Beef w/ satellite TV installer

[RonMar]

This incident is a perfect example of why I installed our DirecTV system myself.

Used to be you could do that. I work in the field of electronics and have always done my own and several thru work at stations and onboard vessels I support over the years. Dish and Direct don't allow self installs anymore. I had to allow them to install my HD upgrade system last January. They don't even sell the receivers anymore. You lease it from the company as part of the package. When you cancel your service, they send you a prepaid box to return the receiver, or a very hefty bill for the receiver.

I suppose if you had a source for the receivers and knew the hoops to hop thru for activation you could still probably do it yourself, but professional install is the only option you get if you call them direct or go thru a local dealer now.

It was no big deal really, the tech came, he put the dish where I said(where I put the last one), he ran the wire where I directed him to(where I ran the old wire), and he connected it as I directed(where the old one was connected) plus the new HDMI line. About the only thing he did on his own was to call his super secret direct access number to get the box authorized, and showed me some features of the new remote. I guess they feel the general public isn't competent to do that anymore.

As for the misdirected tree removal, as suggested, put together a rough estimate of the costs that their company's rep directed you to incur for no good technical reason. Even if it was an honest miscalculation on the technicians part, they are still supposed to be the technical authority and should bear some responsibility. Then call customer support and ask that a an installing service manager or regional manager(basically the installation techs boss) be asked to contact you about the problems with the installation. Short of a small claims suit, polite but insistent is the only way you are gong to get something out of them.

Good luck

 

[SnowRidge]

Used to be you could do that. I work in the field of electronics and have always done my own and several thru work at stations and onboard vessels I support over the years. Dish and Direct don't allow self installs anymore. I had to allow them to install my HD upgrade system last January. They don't even sell the receivers anymore. You lease it from the company as part of the package. When you cancel your service, they send you a prepaid box to return the receiver, or a very hefty bill for the receiver.

I got that same song and dance about self install from DirecTV when I installed it five years ago. If you dig deep enough on their web site, you will still find the instructions for self install, and self install kits are readily available from dealers. I'm sure they still try and talk people out of it, though.

It's a crap shoot on whether you get a competent installer or not. That's not a risk I am willing to take.

 

[riptides]

aHH,

Do trees really make that much of a signal block? One tree? Two?

I have got trees, really BIG ones all over my yard. And well, you have to walk
around to get "a clear view of the southern sky".

And yes, I do have satellite. And if you look at where the dish is, well.....
it does not have "a clear view of the southern sky".

Curious
-Mike Z.

 

[SnowRidge]

Yes, trees will block a DBS signal. You may be able receive through deciduous trees in the winter, but you will lose the signal come spring. It only takes one tree, if it is between the satellite and the dish.

You are probably looking over the trees, but you may not realize it. On some of the dishes, the real elevation angle is higher than the apparent angle because of the way they are constructed. Our dish is on a deck railing, and it looks like it is pointed directly at a bunch of nearby trees, but in reality it is pointed above them.

Folks are higher latitudes have a tougher time of it, since the satellites are over the equator, and the elevation setting gets lower the further north you are from the equator.

 

[Blagadan]

Yeah, If its a parabolic dish the angle is way higher than it looks...

 

[SnowRidge]

Yeah, If its a parabolic dish the angle is way higher than it looks...

Nice graphic. It illustrates the point very well. Thanks.

 

[jmc]

Hello again,

Thanks for all the good posts. I've been smoldering about this and it would be easy to forget the polite part when I contact them. I'll post back when they respond.

John

 

[randy41]

if i remember correctly there was a signal strength indicator that you could watch on the tv...you could line up your dish using it.

 

[MikePA]

I had DirecTV several years ago and I installed it myself. But this was with the pizza sized dish. My understanding is aiming the dish these days, with multiple satellites, HD signals, not to mention Internet access, it's not as simple as it used to be.

 

[Bird]

I, too, bought my first satellite system (DirecTV) from Circuit City and installed it myself in 1997. I later helped a brother-in-law install his, and when my brother moved, I helped him re-install it.

But now we have Dish satellite TV, our home telephone service, and the DSL Internet service all provide by our phone company, all on one bill, and a young fellow came out and did the installation, and apparently did it right.