Satellite Finder

[Geoffers]

It might just be me but I am finding Astra 2 increasingly hard to find. At the moment I am using the normal meter type finder, lots of buzzing but no quality most of the time.
Camos Flat dish & sky & FTA boxes are all fine.
So can anyone recommend a better meter that would identify which satellite your looking at ? For of course a reasonable price.

 

[Techno]

Good app for iphone so you can at least be sure you're pointing the right way

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-caC14ISoE"]SatFinder iPhone App Review - CrazyMikesapps - YouTube[/ame]

 

[SandJ]

Or the website

http://www.dishpointer.com/

Tells you all you need to know

:thumb:

 

[magicsurfbus]

The Maxview satfinder gadget I bought as an extra for my system was a complete waste of time and money. It turns out the tuner box has an info option which displays signal strength and quality as two bars on the TV screen. All I do now is set it to Sky News, press info on the remote, and jiggle the dish about 'til the strength and quality reach their respective peaks.

The little compass gizmo gives me a reasonable idea of where to point the dish, provided I'm not too close to large metal objects like Motorhomes.

 

[Phill D]

i use one of these ( Manhattan DSM-4s sat finder ) you power it up either from the box or a stand alone battery ( then you can set the dish and move it around / relocate from the dish, without having to refer back to the box ).
you select the satellite you are looking for and slowly move the dish as normal, you will see the bars increase until it makes a sinle sound and indicates satellite lock and its strength.

also might be of interest, Sky are shuffling satellites at the moment!!!! so 28.2 Astra is being serviced from another satellite in the same location ( we cant tell apparently ) this is while they reset / upgrade Astra 28.2.

this sat finder is not cheap £120 but hold the location of the 4 most popular and is reprogramable for any others via your PC.
great bit of kit, have used it all over uk and along the med coast without fail.:thumb:

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[johnp10]

The Maxview satfinder gadget I bought as an extra for my system was a complete waste of time and money. It turns out the tuner box has an info option which displays signal strength and quality as two bars on the TV screen. All I do now is set it to Sky News, press info on the remote, and jiggle the dish about 'til the strength and quality reach their respective peaks.

The little compass gizmo gives me a reasonable idea of where to point the dish, provided I'm not too close to large metal objects like Motorhomes.

That's all you need, provided you can see the tv screen of course.
Just press "info" on the remote control.
Add to that: if the picture is "blocky", slightly adjust the dish up / down.

 

[aba]

the other thing is patience as the box signal meters take a while to re register so only move in small increments and pause before moving again

 

[aba]

this looks good value http://satlinkmeters.co.uk/satlink/ws-6906.htm

 

[mid4did]

Or the website

http://www.dishpointer.com/

Tells you all you need to know

:thumb:

This is all I use together with a compass and the quality bar on the tuner,Also I,ve made up a powerpoint presentation with screenshots of likely places where i,ll be heading for,gives a good idea of things

 

[Geoffers]

this looks good value http://satlinkmeters.co.uk/satlink/ws-6906.htm

Have just ordered one of these so I will let you know how it works.
To answer others, thanks, don't have a smart phone , and I do use dishfinder prior to picking a pitch. I think one of the problems is that the flatsat rotation is a little stiff and tends to jump around a bit. Interesting to see that this finder can also be used as a FTA box:thumb:

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[Steve_UK]

I was considering one of these, or a similar model, and would be very interested in a review of it when you get it.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Satandpcguy]

also might be of interest, Sky are shuffling satellites at the moment!!!! so 28.2 Astra is being serviced from another satellite in the same location ( we cant tell apparently ) this is while they reset / upgrade Astra 28.2.

For clarification:

UK TV currently comes from 4 satellites, located between 28.2 and 28.5 east.
They are: Astra 1N, Astra2a, Astra 2b and Eutelsat 28a (formally Eurobird 1)

Sky are not doing any satellite shuffling, as Sky do not own any satellites. They, along with all the othre broadcasters rent transpondersw from the satellite owners and operators.

SES Astra, who own and operate 3 of the satellites are replacing their 3 satellites with 3 new satellites. Astra 1N is the first to be replaced, with Astra 2F, sometime in the next few weeks.


Remember that basic "beepers" ony tell you are you on a satellite, which may not be the satellite you want. More advanced (and expensive) finders are able to distinguish between satellites.

 

[JockandRita]

We use the a Technomate 5300D+ USB Super FTA receiver.
The built in on screen signal and quality meters are instant and easy to use, compared with the delayed ones on SKY receivers.
A basic compass to show me the general direction of South East is all I use, prior to using the on screen meters. More often though, I just look to where other Brits have pointed their dishes, and follow suit.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Phill D]

For clarification:

UK TV currently comes from 4 satellites, located between 28.2 and 28.5 east.
They are: Astra 1N, Astra2a, Astra 2b and Eutelsat 28a (formally Eurobird 1)

Sky are not doing any satellite shuffling, as Sky do not own any satellites. They, along with all the othre broadcasters rent transpondersw from the satellite owners and operators.

