BUD with V-Box

[easily confused]

Anyone out there using a V-Box 7 to move their BUD. I connected the V-Box and no matter what we try we get Er2 which means no pulses. Just wondering if there is a difference in how the V-B0x 7 and V-Box II are wired. Short of that I may have to try to swap out the Actuator. I have a spare 24" Von Weise and a 24" ?? I'd use the Von Weise. It weighs almost twice as much as the other one that is missing the identifying name plate

[ViP3R]

You could have the ground wires reversed EC, shut it off and reverse the wires. I'll take a picture of how mine is wired in the morning.

[ViP3R]

Here you are EC, Hope the pictures help.

[easily confused]

Viper, does your ribbon cable only have 4 wires? Mine has 5 wires. The red and white for M1/M2 and then I have 3 small wires, brown/green/orange. I suspect that it is these wires that are the problem, if it is not the actuator. I know we had 2 wires connected together on the V-Box II but there are not instructions as o how to connect to the V-Box 7 and using the same configuration is not working.

[ViP3R]

Viper, does your ribbon cable only have 4 wires? Mine has 5 wires. The red and white for M1/M2 and then I have 3 small wires, brown/green/orange. I suspect that it is these wires that are the problem, if it is not the actuator. I know we had 2 wires connected together on the V-Box II but there are not instructions as o how to connect to the V-Box 7 and using the same configuration is not working.

Just the 4 wires on mine, but I am just using irrigation wires for Home Depot, much cheaper! It could be that your current wires got smoked in the storm as well, I doubt very much there is anything wrong with your actuator..I have the exact same as you.

[easily confused]

Just the 4 wires on mine, but I am just using irrigation wires for Home Depot, much cheaper! It could be that your current wires got smoked in the storm as well, I doubt very much there is anything wrong with your actuator..I have the exact same as you.

I've been wondering about the wires, as well. I have another length of ribbon cable that could lay out, on the ground to test and I guess that will be next. Only downside is that, if it is the ribbon cable, the current one is buried, in conduit under the new lawn and there is no way that I can pull a replacement through. Well, now to find out where I put that other cable, so I wouldn't lose it.

[ViP3R]

I've been wondering about the wires, as well. I have another length of ribbon cable that could lay out, on the ground to test and I guess that will be next. Only downside is that, if it is the ribbon cable, the current one is buried, in conduit under the new lawn and there is no way that I can pull a replacement through. Well, now to find out where I put that other cable, so I wouldn't lose it.

I hear yaa EC, I tried to feed mine through as well, but soon noticed that there was no way that I could ever pull that wire out and feed it back in if I had a problem..So I just dug a small enough trench so the lawnmower would not cut it.. So when I have a problem down the road I'll just rip up the old wire and replace it with more cheap stuff..It was actually 18g thermostat/air conditioning wire that I got from Home Depot.

[Guest]

Before you do anything EC, unscrew the actuator cap where the wires are located and see how they are wired. Aside from your main m1 and m2 wires it doesn't really matter what 2 colours you choose but they have to represent the correct colour scheme on your vbox as well. I always had issues with my vbox as well as the back holes are too small for the m1 and 2 wires- try removing them again and re-inserting tighter.

[easily confused]

Well, wires in the actuator match those attached to V-Box and M1/M2 wires seem to be very tight. At first all I could pull was 30% strength and so I moved the co-ax over to the Ku side and got around 85%. Then moved the co-ax back to the C-Band side and got 85%. Still can't seem to get rid of the Er2 message so will wait until tomorrow because I am close to making adjustments to the V-Box with the sledge hammer and I think we all know how that would work out.

[Guest]

Before you revert to the sledge, remember when you initially installed your bud and the help that beano gave you- Rome wasn't built in a day my friend.

[easily confused]

No, the sledge is just a figure of speech, bud. Did go out and pulled the back off of the actuator, took the spare Von Weise out and connected it and still getting Er2 so I doubt it's the actuator. Now down to either the cable or connections on the V-Box and we have tried connections so many times I am sure we have got them tight. Now to try to located the spare ribbon cable. I put it away so I wouldn't lose it. Well, you guessed it.....I have forgotten where it is so I need to get some cable to try that solution.

[easily confused]

Well, I guess there is no need to test the other cable. The V-Box was on the arm of the couch and my dog jumped up tipped it over.....voila it started working. Now I need to start over and get the dish set up again. Two trees to cut and then start over. Guess it must still have been the darn connections.

[easily confused]

One more question. Whenever I have had a V-Box connected to my receiver and BUD, I have always had the "switch" set to Motor. As it stands, right now, if I put the switch to Disceq, I can get a dead solid lock on 99% signal strength and get the same if I set the switch to USALS. However, if I set it to "motor" The signal strength jumps from 0 to 99 repeatedly. Any ideas?

[Guest]

It's been a while since I had a vbox so I don't think I could help you out EC. I would go with what works EC, as long as it doesn't effect the movement of your dish and the vbox moves it as a stand alone positioner.

[ViP3R]

One more question. Whenever I have had a V-Box connected to my receiver and BUD, I have always had the "switch" set to Motor. As it stands, right now, if I put the switch to Disceq, I can get a dead solid lock on 99% signal strength and get the same if I set the switch to USALS. However, if I set it to "motor" The signal strength jumps from 0 to 99 repeatedly. Any ideas?

Well, it has to be set to motor otherwise it won't move...USALS is not going to work on a C-band..

Motor should be set to DiSEqC1.2 under motor controls, not sure what box your using though, so you could post your settings and get some feedback that way. ;)

[easily confused]

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooK!!! This getting more frustrating than going to the fridge and finding no beer and realizing that Shepp has been to my place. I have checked and rechecked but still nothing, so looking to confirm a few things. My elevation is supposed to be 37.5 with a declination of 6.81 so I have set my elevation at 44.3....correct????? By running the actuator back and forth I have located the high point and then pointed the dish to south with a magnetic deviation set to 190 degrees. Getting signal strength of 84% but can't get a blip of Q. Now, if I use the formula for focal length I get a reading 34.3" ((90 X 90) / (16 X 14.75- depth of the dish)) = 8100/236 =34.3. Here comes an issue. I can't install the LNB at 34.3 because it will be out of the mount. The best I can get is 33.5. Now, the old BSC 621 was mounted closer than the current 621-2d and worked, so any suggestions......other than open beer because I have already tried that and it hasn't helped. Well, it hasn't reception, although I feel better.

[ViP3R]

You have me a little lost EC... Unless I missed something I thought all you were doing was replacing the V-Box..If your C-Band dish was set right before and I know it was then why the need to change things?

[easily confused]

After replacing the V-Box nothing seemed to be right. Could not find any Q signal on any sat at all. Started looking and it seems that either I was out of whack all along or something was changed so I have basically started over as in a new installation. New LNB because I was getting 0 signal strength on the old 621 after the lightning hit.