Zgemma Star H.S Motor Issues

There are 23 replies in this Thread which was already clicked 5,086 times. The last Post () by slayer7.

    Hi All,


    Having some issues similar to those in some other threads I've read on the forum, seems to be common with these boxes?. I just cannot get the box to drive the motor, I've tried Diseq 1.2 only, USALS with correct long and lat in both simple and advanced settings, as recommended in other threads.


    It was setup then positioned to 28.2, I was getting a great signal but since trying to setup positioning it's obviously moved a fraction as I only get a handful of channels now.


    My kit is as follows:


    Zgemma Star H.S
    Icecrypt motor
    90cm Triax
    Quad LNB


    I've tried various images with no success, both backups and fresh installs. The only thing I can think of now is getting a backup image that is known to work on a motorised setup. I believe H2S and H2H images will also work on this box?


    Can anybody help?


    Thanks

    • Official Post

    There are a lot of posts on issues with motors...


    I am not familiar with your model, if it supports only Diseq 1.2 then you have to use that, if it has usals then that is a lot easier.


    I have come to the conclusion that the motors are not being setup plumb and the Zgemma is unable to compensate for this cockup on some motor models. Whether i am right or not is open to debate.When ever i have put up a dish i always set it up plumb.


    Remember that when installing a motorised dish the motor should be zeroed (set to 0.0 degrees and the dish pointed to true south- not magnetic south.)
    Any easy way....If a motor has a digital display on it you would set it to 0.8w (or drive it from 0 to 0.8w using the Sat box) and get the best possible signal of the thor 0.8w satellite, no expensive tools required this way...Then the same on a satellite on the outer east limits say 42E and one on the west side say 30W, get the best possible signal on all 3 sats and the dish is setup plumb.Install an up to date channel list and enjoy


    If the Zgemma has infact got an issue, it must be some sort of driver issue, if proven it can be reported and the drivers fixed.


    To answer your other question, yes the h.s can use h2h and h2s images, they are all based on the same chipset.


    Please see this thread as well:


    http://linuxsat-support.com/sh…e2?highlight=zgemma+motor

    Thanks for your reply.


    I can't vouch for the installation being exactly plumb south as I did not fit the dish, but it was installed by a professional satellite installer. I watched most of the install and was chatting to the guy while he was doing it, he told me he was locking the dish on Thor first then 30W Hispasat followed by 28.2E Astra, which sounds not dissimilar to the method you mentioned.


    Think I may just throw in the towel with this box as I plan to get a Gigablue Quad Plus anyway. It will still make a good little multi room box for the bedroom or kitchen.


    Thanks for your help.

    • Official Post
    Quote from gap30

    Also having problems with a motorised dish, works perfectly fine on my crappy F5S yet spent four days pulling my hair out with this box


    http://www.techkings.org/zgemm…orised-dish-problems.html


    Even spoke to the vendor who informs me its a know issue with the software


    Okay fine. But why is it that I (and many others) have tested it with 3 motors types ( 2 TM models and a supreme dark motor) on the s2 hs hs2 h2h with no problems?
    Agreed there may be an issue but what is required is experienced people to post with details of make and model of motor and the tests undertaken to resolve it. For the most part all I have read is posts from inexperienced users. Anyone trying with a patched vix image is wasting there time.

    Quote from jenseneverest

    Okay fine. But why is it that I (and many others) have tested it with 3 motors types ( 2 TM models and a supreme dark motor) on the s2 hs hs2 h2h with no problems?
    Agreed there may be an issue but what is required is experienced people to post with details of make and model of motor and the tests undertaken to resolve it. For the most part all I have read is posts from inexperienced users. Anyone trying with a patched vix image is wasting there time.


    And that is exactly what i said to the vendor, when you are new to something the only replies you get are from people speaking to you like you are a fkng idiot


    Just because you are new to something means nothing, it works fine on my F5S


    its not rocket science it should work, connect to motor, drive to sat


    We all had to start somewhere, i am trying to post in the right places - if you read the thread i have linked to i am trying to be as informative as possible


    Also fwiw i am using openatv 5.3 and following YOUR instructions


    Zgemma H2H
    Technomate 90cm dish
    Technomate TM2300 M2 motor
    Technomate TM2 lnb
    13m webro WF100 cable


    I will work it out in the end, i am starting to think about it differently now and possibly know where i may be going wrong


    BUT if i do work it out i will be a damn sight more helpful than most.... for other people 'new' to this

    Edited 2 times, last by gap30: adding info ().

