Satlink WS-6980 Signal Meter/Spectrum Analyzer Review

[Christopher Cromwell]

Ever since I first put up my 1.2M C-Band Dish using the Stab 120 Motor, I have long had alignment issues. I'm usually 1 or 2 degrees off on USAL's, no matter how often I try to correct it; and the motor slop doesn't help either. :-/ I have tried to align my C-Band dish as best I could several times using the Satlink WS-6933 Signal Meters, but I'm still running into the same issues. My true south satellite is 85W but there's no C-Band on it, so I've tried to align it to 89W; as up until just recently there wasn't anything on 87W I could get either. :-/

There is a section on the Salem Communications website that says that in order to align your dish correctly with today's digital signals, it's absolutely critical to have a good quality Spectrum Analyzer. I have long tried to ignore this due to cost, but it is absolutely true!! It also says that you can not go by the signal bars alone for locking onto a signal.

I know I have a 2 degree offset dish which is fine for adjacent channels, but I'm getting more annoyed with my alignment always being off by 1 or 2. So I finally dug deep into the credit card and bought this brand new Satlink WS-6980 Signal Meter that includes a Spectrum Analyzer function! It delivers late Thursday.

Granted the Satlink is not exactly top commercial standards, but for the money I spent, it should still do a respectable job. I just need the Spectrum Analyzer mainly for now, I plan to enter in a good known C-Band TP for 87W and hopefully get my 1.2M dish lined up correctly on USAL's.

If the weather isn't good this weekend, I'm taking paid vacation on May 16th, so I can take more pics and post on how this new meter works. Should be pretty fancy, and comes with lots of extra features!

I also plan to double check my alignment with my 90cm Ku Dish, I've had no alignmemt issues with that at all, but wouldn't hurt to use the new meter for that too.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

Here's a few pics, looking forward to trying it out soon, and posting my results!

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

My brand new Satlink 6980 meter arrived today. The first thing I noticed was the VERY nice carrying case with strap! It even has several extra pockets for other stuff! All of the charging cords and other cables are included; even an extra screen protector! I took several pics, but I still need to read through the owners manual on the included CD to read about how it works. The Satlink is so new, there is no software updates to be found anywhere that I know of.

The good positive thing I noticed was that all of the US Satellite positions and several TP'S come preloaded into the Satlink.

The not so great thing I found out was on the System Settings screen, all of the settings were just for different European countries only. Nothing for the US on that menu, but I might be able to work around that easy enough. Otherwise the other not so great thing was the Satlink would not remember my last settings as I navigated away, it would just go back to default. Hopefully these minor bugs can get corrected in a future update, if I can find one.

This is a VERY beautiful sat finder meter, I can even watch a TV channel on the roof as I sit next to the dish antenna! It's a TV/Satellite Receiver/Spectrum Analyzer/Signal Metal all in one package! Turns out to be money well spent so far! I will take more pics of the Satlink in action on a nicer warmer day.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

A few more pics.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

By the way, this meter does run a motor with Disecqc 1.2 or USALS, which will be very handy as you align the dish.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

Wow!! This is REALLY nice!! The video looks pretty dang good on a 7" screen. Looking forward to aligning my motorized C-Band Dish with this, hopefully I can get it near spot on!

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

It does display a 1080i picture very nice, although it's default to 50Hz. No way to change that in settings.

Another bug I found is that the Satlink will drive the motor well enough, but it can't keep the motor setting in the menu; it keeps defaulting to 'NONE'.

Otherwise, the Satlink meter works great with my Norsat 3420 LNB's! The blind scan is just about right, not too slow or fast.

 

[FTA4PA]

Thanks for the review and pics. Meter looks very nice. Keep us posted on your progress and any updates you find for the meter. Good luck with your tweaking!

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

Thanks for the review and pics. Meter looks very nice. Keep us posted on your progress and any updates you find for the meter. Good luck with your tweaking!

Thank you! :-D I might do some tweaking today if the weather holds up. I will take some pics too. I wasn't too comfortable on burning the $300+ dollars, but it is beginning to show its worth! Just a few minor software bugs need to be ironed out. The sticker on the box says the meter was made in early-mid April! Newer than brand new! Lol!

 

[Babadem]

Nice first look review.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

Nice first look review.

It looks like it can definitely do the job! Not only for FTA, but OTA and cable too! Does just about everything you could want for the price.

 

[Titanium]

In North America, this meter is compatible with satellite, but not cable or OTA. Unfortunately, NA uses non-compatible cable and OTA formats. We do not use DVB-C, DVB-T or T2.

Nice that it supports up to 16apsk and has spectrum / constellation displays. Be interested in learning about the refresh speed and bandwidth / manual amplitude scale lock.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

In North America, this meter is compatible with satellite, but not cable or OTA. Unfortunately, NA uses non-compatible cable and OTA formats. We do not use DVB-C, DVB-T or T2.

Nice that it supports up to 16apsk and has spectrum / constellation displays. Be interested in learning about the refresh speed and bandwidth / manual amplitude scale lock.

