HD upgrade scheduled for tomorrow. Any advice?

[fiveolddogs]

I'm going from the 625 DVR to the 722 HD DVR tomorrow. I have no idea what other equipment may need to be upgraded to make this work. Any advice on what I should be looking for from the installer? I am committing to two more years, so I want to get my money's worth on the install.

Should I ask for or expect any particular cables connecting my TV to the receiver?

When I had DISH installed at this house last year, I asked that they try not to string cables on the outside of the house. The installer gave me a lot of grief but eventually went into the attic and was able to find an existing cable line which he could take advantage of to get signal to my family room. I'm pretty sure this cable takes a fairly circuitous route, as I have seen evidence of splitters and splices in the basement and in the attic. Should this be revisited at the time of the install?

I have noticed that the colors seem to be quite green on some channels (like Fox) compared with others. Could this be due to poor wiring from the dish to the reciever? Or is this just part of life in the digital world?

Also, if I want a new jack location added, is it reasonable to expect an installer to fish wires in the wall? The last installer would not run cable laterally through the wall to the location of my second TV in the rec room in the basement. It seemed like a lot of work, so I didn't press it.

Any other suggestions for things that I should ask/tell the installer or keep an eye out for would be greatly appreciated. I am asking these questions here so that I don't have unreasonable expectations of the installer tomorrow.

 

[Buzzdar]

do they know they are adding a new outlet?

 

[fiveolddogs]

They are upgrading me to a two TV receiver and I told the Dish CSR that my second TV was in a new location. "That shouldn't be a problem" was his response.

Aside from whether or not THIS particular install guy knows about the new outlet, my question is more general. Should the original install guy have run the wires for me? Is this an unreasonable request given that the wires would have to be fished laterally through walls with no open access from above or below (since it is in a basement)?

 

[Buzzdar]

how do you have your 625 hooked up was it not connected to a second tv?

 

[fiveolddogs]

The installer offered to leave a length of coax line for me. I ran this through an existing hole in the floor of my family room, into the basement crawl, and strung it along the floor to where my TV is located. There is about 25 feet of exposed coax running along the floor of my finished rec room.

I'm a bit perplexed by your question, and maybe I have not been clear enough about what I'm asking. In addition to seeking general advice about what to look out for and ask for on the install day, I am simply asking if lateral fishing of wires through walls is supposed to be provided for during a Dish install. One one hand it seems like a lot of work for the installer. On the other hand, it seems like part of the job. In my case, the previous installer gave me a small coil of coax.

 

[Buzzdar]

I think its up to the installer. But i personally dont think they will be fishing wire through the walls if they did that for every job they would be at every job for hours. I personally think if you want something fished in a certain way with out the idea of paying the isntaller to to that since i would think that is above and beyond the install would be for you to hide the cables the way you see fit.
I think its comes with a basic install. anyone on the phone will tell you what ever it takes to get you upgraded or signed up.

 

[adamwilkes20]

I dont think that they are gonna fish any wires through walls for you...they will probably tell you to hire some sort of TV installer to fish your wires or they might do it for extra extra charges...we have a 625 in the bedroom and the installer was gracious enough to pull siding and tuck it behind there and it looks really good..but you may have to hire somebody to come out and refish new wires for you if they need to be replaced

 

[adamwilkes20]

also on a side note, I know with our 625, we have very poor UHF remote reception, so they told me to run a second coax from the UHF antenna input on the 625...and run it closer to the TV2 location...and it is only 30 feet away, but according to the CSR and the installer, the fridge is affecting the signal...our VIP622, I have it only hooked up to my DLP so I can have PIP

 

[vegassatellite]

Standard install for that upgrade is to replace the dish, and swap the receiver. If the existing TV 2 outlet needs to be re-located, that is extra. Its basically a box swap and a dish swap, that's it.

Lateral fishing is out of the question, you'd just about have to have the drywall cut up to do that. The only wallfish a tech will usually do is straight down the wall. Going from stud cavity to stud cavity is not going to happen.

