Satellite Meter for Dish?

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reubenray

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Dec 30, 2018
1,335
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Bella Vista, Arkansas
In a few months I will be taking a trip in my RV that my Winegard Tra'vler will not work. I will use a tripod setup instead. In the past when I had Directv I was able to dial in the satellites fairly easy. I have read that doing this with Dish is not as easy. So I am looking for a used meter. Is Birdog (Prime) the only brand that will work with Dish?
 
In a few months I will be taking a trip in my RV that my Winegard Tra'vler will not work. I will use a tripod setup instead. In the past when I had Directv I was able to dial in the satellites fairly easy. I have read that doing this with Dish is not as easy. So I am looking for a used meter. Is Birdog (Prime) the only brand that will work with Dish?

IMHO the best meters for DISH are all from Applied Instruments (AI). The SuperBuddy, SuperBuddy29, Turbo S2 or XR-3 will all work great.
 
The AI meters are needed for Hybrid LNBF heads. For DPP LMBF heads are usable like thr First Strike FS1 and similar.

But I wish I had a Super Buddy 29 from the beginning
 
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I recently replaced a SuperBuddy 29 with one of the new XR-3's and the display is amazing. No more problems seeing it at all. :)
Yeah I've been thinking about it. Is it really worth spending that much on one? And honestly, do you use your meter for anything other than pointing a dish? I know it's capable of more, but I don't use those functions. I literally use my super buddy for MAYBE 45-60 seconds at a time..
 
Yeah I've been thinking about it. Is it really worth spending that much on one? And honestly, do you use your meter for anything other than pointing a dish? I know it's capable of more, but I don't use those functions. I literally use my super buddy for MAYBE 45-60 seconds at a time..

The XR-3 replaced a SuperBudy29 that the battery went dead in and it was just generally getting old so we decided to replace the battery and sell it on EBay. So now I've got the XR-3 and the other two van crews have Turbo S2's.

I use the meter for troubleshooting wires as well as pointing dishes. Today I pointed an FTA 3ABN dish with it and it worked great. It's so nice to be able to see it clearly in any kind of light. I also point DirecTV as well as DISH dishes and I do a lot of limit scans. :)
 
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XR-3 sure looks nice. I'm still using one of these -

dg2.jpg
 
XR-3 sure looks nice. I'm still using one of these -

dg2.jpg
Those work well, I use the Perfect 10 accutrac 22 pro. Simple like the digisat but can read signals from 2 satellites. Paid like 20 bucks for it used.
Spending 300-1000 for a meter that gets used a few times a year is a awful lot. If I was a pro I would buy the best available as time is money, and I love me some good tools. With practice and a satfinder app you can be dialed in rather quickly with a cheap meter.
 
XR-3 sure looks nice. I'm still using one of these -

dg2.jpg
Those work well, I use the Perfect 10 accutrac 22 pro. Simple like the digisat but can read signals from 2 satellites. Paid like 20 bucks for it used.
Spending 300-1000 for a meter that gets used a few times a year is a awful lot. If I was a pro I would buy the best available as time is money, and I love me some good tools. With practice and a satfinder app you can be dialed in rather quickly with a cheap meter.

Will this work with Dish? I agree that spending hundreds of dollars for something that I will used 5 to 10 times a year is too much.
 
Will this work with Dish? I agree that spending hundreds of dollars for something that I will used 5 to 10 times a year is too much.
Probably wont work with the hybrid lnb, but you can dial it in with a dish pro plus lnb then swap it out with the hybrid when alignment is complete.
They DO NOT identify the satellites so you can get readings from the wrong satellite. But if your skew, elevation and azimuth are set correct before you start not hard at all with some practice. The Sat finder app works well to compliment the cheap meter set-up, especially when camping in the woods to make sure there are no obstructions.
 

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