[racemanva]

Good morning, have the D* tech at the house and he is installing my HR-20, anyway, he says there is an addtional 50 dollar charge to run the additional cable from the dish to the receiver. Is this normal? Not *****ing, but don't want to be taken either. Thanks. GO BEARS!

 

[qlanus]

Good morning, have the D* tech at the house and he is installing my HR-20, anyway, he says there is an addtional 50 dollar charge to run the additional cable from the dish to the receiver. Is this normal? Not *****ing, but don't want to be taken either. Thanks. GO BEARS!

There should be no additional charges associated with running cables, unless the work is characterized as 'custom'. Typically the installers will just run the cables along the outside of the house and punch a hole through the outside wall into the room where your receiver is located. If you asked for something more aesthetically pleasing, like running the cable behind the wall, there may be a charge associated with it.

Good luck.

 

[Brantel]

Here is what D* says about installs:

You'll receive a professional installation from a highly trained installer, who will properly mount, align and peak your dish on your roof, balcony or other location within 100 feet of your TV. The installer will only use DIRECTV-approved materials, including RG 6 cable, switches and connectors, and will connect your receiver(s) to your TV and DVR, VCR or DVD player. The installer will also connect your receiver(s) to a phone line in your home and will ground your system to meet local/NEC requirements.

He should not charge you additional unless he is fishing the wire down thru a wall or the cable run is over the distance above. Call D* and tell them he is trying to rip you if he is and have them straighten him out.

 

[n3ntj]

D*'s contract installers (Ironwood) do not know the requirements of the NEC (National Electric Code), namely sections 810 and 820. The D* literature says the system will be installed to local/NEC requirements.

My neighbor's system was installed by Ironwood and the installer installed it on the rear of his home and only ran a 14 gage copper wire to a nearby water spigot (sticking out the rear of his home) as a ground line. The installer didn't ask if the home had metal plumbing, which it doesn't. NEC requires the satellite system's exterior components be bonded either to the home's main electrical system ground rod, OR another 8' long copper ground rod may be installed at the dish but the new ground rod must be bonded to the main electrical system ground rod using at least 10 AWG copper. A water spigot may ONLY be used as the '2ndary ground' if it is metal pipe AND in contact with the ground for more than 10' as well as bonding to main service ground.

For 6 months, the system was in effect never grounded. One day I happen to wander over and see it and since I knew his home had PEX plumbing (not copper) and I saw no other ground wire from the dish/coax grounding block to his electrical system ground rod, I suggested he call D* to have it corrected. It took 4 months (12 service calls) for D*/Ironwood to correct it. Each time I was there to show the Ironwood genius how the NEC requires it be installed. He had no idea even what NEC stood for, let alone what the code requires.

I would be interested to know if Ironwood/D* is liable if a home is destroyed by fire due to a nearby lightning strike or a person is shocked and/or killed due to the improper install of the satellite system. A properly grounded system is needed to help prevent this.

D* needs to check into this Ironwood outfit bigtime.

 

[stogie5150]

Down here in the New Orleans area I've never seen one that IS grounded. Mine isn't, my neighbors isn't....it just isn't done down here....dunno why....

 

[Tom Robertson]

While this is a bit OT, since we've diverged into grounding, I want to add another reason grounding is important. One time I had Ironwood do an install, I got the local supervisor and we had a blast swapping wiring stories, tricks, etc. (He now sends his newbies to my house to see how things should be done right...)

One thing he taught me is that dish grounding is very important, even if the dish is below the eaves and not subject to lightning strikes. Wind across the dish will build up a static charge (and remember, the new dishes are bigger surfaces) that can cause problems to a system--and at unexpected times when there isn't a storm anywhere in the area. So, I now ground my dish everytime and he instructs all his installers to as well. (Tho, I have seen one who was in too big of a hurry and forgot the master's instruction...)

Cheers,
Tom

 

[satguy22]

Some companys provide thier installers with all they need to do the install,other installers pay out of thier pockets for everything that goes into that install. They charge for pole mounts and wall fishes, any custom work the customer wants. DTV gives an outline of what these charges can be, most stay below the highest that DTV has approved. DTVs free install includes, dish mounted on eves of home and grounded, cable run to drectv reciever throu floor or outside wall (if tv next to out outside wall). Can not run across door ways. Grounding is a must accordind to code.

 

[n3ntj]

Hi Tibber and SatGuy:

You are both 100% right.

The NEC requires professional satellite installers to install their systems to NEC parts 810 and 820. D* says these systems, when professionally installed, will be to local/NEC requirements. I don't know if one can actually say D*/Ironwood is actually breaking the law or what (either due to fraud or code violations or both).

Ironwood is a joke and I can't believe D* has a contract with this joke of a company. Can you say liability?

 

[BillyBob_jcv]

Yet another reason I completely wired my house to a location immediately inside from where I wanted the dish mounted. All the installer had to do was mount & point the dish, and run about 6 feet of cable from the dish through a vent into the garage to the multiswitch. I wanted that installer in my house as little as possible!