Low cost test gear
John Rumm
Basic DigiAir manual:
DigiAir dB manual:
Do they look like they give enough information to make a useful
assessment of the signal being received? A few places seem to be
flogging these and the price seems fairly attractive.
Any alternative suggestions?
One of the frustrations I find as a non professional and occasional
installer of aerial systems, is the problem of not having appropriate
test gear. In some cases this is not a problem, you can select an
appropriate aerial based on transmitter and local signal strength and
suck it and see. Often you will be greeted by working analogue and
digital reception and everyone is happy - even if you don't have any
visibility of the finer detail regarding signal margins etc. However if
you are in a difficult reception area and you don't get acceptable
results this way, what next? Adding amplification may get the desired
result, but if that does not work you are then left with guesswork in
many cases.
--
Cheers,
John.
/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/
Marky P
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>Has anyone got any opinion on the Emitor DigiAir test meters?
>
>Basic DigiAir manual:
>
>http://www.emitor.se/dynamaster/file_archive/071023/1a427bf197c356347269beb9e108159e/DigiAir%20%2d%20Manual%20English%202.0.pdf
>
>DigiAir dB manual:
>
>http://www.emitor.se/dynamaster/file_archive/071023/1dab5ecf94954d63365781b9060ae556/DIGIAIR%20dB%202%5f1%20UM%20ENG%20Rev%20A.pdf
>
>Do they look like they give enough information to make a useful
>assessment of the signal being received? A few places seem to be
>flogging these and the price seems fairly attractive.
>
>Any alternative suggestions?
>
>One of the frustrations I find as a non professional and occasional
>installer of aerial systems, is the problem of not having appropriate
>test gear. In some cases this is not a problem, you can select an
>appropriate aerial based on transmitter and local signal strength and
>suck it and see. Often you will be greeted by working analogue and
>digital reception and everyone is happy - even if you don't have any
>visibility of the finer detail regarding signal margins etc. However if
>you are in a difficult reception area and you don't get acceptable
>results this way, what next? Adding amplification may get the desired
>result, but if that does not work you are then left with guesswork in
>many cases.
I also would be interested in people's opinions on the DigiAir. I
could do with a basic meter for setting up DTT.
Marky P.
-<GB>-Carpy
"Marky P" <bromham_ho...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:q1an04ltkbv2m2qss...@4ax.com...
It looks like they just give you the channel power which isn't a great deal
to go on. It's a bit like trying to say whether a used car is going to be
reliable or not, just by looking at a photo. You could be lucky & it all
turns out fine but there could be something nasty hidden beneath the surface
/ signal so it's still pot luck.
It would certainly be better than no test gear at all but you'd be much
better off buying something a bit more comprehensive like a Wolsey TM2 or
try and find a Unaohm Datum10 which come up on ebay occasionally. There's a
few more like the Horizon DTM which are a bit further up the chain also at
around £350.
If it's only for very occasional use such as when moving house then you can
always hire a decent meter for about £40 a day.
John Rumm
> It looks like they just give you the channel power which isn't a great deal
> to go on. It's a bit like trying to say whether a used car is going to be
> reliable or not, just by looking at a photo. You could be lucky & it all
> turns out fine but there could be something nasty hidden beneath the surface
> / signal so it's still pot luck.
That was partly my concern - it does not seem to have any measurement of
of the actual DTT channel quality... Although it does look as if it
gets some way toward the solution of playing hunt the missing muxes -
you would at least know if it is lack of signal strength that is causing
the problem, and could also probably tell if overload due to other
inband strong signals is a problem.
> It would certainly be better than no test gear at all but you'd be much
> better off buying something a bit more comprehensive like a Wolsey TM2 or
> try and find a Unaohm Datum10 which come up on ebay occasionally. There's a
> few more like the Horizon DTM which are a bit further up the chain also at
> around £350.
Yup, seen the TM2s - but they are getting on for double the price. Does
the addition of BER and C/N that they also measure actually tell you
much more than could be achieved using the basic signal strength meter
combined with a freeview box that can measure BER?
The attraction of something like the dB unit, was at £170 or thereabouts
it probably costs less than getting a rigger out (in these parts
anyway), and that assumes that they actually have the test gear and
knowledge to make use of it.
> If it's only for very occasional use such as when moving house then you can
> always hire a decent meter for about £40 a day.
