B.J.
I will have to take some time to digest everything that you have said. Currently, I am getting prepared to head to work and can't afoord too much time. I should leave a little eary because we had a mini-blizzard yesterday and I don't know what the roads are like.
However, I think we have a similar setup. Although my dish is smaller (I have the 1.2M GeoSAT pro). But, I also have the QPH-031 and route the signal through my DG-380 motor and then a 4x1 DiSEqC switch (which is only there to select between the circular and the linear signals. Then I have a run of about 290 feet or more of RG-11 cable up near to the house. Then there is about 40 feet of RG-6 cable to route it into the house and to my living room.
I took the readings with my SuperBuddy meter directly at the receiver, so at the very end of the cable where my receivers were connected. I took those readings at this point in order to obtain the most similar readings between the SuperBuddy and the two receivers in an attempt to make all things as equal as possible.
I agree that the S/Q reading comparisons between receivers are virtually meaningless. I would also suggest that the S/N or C/N figures from different meters, regardless of whether calibrated or not, would not be too meaningful either because I'm pretty sure that these readings are affected by the bandwidth of the particular receiver/instrument in question.
Regarding the above quotation, it is necessary for me to note that the SuperBuddy meter has its own power supply to drive the LNBF and thus doesn't need to slave through the tuner. So I can elliminate any signal degradation caused by the receiver or the tuner module that they are using within. This is a really swell thing about the SuperBuddy meter, as it can be used as a stand alone instrument in the field when setting up a dish, without requiring a receiver to power the LNBF.
I wouldn't want to talk you into spending $700 for a toy like this, but I do think that you would be impressed with the SuperBuddy. It is almost more fun for me to play with than it is for me to set up and watch FTA TV. However, like I stated earlier, it isn't a necessary piece of equipment... It is more of an expensive toy than anything else.
Well, I am sorry, but I got to run and get to work now. Catch you later. I'll try to check back in later if I can. Take care.
RADAR