Technomate TM-1500 CI+ Super - Basic setup info.

its4thekids

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Hello, I purchased a used Technomate TM-1500 CI+ Super a few years ago and also, but separately, a 120cm motorised dish with the view of enabling my children to watch television while in France. It's taken this long to get a permanent electricity supply out there to make using them practicable. My problem is that due to the time delay I have lost the info. given to me to enable me to use the system effectively and would therefore appreciate some very basic but detailed information on setting up and using the system. I believe I need some kind of lead to connect to my PC/laptop but I'm not sure if I have this or what it looks like. I believe I can get codes for watching various channels but don't remember the steps involved. I do not have internet access while in France, other than restaurant WiFi access etc. As yet I have not connected the box to the dish and need to know what type of cabling would be required for this, I assume I would need more than the standard Sat. cable as it is a motorised dish?
Sorry for the convoluted question and for sounding so dim, I'm not quite as dim as I sound but I don't watch much television and therefore haven't immerse myself in the technicalities of satellite television. Many thanks for your time.
 
Welcome to AVF.
It depends on exactly what you want to be able to receive.
I would guess that the UK free channels would be adequate, and for them all you'd need would be the receiver and a new small dish fixed up by a friendly local installer over there.
If it was for French free channels the same dish could be pointed in a different direction.
To answer the question though - to connect the receiver to the dish would require ordinary satellite-quality cable: satellite cable.
The computer and internet don't come into this at all.
HTH but feel free to ask for details - Logi.
 
Hello, I purchased a used Technomate TM-1500 CI+ Super a few years ago and also, but separately, a 120cm motorised dish with the view of enabling my children to watch television while in France. It's taken this long to get a permanent electricity supply out there to make using them practicable. My problem is that due to the time delay I have lost the info. given to me to enable me to use the system effectively and would therefore appreciate some very basic but detailed information on setting up and using the system. I believe I need some kind of lead to connect to my PC/laptop but I'm not sure if I have this or what it looks like. (On the TM1500 that's only for updating the firmware & editing or loading channel lists) I believe I can get codes for watching various channels but don't remember the steps involved (Doesn't work anymore except for a very few- card share & Linux boxes or similar have taken over that & is not allowed on here). I do not have internet access while in France, other than restaurant WiFi access etc.

As yet I have not connected the box to the dish and need to know what type of cabling would be required for this, I assume I would need more than the standard Sat. cable as it is a motorised dish? (It depends what motor is on the 1.2m dish- it is probably a 36v & probably a polar mount & 36v actuator in which case you will need a V Box & 4 wire cable from that to the actuator & set the TM1500 up using Diseqc 1.2 motor control which the V Box will convert to 36v control & then you have to find & store each satellite one by one - it could have a diseqc motor - ideally a STAB HH120 / Superjack [original] or a Darkmotor Superior in which case you use the one coax only and it goes through the motor to the LNB & use USALS motor control which will find all the satellites once properly setup).

Sorry for the convoluted question and for sounding so dim, I'm not quite as dim as I sound but I don't watch much television and therefore haven't immerse myself in the technicalities of satellite television. Many thanks for your time.


The 1.2m will get you all the UK Freesat & other free channels off 28.2/5e in France easily plus Arabsat @ 26e (BADR4 & possibly could get BADR6 [just]) & quite a lot of or all of Nilesat @ 7w, these satellites carry quite a few English movies & programming in English & English 7 day EPG is available plus you can get others round the arc.

It does require setting up properly but the TM1500 is one of the best receivers for motorised.
 
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Many thanks for the info. I will check the dish motor next time I'm out there, from memory I believe the dish was fitted with a new motor/arm not long before I purchased and the original motor/arm are still in place! apparently still works. I do remember seeing a terminal block with about four terminals on but like I stated in my o.p. I bought dish and box seperately. I asked about cable type because (possibly in ignorance) I couldn't imagine a normal sat cable delivering sufficient power to operate the dish motor. I will look into the items mentioned above as I thought I only needed a cable to get things up and running, I thought the Tm-1500 did all the business!
 
