Which Satellite Meter

Steve Stras

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Hi Everyone

I'm in the market for a satellite meter. I've been regularly installing dishes in our offices around the balkans and eastern Europe so some of our international staff can watch tv - these are normally Hotbird 13, Eutelsat 16, Astra 19 and Eutelsat 7 - plus I'm always playing around with my dishes at home in France and at my other place in Turkey.

I have no problems picking up the likes of Hotbird et al but, with smaller dishes, I regularly have problems finding Eutelsat 16 as I find the signal on the cheap 'bleep meters' is polluted by the two stronger satellites either side. As this is more or less a favour I do for staff in the office I can't really expect my employer to pay for professional installations to multiple satellites just so our staff can watch footbal etc from their own country they will stump up a few hundred euros to pay for a meter.

I've had a look at two models on the net - the Trimax SM 3500 and a Satlink WS6902 both weem available on the net for around €300.

What do you think ? Are these models any good and would they actually help me significantly with alignment ?

Thanks for any advice ?
Steve
 

rolfw

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Technomate 5402 HD M2 Ci, DM7000s, Transparent 80cm Dish, Moteck SG2100 DiseqC motor, lots of legacy gear. Meters: Satlook Digital NIT, Promax HD Ranger+ spectrum analyser.
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Berkshire
They both appear to be good for the price, there are a few members with similar, so hopefully they'll see this thread. Any meter is going to be helpful with dish alignment and at least with these, you can test which satellite you've found.
 

Steve Stras

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In the end I bought a Satlink WS6918, should arrive in a couple of days.
 

rolfw

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Technomate 5402 HD M2 Ci, DM7000s, Transparent 80cm Dish, Moteck SG2100 DiseqC motor, lots of legacy gear. Meters: Satlook Digital NIT, Promax HD Ranger+ spectrum analyser.
My Location
Berkshire
Will be interested to read your thoughts on ease of use etc Steve. :)
 

Steve Stras

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The satlink will be put to use as soon as it arrives so I'll definitely come back with feedback.
 

Steve Stras

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Hi Everyone

My meter arrived (satlink 6918p) so I thought I would report back with my first impressions.

Firstly, I'd say I am not sure how objective my comments could be as I've never owned a meter before so I can't compare the satlink to other products available on the market. What I can say is using such a meter makes dish alignment much easier than using a cheap 'bleep' meter.

As a test I used a small selfsat dish to align to Hotbird, Astra 19 and Eutelsat 16 in succession. Using the 'quick search' function I selected Hotbird and using the preloaded settings I was able to find the bird in about 60 seconds, though I would say I know where Hotbird is located in relation to the Selfsat's position (it was set to Eutelsat 16) The indication meter appears to be very sensitive and reacts in real time, any movement of the dish was immediately reflected in the signal quality/strength graphic. Same with Astra 19.

Eutelsat 16 took some 25 minutes to (re) find and once I had the sat it wouldn't lock, though I could view the channels without problems - maybe the selfsat is actually too small for this bird ?

I have to say that I don't understand a lot of the features of this meter, I have no idea how to interpret the spectrum analyser function, some of the other indicators are also a mystery; I don't know what the 22k indicator light means or what the different LNB values mean (I set them to universal) though I will continue to play and learn, and maybe even read the manual:)

Overall though, I'm happy with my purchase. Cost was €309 from Satenco

I'm attaching some pictures of the unit in action.
Best
Steve
 

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rolfw

Believe it when I see it Admin.
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My Satellite Setup
Technomate 5402 HD M2 Ci, DM7000s, Transparent 80cm Dish, Moteck SG2100 DiseqC motor, lots of legacy gear. Meters: Satlook Digital NIT, Promax HD Ranger+ spectrum analyser.
My Location
Berkshire
Thanks for that Steve, looks like a uesful little tool. The 22Khz light tells you that you are on upper band, Universal is the setting for pretty much all LNBs used in Europe for ku band reception.
 

Steve Stras

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Thanks for the info, Rolf.

I used the meter to tighten the reception on my existing dishes, the result was no rain fade when the heavens opened last night.
 
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