I have used a channel master for many years and they work fine, they are not very accurate with DPP but it will get a signal. I wish it was a little better built, those little dam screws fall out and then the battery bounces around and tears up the insides of the meter. I am looking for a meter that is good with DPP and has a battery packSo basically you are saying that you like to waste time.
Really a Channel Master is all you need. For that matter all you need is one of those $9.00 meters you see on Ebay. It's all a matter of time. The Birdog makes my installations and service calls go faster. I don't have to guess, I know I have the right bird.
New Dish installer needs help!!
- Thread starter wadethecableguy
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 47
- Views 7K
-
WELCOME TO THE NEW SERVER!
If you are seeing this you are on our new server WELCOME HOME!
While the new server is online Scott is still working on the backend including the cachine. But the site is usable while the work is being completes!
Thank you for your patience and again WELCOME HOME!
CLICK THE X IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER OF THE BOX TO DISMISS THIS MESSAGE
If you don't mind digital meters, I just bought a Digisat 3 Pro. it is DPP compatible and has an internal battery pack. It's much smaller than the channel master. I can point the DPP Triple with no problem pointing off the third port and selecting Port 3 under the New Dish Control option.
I can't speak on the durability yet, I've only had it about 2 months, but so far I've had no problems with it. It takes about 14 hours to charge and I usually have to charge it twice a week. It's cheaper than the CM with battery pack by a few bucks too.
Although I still use a Legacy or DP dual to point my 500's.
i was looking at the super sat buddy because they seem to work good with wildblue atleas what i read suposibly you dont have to run lines to the modum first you just through the dish up use the adapter and the meter and sight it in it even tells you the settings for the different sats you just pick the sat and put the zip in its alot of money and i am scared to spend the money when i have never tried it though
Yeah, that is what I meant, I'm not sure why I worded it that way. tired I guess. For some reason I had problems pointing the 1000.2 using the method suggested in the manual, even with my channel master. Powering the meter with the reciever would just make it go wacky, and I never had any luck with port 1. Port 3 with my new meter using the internal battery pack is easy as pie.
I just never saw the point in spending a buttload of cash for a meter. I know where the sats are, I know how to set a dish, and I can still get around 106 or 107 on 119 on a dual tuner. To me that's good enough.
I don't install WildBlue, but it's my understanding that a channel master and one of their pointing aids is all you need. What does a Super Sat buddy cost anyway? 3-400$? sheesh, thats like a months worth of drop materials for me.
Yeah, that is what I meant, I'm not sure why I worded it that way. tired I guess. For some reason I had problems pointing the 1000.2 using the method suggested in the manual, even with my channel master. Powering the meter with the reciever would just make it go wacky, and I never had any luck with port 1. Port 3 with my new meter using the internal battery pack is easy as pie.
I just never saw the point in spending a buttload of cash for a meter. I know where the sats are, I know how to set a dish, and I can still get around 106 or 107 on 119 on a dual tuner. To me that's good enough.
I don't install WildBlue, but it's my understanding that a channel master and one of their pointing aids is all you need. What does a Super Sat buddy cost anyway? 3-400$? sheesh, thats like a months worth of drop materials for me.
1000.2 isn't used here because the HD locals are bounced off the 118.7 bird..HD jobs here are 99% d-1000 plus..
According to the two guys at our co. that are doing Wild Blue, the Birdog does not work...I think the SatBuddy is a little less $$ than a Birdog which runs about $400.
birdog
Horizon Satellite Meters (~$440)
super buddy
http://www.appliedin.com/downloads/wildblue.pdf (~$680)
Horizon Satellite Meters (~$440)
super buddy
http://www.appliedin.com/downloads/wildblue.pdf (~$680)
birdog satellites: Horizon Satellite Meters
I searched the manual online for wild blue, wild, & blue & it turned out nothing... Isn't it on Anik f2? Check the link above to see if your satellites are supported. as you can see, the sb is capable of it, and even offers an accessory for wb @ around $50-60.
