[Justin23]

I just had the D* install done at my apartment today. The tech was AMAZING. He was with Mastec and was nothing short of professional. I have heard the good and bad with Mastec but this guy was awesome! He called me prior to arriving to make sure I would be home. I live in an apartment and he was having trouble getting s signal out on my porch because of the strange angle to the 101 bird. He was just barely getting 70 signal strength but then all of a sudden..BAM...94 strength signal. He even did a tripod mount for FREE! This was my 2nd appointment because the tech I had out on Sunday said it was impossible to get LOS without cutting down a tree...which my complex wasn't going to do. They are going to trim some of the branches back so my signal should be higher than it is now. I had a fairly easy setup with an R16 DVR and just one TV that was less than 10 feet from the dish. I wish more folks installs went this well because mine was incredible! Here is my signal strength on the transponders:

1-8 89 86 87 0 89 92 87 87
9-16 89 85 87 76 89 93 87 93
17-24 90 0 90 96 89 92 91 94
25-32 90 0 90 99 92 92 90 90

I was surprised that he was able to get the signals this good with where the dish was placed. Check out the pics and tell me what you think.

J

 

[Justin23]

Here are some more pics and the last one shows what he had to shoot the dish through to get a signal.

J

 

[Mertzen]

I am not all too fond about the loose wire on the floor, the lack of a service loop at the dish or the apparent lack of grounding. But is looks like you live in a complex where too much wire and drilling might not be possible.

 

[Justin23]

He said it was not possible to ground the dish due to it being on the porch. I don't think he wanted to skip the grounding because he was lazy. He spent 30 minutes trying to find a signal through those trees.

J

 

[Justin23]

And what is a "service loop"

J

 

[Birdman79]

You might want to grab a couple of cinder blocks to support the legs on the tripod.

 

[Birdman79]

I am not all too fond about the loose wire on the floor, the lack of a service loop at the dish or the apparent lack of grounding. But is looks like you live in a complex where too much wire and drilling might not be possible.

There's a service loop right underneath the dish .

 

[Justin23]

He drilled and bolted the tripod right into the concrete of my porch.

J

 

[Mertzen]

And what is a "service loop"

J

Extra wire at the dish for future use. It is indeed there though. Missed it before.

 

[Justin23]

Are my signal strengths pretty good considering what he had to shoot the dish though?

J

 

[davring]

They look great, enjoy

 

[Justin23]

So I live in Orlando and had some pretty heavy rain move through just within the last hour or two and I never lost signal. My signal strengths dropped into the 50s and a few transponders into the upper 30s but no pixelation, no audio drops...nothing. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that my dish is sitting covered in my porch? Do dishes exposed to the elements have more frequent loss of signal than those under cover? Just curious

J

 

[Mertzen]

Do dishes exposed to the elements have more frequent loss of signal than those under cover? Just curious

For rain fade not really. That is mostly affected by the interference between the dish and the sat.

Now as for snow / ice buildup a covered dish is better. But i doubt you'll ever get affected by either of those. :grin:

 

[Justin23]

So its normal to see the signal strengths in the menu drop during a rainstorm? I know it will probably vary but at what approximate level (number) should I expect to see the rain fade?

J

 

[Mertzen]

So its normal to see the signal strengths in the menu drop during a rainstorm? I know it will probably vary but at what approximate level (number) should I expect to see the rain fade?

J

Probably somewhere between below 50-40. Most likely locals will stay in a bit longer since they come of a more powerful spot beam.

 

[kevinm34232]

The install looks good. The trees and angle looked like a challenge, so good job for the installer. I would have done it the same way, you're in a screened porch so you'd have to poke a hole in the screen to ground it even if there was anywhere to ground to. And as far as the wires, the less holes you put in the building the better, as long as it's not unsafe.