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  1. Mike500

    Dish 1000.4 installation question.

    I second that. I, however, prefer #14 hardened hex drive fully threaded sheet metal screws. The SPAX brand sold at Home Depot of the Simpson Strong Tie hardened galvanized screws meet the SAE grade 5 125,000 psi tensile standards. Cheap Grade 2 lags have only 75,000 or 85,000 psi tensil...
  2. Mike500

    Dish 1000.4 installation question.

    The base is the same overall dimension, but of heavier gauge steel.
  3. Mike500

    Purchase options to get good installer?

    You are in the Tidewater, Virginia DMA. The DMA uses both the Eastern Arc and thew Western Arc. Getting a good installer is really a "crapshoot." I've installed TV antennas since the late 1960's, C-band, and then dbs. I have never been totally satisfied with 'fulfillment" installers, having...
  4. Mike500

    Best way to mount coaxial cable to siding

    If it has really got to last and NEVER come off, I use Thomas and Betts aluminum "U" clamps with stainless steel screws. I've seen these on houses that are over 40 years old that are still there with little or no corrosion.
  5. Mike500

    DirecTV denies Tornado rumor

    Isn't the DirecTV trademark a representation of a tornado? Or is it a cyclone? Some idiot might take it further and use the German word for cyclone or Zyklon, which would be the I.G. Farben/Degesh trademark for the cyanide gas used at Auschwitz. How stupid can people get?
  6. Mike500

    Which Preamp?

    I've actually found the Channel Master amps to be better than the Winegard ones.
  7. Mike500

    Mounting MY OTA Antenna...do I have all I need?

    I don't know who thought of "pitch pads." They've been around since the "Golden Age of Television," when antennas were the only option for getting a television signal. I haven't used "pitch pads" for 20 years. Here's the reason why. The roof shingles are held to the roof by 4 to 6...
  8. Mike500

    Me vs. Apartments

    If you hadn't moved any of the adjustments on the alt-azmuth or skew adjustments, you may be in luck. All you'd have to do is to remount the pole on the rail, making sure that the pole is perfectly plumb. Then, you'll set up the receiver with the built-in signal meter and swing the dish from...
  9. Mike500

    Me vs. Apartments

    Tht corner as low as possible inside the rail is your best bet. Since the ceiling overhang is about 7 foot high, there may be at least a 60 degree or more lock angel clearance, if you place th dish as close to the floor as possible. I checked my own 10004 A dish. The stub needs only to be...
  10. Mike500

    Me vs. Apartments

    After careful review of your second photo, there may be one possibility for you to get a clear line of sight. You'd have to unt the dish on the shortest pole possible, meaning that it should be almost so short that, when the dish is fixed, the bottom edge of the pan would almost be touching the...
  11. Mike500

    Me vs. Apartments

    Looks like you're screwed, unless you can find a copy of the previous management's permission to install the dish. It pays to keep copies of all important documents.
  12. Mike500

    Would this be possible?

    Even simpler........... the Craftsman Digital Torpedo Level? Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more ...or the 10 in. Digital LaserTrac® Level? Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more I have the...
  13. Mike500

    Would this be possible?

    First, how close to the floor did the tech try to mount the slimline? If mounted really close to the floor, does it get the proper angle for a signal? Unfortunately, most technicians are ill equiped to fully determine if you can get line of signt in balcony installs. They usually only mount...
  14. Mike500

    Can you request a new satellite dish hook up

    Installling on vinyl siding is doable. However, it takes special skills not usually had by satellite TV installers. It is not my preferred mounting location, but I've done lots of them, especially for two story houses. The key is a tool made by "Malco" called the "Sideswiper (available at...
  15. Mike500

    Small Antenna With High Gain

    I've installed this Philips antenna for customers; Amazon.com: Philips SDV2940/27 UHF Digital and Analog Indoor/Outdoor TV Antenna: Electronics It's actually amazing for its size. Your local WalMart has them in stock.
  16. Mike500

    771A Error

    About a week, ago, I was there when a 70 year old friend of mine asked me to help him convert to HD. Previously he had a D-10 receiver with a Phase III dish. To my surprise, the tech installed aa R21 with a SWM 5lnb head with a power inserter for one feed. A power outgage reported the...
  17. Mike500

    Changing out a Dish 500 for a 1000.2

    Most any RG6 will handle the Vip receivers and the DPP lnb and switching system. The question, really, is how good are your connectors? Crimped connectors or compression connectors improperly installed may cause problems.
  18. Mike500

    Got my replacement dishes (1000.4 easter arc & 118.7 Dish 500+) Do I need support legs?

    I've noticed that the newer Winegard supplied mounting pole is the same one supplied with the original Dish300 and the Dish500's, when Winegard replaced KTI (later acquired by CalAmp, which went defunct due to the DishPro CSS9601 twin fiasco). The newer pole, however is a heavier gauge metal...
  19. Mike500

    I would like to know about being an installer

    I manufacture small specialty precision machine tool accessories used in the scientific, hobbyist, clock makers, model making and instrumentation prototyping field. I have sold to Boeing, Hughes, NASA, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia and many other organizations. I've patented a couple of...
  20. Mike500

    I would like to know about being an installer

    Run, dont just walk away...... $52K a year might be gross, but you'd probably have to be a 1099 "suncontractor," supply your own truck, tools and supplies. I installed as a subcontractor for 8 years and quit three years, ago, because they were not paying what they used to. I was making...
  21. Mike500

    My Dish Bill Getting out of Hand Any Ideas?

    I'm cheaper than you are. I have AT120 paid yearly in January, just before the Februrary pirce increases.. That means that I'm still paying $39.99 with one month for FREE, until January 2012. I've never has local channels. My antenna has been great since 1998. I just got HD for life...
  22. Mike500

    Not receiving 119 even. Can I upgrade?

    A legacy twin is dirt cheap on eBay. Or, if you want one, PM me. I've got them in my parts bin. Just climb up there and replace the lnbs and SW21's with the twin. It is highly unlikely that the dish moved. From 12 years of installing and servicing Dish, it is most likely a dead SW21 or...
  23. Mike500

    Black dishes

    The original Toshiba, Sony and panasonic beige and very light gray DSS dishes really looked good next to the commonly installed beige siding in many of the tract homes in the Southern States, as well as the Southwest US.
  24. Mike500

    Lawn Installation questions

    My preference would be one inch black 100 PSI black polyethylene water pipe, available for about $30 for a 100 foot coil at Lowes or Home Depot. Most all low voltage cable and fiber optic companies have switched to polyethylene over PVC. It has no joint and is incrediblely smooth on the...