Review of the DFS120+ Digital Satellite Finder.
I will start by saying that I am not a professional satellite installer. I'm a hobbyist or a weekend user with very little experience in the FTA hobby. I’m looking for a quality product at a reasonable price. Most items I purchase for FTA remain in my Satellite tool box or in a drawer someplace for some time. That said, I am not looking to spend a lot of money.
The packaging excellent.
Out of the box the meter was larger than expected. That is a plus for me because I have large hands and the meter size is important to me as smaller meters tend to be harder to hold or fingers get in the way of the display and controls.
The color, I like makes it easy to see in low light environments.
The texture of the meter, wasn’t smooth I consider that a plus.
Display, Larger enough I can see at a comfortable distance.
For testing the meter I have chosen a Primestar Dish and original lnbf mounted on a portable stand. I have a very strong satellite transponder to my west and normally I use it for my starting point to get on the belt. I am not really interested in finding any particular satellite my interests lay more in how the meter performs.
I set the turn wheel on the meter as instructed to max and then went about moving the dish west and with a few tries I had a signal. Fine tuning was pretty easy with the meter by using the attn buttons.
Attenuation worked fairly well on this meter. I also noticed it didn’t bounce a lot as some digital meters display. It does bounce but I have seen worse on other meters. Keep in mind I am used to an analog meter with a steadier reading. I personally like the fast response with the digital meter when adjusting for strongest signal.
Tone Generator was loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to be annoying.
The buttons are easy to select and press and are placed far enough apart I can press each one without hitting the other. I have large hands and fingers and this added feature I really liked.
The silver faceplate sticker I really didn’t care for as I noticed it hadn’t been pressed down well. It looked like it had already started to peel on one side. However, I did like the labeling for connections on the front that’s plus.
I purposely left the meter in Direct Sun light for over 30 minutes to see if it would cause the silver faceplate to lift up worse or to cause the readings to change. I recorded my earlier readings and came back and checked, saw very little changes. The Sticker remained in place and hadn’t lifted anymore.
Sunlight really didn’t give me any difficulties reading the display screen. Even at mid-day.
When I compared the meter reading to my receiver’s readings I noticed some differences but not anything to worry about. My receiver has a very tight scale reading and even though it shows a weaker signal than the meter itself, I don’t consider that a factor.
My Over all experience with the meter was enjoyable, it was easy to read and the instructions easy to understand. Personally, I like the meter but that is just me. It is what it is, a lower cost meter and it will not compete with a more expensive meter. For the occasional user it would be fine and for someone who needs a meter at a lower price its money well spent. I’m not a professional installer but a hobbyist and for me it fits both my wallet and works for my hobby. I can't really say anything bad about the meter except for the stick on face plate and I didn't care for that...
I will start by saying that I am not a professional satellite installer. I'm a hobbyist or a weekend user with very little experience in the FTA hobby. I’m looking for a quality product at a reasonable price. Most items I purchase for FTA remain in my Satellite tool box or in a drawer someplace for some time. That said, I am not looking to spend a lot of money.
The packaging excellent.
Out of the box the meter was larger than expected. That is a plus for me because I have large hands and the meter size is important to me as smaller meters tend to be harder to hold or fingers get in the way of the display and controls.
The color, I like makes it easy to see in low light environments.
The texture of the meter, wasn’t smooth I consider that a plus.
Display, Larger enough I can see at a comfortable distance.
For testing the meter I have chosen a Primestar Dish and original lnbf mounted on a portable stand. I have a very strong satellite transponder to my west and normally I use it for my starting point to get on the belt. I am not really interested in finding any particular satellite my interests lay more in how the meter performs.
I set the turn wheel on the meter as instructed to max and then went about moving the dish west and with a few tries I had a signal. Fine tuning was pretty easy with the meter by using the attn buttons.
Attenuation worked fairly well on this meter. I also noticed it didn’t bounce a lot as some digital meters display. It does bounce but I have seen worse on other meters. Keep in mind I am used to an analog meter with a steadier reading. I personally like the fast response with the digital meter when adjusting for strongest signal.
Tone Generator was loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to be annoying.
The buttons are easy to select and press and are placed far enough apart I can press each one without hitting the other. I have large hands and fingers and this added feature I really liked.
The silver faceplate sticker I really didn’t care for as I noticed it hadn’t been pressed down well. It looked like it had already started to peel on one side. However, I did like the labeling for connections on the front that’s plus.
I purposely left the meter in Direct Sun light for over 30 minutes to see if it would cause the silver faceplate to lift up worse or to cause the readings to change. I recorded my earlier readings and came back and checked, saw very little changes. The Sticker remained in place and hadn’t lifted anymore.
Sunlight really didn’t give me any difficulties reading the display screen. Even at mid-day.
When I compared the meter reading to my receiver’s readings I noticed some differences but not anything to worry about. My receiver has a very tight scale reading and even though it shows a weaker signal than the meter itself, I don’t consider that a factor.
My Over all experience with the meter was enjoyable, it was easy to read and the instructions easy to understand. Personally, I like the meter but that is just me. It is what it is, a lower cost meter and it will not compete with a more expensive meter. For the occasional user it would be fine and for someone who needs a meter at a lower price its money well spent. I’m not a professional installer but a hobbyist and for me it fits both my wallet and works for my hobby. I can't really say anything bad about the meter except for the stick on face plate and I didn't care for that...