Oh, ok! I wouldn't need it for OTA or Cable anyway. But I have noticed that the majority of the settings are only for Euope. But at least it does work pretty good for FTA Satellite, all of the N. America satellite positions are there; which I wasn't expecting actually.
I did test out the Spectrum Analyzer/Constellation screens initially last night. I can't give you an exact refresh time but it seems to refresh rather quickly, maybe within a second? But there are several different options to choose from on the Spectrum Analyzer I haven't really messed with yet.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

It was mostly cloudy and breezy while I was up on the roof with my C-Band dish this afternoon; even sprinkled on me a few times. I still don't quite know yet if I finally fixed my alignment isses, but by the time I was getting finishing up, it got even more cloudy and dark with rain. I tried to line everything up with 87W, including the dish on the motor best I could. Will have to see how it does later this evening. With no alignment holes on the motor shaft, it makes it more difficult to line up correctly. I may have to do more tweaking with the dish elevation for the Vertical polarity later.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

I checked my motorized dish alignment last night before storms moved in. I have it lined right up to 87W and it seems to track the arc a little better moving west, but it's still a good couple of degrees off going east. :-/ I will work on it more during my vacation next week, there's a few more different things I can try. Otherwise, I may eventually have to just give up on using USAL'S for this particular Stab motor. Disecqc might work better or more accurately, I just always feel like I'm searching in the complete dark for the correct signal on the right satellite to save it for a motor position. :-(

 

[Titanium]

DiSEqC 1.2 might be best for your situation. Likely has nothing to do with the USALS calculation or positioning.

C-band reception on an undersized dish is greatly affected by signals from adjacent satellites since the smaller reflector beam width is so wide at these lower frequencies. Aiming precisely at the target satellite may not provide the best signal quality as the signal from the adjacent satellite may still also be quite strong.

Often the dish must be bumped east/west away from the precise aiming to the target satellite to attenuate the interference from the adjacent satellite. This misaiming results in a higher signal to noise ratio on the target satellite transponder. This aiming may be different on other transponders on the same satellite depending if the frequency has a conflicting signal or not.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

Yeah, I just may have to go with DiSEqC for this particular Stab 120 motor. I don't remember USAL'S mentioned in the owners manual or spec's much at all, like the motor wasn't really set up to run that way. It does seem to talk more about using DiSEqC as the preferred method. The 120 motor will turn with USALS, but it won't seem to stop at the right location, always 1 or 2 degrees off somewhere; with motor slop added in. But yes, the 4 foot offset reflector probably doesn't help things much either for C-Band, adding to frustration. The dish is actually more designed for Ku signals instead. I will get it figured out as the weather improves. It's not called a hobby for nothing, right?

 

[Titanium]

We used to be the North American warranty center for Stab and the 120 is definitely a USALS compliant motor. STAB developed the USALS protocol and it is highly unlikely to be USALS related.

You may have a mechanically defective motor (shaft slop is common), but based in the 120 motor design and the way USALS is calculated it would be impossible to drive to a miscalculated USALS position. Many variables can affect positioning such as exact Longitude/Latitude inputted, the post is plumb, feedhorn is is the proper position, dish aligned with the motor, etc..

I would check that the dish has been correctly centered on the motor. Since your dish design has no through-bolt to assure this correct alignment, the dish may simply be a fraction of a degree off center causing landing errors.

To check: Drive the motor to the "0" position and measure from each side of the dish edge (same point on each side) to the center of the tube. The measurements will be equal if the dish is centered on the motor. When I used to do tech service, this was the most common cause of tracking errors with u-bolt clamping dish mounts on a HH motor.

 

[Christopher Cromwell]

I would check that the dish has been correctly centered on the motor. Since your dish design has no through-bolt to assure this correct alignment, the dish may simply be a fraction of a degree off center causing landing errors.

To check: Drive the motor to the "0" position and measure from each side of the dish edge (same point on each side) to the center of the tube. The measurements will be equal if the dish is centered on the motor. When I used to do tech service, this was the most common cause of tracking errors with u-bolt clamping dish mounts on a HH motor.

This will be one of the things I will check again, as well as centering of the LNB to the middle of the dish.

The motor was tight out of the box, but I knew just before buying it would loosen up over time.
Thanks for reminding me about the Stab USAL'S spec, good to know!
I could very well have a defective part/software in the electronics, I hope not.

 

[Titanium]

Just noted a mistake in my last post. I meant to say to measure from the dish edges to the center of the motor mount / pole (or other point on the motor) not the tube. The measurement to the motor tube will remain constant even if not centered.... Duh.... Need another cup of coffee!!!

Also, check that the motor mounting bracket isn't tweaked when tightening onto the post. Over-tightening a nut can distort the mount and induce tracking errors. Place a level on the sides of the motor to make sure it is still completely vertical (90 degrees).

Have a good Sunday. I'm off to blind scan then climb the tower for some spring maintenance.