Getting SuperDiSH replaced on Sunday

[aegrotatio]

Well it happens Sunday: my SuperDiSH gets upgraded in order to continue receiving the Chinese channels.

I got the email this afternoon. The number is evidently exclusive to Chinese channel subscribers whom I theorized are one of the largest subscriber groups that have the 121-degrees SuperDiSH. When I called the first prompt was in Chinese, even!

The lead time for these upgrades is as soon as 2 days out--I could have had them come in on Wednesday and Sat/Sun are wide open. I was actually expecting to sit on a a long waiting list.

Pictures will be forthcoming if you're interested in this project.
No word whether it will be 500+ or a re-point kit.

.

 

[oljim]

I would hope for the repoint kit, you will get better signal from SD.

 

[Dgenx321]

It'll be a repoint.

 

[aegrotatio]

SuperDiSH Plus

Here are some pictures of the SuperDiSH 121 with repoint kit which has no real fancy name, so I call it the SuperDiSH Plus.
The installers tossed the 121 LNB parts down as they pulled them off. They said that Wachovia is the only 121 hold-out.
It required skew, elevation, and azimuth adjustments due to a non-plumb pole (I rely on installers for roof work). They grumbled about missing struts but adding them requires moving and more holes (each hole had a lag bolt so we were comfortable with it).

Getting the 625 and 322 receivers to work took a while--they only really worked when the "scanning for satellites" message appeared after pressing Test on the Check Dish screen. The 625 was instantly working, but the 322 took a really long time.

Pictures are attached. I did not have enough light for detailed shots of the LNBF assembly.
When I grow some courage I'll stuff the cables a little more neatly.

The box with the repoint kit is labelled (paraphrased) "SuperDiSH Repoint Kit with 129 Bracket."
It appeared to have come with the 110 LNBF pre-installed on it and I'm assuming the 129 bracket stayed in the box. I did not ask them to leave any parts because the work order indicates the old/unused parts are to be returned.

The work order also noted that this was a Chinese subscriber and that translation is available via telephone through "silent option 3."

 

[Liquidforce88]

Man the installers really spent some time making that look nice. NOT

 

[aegrotatio]

Yeah with the loopy 110 cable I'm not sure why they didn't pull the slack. It was loopy on the 110 LNBF on the original 121 assembly, too. It's a messy installation but no matter how you look at it the service was free and I don't have a 28-foot ladder (and btw neither did they, they did lots of acrobatics to get up there).

Which reminds me--is it physically impossible to feed cables through the mounting pole these days?
I always feed through the pole. It's just nicer.
Am I missing something peculiar about the SuperDiSH pole?
Keep in mind I don't have the 28-foot ladder yet.

 

[Dgenx321]

Where's the 129 bracket??

We are required to put them on.

 

[aegrotatio]

Where's the 129 bracket??

We are required to put them on.

It appears it was not installed and was left in the box (they took the box back).
My DMA is excluded from using 129 and they seemed aware of that.

I was mistaken about the LNBF, the 110 LNBF looks like it has a plastic sunburn, so the LNBF presumably doesn't come with the re-point kit.

 

[Tyralak]

It appears it was not installed and was left in the box (they took the box back).
My DMA is excluded from using 129 and they seemed aware of that.

I was mistaken about the LNBF, the 110 LNBF looks like it has a plastic sunburn, so the LNBF presumably doesn't come with the re-point kit.

129 would be for HD if you ever decided to upgrade. The 110 LNBF probably would have still worked in the 129 slot, even with the sunburn. It's just cosmetic damage. We're required to attach the 129 bracket regardless if we install an LNBF in the 129 slot, this is simply because if you ever upgrade to HD, the next installer will be SOL when there's no bracket to put the 129 LNBF on. We don't carry extras of those. You'll just end up with a second dish for 129.

 

[aegrotatio]

129 would be for HD if you ever decided to upgrade. The 110 LNBF probably would have still worked in the 129 slot, even with the sunburn. It's just cosmetic damage. We're required to attach the 129 bracket regardless if we install an LNBF in the 129 slot, this is simply because if you ever upgrade to HD, the next installer will be SOL when there's no bracket to put the 129 LNBF on. We don't carry extras of those. You'll just end up with a second dish for 129.

I think you may have not noticed that I said that I am in an area that is excluded from using the 129 satellite for anything.
That is why the 129 bracket is not installed on my SuperDiSH Plus.
Naturally I have been able to tune 129 using a 75cm dish but my area does not use 129. No DiSH 1000 here, either. We are wing dish only for HD.

 

[Dgenx321]

Ok i missed it....sorry

 

[Tyralak]

I think you may have not noticed that I said that I am in an area that is excluded from using the 129 satellite for anything.
That is why the 129 bracket is not installed on my SuperDiSH Plus.
Naturally I have been able to tune 129 using a 75cm dish but my area does not use 129. No DiSH 1000 here, either. We are wing dish only for HD.

Ah. I didn't realize that. What part of the country are you in?

 

[aegrotatio]

We're in the Washington DC area.
I think the Richmond DMA is as far north as the DiSH 1000 can be found in this region, and probably West Virginia.
It's very fascinating. I wonder if the exclusion map was drawn from Echostar's installation reports or if they predicted it could not work.
The really interesting picture can be seen here:
http://ekb.dbstalk.com/pictures/Dish1000Exclusions.jpg
I am about 10 miles west of Washington DC and I can tune 129 just fine on my 75cm dish, for fun of course.
I'm not really sure if people east of Washington DC can get a signal at all, though.

