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Fix Satellite Dish Positioner

pharaon

Oct 28, 2014
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the position-er work but give me error if i try to move the dish right or left
what could be the problem
here's some pictures

















 

73's de Edd

Aug 21, 2015
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Sir pharaon . . . . . . . .


OK on the first top photo I can see the rear RED and Black connectors that feed drive power to the activator and MOLEX CN1 with its 4 connections on the PCB, where the units remoted power transformer is inputting its AC power into the board.


What I am NOT seeing is one or two wire connections that come from the actuator sensor output and should also connect into the board.


73s de Edd
 

73's de Edd

Aug 21, 2015
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Sir Pharaon . . . . .

Since I still do not know product brand nor specific model, I will just engage in concept of design.
With both of these sensor input connections being black, I then can possibly assume that this uses the simplest methods of detection of rotation of the actuator.
We had the potential options of an optical light beam disruption of detector type or a Hall effect device responding to the rotation of a close proximity magnet or, in this case, I believe it will be using a rotating magnet in the close proximity of a magnetic reed switch.
This spinning magnet is mechanically inserted, somewhere in the gear down process of a very fast spinning DC motor, on down to the VERY snail paced incremental creeping of a linear actuator shaft that either pushes or pulls a receiver dish across its orbital receiving arc.
Those sequential pulses / shorts across the line, are used to keep up with where the dish is pointing in it's moving through the orbital arc, by the use of upwards of 1000 received points of reference / pulses to finely differentiate pulse count to dish position to satellite to be received.
I think that you are not receiving that pulsed info updating now.
Test 1. . . . .
No power to unit .
Disconnect the two sensor wires from the main unit and use Ohm metering in its low range to see if there is an open or a short being across the line .
If , by chance, a short reading is present , take one wire loose at the actuator connection at the dish to see if the short disappears.
If so, interconnecting wiring is being good .
If experiencing the greatest odds of not finding the satellite dish position, so it was not initially showing a short condition across the sensor wires, then test this way.
Have the sensor wires loose at the main unit and connect your low scale adjusted ohmmeter across the cleaned bare wires.
Power up the main unit and press either the east or west switches just long enough to see if you are getting a reed on off switching action to the ohmmeter from the reed switch . Usually it's about 1--------5 pulses per second.
I wait for your test response answers now.


73's de Edd
 
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pharaon

Oct 28, 2014
439
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Oct 28, 2014
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439
this is the motor that move the dish

2mos3yx.png




qariya_com_3d77395f06.jpg
 

pharaon

Oct 28, 2014
439
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
439
i disconnect both sensor wires from the positioner and try to move it i get this error
 

73's de Edd

Aug 21, 2015
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Sir pharaon . . . . . . . .

If your short passage there says that the dish was able to be moved, prior, with the sensor wires connected, but now with them disconnected for testing, the dish wil not move.

That seems to tell us that we DO have sensor loop wiring continuity, which was being our first concern .

Lets now try an alternative method that will leave the sensor wires connected in circuit.

I am suspicioning that the units sensor loop is being operated at logic level.

In the main unit this sensor wiring will be feeding into a microprocessor ancillary circuit to be cleaning up a mechanical reed switchs contact action into a well defined CLEAN logic pulse .

This could be through a common conditioning circuit within the u/p chip . . . OR . . . . from a dedicated "segregated circuit" feeding into the u/p after producing its "one shot " pulse conditioning .

That circuit should have a 2.2----4.7----10K resistor from Vcc to chip input and the sensors reed switch momentarily shorts out that voltage in its magnetic activation from the rotating magnet in the actuator .

The potentially dirty switching input gets cleaned up through the IC, to then be presented as a rotational count to the u/p and counter circuitry.

If you now put the sensor wires back, as was initially found, and then see if the actuator motor will rotate for even a couple of turns, although it potentially can default and automatically stop on you shortly later.

You now connect either DVM or analog metering in DC > 5vdc range across the cleaned, just installed, sensor wires.
In the potential few rotations of the unit, you should be able to see the quick voltage blips as the reed switch shorts out that voltage level . . . . . if it is working in its proper operative manner.

If successful, let us know the speed of the blips . . . . expecting in the order of 1 ---- 2----per second . . . . . or there abouts.

Thassssit . . . . .


73s de Edd
 

pharaon

Oct 28, 2014
439
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I find out what is the problem the both limit switchs were closed due to un secure screw
I fix it and everything works fine now
 

73's de Edd

Aug 21, 2015
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That actuator certainly was CLEAN inside.
While you are at it why don't you try a RED LED across the actuator terninals, tried with both polarities, to see if it has enough current to drive the LED as a test indicator.
 
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