Satellite meter maxes out randomly when searching for birds

[rrob311]

I have been trying to temporarily setup my other 2 cband dishes and sometimes when I set the signal meter to the middle then I go behind the dish to move it the meter will max out and sometimes the hv red light will come on so I can't check for a signal. I then go near the meter and mess with it a little and then the meter goes back down. Both of my meters do this. Is this happening because I have the dish touching the ground? It is driving me nuts. I need to find a fencepost so I can finish mounting my 6 footer before it gets cold. I am too low on funds to pay to have a post set in the yard.

 

[sergei]

I guess maybe knowing what type meter your using might help, otherwise it might be something loose or even a bad connector. Dish touching the ground shouldn't cause a problem that I can think of.

 

[rrob311]

It is just one of those cheap analog meters with the led for 22khz and a red led for HV

 

[toucan-man]

Is it rated for C-Band? The analog one I had maxed out all the time and was useless on the big dish. I instead got the low buck digital squawker that WS International sells and it works great with C-band.

 

[rrob311]

I am not sure. The back says: freq: 950-2150mhz power: 13~18v dc model sf-9502

It always did ok on ku before.

 

[Anole]

Yea, the frequency for both Ku and C-band out of the LNB, are the 'same'.

What some people have reported in the past, is an oscillation or feedback caused by the LNB picking up some radiation (noise) from the meter.
I think they said putting the meter behind the dish helped.
A bad cable from meter to LNB might be a problem, I suppose.

Never had the trouble myself, so can't really offer any help.
The few times I hunted a Ku FTA bird with one of those meters, there was a DBS satellite at the same location, and I think that jammed a big signal through my Universal LNBF and the meter read THAT. (?)

 

[rrob311]

Well I guess I will build a different cable so I can have the meter behind the dish. I probably wont be able to mess with this until next Monday. :-(