Lubbock and West Texas Voom!

[ElginCon]

I saw some other Texas threads but none for us here in the West, so...

I just signed up on the website (to catch the free installation deal) but I don't move into my new house until 6/15 and I'm going to call on Monday to set up an install date after I move in (there were none available past 6/12 on the website).

Anyone else in or near Lubbock have experience with Voom or with the local digital channels? Anyone living in West Texas at all?

I can't wait to finally ditch this silly cable with their crazy rates and poor channel selection

 

[squicken]

Finally another Lubbock Voomer on the boards. I've been Vooming for a little more than 2 months now. I never started a thread b/c I figured no one else would ever show up. Here's the thing about locals. NBC and FOX are both showing HD. Very strong signals, easy to pick up. PBS has an HD feed, but Voom doesn't have it mapped yet. Manual scanning will come soon, probably before you'd get installed. ABC and CBS both are broadcasting their digital signals at VERY low power. I'm 4 miles from the tower, and can't get a reception. But you might have better luck, since I'm in an apt and am limited in the size of my antenna. Go to antennaweb.org, put in your address, and see what it recommends. UPN and WB do not have a digital tower up, so no chance of getting them. The Voom STB will not accept analog signals, so you'll most likely end up with NBC, FOX, and PBS. I still subscribe to cable b/c I want to have FSSW for baseball games. Voom should have Regional Sports Networks up next year. I'm sure you've checked Voom's channel lineup, so you know they don't have many of some people's favorite channels. As for locas, here are your choices as far as getting cbs, abc, upn, wb:

1. Split your antenna signal, put one end into STB, the other into TV. You can use your Tv to watch the analog feeds.

2. Cox sells basic cable, channels 1-19, for $15. Note that it will not provide you with HD.

Good luck.

 

[bigtex]

Now there are at least three in the Lubbock area. I am scheduled for installation on June 2. Who does the Installation in the Lubbock area?

 

[squicken]

My initial install was done by J Corp. They're based in Dallas, and just hired a guy locally to do it. He was OK, but he was sloppy. I have had 2 subsequent service calls, both by Max's Satellite. The tech's name was Clay, and he was great. He cleaned up the previous install's mess, and was very professional. I tried to tip him, but he wouldn't accept it. Call Voom and ask for your installer's name, they should give it to you. Make sure you call the installer to verify the time and to make sure all the equipment's there.

 

[ElginCon]

My initial install was done by J Corp. They're based in Dallas, and just hired a guy locally to do it. He was OK, but he was sloppy. I have had 2 subsequent service calls, both by Max's Satellite. The tech's name was Clay, and he was great. He cleaned up the previous install's mess, and was very professional. I tried to tip him, but he wouldn't accept it. Call Voom and ask for your installer's name, they should give it to you. Make sure you call the installer to verify the time and to make sure all the equipment's there.

Just got they keys for my new house and set up install for the 17th.

How did it go bigtex? I'm also set up with Max S. and I need to call and talk to them about setup options - landlord says no holes in anything I hope the installer has some ideas.

 

[squicken]

You'll need flat coaxial cable if you can't drill holes. You need to get them yourself, as the installer won't have them. Don't worry about the length, because the tech. can barrel them with standard cable. Read the FAQ here about prepping for your install. Good luck.

 

[z71tahoe193]

New to the forum. I am scheaduled for install on June 16. Hopefully date won't get pushed back because I have been waiting to get voom since I first saw it a few months ago.

 

[z71tahoe193]

Just got voom installed today, and I'm pretty amazed. I went with the upgraded the antenna and as of now can only get NBC. Can't get Fox or PBS and I'm 17 miles from the tour. Any other voomers out here in Lubbock that are recieving HD locals have any suggestions. Thanks

 

[squicken]

I'm suprised you can't get Fox. PBS isn't mapped right now, and you won't get it until manual scanning is available. Did you use a preamp? Other than upgrading the antenna, you may have to adjust your antenna until you find a sweet spot. Good luck.

