DVB-S2 question...

D

DaveDodd

Member
My Satellite Setup
HDCI-2000
My Location
Surrey
Hi, just a quick question...

I need a meter for occasional use where i might need to realign a dish when doing some AV work.

This will mostly be sky but also the odd foreign satellite.

I just wanted to know if having a dvb-s2 meter is nessarry or advisable...obviously it doesn't hurt to have it but when you can pick up a Satlook lite for so cheap from german ebay is it worth it?

I was going to wait for the FS2 meters...but this seems to be a very long wait!

Any advice?

Thanks, Dave
 
Is this really such a bad question that no one in the community can be bothered to give me an answer? It probably is noob question, but that is exactly what i am :(
 
It's midweek and many of our Members (especially the Pro Installers, who hopefully are at work!) don't log on that often.

It isn't a matter of "not bothering", but one of patience.

We normally don't bump questions until a couple of weeks have passed.
 
For occasional alignment work, a simple Digisat LCD meter is fine. It doesn't do modulation (I think) as it just measures the power from the satellite rather than quality of the signal.
 
Hi,

As far as I know, there isn't currently a single satellite, which does not have at least one DVB-S transponder. This means that a meter with DVB-S2 is nice to have, but not a requirement to align a dish.
Regarding the Satlook Lite, check the manual: _http://www.doebis.de/sites/messgeraete/mess_datenpdfs/satlook_lite/Satlook%20Lite%20Manual.pdf
The meter is not bad, however you need to be aware that the spectrum is not rendered in real-time. This means that you cannot just setup your dish using the spectrum.

For amateur users I would rather recommend a second hand Satlook Digital NIT or, even better, the Satlook Digital Color or Satlook DIgital Color HD (this one is suitable for DVB-S2).

If you just want to adjust the alignment of the dish, you are set with these meters.

However, if you need to trace faults, especially with DVB-S2 transponders, then you need better equipment. Because DVB-S2 carries so much more information, it has actually a worse error correction, which means that the signal has to be received in better conditions compared to DVB-S. Here lies the advantage of having a DVB-S2 capable meter. You will benefit of MER, BER and constellation of the 8PSK signal. This will tell you if the antenna is poorly aligned, or if other problems occure, like:
- incorrect tilt of the LNB
- bad cable
- etc.

Meters like this cost 10x or mor than a Satlook Lite, so my guess is: just go for that or look for second hand Satlook Digital NIT/Color/HD. A bit more expensive, but more professional: Rover Instruments.

Cheers,
vma
 
vma said:
Here lies the advantage of having a DVB-S2 capable meter. You will benefit of MER, BER and constellation of the 8PSK signal. This will tell you if the antenna is poorly aligned, or if other problems occure, like:
- incorrect tilt of the LNB
Click to expand...
I don't know what you mean by this.

Best way to get the correct LNB skew is in spectrum mode (analogue). Put the marker on a vertical transponder, switch to horizontal and adjust for minimum signal.
 
What I meant was that you cannot be sure to have good DVB-S2 reception by just using a DVB-S meter, i.e. using just the spectrum.
If you have a small dish or if the view to the satellite is partially blocked, you may receive DVB-S signals, but not the DVB-S2 ones. It will be hard to understand what is going on, if you lack i.e. 8PSK constellation.

But yes, you are right: if there are no special problems, you can work with just a simple DVB-S meter (I still use my Satlook Digital NIT a lot, despite having DVB-S2 capable meters).

Cheers,
vma
 
Sorry, I thought I was subscribed to this thread but I didn't get any emails...

Thanks for the repsonses guys...great advice, I really appreciate it.

I'll be back if I have any more questions :)
 
vma said:
If you have a small dish or if the view to the satellite is partially blocked, you may receive DVB-S signals, but not the DVB-S2 ones. It will be hard to understand what is going on, if you lack i.e. 8PSK constellation.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm missing something here but I have never found a need to use 8PSK constellation to check if there is tree in front a satellite dish.
 
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