Yup, another option... Where is a good place to hire that sort of kit?
Andy Wade
> It would certainly be better than no test gear at all but you'd be much
> better off buying something a bit more comprehensive like a Wolsey TM2 or
> try and find a Unaohm Datum10 which come up on ebay occasionally. There's a
> few more like the Horizon DTM which are a bit further up the chain also at
> around �350.
Or a Swires 'Terry' for GBP195+VAT -
http://www.swires.com/pdf/Terry2DS.pdf
--
Andy
John Rumm
Hmm, that looks better... similar money (£205 on the web site) as well.
Marky P
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>Andy Wade wrote:
>> -<GB>-Carpy wrote:
>>
>>> It would certainly be better than no test gear at all but you'd be
>>> much better off buying something a bit more comprehensive like a
>>> Wolsey TM2 or try and find a Unaohm Datum10 which come up on ebay
>>> occasionally. There's a few more like the Horizon DTM which are a bit
>>> further up the chain also at around ?350.
>>
>> Or a Swires 'Terry' for GBP195+VAT -
>> http://www.swires.com/pdf/Terry2DS.pdf
>
>Hmm, that looks better... similar money (£205 on the web site) as well.
I'm certainly looking out for one :-)
Marky P.
John Rumm
I just emailed them to see if they can supply direct, or point me at a
distributor... want me to see if I can get a quantity discount?
Marky P
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>Marky P wrote:
>> On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:36:30 +0100, John Rumm
>> <see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>>
>>> Andy Wade wrote:
>>>> -<GB>-Carpy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It would certainly be better than no test gear at all but you'd be
>>>>> much better off buying something a bit more comprehensive like a
>>>>> Wolsey TM2 or try and find a Unaohm Datum10 which come up on ebay
>>>>> occasionally. There's a few more like the Horizon DTM which are a bit
>>>>> further up the chain also at around ?350.
>>>> Or a Swires 'Terry' for GBP195+VAT -
>>>> http://www.swires.com/pdf/Terry2DS.pdf
>>> Hmm, that looks better... similar money (£205 on the web site) as well.
>>
>> I'm certainly looking out for one :-)
>
>I just emailed them to see if they can supply direct, or point me at a
>distributor... want me to see if I can get a quantity discount?
I don't think you'll get much off for two. The cheapest I found it on
the web was £249.... Oh bugger! Just went back to the website and the
product has disappeared :-(
Website was www.tracsat.co.uk
Marky P.
John Rumm
> I don't think you'll get much off for two. The cheapest I found it on
> the web was £249.... Oh bugger! Just went back to the website and the
> product has disappeared :-(
According to the reply I got today, they can supply direct at £209 +
carriage (£11) + VAT - I make that about £258.50 all in. So you are
probably right! :-(
Still looks like a better proposition than the Digiair dB though at
about the same price.
Marky P
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>Marky P wrote:
>
>> I don't think you'll get much off for two. The cheapest I found it on
>> the web was £249.... Oh bugger! Just went back to the website and the
>> product has disappeared :-(
>
>According to the reply I got today, they can supply direct at £209 +
>carriage (£11) + VAT - I make that about £258.50 all in. So you are
>probably right! :-(
>
>Still looks like a better proposition than the Digiair dB though at
>about the same price.
Certainly does. I've put my Promax Prolink 1C up on ebay now. It's
getting lots of interest :-)
Marky P.
John Rumm
Ordered one today... will report back when I have had a chance to fiddle..
Marky P
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>Marky P wrote:
>> On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:13:32 +0100, John Rumm
>> <see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>>
>>> Marky P wrote:
>>>
>>>> I don't think you'll get much off for two. The cheapest I found it on
>>>> the web was £249.... Oh bugger! Just went back to the website and the
>>>> product has disappeared :-(
>>> According to the reply I got today, they can supply direct at £209 +
>>> carriage (£11) + VAT - I make that about £258.50 all in. So you are
>>> probably right! :-(
>>>
>>> Still looks like a better proposition than the Digiair dB though at
>>> about the same price.
>>
>> Certainly does. I've put my Promax Prolink 1C up on ebay now. It's
>> getting lots of interest :-)
>
>Ordered one today... will report back when I have had a chance to fiddle..
Cool :-) Keep us posted :-)
Marky P.