Dr. HD 900s Satellite meter

[A nonymous]

Just wondering if any of our members have had a play with one of these meters yet

http://dr-hd.com/pics/ex_rep/900S_sat-meter.pdf

http://www.dr-hd.eu/dr-hd/eshop/0/0/5/4-Dr-HD-900S-satellit-signal-tester

I know some of our members have used the Dr. HD receivers and seem very pleased with them, so i'm just wondering if their meters are the same.

If they do what they say they do they should be very good meters for the money. I'm having issues trying to Pay for the Emitor meter i won on ebay on Friday (Something to with the ebay sellers account) so this may a good alternative?

Nano

 

[vma]

I would consider the Emitor Satlook Series (Satlook Micro, NIT, COLOR, ICE, COLOR HD, COMBOLOOK) as entry level MEASURING INSTRUMENTS.
If you move upwards in the price, you will find ROVER INSTRUMENTS, PROMAX, UNAOHM, KATHREIN, RODHE&SCHWARZ.

The Dr.HD 900S is more like a SAT FINDER: it will not give you accurate readings on any parameters. It will show you signal strength, signal quality and BER. That's about it!

However, it does feature a low-res REALTIME spectrum, which is very usefull and it can display MPEG2 pictures.

It features blind scan, which is great.

It is a pretty good device AFTER you get around its logic and ONCE you set it up properly!

The cons are:

1) You need to setup the satellite/transponder/channel list MANUALLY and BEFORE going out on a job. Failing to do so, will render this device almost useless!
2) No numerical keys, which means, you can ONLY zap through channels with the P+ and P- key!!! You cannot move on pagewise or enter channel numbers (this is IMHO the biggest fault), so you want to create just one FTA channel per satellite/band.
3) Does not support DiSEqC-1.2 commands

The pros are:
1) Really fast spectrum, though low res
2) Very compact size
3) Batteries last quite long and charge pretty fast

If I was to install many dishes on different satellites and often had to setup motorized dishes, I would go for the Satlook ICE in this lower end of specs.

If you just need something cheap and only a bit better than a sat finder, the Dr. HD 900S is probably the best device in this range of "small sat receivers with build-in screen and battery".

I have actually developed some software to make further use of the Dr.HD 900S. This software is not being distributed for now, though I am considering offereing it for a small fee in a near future: _http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq-bC6FxVx4

On my blog (_http://vma-satellite.blogspot.com/) you can find some info's and specially the German translation of the manual (with some added notes), done by myself.

Cheers,
vma

 

[localchap]

Just sold one, it is generally satfinder, pretty handy though, Id never sell it but needed DVBS-2, worked in rain, cold weather not a problem!!!Short circuit protection, even NIT feature!!!Great meter for the money.Unfortunately theres no real time spectrum there, its rather commercial gimmick, absolutely useless, shows mostly LNB noise.