Electronix Express EX Digital Satellite Finder Meter for DirecTV - SF-95DR Backlit Plug and Play

Last year, when I needed to align my DirecTV SWM LNB antenna, I studied DirecTV's tech training for installing a SWM system, then bought an ASL-1 alignment splitter for less than $30. When the SWM LNB is powered up without any receiver connected, it puts signals from the 101 satellite out in one frequency band and the signals from 119 in another. The ASL-1 splits these into two different ports. When using my friends expensive alignment meter, I noticed that I wasn't using any of it's fancy features, just a signal strength meter, using the DirecTV procedures for alignment and dithering. I bought this and can align an HD SWM LNB in no time with this inexpensive meter. Feed the 18 volt output of the ASL-1 into one side and the output of either the 110 or 119 into the other port of this device, and follow the DirecTV "dithering" procedure. You will have pinpoint alignment.Feeding the 21 volts from the power inserter into this would probably fry it, so an ASL-1 is necessary just for power.

I wanted to take one of my high definition receivers from home to my houseboat at Lake Cumberland. I purchased this finder to help with my dish installation. So many told me that it would be difficult to use SWiM on a boat but I found it rather easy. I installed the dish on the radar arch of our 2006, 18' X 80' Sumerset. Once I mounted and leveled the dish, I used the satellite finder in-line between the power insertion block and the dish. I had already aimed the elevation etc. (29 degrees and 70 on the arc) for the area by matching to other SWiM dishes in the area. I left the bolts loose so I could rotate the dish on the vertical mount. I didn't need to be close to the finder meter as it has a tone that you can hear when you are aimed correctly. I tightened down the mount and fine tuned the rotation with the adjustment bolt. I went to the DirecTV receiver and turned it on. The receiver took a few minutes to start up but proceeded through the boot-up. The reception was great and we spent the evening watching Michigan State run all over Wisconsin. As a final note, the tone is much more useful than the meter dial itself. For the SWiM LMB it displayed either zero or ten. When you were in the right place the meter read ten and you would hear the tone.

I could not line up my DirecTV satellite antennae, so I bought this meter, at a better price than I could find on e-Bay or anywhere else ( by about $35.00!). I still could not get it to work, so I called in a professional installer. It turned out the problem was elsewhere, but I was most impressed with the meter, and so was the technician. He said it worked better than his did, and after fixing the real problem, used mine to line up to the satellite. When I told him what I paid, he said he was going to replace the one he had, and order this one! We had 80 mile an hour winds come through this week, and of course, they blew my antennae off target. Lined it back up in minutes!

I bought this hoping to point a rather tricky dish placement. I wired it up as it is labeled - one side to the lnb, the other to the receiver. No signal. Ok. Then I turned the dB knob up and it immediately zoomed up to 10. WTF does that mean? The receiver box shows 0 signal strength. This device is showing what looks like a solid signal.So I take it to a functioning dish installation, and get the same results. So, with the meter on 5, the dish box installation display on the tv showing a good signal, I cover the lnb on the dish. The dish box installation display on the tv immediately drops to 0, but this thing didn't even dip in "signal strength." Apparently it is only showing me continuity of the line, not actual signal strength.1 star because it serves a purpose. Not the one it is sold as, but it is not entirely useless. Also 1 star because its lowest possible.

This thing seemed to work at first.... I did the adjustments, lowered gain (ATT) etc, followed the book. But when connected the receiver, it was a dud - I thought it would be alright cuz my receiver is giving me headaches so I connected a very old DTV receiver I kept just for antenna alignment and sure enough it was not pointed right.What I did ? I set up my wife's phone in front of the TV and made a Whatsapp video call to my own phone and went up to the roof again. This time my setup worked wonders and confirmed that I had to reposition the antenna.So I'll probably return this... or not as the overhead work is too much.Recommended ? NOT recommended.

Ok the products acts more like a geiger counter. it detects the signal as you get closer to it andshoots up when you hit the sweet spot. now it makes it a lot easier to find (at least for directv) if you set the dish at 35 degrees. you should use an angle locator. then theres three parts to it. rotate the base east and west until your device spikes at its highest. lock it in at the bolts. then up and down. finally the dish has a slight rotation it needs to do. but look and your signal strength indicator on your screen in the living room, and try to get to 97 percent or higher signal strength.. it may take some time for you to figure it out. but this device does help..

This meter was the least expensive of those offered on Amazon, but did an amazing job! I mounted a new satellite dish and using rough measurements got a good picture right off the bat. But using the meter allowed me to go from 80% strength to over 97%. The picture looked the same, but what will be the significance is when there is heavy weather in the area, I expect the picture to not fade away. Two unexpected bonuses: maybe it was in the description, but I missed it. The meter lights up when connected AND there is sound which increases as you adjust for best signal strength. It made the alignment job a complete breeze.

It worked as advertised