Is my Technomate fta reciever dead ?

novaboy80

Hi , im hoping someone on here might be able to help me , about 12 months ago i bought a Technomate 3000D fta reciever which i set up myself and got working perfectly pointing to astra 28.2 e . Everything was rosey until i decided i wanted to see what else was out there in space and used an old sky dish which was made portable so i could move it with ease trying out searches on astra 1 eurobird etc . Cant remember how many satellites exactly i had searched and saved but i would guess about 8 or 9 and as the last search was 100 % complete and started to save the screen frooze up and since then my Technomate reciever is dead . All that happens when i switch it on now is the Technomate logo appears on the screen for a brief second and then goes black and the reciever turns to standy mode . I cant access the Menu or do anything but scratch my head . I contacted Technomate in the uk and they told me to download their software for my reciever off their website so today i bought an RS232 cable and tried to do just this but my pc wont recognised the reciever / reciever seems invisible to it so no joy there . . Also i have an identical reciever in another room and i tried transferring the software from it using the cable but it just said sending data please turn on other reciever which of coarse was already on . . Dont know what else i can do . Any advice would be greatly appreciated ! Also whats on my recievers display now constantly is 3589 if that makes any difference . . Do i need to buy a null modem cable . . I seen this mentioned alot on forums but have no idea what it is . Thanks in advance : )

Apogee

If you disconnect the satellite coaxial cable and then power up, does the receiver still go into standby?

novaboy80

Yes it does . Stuck in standy mode all the time now . I guess i could go get it repaired by a qualified technician but im one of these people who like to learn how to do things for themselves .

Apogee

I'd be a little suspect that flashing the firmware would cure it, but worth a try I suppose.

The manual will tell you what sort of cable you need i.e. which pins are connected to which. Most receivers require null modem type, but a small number of receivers use a 'straight through' type cable.

What version of Windows are you using? Are you sure the RS232 port is configured correctly?

novaboy80

Not sure what windows im using as its my friends pc i used but as far as i know its an up to date version . Also at the back of the reciever is typed RS 232 so thats the cable i bought today . Its the nine pin female type i needed . Fitted tight and secure so thats why i was suprised the pc didnt even pick up on it . I wouldnt be hugely up to date in the world of computers but i did upload software to my sat nav from tom tom s website wit no hassle and the pc recognised the connection immediately though that was not an RS 232 type cable . I thought maybe there may have been some way of resetting the reciever by means of the buttons on the front uno like some engineer code or something like that . Wont be overloading it in future with too many channels thats all i can say .

Apogee

You need to find out how the cable you bought is wired - you can use a multimeter to figure out which pins are connected to which. Then you need to find out from the manual what pin arrangement is used to flash the technomate.

The fact that the PC was used to update the TomTom is irrelevant to what you're attempting to do.

novaboy80

Haha yes i have a multimeter but as for finding out the pin arrangement . . Thats beyond my current knowledge . . Thinking back on what you said earlier though . . Perhaps the pc Isnt configured to use the RS 232 ? Its the only port on the pc that would accept the cable but i wonder is it actually set up for it to be used . . Think it had 1010 written on it if that means anything to you . Might try taking the reciever to an internet cafe and see if a pc in there is any different

Apogee

Set the mulimeter to measure resistance, so when the two probes are brought into contact, you will see the reading fall to 0.

As the probes are probably too thick to fit in the holes of the serial cable, wrap a length of wire around each of the probes, and then you can insert that wire into the holes.

You then check if pin 2 is connected to pin 3; pin 7 connected to pin 8.



If you can't manage that, go back to the shop and ask them what sort of cable you bought.

Taking the box to an internet cafe when you don't know what cable you have (or don't know what cable you require) is a waste of time. I doubt if the owners will let you connect up a receiver in any case.

excollier

A null modem and the correct firmware, from the TM website will do the job. You will also need the loader software.
Have revived a few TM boxes wth this method.
It has to be null modem though.

Try this website for TM software:

http://download.for-better.biz/bbs/main.php
and the loader attached here

novaboy80

Thanks all : ) i will give these suggestions a try and let ye know either ways what happens .

STB

Excollier has given you good advice.

Unzip the file. Have your box turned off, start the firware, pick the file to load, click it and turn the box on.

It will get to a 100% and reboot. This (null modem cable and firmware) is the recovery procedure for most boxes. That what the r232 port is for.

novaboy80

Ok so here s the latest . I got some RS 232 serial null modem 9 pin female to 9 pin female in Maplins over the wk end . Works perfect , however , i have given that loader and Technomate software posted in this thread several attempts and its still not working . Here s what i done . I saved the loader onto pc and also software , i then started loader and choose the software and started the download to my Technomate reciever which i then switched on . . Took bout 5 mins i would say . Reciever display read d99 d 98 d 97 and so on until it got to d 0 . Then it said boot and done the same thing ( d99 to 0 ) only at a much faster rate . When it got to 0 it said d end and i thought great were in business now but alas its still just the same as it was previously , still stuck in standby mode . Did i do anything wrong ?

novaboy80

Woo hoo i have it sorted ! Done a data transfer from another Technomate 3000D fta box and mines up and running again now : ) funny i tried it earlier today . . . Tried a " software " transfer but when it was complete it was still stuck in standby , had no effect at all so this evening just out of curiousity i tried an " All " transfer and it done the business so im delighted now . Thanks for the advice everybody i appreciate the help . I have a question regarding this patching ive heard of . . Is there any good channels to be got from patching and could you give me an example of a few . . For instance is it possible to get discovery channel , RTE s , tv3 tg4 setanta sports sky sports etc ? Would google searching find me sites where i could download links to get these ? What about Technomate s site ? How long would a typical patch on a particular channel last . . Would it be a case of having to update the patch on a daily basis ? Also i would like any ideas you might have on why the links posted on this thread didnt successfully get my reciever up and running again . . If i done something wrong it would be nice to know for future reference . Thanks all : )