Worst D* Dish install?

[Armathius]

I am curious if anyone else has something better then this :). Quick run down. Got my new HD Dish installed on Wed. Friday afternoon the signal went out. I thought maybe the wind knocked it off alignment so I got up on my roof to see if I could fix it. Couldn't believe what I saw. The installer used all zip ties (and only sip ties) to mount the brackets on to the pole (government housing rules require that must go there if there are no obstructions). I honestly wouldn't have minded the zip ties if it were anywhere near stable... moved easily to my touch. Anyhoo... I immediately called D* upset but polite. They said Tuesday was the earliest and gave me a $30 discount (only 30 and nothing else *sigh* maybe I should have been irate as it seems they get taken better care of most times). I then proceeded back to the roof and see if I could align it until then. Got a signal and then on Saturday it was windy and the signal was lost. I went outside and could see the dish swaying in the wind. I couldn't take it. I went to Lowes and bought some hardware and crawled up on the roof and fixed it myself (98 signal woot). Anyhow called D* and canceled the install. I am curious to see some posts of other installers here... I am still upset by this hole debacle. They said they would have someone from QA call me within 72 hours. Pictures are below for the unbelieving... Do I win a prize?

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/DirecTV1.jpghttp://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/DirecTV2.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/DirecTV3.jpghttp://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/DirecTV4.jpg

[Texxen]

Subcontractors.......
Reminds me of the quality of construction work they do here in Texas....

[litzdog911]

And they mounted the dish to your ELECTRICAL service pole!?! Crazy! I hope you moved it to a safer location.

You should also contact the local installation company directly so that your installer receives training to keep this from a happening to other new customers.

[Mike500]

And they mounted the dish to your ELECTRICAL service pole!?! Crazy! I hope you moved it to a safer location.

You should also contact the local installation company directly so that your installer receives training to keep this from a happening to other new customers.

They are apparently using the poles and service entrance heads for satellite TV mounts and cable entries. But, are these grounded? Add, where are the grounding blocks.

They should have used "U" bolts.

[585960]

Man, I would have loved to have been there and watched that techs thought process of how, why and where that was mounted. Genious. Thats the sad part of this biz. Amatuers cloacked in installers uniforms. Sorry it happened.

[HDTVsportsfan]

OMG....:nono2:

Wait till Bamatech see's this one. lol......

[ZoSoAir]

In picture #4 I see your neighbor also has a dish installed on the power conduit. I would be interested in knowing how his (or hers) is installed.

Perhaps you can zoom in on the install if you get a chance.

Wow,

Is this what I have to look foraward to?

[585960]

I hope thats not what you get to look forward to. Mounting to power conduit, WTF? The roof's edge (if a roof mount is allowed, sealed of course) is so much easier to service. Work off the ladder. If not, a quick pipe adapter on a stink pipe in a pinch!!:lol: :lol:

[Mertzen]

Holy crap. This beats by far the " zip tie + ground wire it to the wire fence on a 14 story building " I saw.

We use the two bases on balconies or so. but always with four big bolt. This is sheer madness.

[HDTVsportsfan]

Holy crap. This beats by far the " zip tie + ground wire it to the wire fence on a 14 story building " I saw.

lol....Yea, I remember that one too. The 14 story building wins out only from a safety issue, being a greater risk. Although this one presents some safety issues as well.

[veryoldschool]

I still think the "best one" was the 13th floor balcony in Virgina with it mounted on a 5' pole & the zip tied to the railing [well the support for it]. 37 lbs of dish + the pole, falling 13 stories [130'] @ 32' /sec/sec and people walking underneath.... This still gets my vote for the worst. :D

[Earl Bonovich]

That is really really bad.

[HDTVsportsfan]

I still think the "best one" was the 13th floor balcony in Virgina with it mounted on a 5' pole & the zip tied to the railing [well the support for it]. 37 lbs of dish + the pole, falling 13 stories [130'] @ 32' /sec/sec and people walking underneath.... This still gets my vote for the worst. :D


Yea, that's the one Mertzen is referring too.

[veryoldschool]

Yea, that's the one Mertzen is referring too.
I guess I'm being too much of a tech, as there was no fence & this was "only" 13 floors up. :lol: :lol:

[Mertzen]

Yea, that's the one Mertzen is referring too.

