Birdog question

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Jul 19, 2007
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I have an opportunity to pick up a Birdog satellite (V3.0 USB) meter at a very good price. I was wondering if someone that has experience with this meter could tell me if satellite paramaters can be added manually. The manual (downloaded as PDF) only shows how to use the website to download the sat info. My true south satellite is Anik F1R @ 107.3. This satellite has no FTA but it does have active transponders that I use for aligning. The birdog website only has C-Band information available for this bird for download and I want Ku.

Anybody have any ideas?
 
so far everything i've found points to the end user not being able to add satellite information manually. it lets you pick the satellites you want from a list and builds a data file for the birdog. and check make sure you can find software... some sites only support models they sell.

but there is also another possibality. you can check with one of the sponsors and they might be able to build or edit that information. i know sadouns sells them and when i bought a sathawk, Brian at SatAV was most helpful..... the sathawk was configurable.... it had a editor and everything....
 
I have a Birdog v3 myself. Although there is no way to configure F1R on a Birdog you can still use it to find 107.3W. All I do is find 105, and move over a bit. There is a signal level that will increase as you get onto a satellite, besides a Q reading. 107.3 is a pretty hot bird with StarChoice on it. I've found it any time I wanted it because the signal reading goes from 180 up to 211 or so when I'm on 107.3.

But it is a real pain in the ass not being able to set up transponders yourself. I can't stress that enough. It's always the small but glaring details that bug me the most. But I wouldn't give up my Birdog for anything less in features though.
 
what would worry me is what happens when they stop supporting this meter ? at least with an editor you could continue to update it yourself..
 
The SatHawk and the Super Buddy are the two meters that allow you to edit your own parameters. The Birdog unfortunately does not.
 
I've e-mailed this to Birdog support:

Is there any reason why Birdog owners can't set up their finders with their own transponder information? The single complaint about it that I and others I know that use them have is that it can't can't be configured to use a user-specified transponder to peak a dish with.

It's a real pain trying to line up a dish with it and then have to either drag a small tv and receiver out to the dish to peak for a particular transponder or having to use a spectrum analyzer (or a competitors product) to do it. Doing that makes the Birdog redundant.

I'm sure there are a lot of Birdog owners like myself that would find such a feature very useful. I'd be willing myself to create a web application, even if it took signing an non-disclosure agreement, just to make things easier on myself.

Thanks for taking the time to read my e-mail. Hope to hear from you soon.

Donald Bailey,
An otherwise happy Birdog owner
 
My longitude is 106.6. Anik F1R is my "closest" true south sat @ 107.3. I suppose I could use AMC 15 @105 as my true south. The Birdog has a download for AMC15 and for everything else I want.
 
There are four CBC feeds that are DVB on F1R. They usually become active over the supper hour news starting in Newfoundland which is GMT-02:30. They usually show somebody standing on George Street in downtown St. John's waiting for their turn to be on the news.

The feeds are on 11902, 11912, 11933, 11941, and 11949, all H polarity, and symbol rates of 5959 and an FEC of 3/4. They are 4:2:2 feeds so you couldn't watch the video but the audio will work and you will get a Q reading on a receiver.
 
But it is a real pain in the ass not being able to set up transponders yourself. I can't stress that enough. It's always the small but glaring details that bug me the most. But I wouldn't give up my Birdog for anything less in features though.

I bought myself a satlook NIT :) after that the birdog just never got used anymore, the satlook did everything the birdog did, just better :)

unfortunatly its heavier.
 
I bought myself a satlook NIT :) after that the birdog just never got used anymore, the satlook did everything the birdog did, just better :)

unfortunatly its heavier.

That's a bit out of my budget I'm afraid.
 
I received a positive response from Horizon Global Electronics (they make the Birdog), as follows:

Dear Donald,

Thank you for your email, I have attached some editing software for you
along with some PDF instructions (from a similar European model) this
software will allow you to create and test your own settings. Should you
need to restore your BirDog you can download the latest default file
from
the BirDog web site.

I would suggest start by using the test function (this loads your
setting into the first memory slot of the BirDog).

For version 2.5 BirDog's select COM1 from the ComPort drop down menu for
newer BirDog's select USB.

If you have any questions regarding the software please do let me know.

Guess that means I should try some interesting things.

Ask and ye shall receive. :cool:
 
Thanks. the BD sure would be a handy unit if you could enter your own data. I accually much prefered the size of the BD over the satlook, but without a way to enter your own data I just found it to be a big hassle.
 
Here's the response RE the software availability. You can contact him through the Horizon web site, http://xxx.birdog.tv under the contact us link.

Ideally this software should be only used by an experienced satellite engineer such
as yourself, please do not distribute or make this program (or documentation) available
for download from a forum any other type of website as it is not for public release.

Please do ask your colleagues to contact me directly if they wish to receive a copy
via email.

Rob.


Hehe, he called me an "experienced satellite engineer". :D
 
Just tried out making a custom pattern for the Birdog and it works great!

First one I created was for Galaxy 18, 11720 V 27692 3/4 :)

Well I bought the Birdog for $175. It was used by a local installer that is getting out of the business. The unit came with AC charger, 12V car charger, USB cable, case, port saver and documentation. The unit is used but in very good condition. The plastic screen cover was still in place.
I got the software from Robert @ Horizon Global Electronics Ltd. I entered in the satellite transponder information and made a custom list I called MyFTA. Entering my true south satellite and everything I'm interested in from 72W to 129W was very straightforward.

I have a few questions for you though.

1. When you define the transponder do you leave the FEC Mode set to DVB(QPSK) (Default)?

2. When you define the transponder do you leave the Roll Off set to 0.35 (Default)?

3. Is there a different setting for circular satellites? I only care about 119W for NASA.

Thanks, this is fun!
 
The docs go into all that. Starts on page 7 "Creating a .pat (pattern) files" section.
That's the important part on how to set up the custom transponder settings. :)

Ummm... errr... read em, wasn't clear, that's why I asked.

Anyway mine didn't work. I hooked it up to my fixed dish selected several transponders and the Birdog never left the "searching" screen. Then I reloaded the factory file and it worked. I must be doing something wrong. I guess I'll have to wait till this weekend when I have more time to play with it.
 
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