Poster kru83 is installing WB w/ a cm 1008 ifd analog meter so you may not need one of these.
I searched the manual online for wild blue, wild, & blue & it turned out nothing... Isn't it on Anik f2? Check the link above to see if your satellites are supported. as you can see, the sb is capable of it, and even offers an accessory for wb @ around $50-60.
Poster kru83 is installing WB w/ a cm 1008 ifd analog meter so you may not need one of these.
Honestly ,I do not know the difference..When the fellow and I were chatting about this he said he couldn't use the birdog sat meter for Wild Blue..
thanks guys for your replies, the reason I am asking is because I am looking to buy a new meter. I am using the birdog 2.5 and its working good with the dp+ but the next meter I buy I want it to be able to work with wild blue this way I will be ready for wild blue if I ever have to install it.
Hmmmm. Im using a sat buddy to do installs. There ok they get the job done but in some cases I wished I had a meter that would tell me what exactly i was looking at and what kind of problem i was having. I was thinking about the Bird Dog but im getting mixed reviews here. So what about a Super Sat Buddy? Anyone use those yet?
I can point a Dish in under 30 seconds with my quality $15 Radioshack analog meter. I'll never understand paying several hundred for a meter, but I guess that's just what I'm used to.
Yes you can. Just go to the satellite you want to check like 129 and then hold down the DOWN arrow for a few seconds. That will bring up a new screen where you can select the LNB through DiSEqC commands. 119 is A, 110 is B, 129 is C. Don't bother with any of the other ones unless running a test on a DPP44 as the dog won't pass through the LNB to a wing sat LNB.
I can point a Dish in under 30 seconds with my quality $15 Radioshack analog meter. I'll never understand paying several hundred for a meter, but I guess that's just what I'm used to.
Try doing that in a market where the skew is 89. There is something to be said for Positive ID on a satellite. It means you can put a dish up and know you're golden without even having run a switch test on the receiver. Besides, the el-cheapo meters don't give BER results or have internal LNB switching.
To the OP considering a new meter. I would go with the SuperBuddy as it has every satellite in this hemisphere that you can get from this continent. Regular updates ensures that continues to be a possibility. Some day you might want to venture out of the mini-dish fulfillment world and it would be nice to have a meter that can do it.
If it is important for you to be able to ID sats while peaking, the Bird Dog is just fine. I have used one before with 100% reliability.
oh yea, if you peaking thru a DPP plus twin LNB or even a DP twin or quad, here's a trick. Put a DP dual or legacy dual on your truck. Use that LNB to peak . This allows you to pinpoint each bird induvidally. It's real easy. You are a 15 year veteran of the game. Just make sure your mast is plumb. With the dish looking at two ,three or 4 birds, the mast is crucial.
I use a dual channel master, and a digisat...
I don't guess either, I can look at my elevation and know that I am on the right bird....
PS: I just hired a couple guys a few weeks ago that used to install Directv and they had a Birddog meter.... probably the WORST installers I have ever had
Worst? No kidding. I gotta ask. What do they do that makes them, in your opinion, poor installers?
They worked for us for about 2 weeks... I had to go back and fix EVERY job they did in that time frame.
Half of them were pointing into trees, NO grounds on ANY job, every customer I talked to had only bad things to say about them... hell, one of them said the installers lit up a cig in the older gentlemans house.
When the customer asked him to take it outside, he looked at him like he was offended or something.
In that 2 week time period, we also had 4 tree mounts that I had to move.
And one of them they did the tv2 backfeed through existing flat antenna wire... yeah, it worked, but it was fuzzy as hell. They just told the customer there was nothing they could do about it.
They didn't know how to use a diplexer, and would run all kinds of unnecessary wire, which made the installs look like crap. Mosts of the new installs we do are new contructions, that are all pre-wired... and we provide the diplexers, so there was no reason for any extra wiring.
Basically, they had absolutely no common sense, and didn't care about the customer, or their home.... at all.
