Just saw a birdog USB Plus (used) in my local trift shop for $200.00. It has all cables and accesories. It powers up and has some Dish Network, Direct TV etc satellites programmed into it. Is that a good price for this Birdog and will I be able to update the Satellite list via the internet?
Found a BIRDOG USB PLUS
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Not a big BirDog fan. They do well on DBS/DSS equipment, but we are constantly supporting installers who fight with them on FSS installs. BirDogs produce many false locks for the channels that we support.
With that said, not a bad price......
With that said, not a bad price......
Sounds like a good deal. I think new units cost about $500. To update the sat list, you need to go to Horizon Satellite Meters and get a sat list created. You download the list to your PC and then you install the list via USB. You can make up multiple configs (i.e. one for C and one for Ku) to save to your hard drive. Meters like this make dish alignment much easier. It'll even power the SG9120 HH motor. Sorry, it doesn't do actuators.
I never had much luck with the birddogs, from false positives to short battery life.
I really like my SuperBuddy. This thing is a workhorse.
But if your doing DISH or DIRECTV it will suit you fine for $200.
I really like my SuperBuddy. This thing is a workhorse.
But if your doing DISH or DIRECTV it will suit you fine for $200.
I never had much luck with the birddogs, from false positives to short battery life.
I really like my SuperBuddy. This thing is a workhorse.
But if your doing DISH or DIRECTV it will suit you fine for $200.
Yeah, the Birdog is problematic for a lot of people that I work with. We use the Birdog for lining up on HugesNet on Galaxy 16 but we find it easier to use the signal strength meter on the PC utility. But, I've played with the Birdog at home and it gets me lined up on the arc on both my C and Ku dishes but it seems that it does weird stuff where it locks on horizontal polarity on a particular sat but not the vertical polarity. On other sats it's the reverse situation. And sometimes it'll lock on a sat but when you go back to that sat later it won't lock. But, I do like the fact that it tells you what sat you're on but I have seen it display the wrong sat name. Anyway, I'd like to try a SuperBuddy but I'm not willing to spend the money until I see it demonstrated or until I here reviews from a few people that have used it. Besides, how often does someone use a $700+ test instrument at home?
I took it home for $180.00, but on testing I confirmed (very short battery life among other issues) all the issues you both pointed out above. Since, I'm not doing DISH or DITRECTV, I have decided to return it.I never had much luck with the birddogs, from false positives to short battery life.
I really like my SuperBuddy. This thing is a workhorse.
But if your doing DISH or DIRECTV it will suit you fine for $200.
The SuperBuddy sound s good but the price is oooouch!! Which Sat meter is closest in performance to the SatBuddy without the BIG price tag?
It's also very handy to have the software to define your own transponder information. I thought about parting with my Birdog v3 USB but after getting that software it's much better.
Horizon support will most likely provide it to you if you ask for it. They specifically asked me not to give it out when the sent it to me on my request for it.
Here's a link to the perfect-10.tv page that has config help for setting up fta with a birdog:
Birdog Satellite Meter
Horizon support will most likely provide it to you if you ask for it. They specifically asked me not to give it out when the sent it to me on my request for it.
Here's a link to the perfect-10.tv page that has config help for setting up fta with a birdog:
Birdog Satellite Meter
To enable the meter for increased sensitivity on FSS satellites, enter the Main Set-up Menu: Change the the BER setting to LOG (logarithmic).
I have never used the birdog meter with the LOG setting and I have never had any issue and love it more everyday. the LOG setting does not tell me anything , I rather have the dBmV setting and like I said it works like a charm on any SAT be it FSS, DBS or even Cuban if it ever existed lol. Like any other computer or similar device it might at some point not work as expected but it could be due to operator fault.
people who claim that it sometimes locks a V TP and yet on the same sat it might not lock a H TP or viceverse are operators that have no idea how the birdog acctually works. It relies on a predetermined SAT list that you can update via internet/USB but I hardly ever even update it or use it since I create my own custome made TP parameters when doing an install and voilá just rotate the dish on its pole at even what ever speed you like and provided the elevation and skew were right it will say found when you pass in front of the sat. If on such SAT list (up to 60 TP's or 30 SATS both polarities) the V signal acctually still exists but the H signal no longer exists the the birdog obviously can not lock the H TP.
Like any other battery operated device , batteries overtime are an issue although I would agree with Scott that battery lifetime is its weakest point.
And last but not least , the Spectrum Analizer feature on the ugly , heavy , whatever you dislike about it , birdog is an amazing feature that will help you a lot , a feature by the way that other meters either lack of or implement them as a toy rather than a professional tool.
