Advanced Digital TV & Sat Level Meter Prolink-4C Premium
Contents
1. TEST REPORT Digital TV amp SAT Level Meter Advanced Digital TV amp Sat Level Meter Prolink 4C Premium Extremely versatile portable instrument Surprise is the first Few years ago much simpler instruments were significantly bigger heavier and more expen sive They could measure only satellite TV signals and were equipped with monochromatic displays Prolink 4C Premium of Promax Electronica can measure satellite cable and terrestrial sig nals both analog and digital It is suitable not only for the analy sis of every possible SDTV signal but also for DAB and FM radio It can process WiFi signals NICAM audio RDS as well as Teletext It has LCD color display of good resolution that can show not only the measurements results and frequency spectrum but also the video of a TV channel Older meters could only show you the analog TV video this one can additionally show video of digital channels This is true not only for the FTA channels but also for the scrambled channels if only a proper CAM module with a valid smart card is inserted in the Prolink s Common Interface Slot Except for the built in display video is available on a Scart con nector Nothing prevents con necting a regular TV set to the instrument to see video in full resolution In this way you can use Prolink 4C Premium as an CHAN 16 CHANNEL POWER impression when you encounter this meter for the first time It seems simply unb2. you remove the fault However this works when you are in TV mode or in the menu We did not see the message when the meter was in spectrum analyzer mode Although the spectrum ana lyzer is not designed for that purpose the feed hunter can easily use Prolink 4C Premium to quickly detect the presence or absence of the feed transmissions on a given satellite At first look you can tell if there is something live or not After identifying the frequency in spectrum analyzer you can initiate a channel search for the single transponder in your regular receiver Nothing can be faster blind scan receivers can not match spectrum analyzer Watching TV is not the most intended meter s application but it is possible We checked that for analog and digital chan nels We also confirmed that a CAM module inserted in CI slot makes PayTV reception possible It can be very important for the installer that he can demonstrate to the customer that everything is working including the scram bled channels reception Satellite TV measurements make up for maybe 30 of Peter Miller TELE satellite Test Center Poland During our tests we observed that there was no short circuit error message when the meter was in spectrum analyzer view and we inten tionally shorted the input cable meters functionality You can use it for terrestrial or cable TV measurements Except for the satellite dish almost always you have the terrestr
3. e explanation you need at the moment The appendix provides TV channel frequency charts for different standards as well as the short form satel lite charts for Astra Astra 2 and Hotbird satellites The basic functions are avail able directly from a front panel keyboard After pressing the tuning knob you get access to the rest of them The knob is used to move the marker when in spec trum analyzer view scroll the list of functions and accept the selection by pressing it There are 2 keys in the keyboard that can be programmed for functions you need most often quite con venient feature When compared with the other similar instruments user inter face is easier to remember and more intuitive One small annoy ing thing is that you are returned from the menu to the measure ment mode each time you accept a single setting For example when you want to change a band a frequency span and a reference level before taking actual meas urements you have to enter the menu 3 times But how can you use this meter in satellite TV setups Prolink 4C PROLINK 4C Premium DIGITAL TY amp SAT LEVEL VETER ey Premium will be very helpful in a dish align process If your dishes are perfectly aligned but you still have a reception problem this meter will allow you to determine if it is caused by the poor LNB performance excessive losses or interference introduced into the signal distribution network cables s
4. elievable that its designers managed 444 4 TELE satellite International www TEL satellite com analog or digital TV receiver Of course the meter has also a loudspeaker to output audio when in TV mode Prolink 4C Premium can output the received transport stream in parallel format SPI so if you have the appropriate MPEG 2 PC card you can save the data for further analysis It is also pos sible to input MPEG 2 transport stream to the meter through another 25 pin connector RS 232 interface can be used to con trol the instrument from a PC transfer measurement results to PC or making printouts on the external serial port printer As you can see on the pho tographs the meter s case is robust as you should expect for a portable instrument but at the same time it is elegant Its carry ing bag is very practical Except for the carrying bag you get a mains power supply and a car lighter charger to charge meter s internal accumulator as well as several adapters for dif ferent connector types User manual is written in Spanish English and French It is well designed and very extensive 120 pages Included screenshots help the reader to understand a large number of functions and features offered by to pack so many functions and features into such small and lightweight case It measures only 294 x 106 x 274 mm and weights 5 kg the meter Information is cross referenced so it is really easy to find th
