A Warning for those getting a KaKu dish

[bshrode]

Just thought I would warn anyone who is getting a 5-LNB Ka-Ku dish and is planning to have that dish pole mounted. The pole required for the KaKu dish is wider than the one used for the 1/2/3 LNB dishes. I was supposed to get my HD-DVR and high-def locals today but instead all I got was the pleasure of waiting on hold for them to reschedule the appointment. They only bring the pole required if it is noted on the install. Be sure to make them annotate that it is a pole for a KaKu dish, since the CSR had no idea before this moment that the pole required is different than the standard one. At least I only have to wait till Tuesday

Bryan

 

[charper1]

OK guys about to post; be gentle.

 

[lou_do]

OK guys about to post; be gentle.

 

[jpn]

I recently relocated and had to honor my D* commitment. Called D* early to coordinate setting-up my new dish. The previous homeowner had the ancient 18-inch round dish, mounted on fascia board, so I called to setup an install for the KaKu.

A few days before the install (10/7), I called D* to confirm. The CSR checked my workorder and discovered that the original genius wrote the workorder for a Phase III (3-lnb) dish. I asked whether the workorder could be changed: nope, we can cancel and re-write it. I asked whether the new workorder could retain the install date: nope, you'll lose that too. So the CSR recommended that I allow the Phase III install to happen; then call to schedule another upgrade at no-charge.

Saturday came and the installer was there promptly at 8 am. The Phase III install determined that a the original dish was mounted at the wrong end of the house: a 3- or 5-lnb dish would not "see" all the satellites because it was peeking around a corner of my house. He had to do a pole install, and happened to have a pole, but I had to reimburse him for it. No problem, go ahead. I informed him of the upcoming upgrade-upgrade, and he opted to skip the cement to make it easier on the next guy.

Monday I called to setup the KaKu upgrade. Wednesday they confirmed the appointment, and I confirmed both the KaKu dish, and the pole which was not on their list. They arrived at my house today (Thursday) promptly at 8 and took but 30 minutes to replace the post and dish. The installer tried telling me that cement was not necessary. I had to leave for work and couldn't stick around to debate with him. Time will tell whether it remains standing and peaked.

Aside from the schedulers consistently messing-up workorders, I have no complaints about the field-work done by the installers.

 

[bshrode]

Yeah, I just moved from a few buildings down in July. When they came out to set up the new apartment the guy put my 3-LNB dish facing the building. While he was installing it I noticed I was only recieving the signal from the 101. When I asked him about it he said he only set it to pick up the 101. I asked him to move it so I could pick up all three. He only had to move it 12 inches and if I wouldn't have said anything he would never even have mentioned it.

Other than that, my installs with D* have been pretty good, minus the long waits for an appointment these days. I too had to pay the installer under-the-table to get the pole I have for my 3-LNB. I remember back in the day she pulled out a price sheet and tried to tell me it would cost her $300 to dig a hole for it. I about laughed my ass off.

 

[chadzx11]

I The installer tried telling me that cement was not necessary. I had to leave for work and couldn't stick around to debate with him. Time will tell whether it remains standing and peaked.

A non cemented pole is a QC fail, and besides that, only an idiot would mount that huge dish with no conrete. I had one at an apartment that almost fell over when I shook it to see if it was cemented (it wasn't even driven in very far). Oops.

 

[talos4]

I don't know where you live. But after a winter in the northern areas, that dish will most likely not be very straight.

Heck, I even mounted a decorative pergola with cement in the holes.

C'mon what's the difference, putting all the dirt back in or filling it up with a couple bags of quick-crete and then dirt.

Lazy!

 

[jpn]

A non cemented pole is a QC fail, and besides that, only an idiot would mount that huge dish with no conrete. I had one at an apartment that almost fell over when I shook it to see if it was cemented (it wasn't even driven in very far). Oops.

I will be calling them today.

1. Pole was not cemented
2. Cardboard box packaging was left in my driveway, and it's a large box
3. IRD's were not properly setup; both H20's were setup for 3-lnb operation, not 5-lnb
4. When I repeated sat setup, 2 lnb's failed
-- 103 sat/net 14 sat shows 6 lnb's, strength: 0, 51, 53, 0, 22, 39

I'm not terribly pleased right now, this was the second visit to my house.

 

[Teronzhul]

While the dish should have been cemented and your h20s definitely should have been set to 5lnb, failure during setup is not uncommon, even for a properly aligned dish. The H20 during setup is quite wacky, so don't take the failures to mean much, and don't trust its signal meter either.

Also, while the techs probably should have asked if they could leave the box behind, their trash can at home is no bigger than yours. Its really not plausible for them to take home multiple at9 boxes a week and fill it entirely. Most do not have access to a dumpster.

 

[bonscott87]

Yes, it requires a 2 inch pole. I ran into this same issue as my pole is only inch and a half. Luckily the tech allowed me to "splint" something to the top of the pole so that the new dish fit just perfect and the install went without a hitch. But then I've always done all my own installs and he knew that so I'm sure he didn't have a problem doing it. I had told him if I had a problem with it I'd just fix it myself. You can get these pole "adapters" that will slip on top of a smaller pole and it make it a 2 incher perfect for the dish. Solid Signal sells them I believe.

