Motor movement failure - DM500 too Weak?

[ecowarm]

Using the Digital Kaos V1.1 on my new Blackbox. Got my motorised dish fitted on Sunday but the guy didn't know much on Dreamboxes. He connected up his Technomate that seemed to do everything very quickly and easily through USALS.

With the Digital Kaos Image I can't find a USALS option and the motor just doesn't seem to be moving at all. One thing suggested was that the PSU on the DM500 was a bit low powered for running a motor, does this mean I need a second box to do the movement? Secondly I have heard that some images have USALS built in. Could anyone suggest a good one for me to try?

Hopefully things will get better as I get going, at the moment I can just see weeks of pulling my hair out, maybe moving onto teeth if it doesn't start playing ball within a month.

[andymc1s]

Hi m8 I use nabilosat image with a motorised dish and dreambox 500.
I assume you know your position with regard to longitude and latitude for
motor setup. If you dont know them you can use a satnavs where am I feature to find them. It has been a while since I changed my Image but using this Image you need to go to x function were you can input your position ,ie
long and lat I hope this is of some help

[ecowarm]

Tried that, still zero joy an getting it to move the dish at all. Could it be the box or does anyone have any other suggestions?

[opsmonkey]

i doubt its the box mate.. check your setup.. what make is your motor..?? i remember from a while back some motors dont work too good with the Dreambox

[.: JaCkPoT :.]

gotoxx doesnt work on DM500s so i believe!

[opsmonkey]

gotoxx doesnt work on DM500s so i believe!

you believe right.. lol

[.: JaCkPoT :.]

you believe right.. lol

Thats about the first thing ever i have got right about dm500s'..

[ecowarm]

Have tried with and without the old Goto xx. Gonna see what the fitter thinks on arrival and whether Linuxsat can give me any hints as to how to test the box with a multimeter on the sat connection before sending it back to them.

[westkill]

just a thought :)
do you no what sat its pointing at at the moment if you could set it up as a single sat to see if you get a picture or signal lock to see if it is the tuner in the box :hmmmm2:

[Curious123]

gotoxx doesnt work on DM500s so i believe!

I think you are wrong I believe gotoxx does work on dm500. I had a dm500 up until about 9 months ago running the Pli Jade image. After flashing the image I slected Complex configuration( many sats) > Rotor Setup > ticked gotoxx > inserted long/lat > saved. I then loaded the Captains settings and then did a scan on Thor 1W. I never had any problems moving my motor with clone dm500.

[ecowarm]

just a thought :)
do you no what sat its pointing at at the moment if you could set it up as a single sat to see if you get a picture or signal lock to see if it is the tuner in the box :hmmmm2:

Works flawlessly with my Sky Minidish to get Freesat. Not the tuner at all. Looking at AZBox HD and returning the Blackbox if the Technomate works and Linuxsat don't come up with a solution.

[ecowarm]

I think you are wrong I believe gotoxx does work on dm500. I had a dm500 up until about 9 months ago running the Pli Jade image. After flashing the image I slected Complex configuration( many sats) > Rotor Setup > ticked gotoxx > inserted long/lat > saved. I then loaded the Captains settings and then did a scan on Thor 1W. I never had any problems moving my motor with clone dm500.

Through the net there seems to be a massive mix of opinions on this. Numerous people seem to have problems getting the Gotoxx working with the DM500, likewise some have it working a treat. Would be better if it worked or had UsalS though as they seem to make life much easier.

[portbhoy]

I have it working here on a clone 500 no problem have you tried rebooting the box, driving the dish to 0 manually or manually setting up the sats? But like I said no reason why it wouldn't drive a dish!

[ecowarm]

I have it working here on a clone 500 no problem have you tried rebooting the box, driving the dish to 0 manually or manually setting up the sats? But like I said no reason why it wouldn't drive a dish!

Tried them all bud, not looking good for this little Dreambox at the moment. Thinking of trying a PC Sat card as a cheap way to test.

[portbhoy]

PC sat cards the wrong way to go they dont carry enough voltage to turn a dish properly either if your looking for a good Linux sat box then look here and that will drive a dish Technomate TM 500 LINUX?::?Satellite Receivers?::?Skywonder Ltd (http://www.skywonder.co.uk/product.php?productid=1218&cat=16&page=1)

[ecowarm]

PC sat cards the wrong way to go they dont carry enough voltage to turn a dish properly either if your looking for a good Linux sat box then look here and that will drive a dish Technomate TM 500 LINUX*::*Satellite Receivers*::*Skywonder Ltd (http://www.skywonder.co.uk/product.php?productid=1218&cat=16&page=1)

The Sat card for the PC was on the future purchase list anyhow, want to try get media portal running nicely on a PC of mine and this will give me BBC HD for just ?23.

I wish I had bought the Technomate now. For the extra ?14 I think it would have been a safer bet. I might see how Linuxsat feels about returns as I am dubious of the quality of the Blackbox given the trouble it is causing me.

I am not buying a Technomate as a second box though as it is more of the same. Next box will be a HD model, hopefully the AZBox as that will do all media center duties for the room. My plan was to learn what I was doing with a cheap box, hopefully by the time I am ready to upgrade the teething issues with the AZBox will be sorted.

