Yesterdays Superdish installation.

Cascade

Goose.
Original poster
Supporting Founder
Jun 1, 2004
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37.134004N 76.561779W
Pollified.
If you're voting "Yes" a reply explaining would be appreciated.

The installer arrives at around 3, seems like a decent bloke.
Cutting a veeery long story short he installs the pole for the dish and assembles the superdish by his van and takes out a DP34.
With the dish and the switch on the pole he's having a hard time getting even transponders on 105, he swapped out the switch, tested the co-ax - nothing helped.
It was about 4PM when I was bitten on my neck by something weird and had this mental reaction so I called the wife who came home and dosed me up with Benadryl which knocked me out for the rest of the night.
Anyhow, I got up this morning expecting to see locals but nothing's there, so I run a check switch and get 2 big red X marks and no signal from 105.
My wife said that the installer told her that there was a storm cloud blocking reception or something.
Reading the installers invoice it says..

"Installed super dish 2 via pole mount, performed check switch with 119/110 reception. 105 reception is checkswitched after the storm cloud coverage is clear due to intermittent transponder reception. Confirmed by FSM"

Now I have a pissweak signal on 110/119 (in the high 60's low 70's from the Dish500 of 100-110) No signal from 105 therefore no locals and a pissed off wife (Again).
I called a CSR from Echostar, spoke to Amy, she said to call the tech who installed it.

DNS LLC Baltimore

The installer was a decent bloke, friendly, seemed to know what he was doing etc but did he install this thing properly?
Should I take it down and do it all (properly) over again myself like the Dish500 install?

I must sound like such a miserable so and so what with the way my last install went.

One last comment, the SuperDish is a beautiful thing, the LNBs are crazy, the dish itself looks great.
I am in love.

IMG_4138.jpg
 
Cascade

You should be getting around 100 on 110 & 119 (maybe more). The 105 is low for now...Once they get AMC15 up, it'll be better.

But right now your locals should be around 50-60....

You might have to do your own install again :(

(I like the message below your name...went from "I'm getting a Superdish w00t" to "SuperDish owns me now" :)
 
Damnit, I knew it wouldn't go well again, does anyone at Echostar give an ass about their installers? (More importantly, the people who pay for it all - the customer)
The installer I got told me he was on an hourly wage and that he wasn't a sub which gave me some confidence in him atleast.
But man, if this has happened to me with both installs (The only 2 I've ever had) then how are other people faring and more importantly, how on gods green earth are Echostar still in business?

Any idea which LNB is the 105/121? I assume it's the one branching out to the left as I look from behind the dish, I'm going out with my signal meter after some much needed coffee and try to clean this mess up.

Edit: forgot to mention, this poor guy was here from around 3 'til past 7:30 with another job to do across the street after mine.

I also noticed that nothing's grounded unless the pole is counted as a ground....

IMG_4139.jpg



Yeah, this superdish definitely is owning me, for all the wrong reasons :(
 
If your locals are on 105, in the picture it goes
119, 110, 105

The left LNB is a DishPro dual, so the one on the right is the 105

Did you send an e-mail to ceo@dishnetwork.com?

They are pretty good at helping out
 
Iceberg said:
If your locals are on 105, in the picture it goes
119, 110, 105

The left LNB is a DishPro dual, so the one on the right is the 105

Did you send an e-mail to ceo@dishnetwork.com?

They are pretty good at helping out

The one with the mouth that looks like it'd grow teeth and take your arm off when there's a full moon?

As for mailing ceo I'll do that, I'll point them to this thread although I just received a months credit for the last fiasco.
At this rate I'll not have to pay for my top120 ever - I hate complaining to them and the installer genuinely was a decent guy who was in a bind with 105.
But at the end of the day the outcome's still the same, no locals and rainfade if someone on the next block sneezes.
 
The system still NEEDS to be grounded, do NOT accept this kind of installation, if you do the next customer will get the same service, I guess you never checked his SBCA 1+2 card NEEDED for multi satellite installation or his license...... : ) Just giving you a hard time : ) But you should call them up and read the riot act! Tell them 10,000 people here now know about this shoddy install and you want it done right and grounded to local and NEC code, please people help the legal licensed installers out there who are in the trade for the love of satellite not a quick easy way to rip off customers for money.................. Anger is a gift! Don't touch the install yourself or they will say you altered it! Tell them you smell burning because its not grounded, and that your family is at risk as an ungrounded cable now enters your home, I hate to hear stories like this, its all well and good that he was a nice guy but you have been ripped off, don't be a chump, get them back out!!!!!!!!!
 
That is one ugly install, the FTA dish you done your self looks like a pro job! The BIG switch should be sideways not up and down, even with water tight f-connectors water will still get in eventually, it always does!
 
Yeah, I'm gonna Pete, I'm in the process of mailing ceo right now, I haven't touched it and I won't - this is their screwup AGAIN.
And as for all these people knowing about it, a guy from DBSTalk PMd me last night to ask how it went as he's in my vicinity, I gave him the URL of this thread (Hi tkiker) so a lot more people are bound to see it.
 
PSB said:
the FTA dish you done your self looks like a pro job!

That's because I'm the man.

Seriously though, when I used to install network cabling/phone systems in peoples houses I always did a job that I would be proud to have done in my own home.
I need an installer who gives a damn about what they're paid to do.
Actually, EVERYONE should get that.
 
Super Dish

Here is a crappy installation done by a so call dealer.
 

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DAMN!!

Now reckon, I didn't do the best install jobs on my 5 dishes, but they are a heckuva lot better than that...you cant see most of the cabling :)
 
PSB said:
That is one ugly install, the FTA dish you done your self looks like a pro job! The BIG switch should be sideways not up and down, even with water tight f-connectors water will still get in eventually, it always does!

The switch should not even be on the dish. You are just asking for failure from bad weather. I always installed them on the inside of the home or on the outside of the house under an eve. There is a reason DISH didn't put a nice place to put the switch on the dish! PEOPLE are zip tieing them for god sakes!
 
Super Dish

Look by pass the grounding point, how much time needed to do the grounding ?? It is just his hobby or just trying to save a few cent. Look at the connectors, all indoor quality.
 

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Boy, these people sure know how to look after their customers.

Received a phone call 5 minutes ago from Echostar after emailing them with a brief explanation outlining what happened along with a link to this thread.
The rep asked me what had happened and I told her about the low signal on 110/119 and the 0 signal on 105, that the mast hadn't been grounded and that this made 2 out of 2 botched installs.
I asked her if she'd visited the link I provided, she said no and that she'd get a technician out on Friday between 8 and 12.
I guess I expected a little too much in the way of an apology or an explanation, suffice to say I may as well have been talking to a machine only less courteous and more awkward.
 
Hopefully they don't send the same turnip out

See Cascade, if you didnt live so damn far away, me & Pete would do it (just giving ya crap Pete) :)
 
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