 

[Jimbo]

Also, while the techs probably should have asked if they could leave the box behind, their trash can at home is no bigger than yours. Its really not plausible for them to take home multiple at9 boxes a week and fill it entirely. Most do not have access to a dumpster.

Thats BS,
They should know how to compact the box and take it with them and put it in thier dumpster, just like I do....
The only time I leave a box at a subs is when I know the garbage guy's are coming that day.

Jimbo

 

[raoul5788]

I will be calling them today.

1. Pole was not cemented
2. Cardboard box packaging was left in my driveway, and it's a large box
3. IRD's were not properly setup; both H20's were setup for 3-lnb operation, not 5-lnb
4. When I repeated sat setup, 2 lnb's failed
-- 103 sat/net 14 sat shows 6 lnb's, strength: 0, 51, 53, 0, 22, 39

I'm not terribly pleased right now, this was the second visit to my house.

Depending on your area, you will get a failure on sats 99 and 103 if they are not being used for locals or rsn's in hd in your dma.

 

[grydlok]

D* aint going to do sh@# about that box since it's your packaging for your dish. It's no different then leaving the ird boxes. It doesn't belong to us, it's yours.

 

[tech007]

Thats BS,
They should know how to compact the box and take it with them and put it in thier dumpster, just like I do....
The only time I leave a box at a subs is when I know the garbage guy's are coming that day.

Jimbo

How do you compact that white protection material inside the box?

 

[tech007]

You should never let installers set any pole without cement. Your dish will be ok for a month then one day the wind is gonna blow it away and you end up paying 75 dollars for a service call. The service guy will then tell you that installing a pole with cement during a service call is a custom labor and you have to pay. So be careful dont let those lazy tech fool you, call installation company and complain.

Especially with Ka Ku dish. I always try to find a way to mount on a solid surface on the house because pole mount has no support besides the pole while roof mount will have a dish foot and two monopoles. It is basically a tripod.

 

[Teronzhul]

I on the other hand always tried to put the 5lnbs on poles when I was installing. Of course not everyone wouldu go for it, but I really hated drilling holes in peoples roofs. Sometimes its a royal pain to find a stud in the roof.

My 5lnb sits very nicely on its pole, with 100lbs of quickrete holding it in place.

 

[tech007]

I on the other hand always tried to put the 5lnbs on poles when I was installing. Of course not everyone wouldu go for it, but I really hated drilling holes in peoples roofs. Sometimes its a royal pain to find a stud in the roof.

My 5lnb sits very nicely on its pole, with 100lbs of quickrete holding it in place.

Unfortunately we only allocated max 50lb of concrete per install. And 6 foot pole going 2 foot in the ground. I figure 8ft pole driven 4ft underground with 150lbs of crete would make a very solid base. By the way tutorial for Ka Ku installation does require using 150 pounds of concrete. Of course tech dont get that much from the warehouse.

 

[jpn]

While the dish should have been cemented and your h20s definitely should have been set to 5lnb, failure during setup is not uncommon, even for a properly aligned dish. The H20 during setup is quite wacky, so don't take the failures to mean much, and don't trust its signal meter either.

Also, while the techs probably should have asked if they could leave the box behind, their trash can at home is no bigger than yours. Its really not plausible for them to take home multiple at9 boxes a week and fill it entirely. Most do not have access to a dumpster.

Understood about the lnb failures and lack of dumpster.
However, they didn't have to leave the box outside in my driveway; all they had to do was ask where we put our garbage.

Re: signal meter, I understand the H20 reads a bit lower than earlier equipment; but a zero is still miniscule, and numbers below 40 are not going to give a usable signal. H20's don't skew signal readings that much.

Failing to run the setup properly, and failing to cement the pole are not excusable under any circumstance. Together with leaving the IRD's set to 3-lnb, I have no reason to believe that the dish was properly peaked.

 

[Teronzhul]

I'm not trying to defend them, I agreed that it should have been cemented and I agreed that they should have asked you about the box as well.

The H20 really does skew numbers that badly though. The Ku satellites will typically read 20% lower, but the Ka numbers are totally off the wall. I've done installations where an HR20 showed 98% on 103, and an H20 installed in the same location showed 36% on the only available active transponder.

It makes no sense.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

I will be calling them today.

1. Pole was not cemented
2. Cardboard box packaging was left in my driveway, and it's a large box
3. IRD's were not properly setup; both H20's were setup for 3-lnb operation, not 5-lnb
4. When I repeated sat setup, 2 lnb's failed
-- 103 sat/net 14 sat shows 6 lnb's, strength: 0, 51, 53, 0, 22, 39

I'm not terribly pleased right now, this was the second visit to my house.

A failure shown for 99 is normal for H20s. It is a software bug and will probably be fixed in a future update. It does not affect the ability to recieve signals. the numbers you see for 103 could be adjacent spot beams, not necessarily a problem (your locals may be on 99).

My installation ended up with the box in the driveway also. At least that way I got a copy of the alignment instructions in case I ever need to use them. Our local transfer station has a bin for free recycling of cardboard.