Sat Meter - I think I might need one - Whats there best budget one for a 8 lnb T90

[sonnetpete]

Don't take too much notice of my last post. I think it was a combination of panic and a strange coincidental dodgy LNB cable problem. I tried the 'faulty' LNB later and it was ok, so I'm fuddled as to what really happened. Still leaving off fitting bthe new Black Ultra till next week just in case though!!

 

[Lazarus]

Don't take too much notice of my last post.

No problem :-hide

 

[sonnetpete]

Perhaps I should add that caveat to my signature!

 

[sonnetpete]

After a little time with the Satplus, I just wanted to 'finish off' my thoughts about it.

This afternoon I cobbled together a set up to test for Hispasat as I was toying with the idea of putting up a seperate dish in a position where I have no line of sight issues. Using the meter I was able to set up the dish and get a lock within five minutes. I'd endorse it for every hobbyist to ease that initial set up frustration. It can't replace a pro meter (or indeed pro help where needed. [I expect a discount for that ad!]) but provided you use a valid TP and have checked the general direction with Dishpointer it's so much easier.

An 'unfortunate' side effect from this experiment is that it's made me wonder about getting two T90's for each side of the porch, to cover most of my arc. I'd sacrifice some sats but it would be an alternate to the motorised set up. Hmmmmm....

 

[Huevos]

it's made me wonder about getting two T90's for each side of the porch, to cover most of my arc. I'd sacrifice some sats but it would be an alternate to the motorised set up.

You don't have to sacrifice anything. You use the T90 for the stronger satellites and the motorised dish for the fringe stuff. Works great, all wired to the same tuner. Currently I've got the T90, 3 fixed dishes, and the 1.5m motorised all on tuner A, 20 LNBs in total. The fixed dishes do the lion share of the work and the motorised fills in the gaps when needed on less used satellites or where a larger dish is required (which turns out to be mainly C-band and feeds from the western side of the arc). Apart from Hispasat (which only needed a minidish) my most west satellite on a fixed dish is 7ºW.

 

[Fano]

I'd endorse it for every hobbyist to ease that initial set up frustration. It can't replace a pro meter (or indeed pro help where needed. [I expect a discount for that ad!]) but provided you use a valid TP and have checked the general direction with Dishpointer it's so much easier.

I've ordered one of these meters ,got it for under 100 euro on Alibaba .
Will be good fun to play with and if worse comes to worse I'll sell it on for close to what I paid for it.

An 'unfortunate' side effect from this experiment is that it's made me wonder about getting two T90's for each side of the porch, to cover most of my arc. I'd sacrifice some sats but it would be an alternate to the motorised set up. Hmmmmm....

Thinking of buying a T90 myself to replace my motorised 1m Gibertini

 

[esto]

I just bought a SatLink 6906 for about 100EUR and it does the job pretty well. It's basically a sat-receiver and little TV screen in a hand-held box. I use a regular sat-beeper to find a first lock and then switch to the SatLink to see what sat I actually locked on. For me it's great, as it saved me many trips running in+out of the house to look at my TV.

_http://www.satlinkmeters.com/sites/products/06/index.html

_http://www.so-mm.de/measuring-instrument-Measure-Computer-DVB-S-DVB-S2_c37-146_len_x1.htm

 

[godzillafan]

After a little time with the Satplus, I just wanted to 'finish off' my thoughts about it.

This afternoon I cobbled together a set up to test for Hispasat as I was toying with the idea of putting up a seperate dish in a position where I have no line of sight issues. Using the meter I was able to set up the dish and get a lock within five minutes. I'd endorse it for every hobbyist to ease that initial set up frustration. It can't replace a pro meter (or indeed pro help where needed. [I expect a discount for that ad!]) but provided you use a valid TP and have checked the general direction with Dishpointer it's so much easier.

An 'unfortunate' side effect from this experiment is that it's made me wonder about getting two T90's for each side of the porch, to cover most of my arc. I'd sacrifice some sats but it would be an alternate to the motorised set up. Hmmmmm....

Great stuff

Got me thinking AGAIN and meters.

Your setup looks like my first car!