Nah, mine was in the Bronx when I was in OTJ training. I wish I had my camera phone on me that time. :hurah:


Another good one. Two wires with a barrel joining them under about an inch of ice on top of a roof. :nono:

[HDTVsportsfan]

Nah, mine was in the Bronx when I was in OTJ training. I wish I had my camera phone on me that time. :hurah:


Another good one. Two wires with a barrel joining them under about an inch of ice on top of a roof. :nono:

Ooops. Sorry.

I was referring to one in VA. as well.

[paulman182]

Even if it were not electrically dangerous, even if it did not move in the breeze, most cable ties deteriorate in sunlight and will simply fall apart.

[veryoldschool]

Sometimes I do miss my Air Force days... as this type of "work" could get you shot or in jail, as "they" looked on it as sabotage...& during war.. well, you get the point. :)

[veryoldschool]

Even if it were not electrically dangerous, even if it did not move in the breeze, most cable ties deteriorate in sunlight and will simply fall apart.
The black ones are better for UV than the white ones, but really folks tie wraps? :)

[585960]

ok, who has a pic of the 13th floor sat install?:)

[Armathius]

They are apparently using the poles and service entrance heads for satellite TV mounts and cable entries. But, are these grounded? Add, where are the grounding blocks.

They should have used "U" bolts.

Maintenance says the poles are self grounded. It is actually an installers dream (imho). The pole runs down to a distribution center where it has connections to all rooms in the house. I didn't see any grounding blocks... is this something I should worry about?

[HDTVsportsfan]

ok, who has a pic of the 13th floor sat install?:)

Theer is a picture in post #11 of this thread.



http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=77052

[veryoldschool]

ok, who has a pic of the 13th floor sat install?:)
They were posted here about two months ago, but I can't remember the thread name.

[veryoldschool]

Theer is a picture in post #11 of this thread.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=77052
What a memory or database....:D

[HDTVsportsfan]

What a memory or database....:D

Database my friend. It took 10 minutes. I had to do a search for post that I had made. Memory is shot.:grin: :)

[Armathius]

And they mounted the dish to your ELECTRICAL service pole!?! Crazy! I hope you moved it to a safer location.

You should also contact the local installation company directly so that your installer receives training to keep this from a happening to other new customers.

Little clarification here. The houses have all been remodeled and the power and phone lines actually runs underground now.
D* said that they talked to the installation company (they gave me their info if I wanted to contact them) and said that the installer was let go before they even received my issue. (FYI this isn't what I wanted... I am not one of THOSE types)

In picture #4 I see your neighbor also has a dish installed on the power conduit. I would be interested in knowing how his (or hers) is installed.

Perhaps you can zoom in on the install if you get a chance.

Wow,

Is this what I have to look foraward to?

Here is the picture of the neighbors house's dish as requested. As you can see with the posts on this thread, this is not what you have to look forward to. For anyone here looking at this and debating on going D*, I still highly recommend it... even with the install issues, I think it is that good.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/neighbor1.jpg

[HDTVsportsfan]

They were posted here about two months ago, but I can't remember the thread name.

Damn...You were right on about the two months. You missed it by one day.

I retract that, you were dead on. That's scary. You must not be as "old school" as you think.

[Mertzen]

Little clarification here. The houses have all been remodeled and the power and phone lines actually runs underground now. )



Here is the picture of the neighbors house's dish as requested.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/neighbor1.jpg

Not the best but I'd say in this case it could be done worse.

[HDTVsportsfan]

They used U-Bolts at least.

[Mertzen]

Even if it were not electrically dangerous, even if it did not move in the breeze, most cable ties deteriorate in sunlight and will simply fall apart.

Not to mention they become very brittle when temperatures drop below 40. :eek2:

[veryoldschool]

Damn...You were right on about the two months. You missed it by one day.

I retract that, you were dead on. That's scary. You must not be as "old school" as you think.
Pure luck... old age is creeping in ....:D

[Armathius]

OK... I am gonna throw this out here and see what you think. Here is my install fix. My old dish had U-bolts which sometimes let the dish slip a little bit and I would have to go up there and readjust it. I used 4 bolts with wood shims. It is rock steady. It was too damn cold and windy for me to treat the wood... which I plan to do when it becomes warmer to help prevent it from splitting...

