Acutrac III+

[BennyGregg]

Is the Acutrac III+ able to display signal strength readings from 99, 101, and 103 simultaneously?

[BattleZone]

No, only one at a time.

[gtj]

Actually two at a time...

4 Modes:
1: 99 & 101 Right Polarization
2: 99 & 101 Left Polarization
3: 103 & 119 Right Polarization
4: 103 & 110/119 Left Polarization

[BennyGregg]

OK, thanks.

I looked at the manual, and could not figure out how it displays 110 and 119. There seems to be just one strength reading for both of those satellites - so is there a way to toggle between the two?

Now if theAcutrac iii would only go on sale for about half price...

[doctor j]

Transponders from 110 are actually frequencies 28 & 30 & 32.
They are translated to 8 & 10 & 12.

119 has TPN's 22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32
So 110 TPN's show up as 8,10,12 on 119.

Doctor j

[cborjon]

I have been doing some research on meters in the $200-$250 range. I have a second dish that I take camping and also use for tailgating. The elevation on my dish is stamped incorrectly.

Can anyone comment on the Acutrac III sensitivity? Can the Acutrac meter, find the satellite if the elevation is off by 2-5 degrees? In other words, is the meter sensitive enough to pick up the satellite if we are swinging the dish near the correct Azimuth heading but are off with the Elevation or Tilt?

A secondary question....anyone used an MaxPeak meter to install a Directv dish? It has a demodulator built in to it which is necessary to see the SWM signal, can pick up satellites besides D* and E*, and is supposed to be very sensitive when trying to find satellites. Comments on the MaxPeak?

[doctor j]

I have been doing some research on meters in the $200-$250 range. I have a second dish that I take camping and also use for tailgating. The elevation on my dish is stamped incorrectly.

Can anyone comment on the Acutrac III sensitivity? Can the Acutrac meter, find the satellite if the elevation is off by 2-5 degrees? In other words, is the meter sensitive enough to pick up the satellite if we are swinging the dish near the correct Azimuth heading but are off with the Elevation or Tilt?

A secondary question....anyone used an MaxPeak meter to install a Directv dish? It has a demodulator built in to it which is necessary to see the SWM signal, can pick up satellites besides D* and E*, and is supposed to be very sensitive when trying to find satellites. Comments on the MaxPeak?

I have used a Birddog, a SuperBuddy, and an Accutrac III.

The Accutrac is a good meter and the only one that looks at KU and KA signals simultaneously.

The problem is that the accutrac does NOT have satellite ID. Thus any sat can fool you into "locking" on and with receiver " no signal"

You must be absolutely certain about Azimuth. 10 degrees can easily be missed.

The elevation should be accurate to about 5 degrees but a used birddog WITH sat ID will be much more worth the money.

No experience with MaxPeak.

Doctor j

[cborjon]

So if the Acutrac does not use the datastream or a specific transponder frequency how does it actually find the satellite? Are you basically dependent on your compass pointing skills?

[carl6]

The Accutrac will require you to be very close before you see a signal. But that is true of any meter whether it identifies the satellite or not. If you have on-line access, then I would use dishpointer.com to get a very good idea of where to aim your dish. Some basic compass skills don't hurt either.

The advantage of a meter is you can slowly swing the dish through azimuth looking for a signal, find one and peak it, rapidly. Then check your receiver to see if you are on the right bird. Without the meter, you have to rely on the meter and that means slower dish movement and smaller movements, because the receiver meter does not react as rapidly.