jpg

and after few weeks of debuging ...
proto7.jpgproto6.jpgproto5.jpg

it s takes time to build it but it s very easy to use !
when select a program on my E2 receiver , Diseqc is read by positioner
sat number and lnb input .
sat number drive dish in azimut and elevation
14/18V drive polarotor
lnb input send command to lnb changer (input1 is send as sat1 to changer)

a large LCD screen show every commands

thats all for today
 

John

Enthusiast.
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
5,528
Points
113
Location
North Nottinghamshire.
My Satellite Setup
Elite 2.2 PF - CM1.8 - CM1.2 - Gibertini 1.25.
Ku - Ka -C & Ext C.
PC cards-TM5402 receivers.
Promax FSM.
My Location
North Nottinghamshire.
since a few months i decided to make my own positioner :
-i need to manage 2 actuators (azimut elevation)
-i need polarotor command (co-rotor chapparal)
- 200 positions (c/ku/ka)
- and lnb changer !!!
- remote control + keyboard + usb for upgrade .

i have used an old moteck positioner and a 8752 developement board .
View attachment 127066View attachment 127067

a few weeks later
i have ordered from china a printed board ( one main and 3 slave)
View attachment 127068

i built the "prototype"!
View attachment 127069

and after few weeks of debuging ...
View attachment 127072View attachment 127071View attachment 127070

it s takes time to build it but it s very easy to use !
when select a program on my E2 receiver , Diseqc is read by positioner
sat number and lnb input .
sat number drive dish in azimut and elevation
14/18V drive polarotor
lnb input send command to lnb changer (input1 is send as sat1 to changer)

a large LCD screen show every commands

thats all for today



... very nice - looks the biz :Y
 

Llew

cerca trova...
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
16,226
Reaction score
4,197
Points
113
Age
81
My Satellite Setup
Triple Dragon, Dreambox 8000, Echostar AD3000ip, TBS6522,6925,6983 PCie cards.
Gibertini 1.25m motorised dish driven by the AD3000, with either Inverto BU Quad or Norsat / XMW Ka LNBs . SMW 1.05m + 3 other dishes. Speccy: Promax HD Ranger+
My Location
The Flatlands of East Anglia
An interesting project. You should market it :)
 

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
my positioner is rather finish
i bought front and rear panel made in germany !
FAV1.jpg
FAR1.jpg

inside :
posi2.jpg

(credit photo to dominique)

i want to manage AGC from sf8008 tuner (for an auto-focus feature) , so if someone had octagon schematics or any information
about auto focus command in enigma2 ?
sf8008-dvbs-frontend.jpg
 

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
thanks for datasheet !
this picture is from an sf8008 issue but mine is slightly different (combo dvb t2/s2)
 

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
Very cool! You should definitely market it! I'd buy it.
 

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
35,533
Reaction score
8,554
Points
113
Age
59
Website
www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
thanks for datasheet !
this picture is from an sf8008 issue but mine is slightly different (combo dvb t2/s2)

The combo uses the same DVB-S tuner as yours, the terrestrial/cable is a separate capsule.

IMG_9815.JPGIMG_9816.JPG
 

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
Very cool! You should definitely market it! I'd buy it.

i have bought 5 printed-board in china , it s remain only one i can launch a new order !
who wants a pack ?
components are very common !
i give you one programmed µp 89s52 , relays , but you have to find and build it all !!!

posi52.jpg


here is my device :
posi3.jpg

the other pictures in another post are the Cardiff's device.
 
Last edited:

anto@

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
289
Reaction score
295
Points
63
Age
59
My Satellite Setup
dish 150 4 feed ku c lin c circ ka tbs 6925 tbs 5280
My Location
italy
great job, if it were on sale for others it would be fantasti
 

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
35,533
Reaction score
8,554
Points
113
Age
59
Website
www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
Why mechanical relays ?

Solid state is proven ( Ala Uniden 771)

They look a bit small.

A toroidal transformer would also assist in the initial impetus to move a linear actuator.
 

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
Why mechanical relays ?

Solid state is proven ( Ala Uniden 771)

They look a bit small.

A toroidal transformer would also assist in the initial impetus to move a linear actuator.

relays: i own about 2 hundred of it !!
its 5V model 30A (big enough)
the 36v power is provide throught a PWM mosfet (20v to 40V progressive) for soft start and landing !

for me i drive a 2meter PM dish and cardiff a 1.8 CM offset : no problem to start move
soft start , run with 40V (fast) , slow down near final position.

my transformer is DIY model (2x18v + 1 x 8v)
Cardiff use a toroidal 2x18v and a separate transformer for µP supply.

i want to make a positionner made with discret components (no smd) , easy to build , easily editable , dont care of size !!!

here is a complementary schematic:
varia2.jpg
 

johnjohnsmith

New Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2020
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
mecool ki pro tv box, homebrew actuator controller, 1.2 offset dish, polar mount, superjack
My Location
spain
The varistor/doble zener/capacitor are to protect the relay contacts from arcing? I used for around 20 years a home made positioner control with no problem (and no such protection). Last year I made a new , arduino based, one and one of the relays is failing intermittently.
I'm thinking to either use an h-bridge or put a protection circuit like yours with a new relay board, so I'd like to know the details of the zener used.
 

