Sathawk 3000 vs. Birdog

[rclarock]

I'm fixin' to fork out the bucks for a satellite identifying meter and I'm tossed between the Birdog and the Sathawk 3000. Any thoughts? I've been using my partners Birdog and I have a couple qualms with it. 1: it sometimes doesn't register 119 as "found" when it's right on (according to the receiver). Sometimes you can go by it and come back and it'll show "found", but not always. (is it the type of meter, the Birdog or just my partners? I don't know.)
Next, and it may be a little thing, but where you have to plug in the cable for your reading causes it to come up into your chin, then arch right over the screen your trying to read. In know you can get around that, but I'm picky about $450 purchases of sophisticated equipment and don't like to have to mess with stuff like that. Thanks! rc

 

[ciaraco]

RC, I bought the SATHAWK 3000 and loved the ergonomics of the unit as well as the display and case. I also liked the fact that it has field replaceable barrel as an input (i think frequent push on F fittings tear up the input). The problem I ran into was calibrating it. I found it to be to freakin hard! I eventualy shipped it back for a replacement meter...the Birdog. Out of the box the Birdog is ready to work. You can easily update and manipulate the birds you want via your PC. If I could get Birdog Brains in a SATHAWK Body...That would be perfect.

 

[rclarock]

Thanks Ciaraco, That's what I was curious about.

 

[rclarock]

P.S. You didn't mention anything about the Birdog not registaring "Found" when a satellite is hit. (In my case usually 119). Did you ever experience anything like that with yours?

 

[Ashley@sadoun]

Ive never heard of any problems with the birdog getting dishnetwork satellites. I mean setting up dishnetwork satellites is mainly what the birdog is used for.

 

[philssatellite]

rclarock

I have a used channel master digital meter which I think is the same as the sathawk. it is in good condition.if you are interested in it let me know. it would save you a little money.

 

[philhu]

P.S. You didn't mention anything about the Birdog not registaring "Found" when a satellite is hit. (In my case usually 119). Did you ever experience anything like that with yours?

Actually 119 can be a bit tough.

There really are 2 sats at 119, Echostar 7 (dish) and Directv 7s

Contrary to popular opinion, sats that are colocated are not exactly together.

There was alot of talk about 61.5, echostar 3 and Rainbow 1, locking on es 3 instead of rainbow, when we used to setup for voom.

Also, to make it even tougher for 119, there is a sat at 118, Anik E2, which can make it tough to lock on.

Saying that, I got out my Birdog tonight and attached it to my 119 lnb, and got an immediate lock, so, being daring, I moved the dish, and it relocked on 119 without incident. I did get a glitch at 118 (I think), and I passed the output to the rcvr and it locked fine too.

Birdog is great!

 

[Sadoun]

I'm fixin' to fork out the bucks for a satellite identifying meter and I'm tossed between the Birdog and the Sathawk 3000. Any thoughts?

You can't go wrong with either. The BIRDOG has a tone while searching and changes tone when you find the satellite. The SatHAWK 3000 will make the sound only when it identifies the satellite.

The SatHAWK has more memory than the BIRDOG so it holds more data (120 vs 32 satellites). The SatHAWK has an option for SPANISH language menu.

Ergonomically, the SatHAWK is better. The BIRDOG has a loopout for the signal if you want to pass the signal to a receiver.

www.sathawk.tv
www.birdog.tv

Both are made in the UK

 

[derdude]

Has anybody used there meters for installing a StarChoice system? If so what luck have you had?

You can't go wrong with either. The BIRDOG has a tone while searching and changes tone when you find the satellite. The SatHAWK 3000 will make the sound only when it identifies the satellite.

The SatHAWK has more memory than the BIRDOG so it holds more data (120 vs 32 satellites). The SatHAWK has an option for SPANISH language menu.

Ergonomically, the SatHAWK is better. The BIRDOG has a loopout for the signal if you want to pass the signal to a receiver.

www.sathawk.tv
www.birdog.tv

Both are made in the UK