Best Bang/Buck Satellite Finder for 1000.4?

[drdroo]

I see the Acutrac III Plus does the 1000.4 pretty well, but is there something else that might work for a little less money?

I have the LED bar graph version of the SF95 right now, but if I install it in-line with the VIP612 feed, it confuses the box.

This Dish has some good features but it's a pain in my butt compared to my 2 Dish 500 setup I already have.

 

[highdefjeff]

Dual analog works easiest and fastest for multi-sat dishes.

http://www.wowvision.tv/signal meters.htm

 

[drdroo]

I just bought the Acutrac III Plus yesterday. We'll see how it goes and I'll post back.

I do appreciate the feedback though. I should've probably waited to hear something before I pulled the trigger.

 

[webbydude]

It's a good meter for the 1K.4. Not as extravagant as a Birddog or SSB...but for less than $200 it'll do nicely.

 

[drdroo]

I did think about the Birdog but I didn't want anything 500$. I th. This was 230$ and it could help me if I decide to install a FTA setup in the future since it supports DISEQC and motor control.

I guess ultimately biting the bullet instead of using my old LED bar version of the SF-95 is a sound investment. I can't use the meter very well with the 1000.4 because the dish box doesn't see the 1000.4 head with the meter in.

I've had to repoint my brother's 1000.4 a couple of times because of the weight of the thing pulling the pegs out of the roof. I'll probably put it on a 4x4 of Cedar like mine is, but I'd rather have a tool that will save me using 2 phones and the onboard meter.

 

[drdroo]

Got my Acutrac III+ and tried it on my Dish 500 and my Dish500 61.5 wing dish. I will say my only regret is that I didn't get one sooner. It definitely makes things a lot easier. I've no doubt it will work great on the 1000.4 when I attack that in a few days.

 

[theoak]

Look forward to an update!

 

[drdroo]

It works really well. The 72/77 beams are tight but the only thing it doesn't do is tell me the sats I'm aiming at. I tim-foiled the 77 and 72 to get 61.5 aligned, and used the meter to adjust the rotation and fine-tune.

It's even better for the Dish500.

 

[taboss]

I just purchased the Acutrac III + for my DISH 1000.2, however I couldn't get it to work properly. It didn't seem to find the signal and it rebooted frequently while I tried to use it.

 

[drdroo]

@taboss - Sorry to hear that. I have an Acutrac III+ and it works fine, but I see me wanting to upgrade to a Superbuddy sometime.

Basically I used the onboard batteries (make sure they're charged) and plugged right into the port on the antenna, then used the DISEQC mode to show the 2 sats on the dish. As long as you have a rough idea of where you're aiming, it seems to do the job well.

Nimiq is REALLY hot here though, so it took some work to realize if I've gone too far. You shouldn't have that problem since you're using a 1000.2 (110 119 129)..