Lost my satellite meter

[Captain Jack]

Hi,

I've lost my satellite meter during the house move - at least I can't find it yet - and wanted a new one anyway. I saw a recent addition to some sites - a Rockdale meter. Anyone have any experiences with these? It seems to have NIT and SQ reading....

CJ

 

[gibertini]

i wouldnt bother m8, for £70 you could get a cheap satlink meter from PRC or a second hand horizon hdsm usb for around £100 of a well known auction site

 

[Captain Jack]

Not sure I like the look of those PRC SatLinks - something tells me they will fall apart as soon as I touch them. HDSMs are expensive - certainly more than £100 2nd hand.

 

[gibertini]

Not sure I like the look of those PRC SatLinks - something tells me they will fall apart as soon as I touch them. HDSMs are expensive - certainly more than £100 2nd hand.

i got my horizon hdsm usb+ for £110 but granted they do usually go higher. the meter you linked to looks like a gloryfied £10 buzzer style one. ok the satlink ones are not great in heavy sunlight and its basically a shrunk down stb/mini-tv in a case but for £70 i know which one id choose. you could maybe pick up a wolsey/lacuna mk4 for around £100 but the firmware updates are finished although there are editors available to update the txp list and i used one for a couple years as my first proper meter and i found it ok. if your in no hurry then you will probably get a decent meter for £100 to use for enthusiast/friend a family use. as you know m8 all singing all dancing meters are very expensive.

 

[sonnetpete]

CJ, my Satlink has never let me down. True, it can't tell me which satellite I'm on but it's very simple to use and I'd be lost without it now.

 

[purplemarina]

I paid £150 for my hdsm+ inc post on eb*y took me 6 weeks to get the right one, i am finding it a good meter. i did 3 alignments for friends who to a man didnt think it was a "proper" meter because it didnt have a tv screen!!

 

[A nonymous]

I use a first Strike FS1 meter which has never let me down. Its also very robust. I have before now accidentally dropped it 20ft onto concrete and its survived with nothing more than a few scratches to its rubber carry case.

You set the meter to which ever satellite you want and it finds it giving strength and quality readings. You can download software from the First strike website which allows you to add what ever satellite you want and also to add which ever transponders you like. If you buy it from an official agent like CDTronix you will also get regular transponder updates. In my opinion its worth every penny although it is a bit more expensive than all the others mentioned, just coming in at under £160.

Don't be tempted to buy one cheap off eBay as it will undoubtedly be a clone. You may be able to get it cheaper as Dylan at CDTronix may do some sort of deal with you if you ask.

Nano

 

[Captain Jack]

Thanks - got the FS1!

 

[Juan69]

We should start an FS1 fan club. I mentioned this before but you can couple up the Satlink meter to the FS1 and get the best of both worlds.

 

[Captain Jack]

Can the FS1 control a DiSEqC motor? I don't see an option for this in the manual...

 

[A nonymous]

Not as far as i'm aware, I Use my DM16 for that.

Nano

 

[Captain Jack]

That's a shame. Even my little crappy one could. Oh well, if I ever find it, I'll use that.

Got it this morning. Nice little meter after I worked out how to use it. Put my own "plan" on there so I can start installing things. One thing: short of cutting the speaker wire, how do I shut it up during alignment? It keeps beeping at me and I don't want it. I can turn off the keypad tones but not the alignment one.

 

[Juan69]

You can turn the speaker on and off by just pressing the appropiate key on the keyboard. You need to press it for three seconds. Do the same to turn it back on.

 

[Captain Jack]

Yeah, I've done that and it turns off the keypad tones but not the signal tone.

 

[Juan69]

Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing. I press the sound key for three seconds. The third blue key from the left. Sound mutes and an indicator of no sound appears on the bottom right of the screen.

 

[Captain Jack]

Yep, exactly that. Odd - still.. found the beeper quite useful today!

 

[Juan69]

OK. That switches off the constant sound when alighning. If it doesn´t would then suggest there is a fault. But you must depress for at least 3 seconds to turn off and back on.
Useful to avoid the need to keep looking at the gauge while searching for signal and annoying when not.