The original install issues should have been handled then. I know as a tech, I'm not going to warranty the last guy's work. If the tech is of the opinion the wiring needs to be replaced he will do it, within reason.

Have the tech put the TV2 remote on Band B.

 

[fiveolddogs]

Hey, this is great information. Out of curiosity, why Band B? Is that an adjustment only the tech can make? Although the receiver is probably only around 40 feet from the second TV, we have quite a bit of trouble with the UHF remote from that location on the 625 receiver. I am hoping the new equipment might offer better remote performance. If not, I will try adamwilkes20's coax trick.

 

[vegassatellite]

Personally, I have found from experience that Band B works better at longer ranges. It may be a lower frequency than Band A and in that case, the wavelengths would be longer and could pass through walls more easily. The switch for Band B is in the remote control, in the battery compartment.

 

[adamwilkes20]

would band B make it work with the fridge in the path??? I would love to take out the extra coax

 

[cparker]

Lateral fish? heheheh.... no way. Did you say this is in a basement rec room? What's the ceiling finish? Drywall? Highly finished? Is there crown molding? (that can have a horizontal space behind it). What's the outsid of your house made of? Is there siding? A house wrap doesn't have to have exposed cable if there's siding. Cable tucks very nicely into siding channel. There are probably lots of ways to get a cable (or 2) from point A to point B, but you shouldn't expect the installer to do it unless you're paying for a custom install.

If this was for cable TV they'd be doing the same thing, and I can darn near guarantee you this would be a house wrap.

 

[jamieh1]

Yes , switch to Directv HD

 

[fiveolddogs]

The tech came and told me the old dish 500 needs to be swapped for a new dish which needs to be aimed to hit a third satellite to get the HD signal. Unforunately this adjustment brings it a little more to the west, and a little lower in the sky, aiming it right at a tree. Evidently he sees no better location for it and suggested I chop down a tree (which is on a neighbor's property).

He says if I go with the upgrade, I would probably get good enough signal now, but when the trees fill in this summer, it might go bad on me.

I believe bad karma from asking the previous installer last year to do a lateral fish install is conspiring to prevent me from getting HD.

 

[JH1949]

fiveolddogs,

Would a two Dish 500 setup get around your tree problem with the HD coming from 61.5 instead of 129 ?

 

[fiveolddogs]

I live in the Chicago burbs. The tech says I need to see sat 129 for my HD locals.

I suggested two dishes to the installer. He sighed and said he would go back up on the roof and have another look with that in mind. I thought it was strange that he hadn't already done this. When he came back, he said that the only good spot for any dish is exactly where my current dish is, and since the two dishes can't share the same physical space, two dishes won't work. I'm sure he knows more about installing dish than I do, but I am having a hard time imagining that it's true. We have a large roof, and though the area has many mature trees, we are not in a forest by any means.

He did go ahead and temporarily put the new dish up. He then came inside to check the signal on my receiver. He was getting in the 35 - 40 range on most transponders on 129 and also on either 110 or 119 (can't recall which). He said that was with optimal pointing and that a second dish would not improve it at all. I told him to put the old dish back. After he did, my signal went back up to the 72 - 76 range on most transponders for both 110 and 119. According to the tech, that signal level is just about the max any one can have with a dish 500.

I called dish back to cancel the upgrade. Based on the environmental challenges here, the dish CSR suggested sending out a supervisor to take another look. I said sure, why not.

So, what do you think? Bad karma or bad tech?

 

[JH1949]

fiveolddogs,

When it changed from 35-40 to 72-76, was it still being measured on the same 722 receiver ?

 

[fiveolddogs]

fiveolddogs,

When it changed from 35-40 to 72-76, was it still being measured on the same 722 receiver ?

Oh, he never brough a new receiver out of the truck. This was all using my current 625. Does it matter what receiver is used when checking signal quality in the setup screen?

 

[JH1949]

Ask the supervisor during followup install to explain why signal dropped in half on 110/119 by changing dishes.