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TELE-audiovision.com—
03-04/2015 —
TELE-audiovision International —
全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志
companion that sits in your
hands surprisingly nicely.
The case of the Spaun
Sparos 711 is made of in-
jection-moulded aluminium
and despite its low weight
this is easily the most robust
and sturdy meter we have
ever held in our hands. The
touchscreen is recessed and
protected by a plastic frame
that makes sure it cannot be
damaged too easily. There’s
no doubt about it, the Spaun
Sparos has been designed for
those tough and demanding
outdoor jobs.
If you open the padded
flap of the front panel it will
reveal the truly enormous
touchscreen. At first we were
slightly confused because our
search for any keys or but-
tons was boldly unsuccessful,
but obviously there is no need
for cluttering buttons all over
the place when you have a
touchscreen at your disposal.
Almost all connection sockets
are positioned on the right
side of the meter, as well as
the only button, which inci-
dentally is the On/Off switch.
It merely takes 12 seconds
after turning on the meter
before the boot process and
self-test are completed and
the unit is ready for use. This
means you’ll happily switch
off the Sparos 711 while on
a break to safe valuable en-
ergy, knowing that it will be
up and running again in next
to no time. The On/Off switch
comes with a built-in LED
which lights up in Spaun’s
typical blue colour whenever
the meter is switched on.
Each of the four corners of
the front panel features an
eye that can be used to se-
curely hook a carrying strap.
Thanks to four such eyes be-
ing available you can choose
any combination to attach a
carrying strap that best suits
your requirements or prefer-
ences. We opted for a diago-
nal set-up, which meant we
used the upper left eye in
combination with the lower
right eye. Left-handed users
might obviously go for the
other way round, but in any
case this allows you to keep
the Spaun Sparos 711 on the
side of your body when you
need to climb a ladder, for ex-
ample.
The HF input is separated
from all other inputs by an
extra divider in order to shield
that input from potential elec-
tromagnetic
interference.
All other inputs are covered
with a plastic cap when not in
use. The fact that the Spaun
Sparos 711 comes with two
USB sockets may surprise
some. One of them is of the
A type, while the other one is
the newer mini USB B type.
Both of them can be activated
in the configuration menu,
but you should bear in mind
that the mini USB B input is
reserved for service access
only.
Right next to the RJ-45 net-
work interface you can find a
dedicated input for charging
the built-in battery. Two LEDs
indicate the current power
mode: A green LED at the
signal input lights up if DC
voltage is provided through
the HF socket, while a green
LED at the DC input lights up
whenever the meter is con-
nected to the mains. The left
side of the Spaun Sparos 711
features the ASI input and
output as well as the card
reader. The fan is also located
in that area, as is the loud-
speaker. In case you worry
about any noise generated by
the fan you can rest assured
– it runs silently both during
use and charging.
Whenever we receive a new
device for testing we always
make a point of using it right
out of the box, without con-
sulting the manual first. This
gives us a valuable clue as
to how user-friendly (or un-
friendly) its operating flow
is. In this particular case we
felt at home from the get-go.
Thanks to its huge touch-
screen display and perfectly
matching firmware the Spaun
Sparos 711 is more or less
self-explanatory and effi-
ciently guides you through all
required steps.
Once the meter is powered
up you’ll be greeted by a wel-
come screen that gives you
an overview of all installed
and available options. Our