New type of satellite meter on Ebay. Has anyone tried it?

[laseradam]

I was looking for a new satellite meter for doing installs. I saw this on Ebay.

3.5" LCD Handheld Satellite SAT Finder Signal Meter TV - eBay (item 130426287605 end time Sep-28-10 20:46:41 PDT)

Has any one tried this out?

It seems to combine a receiver and small lcd tv in a handheld size package.
As it is now i have to drag a receiver, small BW tv ( I have been looking for a cheap LCD color tv) and an extension cord to the dish. This loooks like it might be battery powered.

The description is not very clear on the ebay listing so I was hoping someone else had tried one.

Maybe I could offer to do a review for the company.

Adam

 

[Keystone7]

Laserdam, This looks pretty good if it works. I only buy from top sellers in the USA. Maybe do a search on the web for that make an model number? Good luck!

 

[crackt]

pretty cheap compared to other meters. but it only does dvbs so not so good for peaking. cool idea tho.

crackt out,.

 

[ACRadio]

It looks to be just a handheld satellite receiver with display. While the portability would be nice, if it works like a lot of receivers and has a crappy meter it wouldn't be worth much as a true signal peaking meter. I recently got a First Strike and it works great. More information can be determined with pre AGC s/n or c/n than just a quality meter...just my .02....

 

[Babadem]

It looks to be just a handheld satellite receiver with display. While the portability would be nice, if it works like a lot of receivers and has a crappy meter it wouldn't be worth much as a true signal peaking meter. I recently got a First Strike and it works great. More information can be determined with pre AGC s/n or c/n than just a quality meter...just my .02....

How would the first Strike meter compare to the BIRDOG or the SAT Buddy?

 

[Stargazer]

I looked at this same meter that you had when considering a meter for purchase but chose the First Strike instead because of how it is able to lock onto a signal very quickly and it looked like a meter that would help me find any satellite in the sky. I also figured the meter with the built in tv screen would have a limit to what type of signals it would receive rendering it useless for receiving a picture on many satellites.

Seeing how First Strike is a fraction of the price of a Bird Dog and Sat Buddy, it seems like a great buy. I would like to know what advantage a Bird Dog or Sat Buddy has to a First Strike meter. If someone does not do many installs or service calls then I would not spend the extra money on the Bird Dog or Sat Buddy unless there is something about them that I do not know about which makes them tune in a signal better / quicker than a First Strike.

 

[ACRadio]

I'm sure the Sat Buddy series probably has more features than the First Strike, but the FS only costs a fraction...around $249. For my money I would much rather have a FS than the Birdog, mainly because I know what signal I'm after....I don't need the meter to tell me, although I think it's possible for the FS to identify sats. The FS locks quicker than any meter I have ever used, so it makes finding a signal much quicker...you don't have to sit on a signal and wait for the meter to lock. I just need a meter that will achieve a lock and show me s/n for peaking.

 

[gabshere]

As ACRadio stated looks like a compact sat receiver with display , which they also have a 7 inch version that looks like the protable DVD players ( 7" Color LCD Monitor Digital Satellite Finder Meter TV Model: CY70701)

now the problem would be not only the signal meter ( which we don't know about ) but also getting the software & support for these meters, so you could customize the meters for your use. if there isn't a way to update the sofeware then ita a moot point...

I do like the portability of these , so it would be interesting to find out more about them . I will try to send off a e-mail to the seller asking about software support aka channel editor ect.

 

[laseradam]

Well I went ahead and ordered one.

As it is now I lug around a receiver, small tv and extension cord to the dish. I was going to give away my aiming receiver to someone. So I would have had to buy another receiver anyway. For $99 it seems worth it to me to have the battery powered receiver and color tv together in one case. The two digit LED on the front panel also acts as a quality meter

I found a video on youtube showing the operation and it looks like it uses the fortec software as its receiver.

When it comes I will do a review.