What items?:confused: All it needs IS the cable. The receiver DOES do it all - controls the dish, receives the channels. What you do need to do is decide what channels you want. I still think that for your only stated requirement, "enabling my children to watch television while in France", a new small fixed dish to get either UK or French free channels would be adequate. Let us know if you're wanting to get more, and if so the details.
 
Many thanks for the info. I will check the dish motor next time I'm out there, from memory I believe the dish was fitted with a new motor/arm not long before I purchased and the original motor/arm are still in place! apparently still works. I do remember seeing a terminal block with about four terminals [That's 36v] on but like I stated in my o.p. I bought dish and box separately. I asked about cable type because (possibly in ignorance) [ no] I couldn't imagine a normal sat cable delivering sufficient power to operate the dish motor [it won't- not that motor- it needs 36v DC x 3A] . I will look into the items mentioned above as I thought I only needed a cable to get things up and running, I thought the Tm-1500 did all the business! [no- only for diseqc 1.2 motors- not 36v]

The block of 4 connectors consist of 2 for 36v DC (+ & - & can be swapped depending which side the actuator (arm) is positioned) & the other 2 for pulses from a reed switch [or similar device] that counts the rotations of the motor.

So you do need a V Box & a 4 wire cable to get it all working. Google V Box & use copper multi strand for the 4 wire cable.

--------------------

Logiciel... what he's got is a 36v polarmount & actuator - they are different from diseqc 1.2 motors - they are much stronger & more powerful & usually used on 1.2m dishes & above - you can use them to motorise 3m+ dishes.

Many older receivers had 36v control x 3A or 5A before the smaller & quieter diseqc 1.2 motors took over & made motorised more acceptable for more people.

A 1.2m dish is deemed to be on the limits of the use of diseqc 1.2 motors - we only use a select few for 1.2s & then only on light 1.2m dishes & in [wind] sheltered locations.

In France he's actually very lucky with the extra satellites he can get with a 1.2 that carry free English stuff & that would need a 2.4m or 3m+ up here in Stoke/Cheshire/ Manchester





(I'm not jealous:D)

:smashin:
 
Thanks again for the prompt and informative replies. It's a sharp learning curve for me considering my setup at home (West Yorks) is built in freeview recieved from a length of coaxial with a wire loop hanging on the curtain poll! What you say Pedro makes sense the motor looks quite heavy duty, its mounting tube for dish etc. is approx. 4" dia. I'm saying the dish is 120cm from memory but may be a little more. I bought a fair sized dish in the hope we would have a wider range of viewing options, obviously in English. Logiciel, my needs are as stated but the children do want English TV and I want to built in a bit of future proofing in the event that we ever decided to jump ship and hide away in S.W. France. I have plenty of coaxial but in the event that I need 4 core what specific mm2 should it be?
 
OK Pedro. As you know I've no experience with dishes but that does raise two points. What kind of cable do those 36 volts need and does 4-core come into it, and are all those extra accessible satellites relevant to the simple requirement of "the children do want English TV"?
To put that another way to its4thekids - bearing in mind the name, if it really IS for them, what extra benefit will they get from access to all those extra satellites that are intended for the Middle East and carry a few English films, compared to the easy access they'd get with a small fixed dish to 200 UK channels and/or to French equivalents? The former would be quite a contrast to the Freeview they're used to!
 
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...

I have plenty of coaxial but in the event that I need 4 core what specific mm2 should it be?

I don't think the signal wires matter that much, 0.5mm-1mm?, the 36v 3A obviously has to take at least that, but it's generaly better, especially on a longer run, to go thicker because it's low voltage DC so using thicker multistand copper reduces the losses ... c. 1.5mm- 2.5mm.

You can get 4 core for 36v motorised- some used to have thicker for he 36v & some are all the same.
 
