VOOM Installations

[Orlando Vol]

Now that's my kind of dog. Does he fetch the beer?

His mouth isn't big enough, and his arms are way too short...
He's a mini-dachshund...

But he's cool, even without the beer...

Now, if he'd just let me have the remote...

BTW, I've taught him to enjoy Animal Planet with Pillar boxes... good dog.

 

[negreenfield]

Had my Voom installed this morning. Went great. I have around 96 on satellite strength and around 80+ on locals, which I have all but 2 so far (TBS2 and the local Spanish-language station). I'll post more reviewed info when i get back from work. So far the wife likes it but still wants USA, Food, and HGTV. Luckily Comcast in my area offers the $14 analog service still so if I like Voom I'll keep it and have the comcast as well...

 

[Who Me?]

Tomrrow !! ?? !!

Just called Crave Lectronics (in N. calif.)
The guy said the equpt. came in and it is all set for tomrrow!
And that the installer will call me at work when he is on the way to the house.
Good thing I only live 10 min. from work.
Well, we will see how and if it goes.

I have a dish and recever hooked up now with a 90 to 95 level from the E* sat.
That way I can prove that the small opening / space the dish is pointing through really does work.
I also strung a 1/8" steel cable from the tree to the house to attach the coax to.
As it is he can do the easy way out and run the cable, under the eve, to the existing E* cable.
And I have a 13 db RCA amp (950-2150Mhz)
May or may not need it as the total length will be 100 but less than 150 feet.
Otherwise it's go thrugh the attic, and down through a wall.

Bad thing is that the sat at 72 deg. is blocked by a near by tree.
I wonder if one could use 2 dishes and a switch ??
The tree next to the one the dish is on might have a LOS to the other sat.

Any one care to hazard a guess as to how the LNB's will be setup?

 

[bryan27]

Funny, but sad

Yesterday my install was scheduled for afternoon. The installer called at 10am and asked if he could come earlier at 11am (wow, early like I'm going to say, no).

He shows up early and I had done most of the work myself over the weekend (it's a Hank Hill thing, I don't like strangers touching my stuff). I was already receiveing local HDTV service with an OTA and STB, so I already had an OTA line. I also once had DirecTV and the wiring and pole were already installed.

The installation was finished before my scheduled time. When he called the toll free number to activate the CSR said that the installer will activate service. He said "I am the Installer, what do I have to do wait until the scheduled time to call, we're done with the installation!" :shocked

After a few times on hold we finally got a CSR that wasn't brain dead!

Since the unit was pre-loaded with version 5.08 I expected some problems. I only had to reboot twice, and about 6 times the screen would flash breifly with either the program guide or other menus. I really admire the patience of the very early addopters that had to go through the glitches daily for months.

BTW with the new version 5.68 my signal level is a constant 95 here in the greater Pittsburgh area!!!

 

[Rob in NY]

Frustrated

Well, the installer arrived today on-time after postponing last friday. I was all ready for him but was not sure where he was going to choose to put the dish. He wasn't in my yard for 2 minutes and said mounting the dish on my house is out as the leaves from one tree in the backyard will affect the signal. He then proceeded to find a spot that would be sufficient but stated that he would need to install a pole for $100. I declined. He suggested I install a 4x4 myself and call him back. I am very frustrated. I have installed my D* dish in Ohio, Florida and NY and have never been unable to have a LOS to the birds. I know V* is in a different spot but c'mon at least open up the box and give it a try. With that I suggested that maybe a corner of my roof would be good. He climbed up his ladder w/ the compass and quickly said, "nope the leaves right there on the tip of the tree are in the way". It is very hot here today and I really don't think this guy wanted to do the job today. I think I'm done w/ this fiasco for now. Will wait for D* to offer some more HD and for V* to offer a self-install option.

 

[yrick]

Hello all . Voom was installed June 3, two stb’s. The installer was 3 hours late, a contractor, in a hurry, didn’t peak the dish or ota; he used his meter to point and position both the dish and ota antenna. He installed the 18” dish, and Winegard’s Sensar®II. At first he installed using the component cables to my 55” Mit’s HDTV. I mentioned to him that I know that the stb’s come with a DVI cable, he said “oh, I do have one in the truck” – he unpacked the plastic bags in his truck. He spent about 2 hours on the install, most of the time was spent pointing the dish, he had to cut and bend the LNB arm in order to point the dish low (my elevation here in Redding is 13, but the elevation reading on the dish is 0). So my opinion as far as the install goes: the installer cut corners because he was in a hurry to get in, get it done, and leave so he could go to the next job. BTW he had to drive 150 miles to get here. The installer did not use the Voom menu screen to align the antennas. After the new software downloaded that night, my PQ for stb was 84 and my ota was 35. So I went out and re-peaked both and ended up with a PQ for stb of 92 and my ota was up to 71. I live in Redding; witch is in northern California. I’ve had D* and E* for years, I’ve also tried the Dish 811 for 2 months with HD service. I am very very very pleased with Voom HD. I’m happy with the channel line up, the quality and quantity of HD programming. I love the old movies they show. I have the VaVaVoom package, so I get the newer movies too – what a great combination. Yes I do see the micro-stutter, it is quite noticeable, I have black screens sometime, I get the black pixels when changing channels, I hate the guide starting at 100 every time. BUT for me these are minor compared to what I’m getting – LOTS of HDTV programming. I use a TIVO to record in SD for now. So in conclusion: if you want lots of HD programming Voom is the place to be, there is no other alternative for me. I’m looking forward to more and more HD programming and the DVR in the future. Also I think that if Voom put together a good install kit with good instructions and let us do our own installs (if we so choose) a lot of time, money, and frustrations would be saved.