 

[z71tahoe193]

No preamp yet. Guy from max satellite did an install before me and said they had the same problem and were only a few blocks away. The antennae is connected to the base of the sat so im not too comfortable messing with it. The other tv has a built in tuner, so I might try plugging it into that one to see if its because of the Voom box or reception issue.

 

[ElginCon]

Finally got permission from my landlord to install the dish.

Clay from All Tech did the install. He was super helpful, polite and fast - the whole thing probably took half an hour. He said to wait at least 8 hours on the OTA and give the whole thing a day to get itself configured.

Coming from Cox digital cable I'm not sure what picture quality problems other people are complaining about. My HD channels look awesome on this old Samsung. Maybe it's because my definition of a good picture is slightly different =P

Very happy so far.

ESPNHD, NFL Network... *dies*

 

[squicken]

Yeah, Cox PQ is awful. They've run out of bandwidth, so they're over-compressing. The PQ issues with Voom are more in comparison to D* and E*

 

[ElginCon]

Ok. It has been a few days since the install and I'm still having trouble getting the OTA channels. I can get them everyone once in awhile but the signal is artifacted (is that a word ) and drops out way too much to be usable. So what are the next steps?

Should I try to move the antenna? It was attached at the base of the dish during install.

Do I get a pole or something and raise the antenna up?

Who do I call? The install guy or the Voom customer service? What do I tell them when I call.

According to my antenna web readout I have signals coming from 11-220 degrees and 1.2-16.5 miles. Is the basic antenna they gave me going to work?

I read some FAQs but I thought you local guys might have a better persepctive on the situation.

 

[squicken]

In my experience, the only 2 channels you can hope to get are Fox and NBC. I live 4 miles from the ABC and CBS tower, but only get a very unreliable CBS. It's just that ABC and CBS digital are very low power. Just keep moving the antenna around if NBC and/or Fox are the problem. If you get Fox and NBC, that's the best you can hope for, I think. They're the only ones HD right now, so you're not missing anything. Just hook up some wire or something and grab the analog feeds for everything else. He shouldn't have put the antenna on the dish pole for b/c it hinders tweaking. If you can't get anything, call Voom. They'll send someone back out. The only other digital channel currently broadcasting in HD is PBS, I think. All other towers are under construction. Good luck.

 

[z71tahoe193]

PBS Added to map

did anyone else notice that pbs was added to our channel map today. i think it came on sometime past 5 or 6. dunno who called voom enough to get the channel mapped on but whoever did it nice work!!

 

[squicken]

Didn't notice. Thanks for the heads up. Wasn't me who complained.

 

[z71tahoe193]

Me and my roommate were frustrated we couldn't get Fox to see the race and decided to go tweak the antennae. Surprisingly we were able to get ABC and the pq is worse then there analog station. I can understand not broadcasting HD but broadcasting a signal this bad makes me not even want to watch, and I would think others would not either.

 

[ElginCon]

Just checked the OTA today before I called and asked for a big ass antenna and...

I have PBS HD now and it looks real nice too. If only the others would come in. Guess I'll make that call sometime before Football season starts.

 

[z71tahoe193]

I wouldn't spend too much time trying to get CBS and ABC because out of some miracle the stealth antennae is picking them up. They are pretty bad quality, you may be better off getting them from Cox. I too was supposed to get the upgrade but I am still waiting on that one.

 

[squicken]

Are any of you considering having an ISF calibration done? Steve Martin of Dallas will fly out to Lubbock, but his travel costs must be covered. He is highly regarded by posters from hometheater spot and avsforum. His website is www.smartcalibration.com If anyone's interested in his services, PM me.

On topic, as of right now, CBS and ABC stink PQ-wise. But even after months of tweaking I still can't get a consistent signal from NBC or Fox. PBS has been touch and go since it showed up.