5. he Ko and level difference expressed in results are updated quite fre OY dB After entering the menu by quently For example we could 0000o pressing the dial knob you can immediately see the impact of OOK change meter settings Signal LNB s tilt adjustment on the C N eee level can be expressed in dBm ratio When measuring the sat veee eee eeee ee Seo dBuV or dBmV depending on your preferences Meter s frequency span for the satellite band can be switched in the following sequence Full 500 200 100 50 32 16 8 4 MHz You can change the scale maximum value from 10 dBuV to 130 dBuV as well as scale resolution per division 10 5 2 dB div Meter s own noise floor is about 15 dBuV This is pretty good parameter because the regular satellite TV signals are normally in the 50 60 dBuV range In other words meter s own noise will not affect the C N measurements Level measurement accuracy is 1 5 dB for the satellite band 950 2150 MHz what is also a very good result What parameters can Prolink 4C Premium actually measure You name it you have it Practi cally everything you can think of Signal level channel power car rier to noise ratio C N in auto matic and manual mode when a user determines the reference noise level bit error rate BER before and after MPEG 2 error correction modulation error rate MER and a number of wrong packets received in a period of time Prolink can display even such exo
6. ial TV antenna Sometimes when you have to receive TV signals from various directions with many antennae the terrestrial antenna system is more complicated than the sat ellite one We successfully used Prolink 4C Premium to measure the performance of antenna fil ters and amplifiers The meter also did very well in analog cable TV measurements When you complement the meter with a noise generator for example the NG 281 from Promax you will get a fantastic measurement setup for testing frequency response of filters amplifiers or other devices On the figures accompanying this TECHNIC DATA Manufacturer report you can see how the passband ripple or the rolloff of a filter can be measured Pro link 4C Premium is an invalu able test instrument not only for the installer of various TV equipment it is also very useful for an equipment distributor If you have it you can objectively compare similar products from different manufacturers or deal with customer complaints RS 232 interface can be used either to connect the meter to a PC or to a serial printer With a PC you can control the instru ment and transfer the meas urements Promax Electronica offers optional software for this purpose A serial printer may be used to print spectral views or numerical values The manufac turer also offers a suitable model of such printer Promax Electronica S A Barcelona Spain http www promax es E mail proma
7. tic things like digital video resolution or current video bit rate By the way we were Sur prised when we saw how many digital channels are broadcast from Hotbird satellites with decreased resolution No wonder that you can find more than 1000 channels on that satellite posi tion Some parameters like signal level channel power chan nel number or frequency can be measured directly in the spec trum analyzer view The others after setting a marker on the signal of interest and switch ing to the measurement mode Prolink 4C Premium is an extremely versatile meter like a whole laboratory It is really portable small and light It can measure satellite cable or terrestrial TV signals of any standard used all over the world Its good accuracy and low noise level allows you to take credible measurements ellite signal Prolink 4C Premium generates the supply voltage 13 15 or 18 V and the switch ing frequency 22 KHz in accord ance with your settings Current consumed by your antenna setup LNB switches etc is measured and displayed And that s not all It can generate DiSEqC com mands so you can test the com plete setup Manufacturer specifies that the meter is DiSEqC 1 2 compatible As we checked it has no problem to control the DiSEqC 1 0 and even so called simple DiSEqC or tone burst switches The meter can detect a short circuit In such state it displays appropriate mes sage until
8. witches amplifiers attenuators It is easy to measure the sen sitivity of a receiver You can also evaluate UHF signal output in your set top box If you distrib ute such signal throughout your family house Prolinik 4C Pre mium can also be used to exam ine what is coming to TV sets inputs in different rooms We started our tests with a check how fast the meter reacts during dish alignment To tell you the truth we think that even ina high resolution mode the instru ment could be used for the pur pose However there are 2 more Suitable modes Fast and Antenna Alignment They are less precise but faster Antenna Alignment mode does not dis play the numerical values and is even faster than the Fast mode If you cannot watch the display when directing your dish you can switch on the Prolink s audi ble level indicator and judge the signal level by the pitch of sound Another feature DVB channel identifier is very helpful during initial stages of dish alignment It displays a network provider for a digital transponder Thanks to this it is easy to identify to what particular satellite you have pointed your dish When in spectral analyzer view you can move the marker line with dial knob and read the frequency and level values at the bottom of the screen When you switch Prolink to the double marker mode you will addition ey e ally see the frequency difference We found that in all modes t
9. x promax es Phone 034 93 260 20 02 Fax 034 93 338 11 26 Model Prolink 4C Premium Description Advanced Digital TV amp SAT Level Meter Frequency Band 1 Band 2 5 862 MHz 950 2150 MHz Terr Sat Measurement range FM Band 20 120 dBuV 30 120 dBuV Accuracy 1 5 dB Monitor 5 TFT color Color system PAL SECAM NTSC TV Standard M N B G I D Kand L Synchronization 50 60 Hz Automatic selection according to system QPSK Symbol Rate 2 45 Msps Accumulator Li lon 7 2 V 13 Ah 2 hours of autonomy operation 4 hours charging time Operating temperature EE Measuring filter rolloff 5 40 C MHz 609 50 680 00 dBuV 88 4 7101 4 P Measuring pass band ripple www TEL satellite com TELE satellite International
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