BTW , if someone is kind enough to name a SAT meter that acctually identifies the SAT by reading or using an specific identifier signal sent by the SAT itself please name it , because in my opinion they all rely on comparing the TP list they have in memory with the signal the can lock to and like a receiver therefore they can confuse themself sometimes since there are several birds that broadcast equal signals (specially Dish network and the likes) but heck if you are using such advance meter then more likely you have a brain good enough to realize that instead of Hispasat 30 W it must be AMC 5 or Galaxy 19 since they are in different directions. common sense is another tool available to all of us.
people who claim that it sometimes locks a V TP and yet on the same sat it might not lock a H TP or viceverse are operators that have no idea how the birdog acctually works. It relies on a predetermined SAT list that you can update via internet/USB but I hardly ever even update it or use it since I create my own custome made TP parameters when doing an install and voilá just rotate the dish on its pole at even what ever speed you like and provided the elevation and skew were right it will say found when you pass in front of the sat. If on such SAT list (up to 60 TP's or 30 SATS both polarities) the V signal acctually still exists but the H signal no longer exists the the birdog obviously can not lock the H TP.
Like any other battery operated device , batteries overtime are an issue although I would agree with Scott that battery lifetime is its weakest point.
And last but not least , the Spectrum Analizer feature on the ugly , heavy , whatever you dislike about it , birdog is an amazing feature that will help you a lot , a feature by the way that other meters either lack of or implement them as a toy rather than a professional tool.
BTW , if someone is kind enough to name a SAT meter that acctually identifies the SAT by reading or using an specific identifier signal sent by the SAT itself please name it , because in my opinion they all rely on comparing the TP list they have in memory with the signal the can lock to and like a receiver therefore they can confuse themself sometimes since there are several birds that broadcast equal signals (specially Dish network and the likes) but heck if you are using such advance meter then more likely you have a brain good enough to realize that instead of Hispasat 30 W it must be AMC 5 or Galaxy 19 since they are in different directions. common sense is another tool available to all of us.
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I took it home for $180.00, but on testing I confirmed (very short battery life among other issues) all the issues you both pointed out above. Since, I'm not doing DISH or DITRECTV, I have decided to return it.
Unless you're using it for several HOURS it should be OK unless you have a bad battery.
Not really. It's much better than dragging a TV out to the antenna pad and you can see what's on the meter while daylight makes it much more difficult to see the video quality on the TV. Not to mention that you can peak the sat much more accurately with the meter and it's better than using a cheap meter that only gives signal strength. Despite the issues with the Birdog, it get's the job done but I'm sure that there are better meters available. I sure wish I had something like a Birdog back in the 80's! Anyway, I've used the Birdog on both my 90cm and 12 footer with excellent results. DVB-S2/8PSK looks great on either one.
I haven't tried the LOG setting either but next time I need to set up a dish I'll check that out to see if it works out better than BER.
That's what I suspected about H and V locks. I assumed that the lists created at Birdog's web site might not be using active transponders. I haven't tried creating my own list. I'm still relatively new to the Birdog but I hope to be able to impress others when I get this thing figured out.
This is interesting. I spent 3 hours aligning a 90 cm dish and even powered the HH motor with the Birdog.
not always true, mine has problems with h transponders and locks v transponders fine.
when pointing with a h transponder, the birdog has to supply roughly 18v
well, after having problems with h transponders, i tested the voltage.
when unhooked it was fine at 18v, but when connected to an lnb, the voltage collapsed to around 14v.
the poor thing has seen better days
, its seen rain, snow, sleet, and hail in the last 6 or 7 years.for the first couple of years as an installer i used a receiver and a 13" tv to point directv, dishnet, and sky angel dishes and a laptop for direcpc then direcway (now hughesnet)
the birdog was one of the best investments i ever made for this job.
Maybe, I should have held on to it a little longer, but I returned it yesterday. I didn't want to be stuck with getting store credit if returned at a later date. I had 2 options. Return it within 24hrs for a full cash or credit card refund or after 24 hrs get a store credit towards the purchase of another product.
So apart from dragging a small TV to the Dish installation site, and not spending $699.99 to buy a Sat meter, what is the next and better Sat meter alternative?
So apart from dragging a small TV to the Dish installation site, and not spending $699.99 to buy a Sat meter, what is the next and better Sat meter alternative?
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well ynnedibanez, maybe your 6 year old birdog is not working properly after so many years or for some reason the LNB setup is drawing too much power. I have had TPs that do not lock but I have always found that it was related to the birdog list not being updated or accurate. Then I have entered a custom H TP as per one of the list available on internet and voilá it works , so signal was there , the meter was working as intended but its list was not accurate. I have only had to reset the meter once because for some reason it stopped detecting any signal at all on any sat on any polarity, even on the Hispasat fixed dish that I knew had strong signal. After resetting , all went to normal.
I have not checked on mine the voltage when H TP are selected though and mine is 1 year old only probably.
I have not checked on mine the voltage when H TP are selected though and mine is 1 year old only probably.
yeah, probably about time to buy a new meter, but i have software that i can use to build my own list, so if the birdog site only lists a horizontal transponder on a particular sat, i can find a vertical transponder on the same sat and build a file for it, so it still works fine for me for now
also, i can build files for sats not listed on the birdog site:up
but, i gotta say, i love this meter, it has been great and when it finally does quit, i will most likely buy a new birdog.
never have tried the super buddy yet, though.
it may be even better, but i believe that would be very hard to achieve.
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