OK Pedro. As you know I've no experience with dishes but that does raise two points. What kind of cable do those 36 volts need and does 4-core come into it, and are all those extra accessible satellites relevant to the simple requirement of "the children do want English TV"?
To put that another way to its4thekids - bearing in mind the name, if it really IS for them, what extra benefit will they get from access to all those extra satellites that are intended for the Middle East and carry a few (LOADS of!) English films, compared to the easy access they'd get with a small fixed dish to 200 UK channels and/or to French equivalents? The former would be quite a contrast to the Freeview they're used to!

Actually there's kids channels too & you can easily
put together a very family friendly package if you want-

he's got the right gear - might as well.
 
these satellites carry quite a few English movies & programming in English
Ah yes, I missed that "quite"! :)

Also I just got your point about the 36volt motor needing a special kind of control - does that mean the Techno can't be made to control it?
 
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........
does that mean the Techno can't be made to control it?

You use a V Box - the coax goes in the V Box & on to the LNB- the V Box takes any Diseqc 1.2 motor control signals on the coax (that the TM1500 can produce) & converts them to the very similar 36v motor controls - after that the TM1500 (or any stb with diseqc 1.2 motor control) works like it has 36v control.
 
Ah yes, I missed that "quite"! :)

I think it's over 500 movie slots a week in English excluding Freesat & not repeated like crazy like Sky does.
 
That's more than "quite" a lot in my book.;)
What satellites are they on, the two you mentioned, or more?
 
What satellites are they on, the two you mentioned, or more?

Yes & various others spread around the arc -

There might be more than that, I forgot some & he can get more in southern France with a 1.2m.
 
I think it's over 500 movie slots a week in English excluding Freesat & not repeated like crazy like Sky does.

Is there a listing of such channels available or is it a case of scanning FTA lists and getting lucky?
 
That's what I was getting at. ;)
 
you could start here

here's one he'll get a lot easier than we do

or this one has a good website but a lot don't have such good websites and there's another MBC movie channel that I can't find the link for - MBC Persia
 
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Thanks very much for those.
It seems odd to me that they do anything in English, but they obviously do, very much so.
 
English is popular & Hollywood's main output is English.

Here's the MBC Persia link I couldn't find- the movie that's just been on was 2010 ... there's a lot more but you get the idea
 
Thanks again.
English is popular with them but the US and UK are not. :confused:
 
Thanks again for the continued inputs, looks like I will have to look into the vbox idea. Logiciel, I accept your point about using a smaller dish but as Pedro's pointed out I have already got the kit so naturally wish to use it. Before I bought it I was lead to believe that (a few years ago now) some of the UK sat's had reduced their footprints making it more difficult to receive them in Europe. That said my brother visited us in France, stuck his small dish in the field, tuned in his Sky box and away he went. Although it is primarily for the children (when it's too hot to play out, evenings etc.) I hope there will come a day when I'm not totally consumed by sitting out in baking heat drinking wine and waiting for it to cool enough to restore the house to actually watch a little television! Sorry for the digression but just wanted to put my requirements into context. It will be interesting to see just what we will be able to pick up as we are just under 400 miles south of Calais. I will not be out there for a month or so but when I can I will measure the dish and have a closer look at the motor and report back. Thanks again, as I said this is all quite new to me so if there are any little pearls of wisdom re setting up etc. please feel free to offer them.
 
Most reception reports for SW France give 70cm+ dish sizes or over for good reception on the 2D beam - that's the restricted beam for mostly Freesat channels. You can get many of the other beams much more easily. You could use a small dish but you might find some channels aren't there or break up or break up at certain times of the day &/or in moderately bad weather.
 
OK its4 - knowing you're that far south I'd have gone back on the small dish idea but as the dish in the field worked that would be OK after all. I still think that would be fine for the children but you could get a vast range of channels for your own use from the massive motoriser if you really want to drag yourself away from the vin and the jardin.
 
Using a Sky box with a card is different - it uses different beams for many of the same channels on Freesat - the ASTRA 2D beam for the main FTA channels is much more restricted to the UK & well known with a lot of report data outside the beam's intended footprint.
 

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