[.: JaCkPoT :.]

I think you are wrong I believe gotoxx does work on dm500. I had a dm500 up until about 9 months ago running the Pli Jade image. After flashing the image I slected Complex configuration( many sats) > Rotor Setup > ticked gotoxx > inserted long/lat > saved. I then loaded the Captains settings and then did a scan on Thor 1W. I never had any problems moving my motor with clone dm500.

So i Have still got nothing right with the DM500s? OMG! lol

[ecowarm]

OK, sat fitter came back a couple of hours ago and spent a bit of time sorting it whilst I am still in work. The motor is running again but it had to have a hard reset done before it would do anything. He reckons the Dreambox had sent it loads of garbage and crashed it. I don't really know enough to say whether that is right or not so I will give him the benefit of the doubt, especially as his Technomate ran it perfectly till the Dreambox was attached. It also ran it perfectly after he had reset the motor.

Linuxsat has recommended the PLI image so my final attempt is going to be that with a full manual setup. Will try to fit it in tonight but I won't be home till 12:30 tonight and need to get up at 6:30 tomorrow to do another 8:00AM-12:00AM two jobs slogathon. Hopefully that image will work, if not then I will be sending it back for a refund and trying either a Technomate TM600 or a AZBox HD Elite. Both of which are new machines with little in the way of support or info, but they look wicked :bootyshake:

[Curious123]

So i Have still got nothing right with the DM500s? OMG! lol

If you have managed to get a picture on a dm500 than you have got it right.lol

[Curious123]

OK, sat fitter came back a couple of hours ago and spent a bit of time sorting it whilst I am still in work. The motor is running again but it had to have a hard reset done before it would do anything. He reckons the Dreambox had sent it loads of garbage and crashed it. I don't really know enough to say whether that is right or not so I will give him the benefit of the doubt, especially as his Technomate ran it perfectly till the Dreambox was attached. It also ran it perfectly after he had reset the motor.

Linuxsat has recommended the PLI image so my final attempt is going to be that with a full manual setup. Will try to fit it in tonight but I won't be home till 12:30 tonight and need to get up at 6:30 tomorrow to do another 8:00AM-12:00AM two jobs slogathon. Hopefully that image will work, if not then I will be sending it back for a refund and trying either a Technomate TM600 or a AZBox HD Elite. Both of which are new machines with little in the way of support or info, but they look wicked :bootyshake:

The dm500 is a cheap and cheerful box designed to get you a viewing at the minimum cost. I found that if pressed too many buttons too quickly it would mess up my dm500 and sometimes my motor. If I had any major problems such as where the motor failed to move than I would switch everything off and switch it back on or try pressing the pinhole reset switch on the motor.

[ITS A SCAM !]

PC sat cards the wrong way to go they dont carry enough voltage to turn a dish properly either if your looking for a good Linux sat box then look here and that will drive a dish Technomate TM 500 LINUX*::*Satellite Receivers*::*Skywonder Ltd (http://www.skywonder.co.uk/product.php?productid=1218&cat=16&page=1)

I have a Skystar HD PCI card, I can move my dish using USALS. After using DVBViewer / Transedit it was quiet easy to set up. I feel as though there is not enough support for PCI Sat cards as most people use STB instead. I can also move my dish with my clone DM500s. If you have problems getting the dish to move with a PCI card, its normally due to the motherboard, not the card itself whats causing the problem. There are some dish positioners available made by STAB. I have a STAB ms220 which can move the dish automatically to about 40 different preset sat positions by using the supplied remote control, although i only have this to move the dish in a emergency. There are 3 different STAB controllers available, the cheapest is basically a "in line" controller that moves the motor by the press of a button....These cost about ?20 off ebay...good luck

[manxspud]

Have no experience of the tm 500 linux... but if its as good as the tm 5400 super you will have a sound stb. I love mine to bits. might look into ' its a scams ! ' advice my self... Good luck...

[ecowarm]

The dm500 is a cheap and cheerful box designed to get you a viewing at the minimum cost. I found that if pressed too many buttons too quickly it would mess up my dm500 and sometimes my motor. If I had any major problems such as where the motor failed to move than I would switch everything off and switch it back on or try pressing the pinhole reset switch on the motor.


As my plan was just to play around and get to grips with Sats I thought the DM500 would work a treat. Unfortunately it seems to be a bit too cheap and problematic for me (could be because I have worked 90+hrs a week for the past two weeks and my patience is lacking).

On the positive side I connected it when I got home last night and it kind of worked. Last setup was Gemini 4.2 image, gotoxx properly set for where I am and then connected to my sky minidish and scanned. Connected it to the 0deg motor sat and pressed TV, came up with moving to 28.2, next thing I know I can hear it moving and get a picture. It really sounded like it was struggling compared to the Technomate though and some channels (five in particular) were awful.

Light at the end of the tunnel me thinks but not the receiver for me. Think I will get it working this weekend then when my local dealer gets the DVB-T cards for the AZBox Elite I will get one of them in as my upgrade. Blackbox will be on Ebay soon at this rate :flute: