Sat Meters

Mike4t

Anyone got any views on the merits of these two units

Lacuna North/South Satellite meter

and

Horizon V2 Digital Sat meter,

Does anyone have one and using in southern Costa Blanca, >??and are there any significant advantages on one over the other

Mike

rolfw

Do you mean this one http://www.lacunasystems.co.uk/satmeter.htm

and this one http://www.horizonhge.com/hge/hdsm.shtm ?

If so, there probably isn't much between them, I would probably go for the Horizon though, I have never used either but have seen both in action at the various shows. Whether they have the sensitivity for use in fringe locations, I'm not sure.

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snap

I have the Lacuna with the North/South dataset loaded. The sensitivity can be adjusted to cope with fringe reception. For setting up Sky in Spain it works fine, but it is hard to visually average out the signal quality as it is metered in real time- the bars go up and down very quickly.
I've encountered two problems- short battery life and it can't tell the difference between Astra One and Two- quite a serious shortcoming. I metered a signal from a 70 cm dish receiving a signal from Astra 1( I also had it up on a TV as well, as the LNB was a quad) and the meter correctly identified 19 degrees Astra but it also told me it was reciving Astra 2D- obviously completely impossible on this size dish in Madrid.
I've yet to get a satisfactory explanation from the dealer who sold it to me- it's possible it is a faulty unit.

bignick

I have a Lacuna which I am very happy with except that the batteries don't last that long & you can't programme in certain transponders which is a pain when fine tuning for certain channel groups.


I also have a promax prodig which I believe you can programme the transponders into (unfortunately I don't have a copy of the software app that will allow you to do it - anyone got a copy?). It might be worth considering this one also.

Cheers

Nick

Mike4t

OK thanks for Info,, couple of additional questions,, Can you actual programme to see 2D and transponders on the Lacuna,, as I didnt see that info on any of the Sales sites or the Lacuna site,>..//

And bignick, can you post site for info the Promax Prodig,, I;ll do a search anyway,,
Thanks all
Mike

snap

On the Lacuna you have a choice of three data sets intended for different types of installation in Europe.It is loaded onto the meter using a special program and lead from your PC (not Macintosh).
On the Europe set Astra 2D is available as a separate satellite to find and measure signal strength, though you cannot choose specific frequencies.
I have the North/South set installed on mine, which is sadly going back to the manufacterers as it has a fault stopping the charger from working properly.
Tech support have admitted that there is an issue of common frequencies on Astra 1 and 2 which can cause the meter to become confused.
If you can find a unit where the charger works properly, (check it charges both boost and trickle) it works well for Astra 2 installers in Spain.

bignick

Here is the link for the Promax: http://www.promaxprolink.com/prodig1.htm

As the post above says, you can see astra 2d low beams (vertical & Horizontal) but you can't choose the transponders. Fortunately the North/South software pack will show Astra2d horizontal Low out here on smaller dishes, but I have no idea which transponder it finds!

sat200

hi there i have both the satellite one hdsm and hdtm i find them both very good and the battrie lasts ages on them i would recommend them

trigger

Just a quick note

The lacuna meter

There are certain suppliers in the UK that supply this meter at different prices depending on wether it is standard or North/South. As far as I'm aware it is the same meter but with different software. Buy from a supplier and make sure you get the data cable and you can update the software you want yourself and probably save 25 quid.

Does anyone know if when you do update the software the user settings are lost? I have had to adjust the meter levels as am in a fringe area for 2D. Its taken quite a few installs to get it how I want it and don't want to loose the settings.

Thanks

Stay warm

bignick

Hi

I can confirm that the only difference between the meters is the software installed when supplied. When mine came in it had UK Multisat set on it and I had no download cable. Making up a cable was simple. I just cut off the lead from an old PS2 keyboard and connected to a D socket that I got from a local store see http://www.lacunasystems.com/leadpinout.htm for details. Total cost = £1.25. Does the same job as the £25 download lead!!!

I have no idea what would happen to the settings if you updated the software.

Cheers

Nick

remlap

Hi try out this software it might suit your needs http://www.ssi-iraq.com/software/satmeter3.zip

bignick

Thanks for the link......I emailed the company and got the software from http://home.promax.es/ftp/Zips/SH106.zip


Cheers

Nick

bigkenny

to put a spanner in the works what about the Rover range (what sky now use)

sat man

Hi mike ,

I live north of benidorm and I install using the Horizon meter. I have a special prog in the meter for ultra fine tuning etc. The tech support from the boy's at Horizon is first class and I would thoroughly recommend their kit.
What 2.4 do you have Portuguses or Turkish ?

Hope this is useful

mysteronuk

Not actually replying really but have just purchased a Mini digital System and, being ne to Satellites do not know what is meant by Astra1 28º East etc. means!

Can anyone recommend a Web site?

Thanks

Ron

Llew

Mysteronuk, don't hijack a thread unconnected with your query. Start another one!

Astra 28E is the cluster of satellites bringing you, mainly, Sky channels.

See www.Lyngsat.com for info on these and other satellites.

Llew

Celebrating Ten Years Of The Forum As A Founder Member

mysteronuk

Sorry, but am new to this sort of thing and couldn't find my way to open a new thread!

Ron

Llew

Just go to the section you want, and click on 'New Thread'.

BTW, welcome to the forum!

Llew

Celebrating Ten Years Of The Forum As A Founder Member

Rob

Don't think he will find this very useful as he posted nearly two year's ago.

Still better late than never.

geoffrey

I have been told that the Horizon HDSM meter needs a C/N ratio of at least 3.5dB to lock signals. My Skybox does better than this. Can any users of this meter please say what they have found to be the lowest C/N at which they have got a lock.

geoffrey

My last post came about because I could not get my Horizon HDSM to lock on anything at 28 east. There was no available file for the strongest transponder (2C) and nothing for 2B. The Horizon people sent me a file for Channel 4+1 on 2A North which locked a Satlook and a Skybox but not the HDSM - this was for 12480Ghz V.
Eventually Horizon let me have their SatEdit program (which I think is something that should be available as standard with the meter). With this its possible to define your own transponder frequencies and AFC ranges.
I then realized that the frequencies that Horizon were using for the Astra transponders did not correspond to the lock frequencies found by a Satlook Spectrum analyser.
If the frequencies found by the Satlook were used to define new Horizon files the meter worked fine - it will lock down to 3.3dB C/N and locks some transponders that the Satlook will not lock (ie Channel 4 on 12168v).
I then found that the frequencies shown by the Satlook differed from the published ones because my Invacom Quad LNB seems to have a LO which is offset by a few Mhz.
And its not just one LNB; I tried an Invacom Single,an Inverto Twin and an Invacom Single polarity with the following results for the locking frequencies indicated on a Satlook for Channel 5 on 10964H.
Invacom Quad QDF-031 : 10967
Inverto Twin 0.3dB : 10964
Invacom SPV-3SM : 10964
Invacom SNF-031 : 10967

The standard settings for the Horizon HDSM gives an AFC range of +-3Mhz which was just insufficient to cope with the Invacom Quad.

I hope this is of interest to someone - get the SatEdit file from Horizon technical support if you have similar problems. Trouble is that you need a Spectrum Analyser to first find the proper lock frequencies - maybe the new version of the Horizon with a spectrum display will help. This is the manual http://www.horizonhge.com/product_sh...USB_Manual.pdf

With this HDSM USB PLUS you can define one custom carrier with all the variations you can set with the SatEdit program; the spectrum display may be good enough to find the locking frequency.

Zorba

Very interesting. I also have the horizon and I am having problems with checking Invacom lnb's that are usually over a year old. The problem seems to be the local oscillator in the lnb does drift off a bit,especially on the high band. So on astra I do not get readings on the first two settings but i do on the fourth(horizontal low).
It is annoying and a collegue who has the same meter contacted Horizon a few weeks ago and was told that they acknowledge the problem with Invacom lnb's but there was no solution.
But if there is a program where we can put in our own frequencies then that would help.
Another colleague with same problem went and bought a roversat where you can store any frequency and step it up or down till it locks .
I also have the satlook but its a bulky thing to carry around (in front of a 3m dish) and the display is hard to see in sunlight.
This sat edit program sounds good. How do you get hold of it?

geoffrey

Interesting that we both had the same problem. After months of trying to get a working transponder file from Natalinna at Horizon my problem was passed on to Robert Sydee their Technical Manager. He was very helpful with suggestions and eventually sent me the SatEdit Program. His email is rob@horizonhge.com . It was Robert who suggested that the problem was with the LNB LO ; I thought that the published transponder frequencies were wrong ! I found that the SatEdit program would not run properly under Windows 98SE but worked fine under XP. I had to use a USB to serial port converter as the program did not recognise my serial port properly. Another point to note is that Windows XP may block the Zip file until you unblock it. Do this by right clicking on the file name, select properties and then unblock.

Zorba

Thanks geoffrey,I have just sent an email to Rob at Horizon. I didn't quote you yet,just to see what his reply will be.Then I will mention the sat edit program.

sat man

Hi Zorba,

I have the same sat. meter as you & Geoffrey and I'm having the same probs.I have contacted Rob at Horizon and Dave at Invacom about this problem and as you now know it's down to the meter. Interestingly if I fit a brand new invacom lnb I always get a full set of readings ie. BBC1, 2, ITV,CH 4 & 5 all locked on.
One thing, as you pointed out I wonder if we can make up our own hex. files which would work just for the invacom's using the new loader prog.
I'm thinking of getting the ROVER ST2 meter as an upgrade.

Cheers