If you want to measure DIRECTV signals, you have essentially one choice: DIRECTV’s own Advanced Installation Meter. But it’s expensive, out of reach for most people. Unless you plan on using it 50 times a year, you probably won’t want to buy one. You’ll be tempted to buy a signal finder like this one but then when you ask our Solid Signal staff, they’ll tell you it won’t work on DIRECTV dishes. But why?
Two answers: Ka broadcasting and SWM technology
DIRECTV uses two systems that are different from any other satellite broadcaster in the world. One of them is so proprietary that other companies can’t even figure out how to use it. And that’s the reason other meters won’t work. At one time, Solid Signal offered a meter called the SatLook Lite that worked with first-generation SWM technology, but we stopped offering it because it couldn’t be upgraded to work with current technology.
Here’s what I’m talking about, in depth:
The Ka band and the L band
Practically all direct-to-home satellite broadcasts use a range of frequencies called the Ku band. These frequencies range from 12 to 18 gigahertz, and the governments of all the nations of the world agree that they’re both technically desirable and useful for satellite broadcasting. The problem is that the Ku band is pretty crowded. When DIRECTV looked at adding over 2,500 local high definition channels back in the 2000s, they realized that they couldn’t broadcast all of them over the Ku band. So, they got the exclusive North American right to use a different group of frequencies for satellite TV. Called the Ka band, it ranges from 28 to 40 gigahertz.
In case you were curious, between the Ku band and the Ka band lies the K band. It’s spectacularly unsuitable for satellite communication because its waves are just the right size to be deflected by literally any moisture at all in the air.
When a satellite signal in the Ku band is received, the standard used by all satellite broadcasters is to translate it down to the L band (950-2150MHz.) Very high frequency signals like the Ku and Ka bands don’t travel down cables very well so they’re downconverted to lower frequencies. When DIRECTV dishes receive frequencies in the Ka band, however, they’re translated down to the B band (250-750MHz.)
There is only one satellite meter in the world that is designed to pick up DIRECTV broadcasts in the B band, and it’s the AIM meter. You could hook a satellite dish to a spectrum analyzer and detect that band, but you wouldn’t get a clear lock. The reason: SWM technology.
SWM technology
I’ve talked about this technology many times before. It’s the tech that lets DIRECTV use splitters to run to devices in the home instead of running a separate line from the dish to every receiver. It also lets more than one signal go into a DVR. This lets DIRECTV’s Genie 2 record up to 7 things at once even though it has only one input.
DIRECTV’s SWM system is patented and a lot of the system is so proprietary that other companies can’t even duplicate it. Companies like Intellian and KVH that want to use DIRECTV SWM technology get the parts to do it straight from DIRECTV. DIRECTV isn’t licensing this tech to anyone else for meters, and I don’t even know if anyone’s asked recently. (We ask now and again, and the answer is “no.”)
This is the real reason you can’t use “just any” meter with a DIRECTV dish. Once a DIRECTV signal is translated to SWM, it requires a receiver to actually request a signal before it’s sent. There is only one meter that’s capable of sending that kind of request: a DIRECTV AIM meter.
“Can’t they just…”
I get this sort of question a lot. So let’s go through a couple of “can’t they just” scenarios.
Can’t they just capture the “request” signal from a receiver and copy it?
Probably, but there’s a lot more to it than that. It’s a lot of two-way communication that all has to be done properly. It could probably be reverse-engineered if someone wanted to spend the time and money but apparently they don’t. Just not enough profit in it I guess.
Can’t they just license SWM technology from DIRECTV?
Sure they can. But DIRECTV isn’t accepting any amount of money to do it.
Can’t they just set it up so that it bypasses the SWM technology?
If you connect a meter between the dish and an external SWM module, you can detect all the Ku signals and at least the presence of the Ka signals. But that isn’t enough to guarantee a perfect aim. You need the kind of data that can only come from partially decoding these signals. Besides, most DIRECTV dishes have SWM technology built into them so there’s no way to bypass.
What about people with standard-definition dishes?
If you honestly, genuinely have an 18″ round dish of the sort commonly used in the 1990s, you can use a cheap satellite finder to aim it. But who really does? DIRECTV stopped activating standard definition receivers years ago. They’re phasing out standard definition service. If you have that dish, you’ll only get about 6 HD channels. Those limitations are just fine for people in RVs with small televisions. But RV dishes aim themselves. Who still uses that dish at home? It can’t be a lot of people.
It comes down to this: AIM meter or nothing
I understand that the AIM meter is going to be out of the reach of most people. It’s an expense they just can’t justify. But if you really want the top-notch experience with DIRECTV, you’ll want an AIM meter. Its guided mode walks you through the entire process of aiming and it will let you do every test in the book to figure out what’s wrong. It’s really worth the money.
I will just say, avoid the ones you’ll find on eBay. Some are stolen from DIRECTV and shouldn’t be sold. As for the others, the problem is generally the battery. AIM meters versions 1.5 and 2.0 have replaceable batteries, but as far as I know no one makes them or sells them. Viavi, who makes the meters, will send you down a rabbit hole where you’ll go from company to company looking for old stock. AIM 1.0 meters are even worse off because their batteries aren’t even designed to be replaced.
So if you buy from a seller on eBay, even if they say the battery is new or good, it probably isn’t. You may not care if you’re only using the meter for 15 minutes, but a battery is going to fail eventually and that will be the end of that.
So, buy an AIM meter from Solid Signal. If you have questions, call us at 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
