Which is the best, affordable meter for 2D in the fringe?

[DishDick]

Satelliteman, thats what I thought. I know the spectrum analyser function will allow me to see at a glance how any adjustment affects the whole range, but I want to peak 10,714 and 10.773 as these have the channels I am after and here when those are peaked the rest of 2D are, so I don´t need to watch a range. I will then try to get 11221 just above reciever threshold whilst trying to keep 10714 etc as best as I can.

Still locking for that elusive meter, the more I look the harder it is to decide which one to go for. If i buy another one that doesn´t work here I will freak out.

Yes Wium, all good kit here, CM, Televes, Invacom and expensive imported extra thick cable.

Merry Christmas to you all, and thanks for your help over the years!

 

[Huevos]

Satelliteman, thats what I thought. I know the spectrum analyser function will allow me to see at a glance how any adjustment affects the whole range, but I want to peak 10,714 and 10.773

Just use spectrum for peaking the dish. Move the marker to the frequency you want to peak and watch the gross signal strength.

MER, BER, and constellation are great for verifing afterwards, but due to their nature, i.e. the need to build up a history, they are far from real time.

BER only works when there are errors, so once BER drops to zero (>E-8) it becomes a useless feature. MER and constellation are the same thing except one is a grafic representation and the other is a numeric figure. Both can be used to verify an install even when BER is zero, as they still show deviation from ideal even when there are no pre-viterbi errors.

 

[DishDick]

Well have taken the plunge and have bought a Rover Master STC. I hope this locks onto our very low 2D channels! Will pick it up next month.

I am thinking of putting the Satlook NIT in the classifieds section. It is in as new condition with a brand new battery, complete with charger and manual, not sure where data cable is. What price should I be looking at?

 

[satelliteman]

Ah, nice purchase.

 

[mpj111]

hi,

i need to find a meter/locater or direction finder to get correct direction of Satellite insted of compas,

Cold you please give me aguid to find good meter ( gps or what ever it is called ) , from web, Ebay etc


Thank you

 

[PaulR]

No need for a compass yet. Use Dishpointer and you can put in your location and the satellite you want.

http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/dishpointer.php

 

[mpj111]

Thank you, this is a excelent tool., I can get the direction accurately.

Small question again?. Ordinary compas, gives wrong reading when it get closer to the metal parts. Is there any better tool to get direction when install dish.

much appreciate your answer

 

[PaulR]

Ordinary compas, gives wrong reading when it get closer to the metal parts. Is there any better tool to get direction when install dish.

Difficult. Dishpointer gives both magnetic and true north figures. Can you make a note of the magnetic direction before installing any metallwork?

Also, Dishpointer uses Google maps and you you can drag the pushpin to exactly your location. So perhaps you can see a local landmark that's in the correct direction that you want.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thank you, this is a excelent tool., I can get the direction accurately.

Small question again?. Ordinary compas, gives wrong reading when it get closer to the metal parts. Is there any better tool to get direction when install dish.

An ordinary compass glued to a large wooden stick ?

 

[Huevos]

Is there any better tool to get direction when install dish.

A decent meter, preferably with spectrum analyser.

 

[DishDick]

Well, just to update. Took the Satlook back to the UK, it works pefectly there on Astra2/Eurobird, so tuner is just not sensitive enough for me here. Rover on the other hand is sensitive enough!

 

[satelliteman]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[vma]

Hi,

Reading this, I got intrigued and tested it:

10788 V 22000 5/6 (_http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html)

I am "officially" off the footprint, as I am using a 100cm dish in Northern Portugal.

Using my Satlook Digital NIT Color, I can see the peaks but in digital mode, I won't get any signal lock.

I repeated the exact same frequency on my Rover Instruments DM16 4HD and got indeed a signal lock and could watch live TV. The quality is naturally borderline - it is raining and every now and then the signal is temporarily lost.

This however explains why I did not get any good signal on my 2.4m mesh dish: I was using the Satlook Digital NIT Color. Big mistake... The dish is not yet mounted, as I need to invest on a proper structure to hold it. Nevertheless the next time I take the Rover to the roof.

You get, what you pay for...

Regards,
vma

 

[Lazarus]

Sounds encouraging for when you get it all permanently installed.

 

[vma]

Hi again...

I made this video today:

[video=youtube;5RMzExD2RqE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RMzExD2RqE[/video]

It shows how the Rover Instruments DM16 4HD can receive Astra 2D.

Cheers,
vma

 

[satelliteman]

Hi again...

I made this video today: _http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiJ1yEWZC1I

It shows how the Rover Instruments DM16 4HD can receive Astra 2D.


Cheers,
vma

Yep, good video and an acceptable post viterbi BER.

 

[Huevos]

Using my Satlook Digital NIT Color, I can see the peaks but in digital mode, I won't get any signal lock.

I repeated the exact same frequency on my Rover Instruments DM16 4HD and got indeed a signal lock and could watch live TV.

It's not a fair comparison. The Satlook is starting from knowing nothing. You centre over the spectrum peak and the Satlook has to figure out what the signal is, i.e. Frequency, SR, FEC, etc. That a lot different from trying to get lock on known parameters (like you are doing with the Rover).

Comparing my Satlook to my Satcatcher, the Satlook needs about 7dB S/N to lock Astra 2D which as just below the cliff edge of pixelisation. The Satcatcher, on the other hand, only needs about 3.5dB S/N to remain locked. This is really helpful if you accidently move the dish too far when doing an alignment because the Satcatcher stays locked but the Satlook loses digital lock and you need to go back to the spectrum screen and recentre on the satellite in question.

 

[vma]

@Huevos: you are actually not correct! The Satlook got from me the correct frequency 10788 (not just the center of the peak) and like the DM16 4HD had to find out SR and FEC.

I tried again today and I was actually able to get a lock on 10788 using my Satlook, but I could not get a stable picture.

Don't get me wrong - the Satlook is not a bad device.

Cheers,
vma

 

[Zorba]

Yep, good video and an acceptable post viterbi BER.

No video ...
"This video has been removed by the user.
Sorry about that "
?

 

[Huevos]

@Huevos: you are actually not correct! The Satlook got from me the correct frequency 10788 (not just the center of the peak) and like the DM16 4HD had to find out SR and FEC.

I tried again today and I was actually able to get a lock on 10788 using my Satlook, but I could not get a stable picture.

I think you misunderstood my post. The Satlook is working from the marker, not a transponder database. That is more work than trying to sync with known parameters like the Rover is doing in the video.