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05-06/2015
56 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Leading Digital TV Industry Publication — 05-06/2015 —
TEST REPORT Hand-held Satellite Meter
Handy, Practical, Precise
The new SATFINDER 5 HD
Slim from Alpsat Elektronik is
a decidedly small and handy
satellite meter that only meas-
ures 18x10x4 cm and weighs
no more than 0.8 kg – and
that already includes the bat-
tery. All this makes it a perfect
companion for use even in the
trickiest of places.
Take it in your hand for the
first time and your eyes will
probably stay glued to the 3.5-
inch TFT high-resolution (960-
540px) colour display right
away. It is one of those rare
examples that provides excel-
lent readability even in direct
sunlight. Below the display the
manufacturer has placed a to-
tal of 12 buttons for operating
and controlling the SATFINDER
5 HD Slim. All of them come
with easy to grasp labelling
and some have more than a
single function depending on
the menu that is accessed.
The top side of the meter
features a satellite IF socket
for connecting the cable from
the reception system, as well
as a TRS socket that becomes
a fully-fledged AV interface
with the help of an adapter
cable. On the bottom side you
will find the 12V DC socket for
connecting the external power
unit/charger and a USB socket
that can be used to update
either the meter’s firmware
or the pre-installed satellite,
SATFINDER 5 HD Slim
Extremely responsive meter
for evaluating up to four transponders
simultaneously
of this device, which is always
a good sign.
Let’s have a look now at
what’s inside this neat little
device. Alpsat has opted for
an 800 MHz processor that can
draw on 8 MB of cache and 512
MB of RAM. In total, the SAT-
FINDER 5 HD Slim boasts 5000
transponder entries, 8000 TV
and radio channels and 250
satellite entries.
When you call up the main
menu you’ll see that it con-
sists of two entries for basic
settings – one takes care of
all satellite-related settings,
while the other one deals with
all general settings. Those in-
clude the usual suspects, such
as OSD language. You can
choose between a wide list of
languages: English, Turkish,
German, Spanish, Russian,
French, Portuguese, Arabic,
Dutch, Italian, Greek and last-
ly Serbian. Further options are
the preferred unit for signal
level measurements and video
output.
An option we particularly
appreciated was that the SAT-
FINDER 5 HD Slim can be set to
increase its LNB power supply
by one Volt, something that is
greatly beneficial with extreme
coax cable lengths because it
makes sure enough voltage
arrives at those remote LNBs.
Another solution worthy of
special mention are the three
available status menus that
can be accessed to find out
the current state of the RAM,
the remaining battery capacity
and the voltage supply to all
available components.
Not only does the SATFIND-
ER 5 HD Slim offer an exten-
sive pre-programmed channel
list, it also comes with excel-
lent satellite and transponder
entries that reflect the high
effort put in by the manufac-
turer. A total of 159 European,
American and Asian satellites
are available, complete with
transponder and channel lists.
The integrated battery
comes with a capacity of 2400
mAH and cannot be removed
from the meter. It makes sure
the SATFINDER 5 HD Slim
stays operational for up to
three hours before it needs to
be recharged. Once that be-
comes necessary it does not
take longer than two hours to
reach full capacity again for
mobile operation.
Alpsat Elektronik throws in
a 12V DV power pack for use
with the mains or a car pow-
er outlet, as well as a hugely
practical protective cover with
carrying strap and an F-type
angled plug that allows rotat-
ing the satellite IF input by 90
degrees. Of course the meter
is shipped with a user manual,
and in this case it comes with
helpful pictures and a useful
overall layout. Working with
this manual you won’t need to
be a pro for getting the knack