Superior DarkMotor Not turning

Dusted

Newbie
Hi,

I've got a motorised dish setup at my fathers house which we installed several years ago. It's a 1.4m dish with a Superior DarkMotor (Alsat).

He's had it on 19.2 for this past while but had wanted to change to another satellite to watch this weekends F1 on FTA but he said that the dish isn't turning.

I went round to check it out and indeed the dish isn't turning, I have checked all settings on his VU box and also tried a different box which I kept as a backup just in case. The strange thing is the signal's still coming in on 19.2 but just not turning the motor. I've tried a hard reset, checked the signal and cable etc with our Horizon meter and all seems to be grand. The motor has manual buttons to drive the motor each way manually but it doesn't turn nor can i hear any noise from it, the LED just blinks on the motor in the direction that i've tried to turn which doesn't stop until i pull the power on the box again.

Would anyone have any advice on what I can try to sort it as I was hoping that I won't have to change the existing motor?


Many thanks in advance :smiley:
 
Try another power supply. With a dish that size l would have at least a 5amp power supply to move it.
I gave that a go today but unfortunately it didn't make any difference. I do notice a blinking LED on the west side of the positioner though.

Unfortunately I think I'm looking at having to replace the motor after all and realign the dish again, I think I'll wait for better weather though :unsure:
 
HARDWARE RESET BY DiSEqC MOTOR
1. Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.2. Press and hold both EAST / WEST buttons for 5 seconds.3. Reconnect the coaxial cable.4. LED1 and LED2 blink for 5 seconds.5. Then, its memory erased, the receiver rewrites the satellite table to initial one and corrects the “0”
 
HARDWARE RESET BY DiSEqC MOTOR
1. Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.2. Press and hold both EAST / WEST buttons for 5 seconds.3. Reconnect the coaxial cable.4. LED1 and LED2 blink for 5 seconds.5. Then, its memory erased, the receiver rewrites the satellite table to initial one and corrects the “0”
Hi linesman,

I gave that a try yesterday but it didn't solve it unfortunately. I've checked back and the motor was purchased in the summer of 2010 so it's had a good life.

Many Thanks
 
try cutting back the cables, could be some water ingress limiting the supply of power to the motor to levels below that required to move the motor.
 
try cutting back the cables, could be some water ingress limiting the supply of power to the motor to levels below that required to move the motor.
I've still not ordered a replacement so I'll definitely give this a go too. Just thinking I should have taken my multimeter up to check the voltages too. Never even thought of water ingress as there's still a strong signal from the satellite it's stuck at (19.2).

Many Thanks
 
Just a wee update on the motor as I decided to give it another go yesterday since the weather was good in N.I.

I'm getting a steady 18V up at the cable coming from the receiver to the motor and there's no sign of ingress in the cable thankfully. Decided to try spraying nearly a full tin of WD40 in around all moving parts of the motor to see if i could get it to free, I did manage to get it to turn all the way round to the East but not a kick going back West and the LED just flashes on the west side of the motor.

My father was a former satellite installer and also an electronic engineer, he had suggested if i bring the whole dish down and give him the positioner then he would see if he could repair it in case it's had water damage or a failed relay or something. No harm to him though, if i'm bringing down the whole dish then it'll be going back up again along with a brand new positioner :ROFLMAO:

With that being said, I'm now on the hunt for a new positioner. What would everyone recommend? Stick with getting a Superior DarkMotor again or is there anything better out there now for using with a VU+ Solo2 box?

Many Thanks :smiley:
 
Im a big fan of the stab HH120 motors had one with a big old heavy Lenson heath dish on it for over 20 years and it still going strong despite the amount of hammer it has had.
 
1.4m dish is very big if left on 19.2 and the 2600 has a limit of 1.2. superior is still a good option. I am doing a cleaout and sendning my stab HH120 to the dump. It lasted years but when I moved house it was easier to fit a superior with a 1.1m dish. I'll miss the stab.

Did you do a reset on that motor? And send it to 0 etc but the one I had first lasted for over 12 years and then stuck. Got a second and all ok so far.
 
1.4m dish is very big if left on 19.2 and the 2600 has a limit of 1.2. superior is still a good option. I am doing a cleaout and sendning my stab HH120 to the dump. It lasted years but when I moved house it was easier to fit a superior with a 1.1m dish. I'll miss the stab.

Did you do a reset on that motor? And send it to 0 etc but the one I had first lasted for over 12 years and then stuck. Got a second and all ok so far.
Sorry the dish size was an oversight on my original post, it is in fact a 1.2m. I'm pretty sure my dad basically left it on 19.2 for about a year as he watched F1 on RTL when is was FTA.
Yes I tried a reset etc but no joy unfortunately, also sent it back to zero but it never budged...I was tempted to give it the hammer treatment but didn't want to risk damaging my pole and brackets :unsure:
 
Personal opion i would purchase tacnomate
2600 super Your relay could be your fault
You can also purchase a Disqec 1.2 mini
Positioner which fits between your reciever
and motor it has buttons to move the motor
East and West rather than using the manual
buttons ar the motor Very useful if you want
To fine tune each transponder Have one in
my satellite tool box
 
Thanks again to everyone that took the time to help with this.

I've been trying to source the Technomate 2600 with little success, one also tried to find the STAB HH120 as well as the Darkmotor Superior but it seems that they're like finding hens teeth at the minute.

Closest also to the Technomate one was the TM-2300 M3 from their own site.

Would anyone be able to point me in the direction of where to source one that still shift to Northern Ireland following Brexit?

If it's not allowed on the forum then even via pm would be great.


Many Thanks :)
 
Open up account if you have any issues
Let me know They have the Tacomate 2600 super at good price

Vanjak.com
This is the company that supplies
My satellite equipment
Completely forgot about Vanjak, my father had a trade account with them when we done satellites & aerials some years ago. Wonder if it's still active as it's been some time since it's been used :unsure:

We have been there at their warehouse many times over the years too.

Thanks Linesman :smiley:
 
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