VOOM Installations

Well, we have an install date (May 7). With these guys below located in Fresno (we're in Sacramento, that seems pretty far when we have several local install companies here). I have the feeling it's not going to go very well. :( Has anyone tried to request a different installer?


From another thread:
thetripod said:
Installs Inc's subcontractor, Crave Electronics out of Fresno, CA, missed our first appointment. And, yes, I had taken the day off from work. They rescheduled for 7 days later. The next install date, they call at 10 pm the night before to tell me that can't be at my house between 12-5, but, they could be there at 10 a.m. This really screwed me up, I ended up having to take the day off again. The guy ends up showing up at 1 pm, with his wife and kids in the car. He gets up to my house and says, "nope, it's not going to work here". He starts trying to use "big" terminology with me, like the coordinates and etc.....He says I don't have a clear line to the voom satellite, which is almost directly east. Well, I live up on a hill and there is nothing, NOTHING, within 1000 feet of my house to the east. There is a hill, that is of equal height to my house, at about 1/2 mile away. I tell him that we should make an effort to investigate the ability to get the signal a little less subjectively. He says, "huh"? I say, don't you have guidelines and compasses and such? He, says, "dude, i've been installing satellites for 2 years, i know what i'm talking about". So, I get on the internet and i learn about how california is in a not-so-particularly wonderful area to get voom. But, the csr at voom assures me it will work. So, I have to literally BEG him to not leave. He gives me a bunch of talk about he doesn't get paid if he can't get a signal and it would just be wasting his time. I tell him i've invested to much time and money for him to walk away. All in all, it cost me 600 bucks of work wages to miss work for 2 days. So, instead of installing it in a permenant place, he drills it into my deck. And, bam, i get a 55 signal rating. He says it's the wrong satellite, and it's pinging from a different one. B/c this guy has yet to pull out a compass, I tell him it's time to check the programming. He makes ME call the install activation number, and yes, it works. He then drills a hole in my carpet 3 inches by 1/5 inches, and leaves all the boxes and plastic that he's thrown on the ground. I just installed that carpet 2 weeks ago. Oh, the pain.
Oh, that was after he tells me how he has no idea how to run the voom features. I asked about output resolutions, 1080 vs 720 etc....he has no clue. I would give the service of the install a 1 out of 10. I think voom is pretty cool though. Discovery looks incredible, but, of course the movie channels they have don't look hd to me. HBOHD looks good depending on the program. The world sports station looks spectacular. No cbs and no espn in hi def. Horrible install. Decent services, not worth the money though.
 
deean,

you may want to send Joe Harkins an email. He will best advise you about the installer and whether you will need another one.
 
Voom install scheduled for today (April 7). Installer called and left a message yesterday saying that VOOM hadn't sent all the pieces that he needed?? He called Voom and the parts are supposed to be delivered early next week. I haven't gotten ahold of my installer today to see exactly what wasn't send though.
 
Had a good installation today in NoVa.

Datalink Communications, specifically Dave did the install and everything went smoothly. He said he installs 2 wires by default so I didn't even need to ask about it. And he installed the power module in the Stealth antenna. OTA reception was good on the lower channels but I couldn't get anything on the HD channels that would broadcast SD on UHF. I realize that the HD OTA signals here are all UHF, nonetheless this was how it showed up/or didn't show up.

So I plugged in the amplifier he left me and now I'm getting everything. I have about a 58-60 signal strength from the satellite which is good from what I've read here.

Still no program info, we'll see what happens when/if the box gets an update tonight.
 
Install completed

:) Installer called this morning and arrived even earlier than he thought he could be here. I have a lot of trees around the house and he immediately wanted to put all the antennas at the peak of the roof. I can understand why as it was a sure bet that it would be a clear LOS. Anyway, after considerable discussion I convinced him that I wanted to try a lower point which will give me easy access during the winter if I need to remove snow etc. Dish went up easily and when connected to STB I got a power rating of 55 and quality of 40. There are no trees in the way, hopefully these readings are good enough. He wanted $200 to put up my 8bay instead of the Stealth with preamp. I went with the Stealth for now the OTA readings are power 46 and quality 85... keeping my fingers crossed. So are the satellite readings going to be ok or does it need more dish peaking or bigger dish? So far things seem to working fine. I think there is bad weather coming over the next 3-4 days so time will tell. Very pleased thus far.
 
Installer just called, my install that has been rescheduled twice and is now scheduled for tomorrow, will now have to be rescheduled a third time to next week. I don't think I'm meant to have Voom, the good news I suppose I won't have to call anyone to cancel since they can't seem to get out here to install it in the first place. So disapointing.
 
mtuller said:
Installer just called, my install that has been rescheduled twice and is now scheduled for tomorrow, will now have to be rescheduled a third time to next week. I don't think I'm meant to have Voom, the good news I suppose I won't have to call anyone to cancel since they can't seem to get out here to install it in the first place. So disapointing.

