First and last time using an installer

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PoitNarf

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Oct 17, 2004
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Northern NJ
Today I received my free install from D* for my new AT9 dish. Installer arrived, picked out a better spot than where my current dish is and starting putting everything together. He aimed the dish great, I get good signals on pretty much everything with my H20. He even put 2 of the support arms on the dish mount. But, he only ran 1 line from the AT9! The other 4 receivers in my house are still getting signal off of my 3LNB! I argued with him about this saying I want 4 lines, but he kept saying that the new dish is a different technology and it wouldn't work and crap like that. He told me when I get another HD receiver to call his company and they'll run another line to that! I know from reading these forums that the other receivers will still work fine with the AT9. I also didn't get a new 6x8 multiswitch since he just ran the line directly from the AT9 to the H20. I didn't feel like dealing with the guy so I just let him finish aligning the dish and doing whatever else crap he had to do. I have previously installed 3 D* dishes on my own, this was the first and probably last time having an installer doing it for me. I'm not going to call the company to tell them to send someone else back to run the other 3 lines and give me a 6x8 multswitch. At this point I'm just going to run the additional lines myself and have already bought the 6x8 multiswitch online.

Are installers usually this clueless? About 1/2 of the crap that he mentioned I knew was pure BS from reading these forums, but I didn't really feel like correcting him. This whole experience has soured me on installers. I'm sure there are some of you installers out there who know their stuff better than this guy did, but I feel better doing this stuff on my own and doing it right. The only bright side about this whole thing is now I don't need to haul that huge dish up a 30 foot ladder...
 
Hes is likely not clueless, yet trying to get out of doing the required job, make it faster for him to get more jobs in. Call DirecTV and complain. That guy is just a hired hand of a contractor, not a DirecTV worker. So take your complaint to DirecTV. Take photos if you can.
 
No, I'm pretty sure he was clueless :p

I know he wasn't from DirecTV, it's a local install company called DirecTech. I'm guessing he really didn't want to run the other 3 lines because he wanted to save time and get out of there, but all the lines would terminate in the garage to my multiswitch. I don't think it would have taken more than an extra 5 minutes to run all the lines at the same time. I'm pretty sure I was his last job of the day; he finished after 5pm.

Any photos I would take would show a clean and professional install, minus 3 extra coax lines. Oh and the horrible caulking job he did where he punched the new coax line through the wall. :eek:

I'm not a big complainer. I'm not going to bother calling directv about this issue. If it was something I was not able to fix on my own I would call, but I just don't want to deal with this anymore. Next weekend I'm going to finish this install properly.
 
I'm crossing my fingers for my install next Sat. I do have a morning appt. so that might help with the "hurry up so I can be done for the day" bug. Don't get me wrong, I know there are good installers out there, even here on this site. Just have heard so many horror stories.
 
kdarcangelis870 said:
Iv'e seen several AT9 converts in my area where the old dish is left up and was puzzled.:confused: Now I know why!

I had planned on keeping the old dish up for a month or so after the AT9 install in case anything went screwy. I figure after a month it would be safe to say that the new dish is installed correctly and I could then take down my triple LNB.

I don't know where this installer got his 1/2 correct information from. General questions to the forum: How have other AT9 installations gone? Was your installer knowledgable enough to know that the MPEG2 receivers work with the AT9?


Also, on the 103 sat I only receive signal on 3 of the 6 transponders available. I believe I get a signal on 3 4 and 5 but a signal of 0 on 1 2 and 6. I'm guessing 1 2 and 6 are spotbeams that are not aimed towards me?
 
PoitNarf said:
General questions to the forum: How have other AT9 installations gone?

WELL


Was your installer knowledgable enough to know that the MPEG2 receivers work with the AT9?

YES


Also, on the 103 sat I only receive signal on 3 of the 6 transponders available. I believe I get a signal on 3 4 and 5 but a signal of 0 on 1 2 and 6. I'm guessing 1 2 and 6 are spotbeams that are not aimed towards me?


CORRECT, not every transponder, on every satellite will be active ("seen") by every user. As long as you are getting all your subscribed channels, then don't over-think the transponders.
 
PoitNarf said:
Today I received my free install from D* for my new AT9 dish. Installer arrived, picked out a better spot than where my current dish is and starting putting everything together. He aimed the dish great, I get good signals on pretty much everything with my H20. He even put 2 of the support arms on the dish mount. But, he only ran 1 line from the AT9! The other 4 receivers in my house are still getting signal off of my 3LNB! I argued with him about this saying I want 4 lines, but he kept saying that the new dish is a different technology and it wouldn't work and crap like that. He told me when I get another HD receiver to call his company and they'll run another line to that! I know from reading these forums that the other receivers will still work fine with the AT9. I also didn't get a new 6x8 multiswitch since he just ran the line directly from the AT9 to the H20. I didn't feel like dealing with the guy so I just let him finish aligning the dish and doing whatever else crap he had to do. I have previously installed 3 D* dishes on my own, this was the first and probably last time having an installer doing it for me. I'm not going to call the company to tell them to send someone else back to run the other 3 lines and give me a 6x8 multswitch. At this point I'm just going to run the additional lines myself and have already bought the 6x8 multiswitch online.

