Satellite Meters Semi Pro Model Wanted

irishgeo

Ok guys

i am looking into getting a satellite Meters. What i am really looking for is one better than the 5 euro ones you get in aldi lidl. i am looking for a higher end market one than that.

I want one where i can set it to look for 28.2 E and it will tell when it finds it.

I want some ideas of the best semi pro. I have a lot of people on to me to set up dishes for FTA boxes from aldi lidl. while i know which general direction to point the dish its the fine tuning which takes ages.

if anyone has 2nd hand one they dont want pm me.

byte

What sort of money are you intending to spend?

Maybe perhaps the Lacuna/Wolsey meter, or the Horizon HDSM meter for ease of use. Having used both, they're both good and quick at dish alignments, and pretty sturdy.

Satlook Micro I think is a bit cheaper and might do the job too. I think somebody here bought one some months back, so if they're reading, maybe they can report on how good it is.

mayto

i have the satlook micro myself and think its very good. it will tell you what transponder/satellite you are on etc. there is a function called matching where the meter beeps only when you find a specific transponder. makes motor install very easy. they cost about 350 euro , so you may need a few new lidl installs next week to justify it .got mine from wizardsatellite.co.uk . got it in two days which was very impressive.

irishgeo

byte wrote:

What sort of money are you intending to spend?

Maybe perhaps the Lacuna/Wolsey meter, or the Horizon HDSM meter for ease of use. Having used both, they're both good and quick at dish alignments, and pretty sturdy.

Satlook Micro I think is a bit cheaper and might do the job too. I think somebody here bought one some months back, so if they're reading, maybe they can report on how good it is.

Horizon HDSM meter is what i am going for. bidding for one on ebay. How much should i pay?

bigpaddy2004

irishgeo wrote:

Horizon HDSM meter is what i am going for. bidding for one on ebay. How much should i pay?

100 yo yo

Aquos76

bigpaddy2004 wrote:

100 yo yo

Is that been sarcastic;) They are nearly €400 new. I reckon if he gets it for between the €200 and €220, he will be doing well.

I have been using one of these meters for the last couple of years and find it excellent. The battery life is far better than my previous Lacuna.

bigpaddy2004

Aquos76 wrote:

Is that been sarcastic;) They are nearly €400 new. I reckon if he gets it for between the €200 and €220, he will be doing well.

I have been using one of these meters for the last couple of years and find it excellent. The battery life is far better than my previous Lacuna.

Sarcastic...me?:rolleyes: I have bought dozens of second hand meters for new installers down the years and have always got them for around the 100 mark. If someone is gonna buy a meter for around 220 second hand why bother when you can get brand new one for under the 400 mark?

I dont like them Horizon meters very much, the software can be very unstable on them. Much more happy with the Lacuna.

byte

Depending on how much abuse the unit got, and its age, I'd say between €100 and €200. If it's oldish, then €100 would be enough. The battery may need to be changed etc.

Does the unit come with all the accessories, particularly the data cable? Good thing about them is, as Aquos says, the battery life is very good. And all you need is a Figure 8 powerlead, which is handy.

tomdk

Tell you what bigpaddy2004, if you could get a couple of them for around the eu100 mark you'd sell them here (or more correctly to the people here, selling here being a strict no-no). A lot of the 'interested amateurs' like myself here are constantly being asked to set up FTA systems like our own (most get sent to Tony) - and a decent meter would be a godsend. But coming in at eu350 and on up they're just too expensive to consider!

If you find another one going at that price then pm me the details and I'll change my id to 'bigpaddyfan'

T.

byte

Well, I definitely wouldn't pay €350+ for a second hand meter.

Evenin the space of one year, these meters can be subjected to a lot of abuse and usage, and should have itself well paid for by then, so maybe €100 isn't too far off the mark.

bigpaddy2004

tomdk wrote:

Tell you what bigpaddy2004, if you could get a couple of them for around the eu100 mark you'd sell them here (or more correctly to the people here, selling here being a strict no-no). A lot of the 'interested amateurs' like myself here are constantly being asked to set up FTA systems like our own (most get sent to Tony) - and a decent meter would be a godsend. But coming in at eu350 and on up they're just too expensive to consider!

If you find another one going at that price then pm me the details and I'll change my id to 'bigpaddyfan'

T.

I kitted out a lot of new installers down through the years, I wasnt getting nothing for it, just rather researching gear for those who couldnt be bothered. If you sit down and find the time and patience you will find them on the [url]WWW.:D[/url] I dont do it anymore, more important things to be doing these days.

pilslager

byte wrote:

What sort of money are you intending to spend?

Maybe perhaps the Lacuna/Wolsey meter, or the Horizon HDSM meter for ease of use. Having used both, they're both good and quick at dish alignments, and pretty sturdy.

Satlook Micro I think is a bit cheaper and might do the job too. I think somebody here bought one some months back, so if they're reading, maybe they can report on how good it is.

