Service Knocked Out.

[andyin137]

I live in California and have Dish ,Today we experienced some high Winds in the Lompoc area and my Dish was knocked out ,no satellitte signals at all.
Okay I know this can happen and I do have the Protection plan,however I still will be charged 29.00 service call(not too happy about that,but what can you do)Anyway since my service will be out for 2 days has anyone ever requested Dish to credit you for the days you cant get their signal.
Also Dish needs a quicker way to request a repair.I already knew dish was out and signals on all satellittes were lost,but I had to waste 20 minutes going thru with a tech,and always turns out I need to have someone come out.
Anyone on the Central Coast today 4/14/09 have their Dish knocked out ??

So Far Satelitte has cost me more for service than cable ever did,with protection plan,and calling to have dish realigned etc.
Thank goodness I have a Netflix player to watch other shows on,just no TV tonight.

 

[Toddwsu2005]

It's this precise reason I figure out how to aim a dish. Mine got repeaked and then a week later another windstorm knocked it out again! What a waste of 29.00 bucks. Dish said it would take another week to come back out so I was a little annoyed. Keep in mind usually when wind knocks your dish around it's a simple left or right turn adjustment. Especially if you check your mast to see if it's plum. Good luck!

 

[dfergie]

Mark your mast and mount with a pencil if you are going to try to find a signal... West wind? if so move dish a fraction to the west and check for signal, move some more and see... (if nothing is visibly wrong)

 

[kb2vgp]

If the dish is installed correctly it should be able to sustain pretty good wind gusts with out being knocked out of alignment. I never had the pleasure of installing 1000.4 or 1000.2 dishes, but I know the 500s I tightened the bolts around the mast to where the metal was deformed. I installed my own 500 plus on a pole and still have the same high signal as the day I installed it. Make sure the bolts on the mast are tight!

 

[andyin137]

I have a service call coming out Thursday(hopefully the winds in are area will be died down by then)I am going to ask installer if anything can be done to keep dish from being knocked out of line(3rd time this year,for a total of almost 90 dollars in service calls)the problem is my Landlord required all Dishes on his property to be installed with a Bracket arm that holds Dish away from roof(he paid for install of that)the problem is whenever its a little windy Dish Bounces around alot,so its bound to get knocked out of alignment.Yesterdays 60 MPH gusts didnt help.My issue with having Dish come out is everytime in the past I have a scheduled appointment they never show up on time (sometimes not at all)I just hate wasting my time waiting,then on top of that I noticed in my account today I have already been charged for service call.
3 times in 1 year to fix Dish is a bit much,after this fix if it happens again I will just have to buy out contract and go back to cable(at least when that goes out its area wide and is fixed without an extra charge.
Question how many people have to call out Dish to realign Dish.I would like to be able to go on roof and do this myself but I am disabled and not able to do so,so any instructions on how to realign dont really help me(kind of hard to get a wheelchair on the Roof).
I will post one more time to let people know how service call went on Thursday.

My day off today I am so totally bored so I tried something to try and get Dish to work,I had a friend use a broom handle and see if he could move Dish ever so slightly while I watch signal meter and guess what I got a signal,obviously Dish needs to be tightened so I am going ahead and keep service call,very annoying that I have to pay 29.00 dollars to have something done that should have been done in the first place.Any suggestions on what I should ask Home tech to do and check for since he is coming out anyway.

 

[Straybeat]

Radio Shack (and most other satellite parts shops) used to sell a nice little peak meter for about $20 that you plug into the line and it makes a high-pitched squeal and has a VU meter. The closer you get the dish in line, the higher the pitch. It always worked great for me.

 

[andyin137]

It's this precise reason I figure out how to aim a dish. Mine got repeaked and then a week later another windstorm knocked it out again! What a waste of 29.00 bucks. Dish said it would take another week to come back out so I was a little annoyed. Keep in mind usually when wind knocks your dish around it's a simple left or right turn adjustment. Especially if you check your mast to see if it's plum. Good luck!

Thanks for advice ,I did just that I used a broom handle and moved the Dish a tiny bit and got my signal back,I am still going to have them come out next week and tighten and repeak signal after that I will learn how to reset myself.Dish is getting to much of my money as is.

 

[hyperguy]

There should be a 90 day warranty on Service calls so if you need another one within the 90 days the fee is usually waived

 

[Laddyboy]

Thanks for advice ,I did just that I used a broom handle and moved the Dish a tiny bit and got my signal back,I am still going to have them come out next week and tighten and repeak signal after that I will learn how to reset myself.Dish is getting to much of my money as is.

After they repeak, mark all three positions with a permanent marker. Makes it very easy to repoint the dish if needed in the future.

 

[Mojo]

I thought we were a nation of DIY'ers.

Thinking back to the day when a DIY yourself install tape came with your dish & ird box from K-mart
It's not hard.

 

[kwindrem]

Question how many people have to call out Dish to realign Dish.

We don't get really strong winds here in northern California but I can't every recall having the wind move the dish.

... I had a friend use a broom handle and see if he could move Dish ever so slightly while I watch signal meter and guess what I got a signal ...

If you can move the dish with a broom handle and the dish rotates on the mast or the mast moves, there's a good chance the bolts are just not tight enough. If this is a recurring problem the service company isn't doing their job right and I'd discuss a refund with Dish.

I did have a problem that was not a problem with the dish hardware. I'd installed it on the fascia and it turned out the fasica would twist causing the elevation of the dish to change. Twisting could occur due to wind or sometimes just with temperature changes. I ended up attaching outriggers to the mast to stabilize it.

Have the service company check to make sure whatever the mast is attached to is solid. Fixing problems there may go a long way to repeated service calls to realign the dish.

 

[scott04]

Similar symptoms

I live up here in AG and the wind has been blowing like crazy as well. My signal appears to be ok on the strength meter ~50-60, but i continuously lose reception. Looks like i'll have to hike it up to the roof and see if i can adjust at all...