Transponder Selection on Satlook Lite possible?

[OldBen]

Yes, I know the Emitor Satlook Micro G2 is the forum darling and the bees knees, but being in the hobby not pro camp its too big an investment for very occasional use.

I want something better than "beep" though, and the Satlook Lite seems a good value for money tool that's just about justifiable for setting up something complicated. Looked at the manual though (_http://www.emitor.se/dynamaster/file_archive/100927/a92c410e7607fb74d765d6f9fc592a9a/Satlook%20Lite%20Manual.pdf) and it shows the transponder frequency for a satellite discovered (and name from NIT) - BUT can you select the transponder you are measuring?

I want to get best alignment I can on a weak transponder on Astra 3A at 23.5, but the whole point of a meter is to get the best possible alignment for the channels I want, so if it only has a pre-set list of transponders and picks a strong one its not so useful.

I have searched the forum already, read suggestions that you can load the table via USB, or that it picks up transponders in a blind scan itself, but the manual makes not reference to either. Can you select transponder on this meter?

 

[Huevos]

You must be able to. On the Satlook Color HD, and the Micro the transponder database is not needed at all, so my guess is it would be the same for the Lite. How it works is (in spectrum mode) you move the marker to the desired frequency (and polarisation & band) and then align the dish based on signal strength and spectrum fingerprint. Once roughly aligned you switch to digital mode and fine tune the alignment based on BER, SNR, MER, etc.

Anyway these meters are user editable so there is no problem with adding something to the database to make your job easier.

 

[OldBen]

Thanks for the advice. I did read all the other threads I could find and the useful sticky on the Micro. You would ASSUME its selectable, and that its user update-able, but the manual is not clear at all and I would not want to spend money on something that does not do what I needed - could buy cheaper Emitor small inline meter instead.

I will try to email Emitor I think and ask them. Don't move for another 6-8 weeks so have plenty of time before want to install new system. Might do some eBay searches and see if anything pops up there but it seems people who buy the Micro hang on to them!

 

[Huevos]

Last time I dealt with Emitor I emailed Sido and he rang me up. He speaks English and will supply you with any technical details you might need.

_http://www.emitor.se/extra/pod/?id=83&module_instance=1&action=pod_show&navid=83

 

[OldBen]

I sent an email to the "support" alias, so hopefully they will come back to me, I am in no hurry.

 

[Zorba]

Funny you mention it. Last week I borrowed a new satlook lite and was disappointed that the preset frequencies for 2D were not suitable for Cyprus ,so I managed to connect it to my computer to input my own frequencies. The message said it transferred the data but when I switched on the satlook it was blank !
I took it back to the shop,where they re installed the software and I asked them to put the frequencies in,which they did . But apparently it lost them a couple of days later.

 

[satelliteman]

I sent an email to the "support" alias, so hopefully they will come back to me, I am in no hurry.

Yes, they do return emails or you can ring them; very helpful.

 

[satelliteman]

Funny you mention it. Last week I borrowed a new satlook lite and was disappointed that the preset frequencies for 2D were not suitable for Cyprus ,so I managed to connect it to my computer to input my own frequencies. The message said it transferred the data but when I switched on the satlook it was blank !
I took it back to the shop,where they re installed the software and I asked them to put the frequencies in,which they did . But apparently it lost them a couple of days later.

Can you not manually save additional transponders into a plan from the memory / recall feature?

 

[OldBen]

The nice people at Emitor replied, the Satlook Lite has a pre-defined list of transponders for each satellite, but you can edit the pre-set list with the PC editor and download it to the Satlook Lite.

They said it would also work with a Quattro, but thinking about this if the transponder lists are fixed one per satellite would that not mean you have to use the correct output for the transponder that's pre-programmed? (H/V, H/L).

Looks like it does what I need though

 

[OldBen]

Can you not manually save additional transponders into a plan from the memory / recall feature?

Well the manual says:

2.4 > Pressing down “OK” when > pointing towards “Favourites” will take the meter
to editing mode where You can add on or take away satellite-positions from the
favourite list. Simply press “OK” on the satellites You want to add/take away.
Selected satellites will have a “ * “ symbol in front of the name.
For saving, select “Save and exit”.

I think it just means from the pre-set list you can specify your "favourite" satellites?

For my purposes as long as I can enter 12525.00 V on 23.5e to maximise dish alignment for that transponder should do what I want

 

[Huevos]

They said it would also work with a Quattro, but thinking about this if the transponder lists are fixed one per satellite would that not mean you have to use the correct output for the transponder that's pre-programmed? (H/V, H/L).

Yes, if you are looking for a particular transponder you need to plug in to the socket on the correct band and polarity for that transponder.

BTW: doesn't it seem strange having an EB1 transponder as the reference Astra 2 transponder?

 

[OldBen]

BTW: doesn't it seem strange having an EB1 transponder as the reference Astra 2 transponder?

Beyond my expertise that question

Thanks for clarification on port selection, assumed that would be the case.