I take it thats me byte youre refering to, i asked here for advise what you guys use for finding satellites, i decided to go with the satlook micro, i purchased one from wizard satellite more than two months ago and still have nothing, zilch. they are telling me that no one has received any from the company that makes them in sweden (i think) for months.Am also been told to keep ringing them to remind them to chase it up. I was surprised to read that Mayto bought one from the same place and got his within two days, just to rub salt into the wounds. I have to ring them in the mornin to REMIND them, i will let you know how i get on.

tomdk

Byte... I meant '350' and up for new meters...

BigPaddy - your perfectly correct... I haven't spend a lot of time looking for meters - every time I get asked to do an install I think to myself 'wouldn't a better meter be handy', look on ebay, google etc., see them come in over eu200 (second hand, last few I've looked at) and just forget about it until the next time. Repeat.

Your figure of 100 surprised me is all - maybe I will spend a bit more time hunting around this time out...

Cheers,
T.

mayto

pilslager wrote:

i decided to go with the satlook micro, i purchased one from wizard satellite more than two months ago and still have nothing, zilch. they are telling me that no one has received any from the company that makes them in sweden (i think) for months.

i ordered my satlook micro on 17th july and it was delivered a couple of days after. when did you order yours pilslager? .

Zaphod

New semi/demi-pro Sat Finder plus 900 €178.
PDF brochure: http://www.satshop24.de/satfinder.pdf

http://www.satshop24.de/satshop24_s/sat_finder_plus_900_schwaiger_,pd0!0,,satfinder_plus.html

tomdk

Actually that one you've linked to Zaphod looks about right for my level, cheers!

I've one little question though... that meter looks at Eurobird (28.5). And the astra2's are at 28.2. Now I know they're nearly identical but...

My own dish must be a bit out of alignment at the moment with Astra2 coming in perfectly and one or two channels from Eurobird a little shakey. I've been meaning to hop up on the roof and re-align it. Does it make any difference in practice using an astra2 transponder to fine tune your dish vs a eurobird transponder? Or is the 0.3 degrees seperation insignificant? (Apologies to the OP - a bit off topic here...)

Zaphod

tomdk wrote:

Does it make any difference in practice using an astra2 transponder to fine tune your dish vs a eurobird transponder? Or is the 0.3 degrees seperation insignificant? (Apologies to the OP - a bit off topic here...)

For a small dish, the 0.3 degrees would be negligible, although there may be small differences in skew etc. It's usually best to align to the weakest transponder. But a problem with all the semi-pro meters (SatFinder, Satlook micro, Horizon etc) is you have little or no choice in the transponder they use to align the dish. It's more or less down to manufacturer's discretion/competence - some here have reported problems with the Horizon meters on 8W, for example.

All that being said, say the meter above uses a TP on Astra 2 rather than Eurobird - if you ensure the alignment on Astra 2 is spot-on and the quality is at the absolute max (e.g. 90%) then Eurobird reception will probably be well above threshold, although not optimum. The fact that the meter displays signal level and, more importantly, quality means skew will be pretty good too. In the words of E Dunphy, it's a good meter, but not a great meter. By contrast, with a cheap beeper meter you might manage a half-arsed alignment on the strongest Astra 2 TP, and Eurobird will be not much above threshold. The beeper only measures signal level, and the skew (and therefore quality) may still be dismal.

The newer 'Horizon USB' meter does offer some choice over carrier frequency but that's a more expensive meter. The 'Horizon USB Plus' even has a basic spectrum analyser feature. Only when you go as far as the Satlook Digital NIT or the higher end Promax meters do you have full control.

tomdk

Cheers Zaphod... for both the link and the extra detail.
T.

pilslager

mayto wrote:

i ordered my satlook micro on 17th july and it was delivered a couple of days after. when did you order yours pilslager? .

I ordered it on the 21st july, you must have got the last one in the country. I received mine today by courier with an apology from the company, better late than never. All i have to do now is learn how to use the thing

byte

pilslager wrote:

I ordered it on the 21st july, you must have got the last one in the country. I received mine today by courier with an apology from the company, better late than never. All i have to do now is learn how to use the thing

Let us know how you get on with it, and what you think.

@Irishgeo, did you decide on a meter, or win the eBay auction?

irishgeo

byte wrote:

Let us know how you get on with it, and what you think.

@Irishgeo, did you decide on a meter, or win the eBay auction?

didnt win the auction. it went for nearly €200 and i was certainly not paying that.

think i might buy that one posted in the link above from the german website. but waiting on some things to fall into place first.

brianbrora

With Triax having just discontinued their Wolsey Sat meter (a badged Lacuna ), and Lacuna themselves having just brought out their latest model, there may be some very good deals on Wolsey/old model Lacunas.

byte

irishgeo wrote: »

didnt win the auction. it went for nearly €200 and i was certainly not paying that.

think i might buy that one posted in the link above from the german website. but waiting on some things to fall into place first.

Oh, €200 seems steep alright for a 2nd hand unit.