Are installers usually this clueless? About 1/2 of the crap that he mentioned I knew was pure BS from reading these forums, but I didn't really feel like correcting him. This whole experience has soured me on installers. I'm sure there are some of you installers out there who know their stuff better than this guy did, but I feel better doing this stuff on my own and doing it right. The only bright side about this whole thing is now I don't need to haul that huge dish up a 30 foot ladder...

You've mentioned about him trying to mount the dish somewhere else so this falls to more like a new install or a relocate job with an upgrade. The guy got paid for upgrading your dish meaning putting a new dish on the same spot of your old and using the "same" existing lines. By installing your dish on a different location, running new lines would be too much of a job for the rate he's getting paid. You can try to complain to Directv, but if they find out that the new dish was installed somewhere else they might charge you instead. Remember technicians know what they're doing its just the pay rates are stopping them from doing it. They are not clueless.....they're just wise.
 
I do not mean to sound "stupid" to you BUT.... If you knew how much that guy was paid for doing that upgrade you would be happy just to know that he showed up at all...(Not to say YOU as the CUSTOMER DO HAVE A VALID point !!)
 
Spade said:
You've mentioned about him trying to mount the dish somewhere else so this falls to more like a new install or a relocate job with an upgrade. The guy got paid for upgrading your dish meaning putting a new dish on the same spot of your old and using the "same" existing lines. By installing your dish on a different location, running new lines would be too much of a job for the rate he's getting paid. You can try to complain to Directv, but if they find out that the new dish was installed somewhere else they might charge you instead. Remember technicians know what they're doing its just the pay rates are stopping them from doing it. They are not clueless.....they're just wise.

I'm pretty sure this guy didn't run the other lines because he really believed that the other receivers wouldn't work with the AT9. The 3 additional coax lines would all be running in the exact same spot as the 1 line that he did run, on the outside of my house to the grounding blocks next to my garage. He didn't have to do a single foot of interior wiring or fishing of any lines. And where he installed the AT9, it was almost a direct vertical drop from my roof to the grounding blocks. If he was being lazy he played the dumb card very well, heh.

I was hoping on getting a 6x8 multiswitch for free by having D* install the dish, but seeing as he only ran 1 line, a new multiswitch would have been pointless. I'm climbing up to my dish on Sunday to put the other coax lines in and if everything looks ok I'll take down my Phase III as well.
 
Seeing all the lightning flashes around me right now I just realized that he also didn't ground the dish or the coax line that he ran from it...

/crossing fingers
 
This an older post, just firgured i would enlighten just a tad-bit. That Local Company you speak of "DirecTech" is actually huge, it is the sole body in DirecTech Holding Inc. Michigan MicroTech,Northeast,Bluegrass <---my HSP Southwest and 2 others are under that company forming the largest HSP network in the world. i'm sorry that guy was a goober, like you i deal with stuff that goobers do all the time, it sucks.
 
I actually had a AT9 installation nightmare ( you can see it in this thread ) the first installer put a AT9 up and used a LNB arm from another dish, So he couldn't screw it on so he used tie-wraps. When Directv sent out the tech to "fix" this they specifically asked that a senior tech do the work. The senior tech took a look ant told me i needed a new dish because of the wrong arm. The first tech took over two hours to install ( with a wrong LNB arm ) the senior tech took less that ten minutes to install a new dish. I truly think some installers ( at least down in south Florida ( Mastec)) are clueless. I knew i knew more just from reading these post's, I mean who would have thought a LNB arm holding the LNB's on with tie-wraps is correct ? Ive never installed one and i knew it . the tech actually left it and thought i would be fine with it ??? I have pictures on my other post... Everything is fine now. just my two cents worth - :hatsoff:

HEre's the pic's ( i had to share -- :eek: )

The new LNB arm is totally diffrent from the one in the pics
 

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LOL that is the right Arm, but the doofus put it on upside down, and it looks mangled.i'm tellin ya, i've seen gruesome stuff, i carry a digi-cam with me, i'll see if i can figure out how to post pics. i have pics of an install where the installer layed the coax right on the ground,went up the side of the house (no screwclips) and put all 4 lines str8 into the closet in master BDRM. GRUESOME, he also put the pole just a mere 6 inches in the ground.
 
One thing about those Dishes They Stink, Indy has become the dumping site for all the old Ka-Ku dishes, that dish you have is an Andew dish, Blah. One more thing, the jumpers for the 110 and 119 LNB, they're gonna fail, i suggest you make a couple short jumpers and put them on. or e-mail me you adress i'll make them for you and mail them, sorry i'm not coming out and puttin on for ya too LOL
 

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Man, that looks gruesome ! glad it's not my house. Seems like that dish will blow away with heavy winds & being only 6" below ground. Are you talking about the jumpers on my dish ? :what If so they did replace the whole dish - Im not sure if their the same one's...
 
Think of the money the installer saved on rooker clips and digging a trench. I wonder what the wasted bag of cement is for?
 
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