OHH! Did I mention that when I removed the LNB and one of the cables just popped right off the connector? This was definitely an experience you want to share. LoL

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/DTVFix3.jpg

[Armathius]

I still think the "best one" was the 13th floor balcony in Virgina with it mounted on a 5' pole & the zip tied to the railing [well the support for it]. 37 lbs of dish + the pole, falling 13 stories [130'] @ 32' /sec/sec and people walking underneath.... This still gets my vote for the worst. :D

LoL I saw the post with the 13 stories one. How can you say that beats mine? Sure its got the wow that could be dangerous factor. But mine has the wth was the installer thinking factor... I think mine should win! :)

[litzdog911]

OK... I am gonna throw this out here and see what you think. Here is my install fix. My old dish had U-bolts which sometimes let the dish slip a little bit and I would have to go up there and readjust it. I used 4 bolts with wood shims. It is rock steady. It was too damn cold and windy for me to treat the wood... which I plan to do when it becomes warmer to help prevent it from splitting...

OHH! Did I mention that when I removed the LNB and one of the cables just popped right off the connector? This was definitely an experience you want to share. LoL

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/DTVFix3.jpg

I wouldn't use wood blocks like that. They will shrink and eventually move. Get some proper U-Bolts.

[veryoldschool]

LoL I saw the post with the 13 stories one. How can you say that beats mine? Sure its got the wow that could be dangerous factor. But mine has the wth was the installer thinking factor... I think mine should win! :)
Well determining the "worst" [or best] would have to have predetermined "categories".
I would still rate the 130' fall onto someone's head high, but YMMV. :D

[Armathius]

I wouldn't use wood blocks like that. They will shrink and eventually move. Get some proper U-Bolts.

That is what I was thinking of doing... when it gets warmer. The woods give a quick fix and will provide great support when I start undoing the setup. The question I have... should I keep both the brackets he put on there? My thoughts on redoing it was to remove the back brace and use 2 U-bolts instead and to put a bracket on the bottom to remove some of the vertical stress on the U-bolts. You guys have much more experience than me! Won't be any time soon though... Like I said... cold and windy up there LoL...

[veryoldschool]

OK... I am gonna throw this out here and see what you think. Here is my install fix. My old dish had U-bolts which sometimes let the dish slip a little bit and I would have to go up there and readjust it. I used 4 bolts with wood shims. It is rock steady. It was too damn cold and windy for me to treat the wood... which I plan to do when it becomes warmer to help prevent it from splitting...
OHH! Did I mention that when I removed the LNB and one of the cables just popped right off the connector? This was definitely an experience you want to share. LoL

I have mine U-bolted to a pole, but you've used part of the old mount. I would go for just the right size U-bolts & skip the other bracket, so the "U" part of the bolt would contact the round pipe. That's what I did with good luck.

[ZoSoAir]

Here is the picture of the neighbors house's dish as requested. As you can see with the posts on this thread, this is not what you have to look forward to. For anyone here looking at this and debating on going D*, I still highly recommend it... even with the install issues, I think it is that good.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/Armathius/DirecTV/neighbor1.jpg[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the comparison picture. I will get a picture together of my own install (that I personally installed). It is comparitive to this and has help for 5 years with no issues.

[ZoSoAir]

I wouldn't use wood blocks like that. They will shrink and eventually move. Get some proper U-Bolts.

Back in my teen days I would have gotten an air ratchet and torqued those lines down until the mount bent. You would never be able to get it apart again, but it would be rock strong.

Sorry to go off topic.

[HDTVsportsfan]

LoL I saw the post with the 13 stories one. How can you say that beats mine? Sure its got the wow that could be dangerous factor. But mine has the wth was the installer thinking factor... I think mine should win! :)


lol...Well dude, I think safety trumps everything else. Like oldschool said. That thing falling thirteen floors may leave a mark if it ever fell over the balcony and hit someone.:blackeye:

[585960]

wow. just saw the 13th floor. speechless........................................ ...........
still speechless........................................ ..............
wow:eek2:

[JLucPicard]

I haven't read the whole thread, but what does the power company think of people mounting things on those masts? I thought that was highly frowned upon?

