My first S2 signal with my TBS6980

[guacharaca]

I was not sure if I could get any S2 signals because of all the compatibility problems being that the card is new and I only have ku signals. In North America there are not many S2 signals on ku. However I decided to connect the stationary four foot dish instead of the motorized three foot dish to see if it was signal strength that was preventing me from getting an S2 signal. I pointed the 4 foot dish at AMC 21 (125W, 12112V 8703 3/4 8PSK) and to my surprise, there it was, OETA, an S2 signal with an HD and a SD channel. I could not get this channel with a three foot dish in BC. I am using DVBdream 1.4i. I wish getting a Diseqc switch to work was that easy.

[cody]

if i understand correctly you are asking how to get DiSEqC switch working with TSB 6980, right?

[guacharaca]

Actually it was just a comment about the difficulty of getting the Diseqc to function. I just wanted to share that S2 signals come easily for those who have the correct dish. But yes, any advise on how to get a Diseqc switch to function with my TBS6980 and DVBDream would greatly be appreciated. For now I have tuner one slaved through my CW800. The CW800 controls the SG 2100 motor on the three foot dish and could also potentially control any switches. Tuner two is connected directly to the four foot dish for 125W. When I get the ten foot dish set-up, I will need a switch because I have run out of tuner inputs. I realize that a switch can be controlled by the CW800, but I rather eliminate the STB altogether. It appears that the TBS card just is not producing any motor or switch signals. I suspect that the software marriage between DVBDream and TBS is not as good as it could be. I see that Genpix and Prof both produced a special Diseqc command module/dev driver for DVBdream and I wish that TBS could do the same.

[cody]

actually, we also do provide use special device module for DVBDream and ProgDVB to provide optimal support for TBS products in these applications. so, let me give you more details sharing with you instructions i prepared for another customer:

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on the installation CD of your TBS 6980 there are modules that add support of the card to both ProdDVB and DVBDream including DiSEqC support. so, i suggest you to try setup your DiSEqC 1.2 motor in DVBDream first and so let me give you some more details how to do it:

it's very important to install DVBDream BDA Device Module - the "bda.dev" file that is found on the installation CD of your TBS 6980 card to DVBDream, because it adds support to DVBDream for TBS products.

so, you need to copy the "bda.dev" from the the installation CD of your TBS 6980 card to "Devices" folder under your DVBDream installation folder - and then start DVBDream, go to Options menu and choose "Positioner ---> Options ---> Enable Positioner", please, look at the following screenshots in the attachment:

- dvbdream_enable_positioner_01.png :
- dvbdream_enable_positioner_02.png :

and to finally setup the motor select the correct "H-H Motor Type":

- dvbdream_select_motor_type.png :

and if USALS will be in use or not - all these settings like "motor type", "USALS", etc, and how to use them should be covered by the user manual of your motor.

for ProgDVB the procedure is similar - on the installation CD of your TBS 6980 card there is device module for ProgDVB that adds support of the card to ProgDVB and you need to install it first.
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in case you lost your installation CD or for some reason those files are not found on your installation CD, i uploaded them here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QMOQ6VA9

[guacharaca]

I have implemented your advice with some limited success. I installed the BDA.dev which was on the disk. It brought the version of BDA.dev forward from 2.10 to 2.40. I additionally changed my device driver from 2.0.0.1 to 1.0.0.15. to see if the diseqc. situation would improve. By doing this I did get the remote control to function again. I tried various versions of DVBDream.

The card does now change the diseqc switch, but with great effort. I have tried three different diseqc switches and the three diseqc switches respond differently. The Chieta switched once. The Lava brand functioned 20% of the time. The CW brand acted the same as the Lava. It is as if the diseqc switch needs to be more sensitive to the diseqc command signal, or the signals are not being transmitted every time or the signal is not strong enough. The diseqc is only a foot away from the card. I will seek out other diseqc switches to try. What kind of meter do I need to detect the diseqc signal strength on the end of a RG6 cable?

With a diseqc switch inline, the software freezes if I attempt to switch channels (satellites) more than once or twice. Therefore, I go to “manual scan” and click the green check mark for the card to lock onto the next channel’s transponder signal. I need to click the check mark several times and then occasionally the signal strength of the next transponder will show itself. Only then has the diseqc switch completed its switch and the next channel is good to go.
I will try setting up the motor next.

[cody]

hmm, quite frustrating experience, because i use Diseqc 1.2 positioner to move the linear actuator on my big dish with TBS 6980 every day and i haven't experienced any troubles. also, i have 1-in 4-out Diseqc 2.0 switch that i use rarely, but still i haven't had any issues when i tried using it. however, i use TransEdit (part of DVBViewer Pro) to control Diseqc with TBS 6980 and TransEdit / DVBViewer Pro have build-in Diseqc support for TBS 6980 and so there is no need to add anything else, maybe something in the DVBDream module causes the instability problems for you. do you have license for TransEdit / DVBViewer Pro to try them? other than that you need digital oscilloscope to measure Diseqc signal.

[guacharaca]

Now successfully receiving NBC HD s2 signals on AMC1 (103W). I discovered that one can even tweak the APID for those broadcasts that send their audio on four separate sound channels.

[guacharaca]

I succeded getting my 4X1 diseqc switches to function by putting in the committed raw command vs the uncommitted raw commands. See other thread called TBS6980 diseqc 1.1 how to?