If you still want to give it a try, send "Joe Harkins" <jharkins@installs.com> an email telling him about the difficulty of doing this. He will try to make it right for you.
 
Thanks. Oh I'm still giving it a go, I just don't believe it's ever going to actually get done, I've rescheduled again for Tuesday April 13th. I just have this feeling of being in limbo, and its not like Voom would let me do my own install, or I might just have it done by now. I'm done venting now. Thanks for your help Sean.
 
Questions on install

After last nights f/w download the Qual is 87, Power 70, s/n 12.79.
I noticed that because of where the arm was mounted on the wall the installer had to pull it down to get out past the roof overhang and therefore the mounting pipe is not vertical. Because of this, there is an interaction between azimuth changes and elevation and it makes it more difficult to peak.
How are these numbers? Do I need to call Voom to get someone to repeak?
When peaking the dish his meter was above 48 at one point but by the time everything was bolted down it had dropped to 43 on his little meter. Don't know if it's linear but that could be a sizeable difference.
 
Install

Well, I had my installation done yesterday by a younger guy out of Green Bay. He did a great job, Kept asking me if there was anything else he needed to do for me. After the download last night signal strength is around 97, picture is just great. I was a little apprehensive after reading some of the horror stories the last few days in the forum. He was late for the appointment but he had called and told me he was running late and would be able to be here between 7:00 and 8:00 P.M.. At 6:56 the phone rang and he called to let me know he was a few blocks away, he stayed until the work was done. So far I"m a happy camper.. wife was even happy ,,had to watch the monster channel, one of her old favorites was on "Fiend without a face"
 
Installation

Ok, I was trying out the different channels and found out I couldnt get 2 that were local{50 miles} and called voom to ask why. Talked to a lady there who said she would have some one call me about getting the upgraded antenna. Within 20 minutes, Len from Advantage Communications called me. Len wants to send out someone to take a look and see what they can do to get the channels.
I also found out the the installer for the Voom system that was put in was Kevin from Advantage, located in Green Bay, Kevin explained everything he was doing, kept asking if I had any questions ,was polite, and did an all around super job. VOOM , youve got a winner here with Advantage Communications
Ill post agin later and let you know how it went with me getting the other channels.
 
help installer will be here in 10 mins.

HElp my installer just called and SHE said they always run the diplexer and doesn't know any other way to do it what should I tell her what numbers should I make sure I am receiving before she leaves?
 
Please don't let her install the diplexer. Ask her to run two lines one for Satellite and the other for OTA. If she has done installations before (even for other satellite systems), she should be able to do this. The diplexer will only create more problems. Since you will get the old software installed first, your Satellite signal quality should be above 50. Do not accept 30 or 40 as the last answered since it will create rain fade problems for you. With the new software the Satellite signal quality should be above 95.

For your OTA, I will suggest you to go to www.antennaweb.org and click on digital only to find how far you are from the transmitter and which directions the Stealth Antenna should be pointing. This is very important to get good reception. The Stealth Antenna has a range of 45 miles for UHF channels and 30 miles for VHF channels. If your channels are out of range the STB will not lock on. I find that the Signal quality for OTA channels need to be above 50 to get a lock on them. Let us know if you need more information. Also make sure that she knows that the OTA module should be installed and that the OTA coax goes there. There is a separate input for the Satellite and it is clear from the back view of the STB.
 
The only time you must use a diplexor is if you have 2 or more receivers. I have 2 recievers and am using diplexors. However they are not the Voom diplexors they are better htan Vooms.

My Signal power is 68
My Signal quality is 96

Bill
 
stilesr said:
and that it won't hurt the signal to use the diplexer

There is no charge per line since they are supposed to be 4 lines installed as part of the free installation. Please let her know that you will contact Installs Inc. This is outrageous!!! There is no charge for this. Call installs inc. You can also pay her the $90 but warn her that you will get the money back and that you will let installs inc know about this.
 
Sean Mota said:
There is no charge per line since they are supposed to be 4 lines installed as part of the free installation. Please let her know that you will contact Installs Inc. This is outrageous!!! There is no charge for this. Call installs inc. You can also pay her the $90 but warn her that you will get the money back and that you will let installs inc know about this.

I agree it is outrageous that these installers are just trying to make a quick buck! I rmember when my installer was here he tried to charge me 35 bucks for an extra line. These folks just give other installers a bad rep. I would call installs inc. before they leave have them talk to the installer.
 

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