[veryoldschool]

I haven't read the whole thread, but what does the power company think of people mounting things on those masts? I thought that was highly frowned upon?
Well if you'd done you homework... you would have seen the power is now underground. :D

[davejacobson]

Looks like a NEC violation. I posted this on and electricias site and will see what they have to say. I have been installing for 15yrs and would never ever consider that type of install.

[davejacobson]

10 min 6 replys already nothing good to say NEC code 230.28 Service Masts as Supports. Where a service mast
is used for the support of service-drop conductors, it shall
be of adequate strength or be supported by braces or guys
to withstand safely the strain imposed by the service drop.
Where raceway-type service masts are used, all raceway
fittings shall be identified for use with service masts. Only
power service-drop conductors shall be permitted to be attached
to a service mast.

I read that as a violation Time for an inspector before some gets a big shock!

[Mike500]

Actually, you have a very good situation. If the mast is still grounded to the building ground, you've got it made. All you need is grounding blocks on the cables right before they enter the weatherhead. The grounding block can be connected to a UL listed clamp fastened to the pole.

And, for those quoting NEC violations, the mast is no longer a service mast, since all wiring for that pupose has been transferred to an underground service lateral.

Yes, I am a master electrician.

[veryoldschool]

I'll leave this to you two, as I'm just an RF weenie. :D

[TigersFanJJ]

Actually, you have a very good situation. If the mast is still grounded to the building ground, you've got it made. All you need is grounding blocks on the cables right before they enter the weatherhead. The grounding block can be connected to a UL listed clamp fastened to the pole.

And, for those quoting NEC violations, the mast is no longer a service mast, since all wiring for that pupose has been transferred to an underground service lateral.

Yes, I am a master electrician.

My thoughts exactly. It stopped being a service mast the second the lines were disconnected for the underground electrical to be installed. If it is still grounded, a galvinized ground strap with a few inch long ground wire connected to the ground block would work perfectly.

I'm not a master electrician, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. :lol:

[Mike500]

If I owned the building, I'd cut the pole down at one foot above the roof, take off the weatherhead, and replace it on the one foot pole. That would make a shorter lever arm, making the structure more stable.

The installation gives me a good idea for old and new prewire installs. The pole can be plumbed in an accesible attic. It can be a 2-3 foot stub of 2 inch conduit (2-3/8" actual. Using U bolts, even the AT9 or AU9 mast can be easily installed. The weatherhead cable entry makes for a clean install. The ground wire can be external to the building system ground.

[HDTVsportsfan]

Well, regardless of the NEC code, that was just a crappy install. Using ZIP ties is just classic.

[TigersFanJJ]

Well, regardless of the NEC code, that was just a crappy install. Using ZIP ties is just classic.

For sure. The balcony install was highly dangerous, but at least it was halfway neat. There wasn't anything about this one that wasn't ugly.

[veryoldschool]

The balcony install was highly dangerous, but at least it was halfway neat.
And the other half deadly. :D

[D-Bamatech]

:rolleyes:

[HDTVsportsfan]

:rolleyes:


That's all ya got Bamatech?:)

[JohnVT]

Actually, you have a very good situation. If the mast is still grounded to the building ground, you've got it made. All you need is grounding blocks on the cables right before they enter the weatherhead. The grounding block can be connected to a UL listed clamp fastened to the pole.

And, for those quoting NEC violations, the mast is no longer a service mast, since all wiring for that pupose has been transferred to an underground service lateral.

Yes, I am a master electrician.

but where does the coax go? is the mast still attached to a meter base or breaker panel inside? If a now unused meter base, then the coax isn't inside an electrical panel, and that's probably ok... but if they're inside an active electrical panel that would be a problem and violate the NEC, wouldn't it?
just wondering.

[Armathius]

but where does the coax go? is the mast still attached to a meter base or breaker panel inside? If a now unused meter base, then the coax isn't inside an electrical panel, and that's probably ok... but if they're inside an active electrical panel that would be a problem and violate the NECK, wouldn't it?
just wondering.

The coax runs down to where the breaker box used to be. They have moved the breaker box it to a different location and have made where it used to be into a distribution center. There is absolutely no power distribution done from here any more. It has cable/phone/network distribution that runs from that box into each of the rooms. Pretty snazzy.