I'm very curious what characteristics of the signal or footprint or beam make it unuseable here.
Especially in southern Texas!!

 

[dishcomm]

Here are some pictures of the SuperDiSH 121 with repoint kit which has no real fancy name, so I call it the SuperDiSH Plus.
The installers tossed the 121 LNB parts down as they pulled them off. They said that Wachovia is the only 121 hold-out.
It required skew, elevation, and azimuth adjustments due to a non-plumb pole (I rely on installers for roof work). They grumbled about missing struts but adding them requires moving and more holes (each hole had a lag bolt so we were comfortable with it).

Getting the 625 and 322 receivers to work took a while--they only really worked when the "scanning for satellites" message appeared after pressing Test on the Check Dish screen. The 625 was instantly working, but the 322 took a really long time.

Pictures are attached. I did not have enough light for detailed shots of the LNBF assembly.
When I grow some courage I'll stuff the cables a little more neatly.

The box with the repoint kit is labelled (paraphrased) "SuperDiSH Repoint Kit with 129 Bracket."
It appeared to have come with the 110 LNBF pre-installed on it and I'm assuming the 129 bracket stayed in the box. I did not ask them to leave any parts because the work order indicates the old/unused parts are to be returned.

The work order also noted that this was a Chinese subscriber and that translation is available via telephone through "silent option 3."

It's a 118.7 repoint kit....I did one the other day..For SUN TV..South Asian...The Chinese Pack is being migrated form 121 to 118.7..Your tech made abig mistake if he damaged that 121 LNB. In order for us to get paid for the reepoint kit install we have to RA the 121 lnb back to Dish..Oops!!!![/I]

 

[dishcomm]

Here are some pictures of the SuperDiSH 121 with repoint kit which has no real fancy name, so I call it the SuperDiSH Plus.
The installers tossed the 121 LNB parts down as they pulled them off. They said that Wachovia is the only 121 hold-out.
It required skew, elevation, and azimuth adjustments due to a non-plumb pole (I rely on installers for roof work). They grumbled about missing struts but adding them requires moving and more holes (each hole had a lag bolt so we were comfortable with it).

Getting the 625 and 322 receivers to work took a while--they only really worked when the "scanning for satellites" message appeared after pressing Test on the Check Dish screen. The 625 was instantly working, but the 322 took a really long time.

Pictures are attached. I did not have enough light for detailed shots of the LNBF assembly.
When I grow some courage I'll stuff the cables a little more neatly.

The box with the repoint kit is labelled (paraphrased) "SuperDiSH Repoint Kit with 129 Bracket."
It appeared to have come with the 110 LNBF pre-installed on it and I'm assuming the 129 bracket stayed in the box. I did not ask them to leave any parts because the work order indicates the old/unused parts are to be returned.

The work order also noted that this was a Chinese subscriber and that translation is available via telephone through "silent option 3."

sloppy sloppy sloppy...Where the heck are the support struts?

 

[aegrotatio]

It's a 118.7 repoint kit....I did one the other day..For SUN TV..South Asian...The Chinese Pack is being migrated form 121 to 118.7..Your tech made abig mistake if he damaged that 121 LNB. In order for us to get paid for the reepoint kit install we have to RA the 121 lnb back to Dish..Oops!!!![/I]

He tossed the shroud pieces down and my neighbor's dog chewed on them.
I think he kid-gloved the actual 119/121 assembly.
I always thought they only got credit if they returned that stuff anyway. I guess they don't care for the shrouds.
I wish the new DiSH 500+ assembly was covered by a shroud.
It looks like a Fisher-Price toy up there.

My post does mention the strut issue in case you didn't see that.

 

[Dgenx321]

LMAO.

I don't know how many times I've tossed a 121 Assembly off of the roof. I'm not getting stung by all those bees!

Never got a charge back for them as they are junk anywyas.

 

[dishcomm]

He tossed the shroud pieces down and my neighbor's dog chewed on them.
I think he kid-gloved the actual 119/121 assembly.
I always thought they only got credit if they returned that stuff anyway. I guess they don't care for the shrouds.
I wish the new DiSH 500+ assembly was covered by a shroud.
It looks like a Fisher-Price toy up there.

My post does mention the strut issue in case you didn't see that.

We junk the shroud. Don't need it. The new LNB assy's are all weather. Besides, that shroud was the worst engineered, worst designed POS contraption.
If I were in your shoes I would call Dish to complain about the missing struts. Demand they come and install them. Trust me on this. You will want them..

 

[Tyralak]

It's a 118.7 repoint kit....I did one the other day..For SUN TV..South Asian...The Chinese Pack is being migrated form 121 to 118.7..Your tech made abig mistake if he damaged that 121 LNB. In order for us to get paid for the reepoint kit install we have to RA the 121 lnb back to Dish..Oops!!!![/I]

Unless he's DNS. Most DNS techs just make those old 121 LNBFs disappear.

 

[aegrotatio]

We junk the shroud. Don't need it. The new LNB assy's are all weather. Besides, that shroud was the worst engineered, worst designed POS contraption.
If I were in your shoes I would call Dish to complain about the missing struts. Demand they come and install them. Trust me on this. You will want them..

Will they repair the holes that will be left behind?
He thought the struts simply cannot be installed without moving the mounting foot up about 1.5 feet.
Based on the risk we favored no struts.
After two years up there, they yanked it around and confirmed as best we could that every hole in the foot has a lag bolt deeply embedded in the joist (or rafter, whatever, I'm not a carpenter).