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
The varistor/doble zener/capacitor are to protect the relay contacts from arcing? I used for around 20 years a home made positioner control with no problem (and no such protection). Last year I made a new , arduino based, one and one of the relays is failing intermittently.
I'm thinking to either use an h-bridge or put a protection circuit like yours with a new relay board, so I'd like to know the details of the zener used.

in schematic above
D4 is to protect mosfet D4 is a Schottky diode

in schematic below
rv1 / d3 / c10 are to protect
overvoltage

rv1 Metal oxide varistor 60-80v
d3 Bidirectional TVS diode 62V




relais1.png
 

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
35,533
Reaction score
8,554
Points
113
Age
59
Website
www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
in schematic above
D4 is to protect mosfet D4 is a Schottky diode

in schematic below
rv1 / d3 / c10 are to protect
overvoltage

rv1 Metal oxide varistor 60-80v
d3 Bidirectional TVS diode 62V




View attachment 129766
Interesting, is the 1N4007 actually a barrier diode ?
 

johnjohnsmith

New Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2020
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
mecool ki pro tv box, homebrew actuator controller, 1.2 offset dish, polar mount, superjack
My Location
spain
Just a side note: some years back, when I searched for "dyi satellite actuator positioner" and variations of it, I got plenty of relevant results (which unfortunately I didn't bookmark). Now I just get a lot of junk and this page was the only relevant result.
Search engine worsening, me useless at search or did we just become a fringe set of users?
 

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
35,533
Reaction score
8,554
Points
113
Age
59
Website
www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
The field of doing it yourself has narrowed considerably in the last decade of the rat race. The Eutelsat DiSEqC system would be key for positioner systems desite its flaws, however the rise of Pi and Arduino development, H to H gearboxes taking over from polarmounts and linear motors, plus the overall price of manufactured equipment means anything under 1.2m is rarely a four wire cable these days.
 

dreambox1959

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
406
Reaction score
539
Points
93
Age
64
Location
46.3N-4.3E-FRANCE
My Satellite Setup
Octagon SF8008 - technomate 7100
My Location
france
The field of doing it yourself has narrowed considerably in the last decade of the rat race. The Eutelsat DiSEqC system would be key for positioner systems desite its flaws, however the rise of Pi and Arduino development, H to H gearboxes taking over from polarmounts and linear motors, plus the overall price of manufactured equipment means anything under 1.2m is rarely a four wire cable these days.

i built my first equatorial mount in 1990 , i build a second one later with improvements in 1995 (it s this one in small picture on the left)
the third one is in progress..
a few year ago i had used device like echostar sr5700 /8700 radix7300 etc with build in positionner
so in early millenium i used numeric(mpeg)receiver with diseqc ! and no build in positionner
i used for a long time Vboxes but i need some specials features so i make my own positioner.
some guys in this forum use LNB changer and elevation actuator , i made a specific model with these options

it can be driven by diseqc1.2 or local keyboard and remote control

the titanium model from brian's factory was great but dont drive 2 actuators and LNB changer
some guys use 3 vboxes to manage one dish !

my model is free of charge i can share schematics and firmware for those who want build it !
FAV1.jpg

FAR1.jpg
 

johnjohnsmith

New Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2020
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
mecool ki pro tv box, homebrew actuator controller, 1.2 offset dish, polar mount, superjack
My Location
spain
The field of doing it yourself has narrowed considerably in the last decade of the rat race. The Eutelsat DiSEqC system would be key for positioner systems desite its flaws

Mmmh, the last time I searched for a positioner schematic DISEqC was already well established, in fact I could mostly find schematics that, just like the one by @dreambox1959 decoded the DISEqC messages to control the actuator.
I think that what has narrowed is the field of satellite enthusiasts (heck, my sons don't even watch broadcast tv), especially those with a motorized dish and with an old fashioned jack or H-H mount.
Lately I just use it to hop between two satellites (hotbird and intelsat 901), the first because I have a legit tivusat card, the second because the biss keys are available. I guess in due time I will only be able to use the first one and get everything else from the internet, like almost everybody else.
 

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
35,533
Reaction score
8,554
Points
113
Age
59
Website
www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
DiSEqC motorising has been out for a while, but it has taken a few design upgrades (zero backlash, 1.3 and compatible high specification receivers/PC cards - sold as a package) - that put multi wired systems in the shade.

The Stab rotors now being peddled have been sitting in stasis for over ten years, either there were too many made at the beginning or the distributor wasn't doing their job right.

Dont forget there is still a requirement for skew on a number of satellites which DiSEqC, nor Universal LNB kit caters for, I will have to check if they are the ones that the providers are retiring early because of regional customer complaints.
 
Last edited:
Top