    • Official Post


    Please do not take my post the wrong way, it was by no means a dig at yourself in anyway, nor anyone new to the hobby
    I appreciate there is an issue, and am willing to help anyone trying to resolve it for the greater good of our hobby.
    Unfortunately i have not managed to replicate it myself, despite trying on the 3 motors mentioned prior. I am not a vendor nor an installer, those motors are all mine or family members.
    The zgemma is a cheap box made with cheap parts in China. There very well may be a hard ware issue where the power amperage on the tuner differs from box to box. It could also be drivers i do not know. With reference to your thread on the other forum all i can say my cheap 45 quid motor is on a 40 meter cheap shotgun cable run and works fine. So what i am saying is if any experienced user , like a satellite installer, has come accross the issue themselves, would they please report their findings. That may be a stab in the dark as most installers do not use Zgemma boxes.....Should you resolve your issue post back how, i have only given my opinion on the subject, and as said above that is open to debate. Good luck

    Quote from jenseneverest

    Please do not take my post the wrong way, it was by no means a dig at yourself in anyway, nor anyone new to the hobby
    I appreciate there is an issue, and am willing to help anyone trying to resolve it for the greater good of our hobby.
    Unfortunately i have not managed to replicate it myself, despite trying on the 3 motors mentioned prior. I am not a vendor nor an installer, those motors are all mine or family members.
    The zgemma is a cheap box made with cheap parts in China. There very well may be a hard ware issue where the power amperage on the tuner differs from box to box. It could also be drivers i do not know. With reference to your thread on the other forum all i can say my cheap 45 quid motor is on a 40 meter cheap shotgun cable run and works fine. So what i am saying is if any experienced user , like a satellite installer, has come accross the issue themselves, would they please report their findings. That may be a stab in the dark as most installers do not use Zgemma boxes.....Should you resolve your issue post back how, i have only given my opinion on the subject, and as said above that is open to debate. Good luck



    i apologise if my post came across as offensive in any way


    To be honest looking around the forums in general you are the only person who has tried to help people with information (and pictures) in your guides


    The problem for a newbie like me is there is so little information about this box and motorised dishes


    My problem is my dish is not set up correctly and i assumed the box would be able to help me do this


    That is not the case, but what i could not get my head around was the fact a skybox f5s can do most of the basic functions ie power the dish for a start and move it east or west


    Once my dish is set up correctly i feel confident i can search for each satellite individually


    today for example i did a multi sat search, dish went to furthest east sat and stayed there whilst scanning the rest of the sats


    You know when you could headbutt the wall.....

    • Official Post

    Im glad your still trying, most people just say "the zgemma is crap" and buy something else.


    Go back to basics mate. Im assuming you have entered your lat and long correctly in tuner config and your are using usals.
    On openATV go to menu -service searching - positioner setup - movement - press red to move west or blue for east and follow onscreen to stop as required


    Dose the motor move as requested to extreams of east or west and back again?


    If so, good, exit and under the same menu go to signal finder - press left or right under the satellite option and the dish should move to the requested sat ??


    Start at 0.8w, if the motor moves to 0.8w and you have no signal the dish needs to be aligned there first, then as above get a good balance of 30w -0.8w -42e


    If your motor dose not move with the Zgemma at all, but dose with your other box, then it can only be the zgemma. If it is just a signal issue, then it is out of line, or your channel list / sat.xml is not installed correctly (sounds like you have covered that in your other forum thread though_)

    No it does not move east and west in positioner


    It does not have a constant supply


    I think if I can set it up on the f5s I can possibly get it to work on this box


    - - - Updated - - -


    88d14d0b38ddf.jpg


    Finally after 5 days a small step


    Not there just yet


    - - - Updated - - -


    nope back to square one its not having it


    scans fine on any single sat but wont move between sats when i change channel


    up to date satellite.xml/vhannibal channel list


    skybox moving dish for fun


    Vendor is adamant its a software fault even though many people have their boxes running fine


    - - - Updated - - -


    Just tested out a theory


    Went up and disconnected the LNB


    Box was able to power the dish east and west in positioner setup


    Suspected it was a power issue from day one, thing is i went out and purchased a 12v 3.5a power supply


    Now i am going to return that and try a 5a supply, will report back with findings

    • Official Post


    Your post on the other forum said you were given the dish motor etc....
    Is it possible the lnb is defective or has had water in it?
    The zgemma changes the voltage at the tuner to 18v and 5v or something simolar can't remember exact off the top of my head.....for horizontal and vertical tp''s. If you have a multimeter messure what you are getting and I will compare to mine.


