No support arms again!

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PMKS

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jan 7, 2005
331
5
South Texas
Buddy down the road was upgraded to HD a few months back, called me today, he is losing all his HD channels, either breaking up or searching for signal.

Went to his house, signal test good on 101/110/119. 103/99 however only had low 40's and signal was not steady.

Dish is a SL5 mounted on the rear of his house, guess what, no support arms. We could move the dish just by touching it :mad:.
And they also left his old 18" single LNB dish there, just mounted the SL5 right beside it and moved the two cables, he only has two receivers.

I have seen this so many times down here with the SL3/SL5 dishes. The dish is mounted without the 2 support arms, the good ole South Texas wind slowly works the dish mount loose enough to affect the signal.

Anyway I told my buddy to go to a place near his work tomorrow that installs DirecTV ( they still sell receivers and dishes in a store front ) and get two support arms and that I would help him put them on and re-align his dish. Instead of calling DirecTV and getting nowhere or waiting weeks for an installer.
 
PMKS said:
Buddy down the road was upgraded to HD a few months back, called me today, he is losing all his HD channels, either breaking up or searching for signal.

Went to his house, signal test good on 101/110/119. 103/99 however only had low 40's and signal was not steady.

Dish is a SL5 mounted on the rear of his house, guess what, no support arms. We could move the dish just by touching it :mad:.
And they also left his old 18" single LNB dish there, just mounted the SL5 right beside it and moved the two cables, he only has two receivers.

I have seen this so many times down here with the SL3/SL5 dishes. The dish is mounted without the 2 support arms, the good ole South Texas wind slowly works the dish mount loose enough to affect the signal.

Anyway I told my buddy to go to a place near his work tomorrow that installs DirecTV ( they still sell receivers and dishes in a store front ) and get two support arms and that I would help him put them on and re-align his dish. Instead of calling DirecTV and getting nowhere or waiting weeks for an installer.
Click to expand...

IF he doesn't have any luck, try here.

DTV-AT9-B Long Brace for DIRECTV Slim Line Dish (DTV-AT9-B) - DIRECTV Slim Line - DTV-AT9-B -
 
Just wondering: who signed off on the incomplete work and let the original installer get away before that was checked out?
 
charper1 said:
Just wondering: who signed off on the incomplete work and let the original installer get away before that was checked out?
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He didn't know what to look for when it was installed...

My buddy picked up two support arms free at the satellite place I mentioned in my first post, we'll be putting them on today. Real great guy at the satellite place, they sell mostly to the oilfield rental places who rent trailers w/ systems installed. Don't ask me how that works lol. I only found out about the place from another buddy who works for an oilfield rental place setting up the trailers and aiming the dishes.

I'm going to get my camera and take pics of all the silly installs around here and post them, my favorite is a 18" single LNB dish on a tall steel pipe, the dish is almost 8' off the ground, and the nearest tree is far away :confused:
 
charper1 said:
Just wondering: who signed off on the incomplete work and let the original installer get away before that was checked out?
Click to expand...
The customer is not expected to know. Stop trying to blame the subscriber. Why is that the first thing that comes out of an installer?
 
PMKS said:
the dish is almost 8' off the ground, and the nearest tree is far away :confused:
Click to expand...

I know the answer to this one. The only pipe he had was 10' long, he forgot to bring his saw, and he didnt feel like digging more than 2' deep to plant the pole.

I did something similar once, but in reverse. I went to my girlfriends house to put in a short piece of fence. I had some 8' 4x4's, the rails and a stack of 4' boards, she wanted the fence to be ~4'.

Forgot my dang saw. But the ground was so soft I just dug down a little under 4' and dropped the posts in. Nice solid fence.
 
Sorry; but I'm not an installer and its sure NOT the way the post reads. Its reads as he KNOWS EXACTLY, or knew that they should be there..
 
As an installer I have left the monopoles off if I can get a few lag bolts firmly into the base. I usually find a rafter tail to bolt to...adding more holes to a roof or wall is just not smart. When the dish comes down or the pole braces leak they will try to figure out who made those holes and not who installed the great equipment.

Joe
 
Joe Diamond said:
As an installer I have left the monopoles off if I can get a few lag bolts firmly into the base. I usually find a rafter tail to bolt to...adding more holes to a roof or wall is just not smart. When the dish comes down or the pole braces leak they will try to figure out who made those holes and not who installed the great equipment.