 

[klen]

two dumb questions

1) If you have two STB's, (I don't yet) do you split the line right at the dish itself, or can it be split inside your house before it reaches an STB?

I was having trouble getting some of my locals in (had them before, but lost them in the trees), so I put in a 25 db antenna booster that I had laying around. It worked.

My question is, can the satellite signal be "boosted" as well? Does it need a special booster, or would one of these antenna signal boosters work? I looked at http://www.accessorywarehouse.com/shop.html and they appeared to have a booster specifically for the dish signal. Do they work?

Thanks.

-k

 

[Smiley79]

I had my system installed today, and surprisingly, things didn't turn out so bad. Was charged $50 for the install because they had to mount the dish in a bucket (with cement in it) and run all new lines (mostly because my apartment complex didn't allow them to use existing outlets). I was alright with it, because I knew it had to be done before they even got here. The 2 installers were real nice, but I could tell they haven't done too many Voom installs. As far as the actual install went, they did better than I expected. I get a 90 signal strength on both of my TVs. No problems in getting whatever cables I needed (DVI for main tv, composite cables for bedroom). The phone cable that they had was too short to hook the book up to my main tv (they only had a 25ft line), so I'm either going to have to get one that's longer or some other solution. I get all of my channels correctly, but have not gotten any of my locals yet (although they show up in the program guide, along with program titles). I'm assuming things are still downloading. All in all, I'm not disappointed in the whole thing. I'll just have to see about when I get my locals. Now, it's time to watch some NFLnet.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

VOOM installed today... have questions.

Signed up with VOOM online with no credit card and no money up front as advertised. I scheduled the install for today and the installer showed up. The fellow was Travis Miller who worked for Emerald Coast Broadband who is contracted by Installs, Inc.

When he arrived he had one box with 3 receivers included in the one box. The box was shipped to him this way and it had not been opened. He had another box with the OTA Wingard antenna and a dish that was not in a box. NO cables were shipped and NO remotes were shipped and NO multi-switch was shipped. Fortunately he had a couple of DVI and component cable sets and a switch so that wasn't a problem. BUT, he had no remotes. I asked him did they not send a package and he stated they use to but now they send everything separate and that he had not received the remotes yet... nor the cables... nor a multi-switch. WOW... no remotes. Had I not had Internet access and a MX-700 we'd been out of luck until the remotes come in. Fortunately I was able to download a .mxd file from Remote Central for a VOOM remote. We have the MX-700 in the great room for the RPTV, an MX-800 in the HT room and my daughter is using the Sidekick temporarily until the remotes come in.

Overall the install went fairly smooth and Travis was a heck of a nice guy and he seem like he knew what he was doing. He only brought a 6' ladder so I had to lend him mine to get up on the roof. I'm a little surprised that he came to do the install (from over an hour away) being somewhat unprepared but none the less it all worked out okay.

So far it all the channels look good. I'm pleased thus far but haven't watched a lot because I've had so much other stuff to do.

I do have a question (just one right now):

Is there anyway to scroll thru only the favorite channels with channel up/down? I have the ones we don't like locked out but we still have to scroll thru them.

 

[Sean Mota]

Call VOOM and tell them to ship you a remote control. It is part of your package. You should also have both DVI and component cables. If you created a favorite list, you can use the page button. The page button has up/down. I just wrote that down believing that you had the remote.

Welcome and enjoy VOOM. Call CSR press option 1 and tell them to ship you all the missing parts.

 

[Who Me?]

Just got installed today.

Got voom'd today
It has been quite a journey so far.
But the out come has been worth it.
The HD feeds are great, what I have had a chance to check out so far.
The installer was very good, called me at work @ 8:45 and told me 11 to 12.
Called back at 10:40, said he was running late.
Called at 12:20 and said he was on his way.
I left work and met him at home.
Now this is how a opperation should be run!
He said that he get's 85 per install and ~100 for a 2 recever insatll.
Said he does D* & E* and that vood is a pain.
Due to the sat. elv. here in Ca. (14.5 at my loc.)
He gets out of the truck, checks the Az. and says no way with all those trees in the way.
I take him to the site for the dish, and he smiles and says that will do great.
We hook up the Voom recever to my dish and get a 45 sig.
We put up the Voom dish/Lnb and got a 48 to 50 sig.
(Better LNB than the old D* one I had.)
He was greatful for all the prep work I had done.
Made his job go smoother.
And I got it done the way I wanted.
He did hook into my existing coax and used my existing OTH antenna setup.
After he leaves I check the sig. and it's at 40 to 42.
I put my RCA dbs in-line amp in and now have 48-50.
The total coax run is ~130 feet with the amp at ~80'.
The recever software is 05.08 so I will need to let it update tonight.
And every one is correct on the responce time to using the remote is slow.
Like the unit is on valium. In no hurry to do anything.
I need more time to compare the DVI Vs. componet video qual. on my 34XBR800.
But that is for another post.

So it's hello to Voom
And goodbye to D*

 

[PSB]

Smiley79 I would be very interested in how they managed to ground your new system in the bucket mount? As a licensed installer I have to turn away a few jobs per week because they would only work in a bucket or similar. If its not been grounded you/they are breaking the law and putting the lives of everyone in the apartment/condo at risk, if it is not grounded to the main service point of the building you have paid money for them to break the law! Tell me they grounded the system to the appropriate grounding point within 20' (feet) of the grounding block. Its just not worth the risk.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Thanks Sean,

I have the remote commands programmed into my MX-700 and have the page up and down buttons included... but that's not gonna help me with what I'm talking about.

What I'd like is to be able to set my favorites (like on E*) and when changing channels be able to skip those channels that are not in my favorites. Right now when I'm scrolling thru the channels I still see those that are not on my favorite list. It seems as though VOOM's favorite list only works for the guide. I think this is something listed in the upgrade request list so maybe they'll fix it or add the feature at some point in time.

They supposedly are sending us all 3 remotes. The installer had 2 DVI cables which I only needed one for right now but he gave me the other anyway. He also gave me one set of component cables but I didn't really need them either as I have a little better quality set. Our daughters TV is an el cheapo Sanyo that only has composite video inputs so we'll never need component or DVI for them but I think I'll have them send them anyway in case I ever decide to buy and sell the units later on or change my setups somehow.... it sure can't hurt to have them.

 

[PSB]

"He only brought a 6' ladder" Shame on them! Very unprofessional to say the least, thanks for letting us know!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I did ask him what he did to get on top of people's houses and he stated that was usually an extra charge as they usually mount the dish on the side of the house. We just used my E* dish that was pointed to 61.5 and replaced the LNB with a dual LNB and ran one more cable.

I guess if I didn't have a ladder he'd had to go home and come back another day with a longer ladder and different vehicle. His 6 footer was strapped to the top of his S10 Blazer.

 

[TYORK]

you should let voom or installs know that he didn't put up the voom dish up voom will not like that at all . They have made them come back and change to the dish here where i am and besides I hope he left it with you if you are renting it cause if you ever deside to cancel they will want the dish back also.

 

[TYORK]

by the way should only be a extra charge if he need a 40 ft ladder or longer that he would have to go rent.

 

[Smiley79]

Smiley79 I would be very interested in how they managed to ground your new system in the bucket mount? As a licensed installer I have to turn away a few jobs per week because they would only work in a bucket or similar. If its not been grounded you/they are breaking the law and putting the lives of everyone in the apartment/condo at risk, if it is not grounded to the main service point of the building you have paid money for them to break the law! Tell me they grounded the system to the appropriate grounding point within 20' (feet) of the grounding block. Its just not worth the risk.

Well after looking at the install again, it doesn't look like they did ground it. All I see coming off of the mount are the 2 cables from the dish and one from the OTA antenna (which both go to the multiswitch, if I'm not mistaken). Well, I sort of figured being the install went so smoothly that something was wrong (I just couldn't see it yet). Someone's going to have to do something anyway, because I still can't get reception on any of my locals (even though they show up in my prograqm guide). For the grounding problem, do I get ahold of Voom or Installs Inc? Thanks for the heads up, PSB.

 

[jimmykce1]

Sonnie: Did you get the bigger dish or the 18 inch dish with your install? I have put up a poll to see if Voom has finally moved over to putting up the bigger dishes for new installs. However, Voom has to also upgrade all its existing customer too.

 

[TYORK]

Well after looking at the install again, it doesn't look like they did ground it. All I see coming off of the mount are the 2 cables from the dish and one from the OTA antenna (which both go to the multiswitch, if I'm not mistaken). Well, I sort of figured being the install went so smoothly that something was wrong (I just couldn't see it yet). Someone's going to have to do something anyway, because I still can't get reception on any of my locals (even though they show up in my prograqm guide). For the grounding problem, do I get ahold of Voom or Installs Inc? Thanks for the heads up, PSB.

Smiley your other opiontion is to go purchase a approve satellite surge protector to put on the inside of you apartment and the it will be grounded.