Sk3005 control cable issue

[Paulc]

Well, I did the unthinkable today. I accidentally sliced into my control cable. After splicing together the 6 wires the unit worked fine. I then attempted to tape the cable where the splices were and I must have crossed some wires. The control box light went off. I repositioned all of the wires and turned the box back on. Yes, you guessed it no communication with the antenna. I don't believe that the cable is the issue since the splice connections are all good. I haven't tried a continuity test with all 6 wires as yet though (tomorrow's activity). Any idea what I should try if the cable is indeed not the culprit? This is a brand new sk3005 and I am sick!!!!

[Bill Adams]

It would seem that the cable would be the only possible culprit, but if you also pulled the control cable during the installation it's possible that the connection inside the base of the antenna has come disconnected. Not knowing what actually happened it's hard to speculate. It you think this could be a possibility, unscrew the 4 screws above where the cables enter the base of the antenna. You will find a cable connection there which can be disconnected. Unplug and replug this connection to ensure you have a very good connection and try again. If you had a failure during an attempted deploy you MUST also do a new EL Cal (home?, something). Once the antenna is fully raised it will ask if the antenna is in the fully raised position to which you must respond Yes (assuming it actually is) and proceed from there.

[Paulc]

Thanks Bill. When the failure occurred there was lots of excess cable that I pulled from. The antenna is in the Up position and the control box is not communicating nor does it recognize the antenna (unknown). I will certainly try to see if the cable disconnected and will continue with the continuity check tomorrow. The unit was already fully deployed with satellites listed when it went off as the splices were crossed. I just get this feeling that I shorted something out.....hopefully not!

[Paulc]

Well, I completed the continuity test on the control box cable and it is working. The connection to the antenna and the control box is secure. Bill, is there any other diagnosis or something I can do to find the problem? I do not have any schematics so my thought is that I had damaged something internal to the antenna.

[Bill Adams]

You tested continiuity and what is working? What message are you seeing (if any) on the controller? The cable connections you checked under the plate on the roof plus the connection into the controller? I assume you mean you checked all cables for continiuty but did you also verify that none are shorted (touching one another)? What actually happened that required this spice? What kind of hardware are you using to make this new connection? It's certainly possible that you shorted something but since I have never seen any similar issue we will need to wait to hear what Winegard thinks and what they suggest you try. If you are getting some message other than no communications with mount we might be able to try some other steps.

[Paulc]

Thanks again for your message Bill. Originally I tried to drill a hole through a cabinet to add another rg6 cable but ended up ripping the control box line on my sk3005. I procedded as mentioned in the earlier posting that I twisted each of the 6 colored wires together to form a splice and the unit responded properly, deployed correctly,even getting all satelites. When I went to tape the wires up, I accidently shorted it because the litght and power to the control box went out. I unplugged the control box, seperated the colored wires once again and plugged the box back in and turned it on. Thats when I received the message at the control box indicating no communication with the antenna. I called Winegard Friday and they thought it was the cable but it was late Friday and no way to get further information. I then did a continuity test on each of the colored wires for the control cable and they all were functioning (continuity was there). So, I know that the cable is good now. What I don't know is, did I short something in the control box or in the satelite? Is there a way to test either item? The control box turns on as iusaul and looks for the antenna. It was already deployed when all of this occurred but the control box is not finding it since it registers a 'no communication with the antenna after a couple of tries.

[Bill Adams]

Yeah, that does sound bad. A you absolute sure about your connections? When you check connectivity did you check that no 2 cables were also shorted? I.E. The blue to blue connection shows connectivity but so does blue to white?
If the controller powers up then at least we know that fuse is good. What you might have blown up top would still remain in question.

[Paulc]

Well, I am not quite sure where to go with it since I only checked to make sure that the cable was good (ie, green to green, yellow to yellow etc). I did check the voltage supply for both the red and orange wires of the cable. These seemed to be supplying D.C.That;s about as far as I have gotten. While I agree with you regarding the fuse for the controller, it would be protecting the source from the other way (power source). When the wires crossed, it was the control box that lost power. My suspicion is that is where my issue may be. I guess I will be calling Winegard tomorrow to see if someone can help