Satellite Finders

PJ02

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Are the satlook mark 3's any good as a sat finder?

I'm keeping my eye out for a used satlook to replace the digisat pro that i have.

Does a spectrum analyser make much of a difference, or is it just a nice feature?

Thanks

PJ
 

iwol

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channel master 1.2m dish
technomate 6900,,and invacom 0.3 quad lnb
satlook micro
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just got a satlook micro + just for my hobby can highly recomend iwol:)
 

CROSSBONES

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Satlook mark 3, very nice! It will blow your digisat pro out of the water.

Spectrum analyser will make all the difference:-worship

I also use the satlook micro+ very happy with it.

Or you could go for the satlook NIT, another good meter.
 

iwol

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satlook micro
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hi crossbones sorry to be dumb but what advantage does the spectrum analyser have when peaking your dish
 

CROSSBONES

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As a general rule, the satellite meters are all you need to help find a specific satellite. A spectrum analyzer then permits you to view individual carriers on a said satellite.
 

wod

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interesting i've been looking to buy a meter for the last couple of months

the spectrum analyser bit does it really need to have one for only a small motorised dish ?
 

rolfw

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There are several advantages with using a meter with spectrum display, not the least that you can identify different satellites at a glance, compare cross polarisation readings for Skew adjustment and see an instant signal improvement reading.

If you advance to the Satlook Micro or NIT, then you get the added advantage of BER readings and Signal to noise ratio readings, great for peaking the dish. :)
 

moosegoose

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sorry for hijacking your post but what spectrum aniliser would you consider to be the best for sat and ter .been looking at a televes one at 1500 pouds .comes with c/n card and opional ber card.any decent stuff out there under a grand.
 

rolfw

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I can't remember seeing anything for both sat and terrestrial digital for under £1000, at least not brand new.

There are now several superb spectrum analysers on the market for around £1,600 plus vat, I have the Swires Annie 204, but actually prefer the Satlook NIT for satellite work, the Annie is superb on Terrestrial Digital.
 

wod

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rolfw said:
If you advance to the Satlook Micro or NIT, then you get the added advantage of BER readings and Signal to noise ratio readings, great for peaking the dish. :)

i've noticed this BER thing on my tm9100 what is it exactly, as it reads zero on my receiver ?

hoping going from a digisat pro to satlook micro and don't want to get confused with the meter
 

CROSSBONES

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Think it stands for Bit Error Rate, its good that its 0, if you get figures then the channel is normally too weak to lock on to.
 

moosegoose

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thanks 4 the reply on the aniliser.it would be a good to have a reviews section on meters as they are so exspensive .and u cannot rely on the manufactures bumf as they all say theres is best.i for one would review my wolsey sat and terr just about do the job after 2 years of tinkering meters.
 

rolfw

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I'll look at doing that moosegoose, although ideally reviews should be done after comparing with other meters and not many members will have had experience of more than one. But at least these would be from our members' personal experience and valuable from that point of view. :)
 

moosegoose

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ok may be we could have a list of the most common meters and we could mark them 1 to10 on batt life, durability ,back up and after sale ,ect ect.
 
R

Rd100

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If you only want a meter for at home just use a 14 inch tv and the meter on the satellite receiver it will also save you a few quid,
 

PJ02

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Missed out on the satlook mark 3 last night.

Ah well another will come along.

Rgds

PJ
 

Birdseeker

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rolfw said:
There are several advantages with using a meter with spectrum display, not the least that you can identify different satellites at a glance, compare cross polarisation readings for Skew adjustment and see an instant signal improvement reading.

If you advance to the Satlook Micro or NIT, then you get the added advantage of BER readings and Signal to noise ratio readings, great for peaking the dish. :)

Hi Rolfw

Can you give me some helps how to read the spectrum for cross polarisation
1. How do I read the peak for whether the V and H are cross on the spectrum?
2. Do I look at the maximum peak of H when swith to 18V and maximum signal strength of V when it was on 13V for skewing the LNB?
3. In the new Satlook firmware, there is a X-Pol function, do I look at the max. strength of both V when it is at 13 V and min strength at H signal?

Thank you
 

rolfw

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Berkshire
Hi, if you have the X-Pol button, you choose a signal peak on the spectrum and press the button, it will give you a db reading, adjust the LNB skew until that reading is as high as possible, you will of course have to press the button after every adjustment.
 

Birdseeker

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rolfw said:
Hi, if you have the X-Pol button, you choose a signal peak on the spectrum and press the button, it will give you a db reading, adjust the LNB skew until that reading is as high as possible, you will of course have to press the button after every adjustment.

DEar Rolfw

Thank you very much for helping me. So polarisation isolation is simply maximise the peak on the spectrum.
 

Birdseeker

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rolfw said:
Hi, if you have the X-Pol button, you choose a signal peak on the spectrum and press the button, it will give you a db reading, adjust the LNB skew until that reading is as high as possible, you will of course have to press the button after every adjustment.

Hi

I had play around with the metre, my G2 does not has the db reading but it has gain function, it read 0.97 t 1.0. I am not too sure is the gain same as the db you refering to. Thank you Rolfw
 
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