In all the documentation that I have read, Dreamcatchers were not supposed to work with either a switch or a motor (FTA Dish Positioner). However, in my installation it works fine. I have no switches but I do have a Stab HH-90 moving my 90cm dish. I also have 150’ of cable between the Dreamcatcher and the dish.
YMMV -
I’m the source of that comment. You are fortunate here, Jim. I have a Sadoun DG-280 motor out at my 80 cm dish, and 500 feet of cable into my house. My Maverick or the Dual Band LNB won’t work that far away, so I bypass motor for Othernet operation. I’m sure it’s an issue of cable loss. Ken
By the way, Jim, are you using the Maverick or the Dual Band LNB - - or your original FTA LNB? Ken
I’m using the LNB that came in the kit, it’s a universal. However, I do use a universal as my FTA LNB as a rule.
There is also a way to use your FTA box as a master and the 3.05 as a slave so you can use your motor as well. I tried that and it works well and only takes a few dollars of parts that any FTA guy probably has in his junk box.
Jim, I tried to pull a signal off my receiver to feed an earlier Dreamcatcher about a year ago and couldn’t make it work. I’d love to see your solution. It would be very helpful here. thanks, Ken
Hi Ken,
This is how I did it. The input to the splitter is the line from your motor/LNB. On my system the left output of the splitter goes to my STB (Edision OS MIO 4K). The right output port has a DC Block to keep STB LNB voltage from coming back down to the 3.05…then the 3.05 is connected to that.
I then tune my STB to 87W and The Florida Channel - 12044 / V /3200 or any Vertical Polarity transponder. There are two V Pol channels FTA.
I have about 100’ of cable between my STB and dish. This works in my system but may not in yours.
I wanted to attach a picture but I guess it’s not allowed. The splitter I used is a BAMF SB-2002. I use the same technique to provide a signal to my commercial Motorola DC-II receivers.
So basically anytime I’m not watching FTA, the system is dedicated to Othernet.