    Off topic.... my own motor has started to mess about where by it is tuning slowly east by fine west.... if I end up replacing it will do a full zgemma motorised guide....



    can anyone help me please. I have Zgemma h2s . Just bought from a friend since August 2016 but have not been enjoying it because it freezes all the time. Now I want to reset the box to factory setting but need help on a good image and cc**m set up.
    i want to do it by myself. Please help. Thanks

    Quote from jenseneverest

    Your post on the other forum said you were given the dish motor etc....
    Is it possible the lnb is defective or has had water in it?
    The zgemma changes the voltage at the tuner to 18v and 5v or something simolar can't remember exact off the top of my head.....for horizontal and vertical tp''s. If you have a multimeter messure what you are getting and I will compare to mine.


    Off topic.... my own motor has started to mess about where by it is tuning slowly east by fine west.... if I end up replacing it will do a full zgemma motorised guide....


    Hi sorry for late reply


    I am an electrician so have lots of test gear


    Where exactly do i measure the voltage? ie at the incoming coax cable?


    Today i had a brain fart and disconnected the LNB believe it or not i was able to move the dish


    I think its a power supply issue, i can scan 28.2 on single and get 1000 channels so we know the tuner is good


    The skybox F5S is moving the dish quite freely


    I simply think the zgemma is not giving out enough power to the motor/LNB


    On 0.8w the skybox finds 300 plus channels, the zgemma cannot even get a lock in signal finder (not enough power?)


    Gonna pick up a 12v 5a power supply in the morning


    If that fails i am done, can sell this box tomorrow no problem its a great box


    Looking at the Xtrend 8500 (hopefully it wont come to that)




    Totally off topic the openspa image is nice, using confluence skin same as kodi


    - - - Updated - - -


    Update: Tried a 5a supply nothing, currently in 0 degrees position with a supply trying to find Das Erste on 19.2


    It wont move the dish end of


    On the latest ATV nightly


    Satellite.xml up to date, vhannibal full motor channel list


    Tuner config; simple - positioner


    Sometimes you have to concede defeat, gutted as its a great box the cable is awesome and single sat is awesome


    Xtrend 8500 it is then

    Edited 2 times, last by gap30 ().

    You know what I am torn here


    I feel like I am one setting away from solving this


    I hate quitting a 'project'


    Spoke to vendor again today, he has spoken to woosh etc about this


    None of those guys use motors


    We need to pool all information in one place as a reference point


    Hate to harp on but it runs well on skybox


    I even tried USALS1 settings today with a manual scan on multisat


    Getting tuner config error


    Some clever b'stard will crack this soon cough Jensen cough


    Vendor told me a guy in Ireland fixed it after 3 months but he couldn't remember how


    The box is sending the signal ie moving west but the motor isn't getting the correct 'code'

    • Official Post


    As i said ages ago, i personally have not been able to replicate the fault. We are using the exact same gear except my cable is cheap shotgun that is about 40m long and my lnb is a cheap low noise one i got for about 6 quid on flea bay. I used to have a 1.2m steel dish with my same motor and lnb and that too worked fine. I have now down sized to a 65cm mesh dish (because the neighbours moaned ) but am now missing out on a few sats so a second one will be going up the weekend....
    The best option to get to the bottom of it is for me to try your box.... Send me a PM if your happy to try that...

    • Official Post
    Quote from gap30

    Do you think the problem could be that i have a dual LNB, should i go buy single LNB


    http://www.technomate.com/store/products/TM%252d2-Gold.html


    It really should not be a problem, but as you said the motor moves as expected with the lnb disconnected. That should rule out the cable and the motor.
    A dual LNB should not draw any more power more than a single..... since the second feed will also be powered by whatever tuner it is connected to...
    That said, LNB's do draw different currents, so what you would need is a low power one.....
    After all the other tests you have done it has to be worth a try.
    I have also given some thought to the power packs you have tried, they probably will not make any difference since the voltages are regulated by the Zgemma anyways, so unless you had a defective power supply that did not supply enough power to begin with, i doubt it would make any difference.....


    This lnb is sold as a low power one:


    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tech…baf77e:g:9psAAOSwstxVcF53

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