 

[sonnetpete]

@Huevos : Your suggestion does sound like an ideal solution. However, to put up a T90 on the western side of the (south facing) porch, I'd need to take down the motorised dish as there isn't sufficient clearance to mount anything larger than a mini dish under it. I'd also have LOS issues with anything East of Astra 2 due to the porch roof.

I have a vague plan hatching to go down to T55's and mount them on a spare (French) pole and brackets mount that came off our now defunct 5°W analogue dish (the one in the photos). I'd try and mount it on the East facing side of the porch and put the Western arc T55 at the top of the pole with the Eastern arc T55 underneath. I could then use the 1.2M dish for the ones I'd miss with the smaller toroidal dishes.

It's just an idea at the moment, and if it did come about I'd need to start another thread instead of taking over this meter one, as I seem to have done LOL.

 

[Hakon]

It's a little bit funny but i have had my T-90 since aug 2003 and im putting up motorised dishes and you with motorised is putting up T-90

 

[sonnetpete]

.....and you with motorised is putting up T-90

Just thinking about it, not actually putting up!!! I think I'm a long way off yet.

 

[Huevos]

I have a vague plan hatching to go down to T55's.

I'd forget the T55. They are only for 8 LNBs, won't allow 2º spacing even with modified holders and are only good on high EIRP signals.

 

[sonnetpete]

I'd forget the T55. They are only for 8 LNBs, won't allow 2º spacing even with modified holders and are only good on high EIRP signals.

Hmm, well I was only planning on the following sats on T55's : Western arc, 30°,12.5°,8°,5°,1° & 5°E. Eastern arc, 13°,19°,28°,39°,42° & 45°. I'd fill in the rest with the 1.2M as I watch them less frequently. Unless there's a suggestion of something halfway between a T55 and a T90? (I do have a spare TD88 and a Gibi 1M)

 

[sonnetpete]

Just a quick postscript re the Satplus. With the meter I managed (quite easily) to catch Nilesat on an old 60cm and lock some verticals. A bit pixellated but there. Then this morning I used the Satplus to tweak the 1.2M and got 3% to 4% extra quality on Nilesat. I'm not sure if the tuner on the Satplus is more sensitive than the VU+ as I did a scan with the meter and don't think it pulled in any more channels than I already have on the VU+. But, the meter's tuner is definitely sensitive.

 

[godzillafan]

Just a quick postscript re the Satplus. With the meter I managed (quite easily) to catch Nilesat on an old 60cm and lock some verticals. A bit pixellated but there. Then this morning I used the Satplus to tweak the 1.2M and got 3% to 4% extra quality on Nilesat. I'm not sure if the tuner on the Satplus is more sensitive than the VU+ as I did a scan with the meter and don't think it pulled in any more channels than I already have on the VU+. But, the meter's tuner is definitely sensitive.

So the satplus seems to be better than the satbox and tv search and the little needle thingy.

hell just wondering if its just worth it to aline the 16 lnbs on the wave 90

 

[sonnetpete]

So the satplus seems to be better than the satbox and tv search and the little needle thingy.

For sure it's better than a needle and tone meter.Just how convenient would it be for you to have an stb and tv in a position for alignment?

hell just wondering if its just worth it to aline the 16 lnbs on the wave 90

For me it would be a no brainer but then I was in a position to afford one. Having used it, I couldn't imagine attempting to set up a dish and 16 LNB's without it.

 

[Huevos]

For sure it's better than a needle and tone meter.Just how convenient would it be for you to have an stb and tv in a position for alignment?

Has that meter (the Satplus) got spectrum?

 

[sonnetpete]

Has that meter (the Satplus) got spectrum?

No, it hasn't. As I said in post #32, it's really a very small stb and monitor in a portable, battery run package. I think there is one in their range that has a spectrum analyser but I've just searched and can't find it. I seem to remember it was considerably more than the £130 I paid for the one I have.

 

[Fano]

I bought a Satlink 6906 a few months ago and so far I am extremely impressed with it.
I have used it to realign a few friends dishes and also played around with it .

I setup a minidish out the back on a pole and using the meter tuned in a number of satellites,28e,23.5e,19e,13e,9e,7e,5e,1w and 5w.
Its a doddle to align a dish using the meter and the sensitivity is very good,30% signal strength is enough for a lock.

I'm seriously impressed with it .