 

[ZetaMale]

It seems to me that a meter that ID's a sat would be preferable to a meter that simply shows signal strength.

 

[Stargazer]

I tried a meter that was supposed to identify a satellite and it would not be able to tell the difference between Dish Network 110 and Dish Network 119. At that point, I realized that any satellite with the same frequency and SR would be identified more than once. Another part broke on the meter so I was able to get a refund for that meter thankfully.

This is why I asked in a thread not long ago which frequencies and SR are unique to each satellite (and not located on any other satellite, at least not one that is close to it) so that I know that I am really identifying the right one.

 

[Pixl]

Well I went ahead and ordered one.

When it comes I will do a review.

Alright Laser, someone takes the plunge!
See you back in here 3 weeks from now when it comes straggling in from Hong Kong.

Jim

 

[laseradam]

3 weeks if I am Lucky! Hey I'm not in a hurry.

 

[John Popper]

subbing for the review

 

[Stargazer]

I am also looking forward to the review. Perhaps there are others that have posted a review of the meter themselves somewhere online?

 

[vc2]

Well I went ahead and ordered one.

As it is now I lug around a receiver, small tv and extension cord to the dish. I was going to give away my aiming receiver to someone. So I would have had to buy another receiver anyway. For $99 it seems worth it to me to have the battery powered receiver and color tv together in one case. The two digit LED on the front panel also acts as a quality meter

I found a video on youtube showing the operation and it looks like it uses the fortec software as its receiver.

When it comes I will do a review.

Has it arrived yet?

I'm in the same situation. I need something better than a SF-95 , but I don't want to pay $600.

 

[Babadem]

I'm sure the Sat Buddy series probably has more features than the First Strike, but the FS only costs a fraction...around $249. For my money I would much rather have a FS than the Birdog, mainly because I know what signal I'm after....I don't need the meter to tell me, although I think it's possible for the FS to identify sats. The FS locks quicker than any meter I have ever used, so it makes finding a signal much quicker...you don't have to sit on a signal and wait for the meter to lock. I just need a meter that will achieve a lock and show me s/n for peaking.

I went the way of ACRadio! The First Strike meter rocks for my budget and needs. I like it so far!!:up

 

[laseradam]

OK the meter did come but I have not had time to write a proper review of it yet. But I will give my first impresions of it and write a full review of it later in the review section.

The meter came in less than 2 weeks from when I ordered it. The first problem was that the power adaptor did not have plugs for american power outlets. But I sent an E-mail to the company that was answered within 10 hours. They said that an adaptor should have been included and they offered to ship me one free of cost or to reimbures me if I purchased one locally. I decided to purchase one and they reimbursed my paypal acount within 12 hours for the cost of the adaptor which was about 3 dollars.

The meter is basicly a battery powered combanation receiver and 3.5 inch color video monitor in a package about the size of 3 VHS tapes stacked on top of another.

It came with a nylon case with a shoulder strap.

I hooked it to my home dish and blind scanned the glorystar channels before I took it on an install as that is what I install.
There were NO channels preprogramed into the receiver unless I missed them somehow.

The instructions were what you expect from being made in China and somewhat translated into english. Not a lot of help but anyone that has programed a FTA receiver won't have any problem with it.

There is a on screen tuning / quality display such as on most satellite receivers. Also a led quality meter reads out on the front panel next to the screen. And is very visible in bright light and at night.

I don't see any way to drive a dish motor. But it does control switches.

I couldn't find a way to make the q-meter give a tone while tunning which is the main dissadvantage in my opinion.

The main advantage I see for this is being able to peak the dish without draging an extension cord monitor and receiver out to a dish.

By switching a switch on the back this will also work as a color video monitor.

Battery life is around 3 hours.

 

[Skyscanner]

LA
Thanks for your 1st impression, looking forward to a more detailed report.
ss

 

[Tron]

Sounds interesting. It would be nice not to have to run a 110VAC line up to the roof with me ...