Joe
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Baloney!!!

That's an excuse for not properly installing the equipment.


So what if there's a few parts left over, it works doesn't it????

Typical get in get out mentality. why do 3 installs today? I can do 4 or 5 using short cuts, who cares, when I leave, the customer has his service running and I get paid the same.

Install it right the first time,

I've had a couple of different HD dish styles, every one had the monopoles installed, and have not had one leak yet.
 
To be fair I installed my slimline on a wall without support arms and have never had to reaim or anything. It is solidly in a stud and I have additional wood attached to the stud that the other side of the mast is mounted to. There are times when the support arms are overkill, but I think that needs to be the homeowner's decision, not the installer.

When my original AT9 was installed they used arms, after taking it down I wish they hadn't, so I can see it both ways.
 
Joe Diamond said:
As an installer I have left the monopoles off if I can get a few lag bolts firmly into the base. I usually find a rafter tail to bolt to...adding more holes to a roof or wall is just not smart. When the dish comes down or the pole braces leak they will try to figure out who made those holes and not who installed the great equipment.

Joe
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But, what happened to the sealant that D* installers use for such an install.
Whenever you talk to one about potential leaks, they always say Nothing to worry about.

Now your saying that it may leak if not done right.

btw, I'm not saying it was you, just installers in general.
I have found many that are very good and others that ..... aren't.

I think I can handle any potential leaks at my home, my Dad was in the roofing business for 37 years.
 
Jason Crandall said:
To be fair I installed my slimline on a wall without support arms and have never had to reaim or anything. It is solidly in a stud and I have additional wood attached to the stud that the other side of the mast is mounted to. There are times when the support arms are overkill, but I think that needs to be the homeowner's decision, not the installer.

When my original AT9 was installed they used arms, after taking it down I wish they hadn't, so I can see it both ways.
Click to expand...

The way I look at it, if it's on a roof It should have the monopoles for support ...
Side of the house or a pole mount in the ground no.
On the roof is subject to more wind than the other places mentioned.
 
charper1 said:
Sorry; but I'm not an installer and its sure NOT the way the post reads. Its reads as he KNOWS EXACTLY, or knew that they should be there..
Click to expand...

From my read of the OP, it was his friend who got the cruddy install and he went over to make things right and he was the one who noticed the missing parts. So the actual customer didnt know diddly, and neither did the installer.

The slimline dish is just too big to put in without the support arms, even if you hit studs when you lagged it in. If its in a spot where it doesnt get much wind, it might be okay for a while. Even if its exposed to the full weather, might last long enough for the installer to avoid blame. But its an awfully big sail.

I went overboard. When we stucco'd the house, I cut a hole in the plywood near the dish and replaced all the lag screws with bolts and nuts with lockwashers from behind, then we sealed all of the attachment locations with silicone, then went over them with window sealing tape, then lathed and stucco'd a few inches over the top of it.

First time I had a directv guy out to replace the lnb he gave it a wiggle and confirmed that it was the most solid mounting he'd ever seen.

But I guess the cost was a little prohibitive for the average directv installation to bear ;)
 
Jimbo said:
But, what happened to the sealant that D* installers use for such an install.
Whenever you talk to one about potential leaks, they always say Nothing to worry about.

Now your saying that it may leak if not done right.

btw, I'm not saying it was you, just installers in general.
I have found many that are very good and others that ..... aren't.

I think I can handle any potential leaks at my home, my Dad was in the roofing business for 37 years.
Click to expand...

I have found a system that will not leak. I charge extra for it.
Look at Capcom materials

Joe
 
talos4 said:
Baloney!!!

That's an excuse for not properly installing the equipment.


So what if there's a few parts left over, it works doesn't it????

Typical get in get out mentality. why do 3 installs today? I can do 4 or 5 using short cuts, who cares, when I leave, the customer has his service running and I get paid the same.

Install it right the first time,

I've had a couple of different HD dish styles, every one had the monopoles installed, and have not had one leak yet.
Click to expand...

Ya just don't know what you are talking about.

Three installs a day is possible in a long day. Folks that do 4 or 5 in a day take all kind if short cuts.

What I am speaking of is called exposure to liability.
I have found a system that will not leak (Capcom) and I charge extra for it.

Shingle roofs with bolts in them do not leak right away. They leak eventually.

Joe
 
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