SES Astra, who own and operate 3 of the satellites are replacing their 3 satellites with 3 new satellites. Astra 1N is the first to be replaced, with Astra 2F, sometime in the next few weeks.


.

Guess i missunderstood the info i was given or it was incorrect.... i stand correctedoh:

 

[Jaws]

As Snitrats says he is finding it harder and harder to position the dish, that does suggest whatever he is using as a finder was working fine

Given the nature of the finders I doubt it will have gone wrong ( though of course anything is possible ) but..............

It may well be the LNB has gone a bit deaf and or is loosing gain..

By all means upgrade the sat finder, but if you continue having problems, I would invest in a decent replacement LNB ( esp as they are cheap as chips even for a really good one ! :thumb: )

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[joner8888]

A freebie here for a android phone -works well for me--Just shows what sat you need through the camera lens:thumb:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=zekitez.com.satellitedirector&hl=en
oops was free ,now £1.17

 

[Geoffers]

As Snitrats says he is finding it harder and harder to position the dish, that does suggest whatever he is using as a finder was working fine

Given the nature of the finders I doubt it will have gone wrong ( though of course anything is possible ) but..............

It may well be the LNB has gone a bit deaf and or is loosing gain..

By all means upgrade the sat finder, but if you continue having problems, I would invest in a decent replacement LNB ( esp as they are cheap as chips even for a really good one ! :thumb: )

Thanks for that but I have a Camos flatsat,which is a different ball game as there is no external LNB, I have heard however that these are subject to water penetration which can effect them.
In the end I think its me , the last site was a bit borderline with some adjacent trees, could get Astra1 ok , but not Astra2 ,perhaps I need to drink more wine whilst searching

 

[aba]

Have just ordered one of these so I will let you know how it works.
To answer others, thanks, don't have a smart phone , and I do use dishfinder prior to picking a pitch. I think one of the problems is that the flatsat rotation is a little stiff and tends to jump around a bit. Interesting to see that this finder can also be used as a FTA box:thumb:

maybe some silicone lubricant would help this if you can get some into the bit that rotates.

 

[keith]

Repair a Camos Flat Sat.

maybe some silicone lubricant would help this if you can get some into the bit that rotates.

This will be impossible because the unit is sealed. I have fitted my own Camos Flat Sat and last year mine stopped working so given that I could not find any information on if it can be taken apart I decided to try myself.

In the end I decided I had nothing to loose so dismantled the whole thing and found it was wet inside and the LNB (yes there is one, but not as we known them) was buggered, wet inside.

The working are very simple, inside the plastic box is a stainless steel matrix that directs the signal to the rear mounted LNB.

As we were in Spain it was easy to dry the box out in the sun and on returning home Roadpro got me a new LNB and it has been re-assembled and sealed and now works again. This time much more sealant applied this time as I believe the box seal is not good enough.

The central assembly is encased in what looks like a plastic sleeving with no access to lubricate the workings. You can however lubricate the bolts that holds the 'dish' to the raising mechanism quite easily and they do get stiff as they are outside all the time.

I have a couple of pictures here

 

[Neil n Pat]

I bought one of these;
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Just input your lat and lon from your GPS then select which satellite you require. Plug your satellite coax into the top of the satellite finder then set your azimuth and elevation. Tune for best signal and quality on the LCD bar graph. When you are on the correct satellite you will hear a audio tone when it locks in. Once locked in disconnect the coax then plug the coax into your satellite receiver. Before you start make sure your skew angle is correct or as near as. Once you are locked in you can fine tune your skew for maximum smoke. Great piece of kit.

atb

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[Geoffers]

I bought one of these;
Link Removed

Just input your lat and lon from your GPS then select which satellite you require. Plug your satellite coax into the top of the satellite finder then set your azimuth and elevation. Tune for best signal and quality on the LCD bar graph. When you are on the correct satellite you will hear a audio tone when it locks in. Once locked in disconnect the coax then plug the coax into your satellite receiver. Before you start make sure your skew angle is correct or as near as. Once you are locked in you can fine tune your skew for maximum smoke. Great piece of kit.

atb

bought a satlinink ws-6906,which arrived this afternoon (much the same thing) just playing with it now £69:thumb:

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

Been using one of these for three years with a Multimo satellite dish.

Broken Link Removed

Great bit of kit....Will only track your chosen satellite.

I can pan in on a satellite in less than a minute :thumb:

Dont remember paying that sort of price though.

Ralph

 

[stonflo]

On my sat nav theres a GPS setting that shows up to 10 satelites from where I'm sitting in the house. Hopefully I should be able to set up a dish fairly accurately.:Cool: