Installer Problem, Insight Needed! Sorry Venting..Long Post!

[scully3512]

Ok my setup is 18X20 Directv Dish with 3 room install, one of them being a 2 tuner Sony SAT-T60 Directivo.

I have Toshiba HDTV but no HDTV receiver yet but wanted to be future friendly for when I did get one.

I just moved and used the Directv movers connection and have so far gotten quite the run around from the company Directv sent out to do my install.

My sister has lived next door to house I just moved into for about 7 years and we have seen the home owner before last have a Directv dish on a pole in front yard and last homeowner had one and left a single lnb directv dish on the roof. My sister herself has a single lnb directv dish on her roof. So my dilemna is this.

1st installer comes out and says no way on the 18x20 getting a signal off of all 3 satellites. Ok I am not happy but I will deal. There is alot of trees and I was afraid there would be problem with line of sight. But somewhere along the line after seeing where we wanted lines ran to we miscommunicate something and while I think guy is getting something in his truck, he is pulling out of my driveway. I call Movers Connection back and they said they will reschedule with another installer. So I have
1-5 pm appt and g/f has root canal and I get there at 1:05 to find installer was there and left sorry we missed you card. So I reschedule one more time. 3rd guy says he is concerned we won't get past trees. I ask about dish currently on roof and he says they don't get on roof. He talks about pole in yard maybe getting a signal or someone coming out to do a roof install but for right now he has no line of sight and he wrote they need to send someone out to check current dish on roof and check signal from there and maybe a pole install in front yard. I sign paper and he says he might be the one coming back tomorrow.

Tomorrow comes and I call to verify appointment and they tell me sorry 3 guys have said no line of sight and they aren't coming out and they don't do anything on the roof. My problem with this is the 2nd guy couldn't have done much to be honest if he wasn't there but 5 minuntes and probably took 2 filling out sorry we missed you card. 1st guy didn't say no line of sight on anything just the 18x20 and unfortunately we had hard time understanding him so have no idea what happened with him cause we didn't sign off on anything. 3rd guy was nice and gave me hope and indicated there was a chance but someone was needed on roof to check current dish and once that was done and ruled in or out maybe they could do something on pole in front of yard. I don't understand how I got to no line of sight, we sent 3 guys and your out of luck.

Directv didn't see my point of view right away until I said I understand I have lots of trees but no one even got on the roof. No one has even checked current dish on the roof. I never saw either of the 2 guys take out a compass or any kind of signal equipment at all. 1st guy stood in lawn and 3rd guy actually did walk around and give me hope. So now Directv says hire a professional installer to do site survey and they will reimburse me. Aren't the people they send out professionals?

The initial install I had at my other house was excellent. Dude wouldn't do roof install but he had equipment that gave him signal strength and he walked around yard with me and showed me best places to try and put it.

My problem is I have called several people in the yellow pages and alot say they don't do roof installs. Is this a new standard? If I had a ladder tall enough to get on roof I would. That is why I wanted professional installer. Can someone give me some insight into how I can find a professional installer preferably one not affiliated with last company that came to my house.

Thanks and sorry for the length. I love my directv and tivo and would hate to loose and will deal if I have to because of tree coverage but not until someone at least does more than a half**s
job of attempting to get a signal.

[boba]

If you have a dish already mounted try looking for the cable from that dish and connect your receiver to it. If you have a signal you already have half your answer, you can receive 101.

[scully3512]

We tried hooking up cable that we think is attached to dish on roof. No go!

Could be the no line of sight or could be the previous homeowners creative wiring. I guess I will have to get my
fat**s on the roof somehow.....LOL.

Any suggestions if the current roof mount won't clear the trees?

A guy down the street has less coverage behind his house than mine but he has a tripod mount on his roof extending the height of dish about 4 feet taller than just being on roof.

I am assuming he did this himself since I can't get an installer to get on my roof let alone do an unconventional install with a tripod.

Looking for any ideas on how to get around a line of sight issue because trees might be too tall in my back yard. I have got lots of info today and am going to take the plunge and get on roof to see what I see. But if things don't look good will be looking for ideas cause I do not want to give up my DTV and TIVO....LOL.

Thanks for anymore input I get.

[xgrep]

Any suggestions if the current roof mount won't clear the trees?Cut down a tree?

Seriously, if the current roof mount doesn't clear (and why would it be there if it didn't?) then you either remove trees or put in a pole somewhere or find some other line of sight.
A guy down the street has less coverage behind his house than mine but he has a tripod mount on his roof extending the height of dish about 4 feet taller than just being on roof.This is not a long-term strategy, because trees grow. It gives you some time, how much depending on how much clearance and what kind of tree.

If I had to guess, I'd say you might get lucky with the current roof setup. The fact that you didn't get a signal could mean you found the wrong wire, or that it's disconnected somewhere, or that the LNB is bad, or that there's a bad connection, etc. But the only way you'll know is to get on the roof with a compass and see if you can get a rough idea whether the satellite should be visible from there. As you well know, this is not a very complicated issue, you just need to get a line of sight.

As to installers, I think it's safe to say that most won't do roof work, though you shouldn't give up on this. Call around, if you have to.

Good luck.

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[scully3512]

Well I am going to try and get on roof but also took my oval dish on a pole from my previous house so hoping to see if I have any luck with that in our front yard somewhere.

Unfortunately cutting down trees would be expensive since these trees are huge in the sense of tall and there are at least a dozen of them in a mass in the direction I need to point.

In theory does anyone have a general idea of how high a pole mount in the yard can be. Mind you I have no Home Owners Association to deal with so that won't be a problem.

Also what about the concept of putting a dish on my sisters roof next door and running the cable over if she has a line of sight.
Not something I would like to do because of length of cable runs and the prospect of how to actually run them but I am desperate for ideas with no help from an installer as of yet.

Thanks for the ideas I am getting though they are helping me build up the courage to get up on that roof somehow...LOL.

[xgrep]

In theory does anyone have a general idea of how high a pole mount in the yard can be.This is purely a local zoning matter. Every community can potentially have their own rules on this. No way to know what your situation is. A call to your town hall (or equivalent) should get you the answer.

Also what about the concept of putting a dish on my sisters roof next door and running the cable over if she has a line of sight.That's not necessarily a terrible idea. If the distance isn't too long (up to 50', maybe), you could just string some RG6. If it's longer than that, you might need a steel cable for support, because coax isn't strong enough to support its own weight over long distances.

Don't give up on finding an installer to climb on the roof, though. Unless you really have very little choice, there should be somebody who will do it. There are people who will install conventional antennas, and some of these should be competent to put up a dish.

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[scully3512]

Thanks xgrep I have a line on someone finally in my area who is willing to get on the roof and he claims he is creative and works with hard line of sight setups all the time. I am hoping there is hope.

My sisters roof would be last resort as would getting someone to cut down these monster trees.

Anybody here had trees cut down? I assume it's generally expensive if trees are large and in area where they can't just cut em and watch em fall....LOL.

[Bob Haller]

Our neighborhood has a home handyman tree trimmer. Most neighborhoods do. You might ask around.

[xgrep]

Anybody here had trees cut down? I assume it's generally expensive if trees are large and in area where they can't just cut em and watch em fall....LOL.Tree cutting expense varies incredibly by location. Where my parents live in the NYC area, and where we live in SF Bay area, it's fairly expensive. When we lived in rural MA, it was dirt cheap, even if the tree was a tall oak close to the house.

All things considered, I will always prefer a solution that doesn't involve cutting down trees unless you needed to and planned to have them cut, anyway. Not just the expense. Trees are incredible things that take a lifetime to replace. A dish on a pole is preferable to cutting down trees unless that's clearly the best thing to do.

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[scully3512]

Trees are incredible things that take a lifetime to replace. A dish on a pole is preferable to cutting down trees unless that's clearly the best thing to do.

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I agree xgrep. I would be a last resort and even then I don't know if I would do it for just Directv...LOL. Though my backyard with so many trees and so much rain could be considered a hazard since not to long ago one of the neighbors had a tree similiar to some of mine, fall in his backyard. The tree was huge and luckily fell in the opposite direction of his house and just tore down a fence and some other trees.

I am beginning to think Directv dish on roof did work but tree growth has prevented it from working anymore since there is what looks like a very small line of sight window on my roof. Maybe some serious cutting down of tops of some trees would help and not be too expensive.

Here is hoping! I will post back any new results in case anyone is interested.

[scully3512]

I am in luck, finally found someone after searching the web for a week. He came to my house last night and got on my lower roof with his handy dandy expensive satellite thingy and ta da! He doesn't think it will be a problem getting my dish up and installed and a signal.

He isn't sure about the Phase III Triple LNB but he will try. He even thinks it could be done from yard but since there is dish on roof he says it should be good up there too. He indicated he would probably move dish over some to get better signal. Plus he said since my trees are Pines he doesn't think tree growth will be a problem for a while.

He does all kinds of installs but is a Dish Network retailer. He indicated I had enough clearance I might could even get a signal for the Dish Network dish even though it's lower in sky than Directv. Professionally he prefers Dish but he has no problem doing my Directv setup for me.....woohooo. I am so happy.

Thank you all for listening to me vent!!!!!

[xgrep]

I am in luck, finally found someone after searching the web for a week. He came to my house last night and got on my lower roof with his handy dandy expensive satellite thingy and ta da! He doesn't think it will be a problem getting my dish up and installed and a signal.Excellent news! Where there's a will ...

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