SeattleVoomer1 said:
Good luck!
I was told by a reliable source that losing "reveivers" off of a truck or the truck "broke down" were code words for we won't make it today because but wanted to give you a good reason that you will believe and feel sorry for them. Have to admit losing the "reveivers" off of the truck is a new one though.
Waiting for your post of "success!" in very heavy rain in Seattle, Gill
Well the guy did finally make it. He got here about 4:20 and finished about 6:15. He was ready to "no line of sight" the install until he realized I was a D* installer and was aware of the location of the Rainbow1 satellite. Can't believe it still took him 2 hours eventhough I had already done all the grunt work and pre-wired everything for him.
The first receiver he put in had problems and it started to look as if the second was only a hair less problematic. He was only able to get about three of the 7 or 8 local off-airs. After he called in the activation he got me to sign the papers and quickly boogied out the door saying, "the system needs to load up and should be ready for viewing in about fifteen minutes." Thirty minutes later I still could only get the off-airs. I re-booted the system and had channel 100 for a few minutes then that cut out completely. I booted again and went into the system set up to check the satellite signal strength, "0". I called Voom and set up a service call for the 20th. After I got off the phone I booted the system again to see how long it would stay on this time. It came up with an update screen (I had asked the installer if the receiver he was putting already had the latest updates loaded, and he said, "yes", but apparently he was wrong because the latest software update was now loading). Once the update finished the system came to life and has worked fairly well since. I only say fairly well because RushHD has been pixilating off & on and even blacked out for a few minutes (all other channels seem fine).
My first impressions of the working system are that the true HD programing is great, the SD programing seems crusty & dull compaired to how they looked through D* on the same tv. But I really didn't get Voom for the SD, I got it for the HD.
Eventhough the system now seems to be functioning fine I'm not going to cancel the service call for the 20th. Sure as I do the system will flake out on me again, and I will be stuck calling them back only to have to wait another three days.
One thing about the installer, he didn't seem to have a clue as to how to aim the off-air antenna (I think it's a Winegard gs1100 non-amplified). According to AntennaWeb.org (using my plus4 zip) I am 15 miles (max) from the source of all my locals (which are clustered within a 3 degree spread). I have a really big white oak tree on the end of my house opposite the antenna (between the antenna and the local stations). So I may try to relocate the off-air to a light pole I have on the other side of the tree to see if I can get any more of the locals before investing in a higher end antenna. Was kinda hoping to see this weeks episode of Lost in HD, but that is one of the locals I'm not getting.
