Finally got motor installed. Need some help..

[comfortably_numb]

Where do I find the cooridinates required on this screen in the Amiko hd.265?

 

[KE4EST]

Not on that screen. Go to satellite setup, down to motor and right or left arrow over to select USALS then hit the OK button and enter your coordinates.

 

[primestar31]

Go to Google Maps Find your house, and the location of your dish and zoom down on it. RIGHT-click on that location, and your map coordinates will be listed on the top of the info box menu that appears.

Then follow Mikes instructions above to input them.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Do I change the elevation of the dish itself from where it was when it was stationary?

 

[KE4EST]

Yes.

How To Install a USALS Motor - Condensed Version

How to install a USALS Motor A Condensed Guide By Michael Graves, KE4EST 1. First and very important. Make absolutely sure your pole or mast is plumb. You can get away with a mast that is off a little when only aiming at one satellite for a fixed dish, but NOT with a motor used for...

www.satelliteguys.us

 

[comfortably_numb]

It's working! Got 87, 91, 95 scanned in so far.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Eastern part of the arc is solid. 99, 101, 103 missing some TP's. Will have to make some adjustments, but thrilled with the results so far.

 

[cyberham]

You'll never leave the motor.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[comfortably_numb]

Took a break for awhile, now I have everything fine tuned. I have eyes on 87 through 113.

 

[cyberham]

Can you go further west? Curious if you can receive BYU on 117W.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Can you go further west? Curious if you can receive BYU on 117W.

For now I can only go to 113.

 

[comfortably_numb]

If I want to run 2 receivers off my splitter, do I need to use a DC-pass thru for one of them? Will having LNB power turned on for both receivers fry my LNB? I only want to use the Amiko to drive my motor.

 

[Brct203]

If I want to run 2 receivers off my splitter, do I need to use a DC-pass thru for one of them? Will having LNB power turned on for both receivers fry my LNB? I only want to use the Amiko to drive my motor.

View attachment 153965

I don't think it would fry the LNBF. But if one receiver outputs 13V and the other output 18V, what would happen to the one sending 13V but being also fed 18V. That could potentially smoke that receiver. Unless the splitter has diodes to avoid feedback.

Instead I would use a splitter that carries DC only on one port, us that port for the receiver that drives the motor and LNBF, and connect the other receiver to the non-DC port, with the understanding that it would be unable to control the polarity and only receive the polarity that the first receiver has selected

Of course you would be much better off with a dual LNBF and 2 cables

 

[a33]

"All ports power pass" splitters can be power pass one way (with diodes), or power pass both ways (no diodes).

Alas, that is not always indicated (or not clearly indicated) on the splitter. So I always measure, with a multimeter.

Or I test them by connecting the splitter in the reverse, 'input-out' so to say, and check if there is reception again (NB if the LNB has multiple outputs, these other outputs must NOT be connected to power, while testing the power-through of the splitter!).


All ports power pass one way splitters are good for two receivers, serving one LNB. Alternative would be a smart priority switch (master/slave switch), if you don't want to watch at both receivers simultanuously.

All ports power pass both ways splitters are ideal for having a parallel setup with diseqc devices on one receiver, e.g. having a motor (or VBox) and a diseqc switch at parallel lines.

Greetz,
A33

Edit: From the photo: it looks like comfortably_numb already has a DC-blocker, to implement the suggestion from Brct203 : "Instead I would use a splitter that carries DC only on one port".

 

[comfortably_numb]

KE4EST this question is primarily for you, as our resident Amiko expert

it seems like my receiver will randomly forget the motor position for a satellite here and there. It doesn't happen on all of them, but I have had to delete 91 and 105 and re-add them several times. Is this a known issue?

 

[KE4EST]

KE4EST this question is primarily for you, as our resident Amiko expert

it seems like my receiver will randomly forget the motor position for a satellite here and there. It doesn't happen on all of them, but I have had to delete 91 and 105 and re-add them several times. Is this a known issue?

USALS?
What do you mean it forgets? Do you go to satellite setup and it no longer shows USALS as motor?
USALS just sends a command to the motor via a calculation based on your lat and long you entered. Other than that does not really store anything. If DiSEqC that is all stored in your motor.
No known issues with motor controls. Usually when I see this, the customer has bad coax, connector, switch or too many switches in line and the DiSQeC commands are not getting through at all or they are very attenuated.

 

[comfortably_numb]

USALS?
What do you mean it forgets?

Yeah, USALS. I'll call up, say, 105, and it appears to head to 95 instead.

 

[comfortably_numb]

OK I think I figured it out, I had tried to bump and nudge the motor in the USALS screen for a couple of those satellites and I think it screwed up the positioning. Once I did a factory reset on the receiver all seems to work correctly

 

[comfortably_numb]

Ok, just when I thought I had all this figured out... for some reason when I select certain sats, the motor tracks to 95. I have no idea why. It does this about 50% of the time. I'll select, say 105, and the motor goes to 95. What the heck??!

 

[iBoston]

Hey there, as one speaking from USALS headaches, i don't know if this post will help you, but ill post some problems i have had with various STB's.

My old Non Linux STB from Europe , i could set USALS or Diseqc but if i used the store sat position button on my remote, it would swap between USALS/Diseqc and if i had diseqc stored in the USALS, it would use that instead. - Make sure your receiver considers the Sats to use USALS and not Diseqc. Diseqc will work, but then who knows where the USALS will land up.

With my Enigma2 STB, Each satellite uses the same LNB but, i can set whether it uses Diseqc or USALS, and the configuration can be quite tedious, and you have to check/double check everything 4 times.

I also had a problem in the past where my Diseqc/USALS would get lost if i configured the channels between the STB channel editor and the back end software channel editor.

And as a final note, i have a STB that supports 4 separate coax lines. I use one dedicated to USALS. As KE4EST mentioned, diseqc switches can cause headaches....

I hope you figure it out.....