[Watrat]

Good evening,
Was wondering if people could throw some suggestions my way about a mounting problem that I seem to have with regard to the new 5lnb dish. My current 3lnb is mounted on an extender arm to the top of my chimney. When the installers came out they eyeballed it from the ground and said "nope, dish is too big and it won't mount that way." They were already 5 hours late and were in a hurry. They suggested throwing it up on my brand new roof as being the "only" other place it would work. Does this seem logical and, short of getting comcast as they suggested, is there someway to keep my current mount and put the new dish on that? Chimney bands?? They did have in their truck a stink pipe mount but they didn't want to use that because of the wind.
Is there any solution here or should I give up hope? In my previous two installs of dishes..the one lnb and three lnb it always seems that the subcontractor finds some excuse for not wanting to do the job and its much complaining and supervisors having to come out and Directv themselves coming out. Am recovering from surgery and not in the fighting mood at the moment, especially if its a lost cause.

Thanks

Tom

 

[JonFo]

My suggestion is to hire your own installer to do it. D* pays these guys too little for an install, so there is no motivation to do something 'hard'.

My first installer looked at my chimney mount (3LNB dish) and said it had to go elsewhere. I pushed back and forced him to do it there (greenback persuasion method).

 

[travelswiss]

Watrat, I had D* installers come out yesterday and tell me the only place they could put my Slimline dish is the Chimney- but there are trees in the way on this side of the house so when they left I still had a single LNB dish. I called the original pro installer of my current dish, and he is mounting to the brick on Monday. D* is also picking up the bill for his install.

 

[Tyrod]

Good evening,
Was wondering if people could throw some suggestions my way about a mounting problem that I seem to have with regard to the new 5lnb dish. My current 3lnb is mounted on an extender arm to the top of my chimney. When the installers came out they eyeballed it from the ground and said "nope, dish is too big and it won't mount that way." They were already 5 hours late and were in a hurry. They suggested throwing it up on my brand new roof as being the "only" other place it would work. Does this seem logical and, short of getting comcast as they suggested, is there someway to keep my current mount and put the new dish on that? Chimney bands?? They did have in their truck a stink pipe mount but they didn't want to use that because of the wind.
Is there any solution here or should I give up hope? In my previous two installs of dishes..the one lnb and three lnb it always seems that the subcontractor finds some excuse for not wanting to do the job and its much complaining and supervisors having to come out and Directv themselves coming out. Am recovering from surgery and not in the fighting mood at the moment, especially if its a lost cause.

Thanks

Well, it might depend on the kind chimney you have. I'm envisioning a red brick rectangular chimney in good to excellent condition. If so, I really don't see an issue with it. The AT9 dish is heavier than the older 3LNB dish, but its much lighter than the Direcway (Hughesnet) dish and the Direcway dish gets mounted in some pretty precarious positions.
Tom

We know from alot of annecdotal evidence that there are quite a few uncooperative installers out there. Some of 'em got slapped down pretty hard a few months ago for gouging customers on "custom" installations. It could be that he didn't have the hardware to do the chimney installation. I'd be reluctant to have holes in my roof. Let me change that, I WON'T have holes in my roof, if there's an alternative method.

Assuming there isn't anything weird about your chimney or it is constructed of light gauge steel, it's do-able. I'd complain that the installer suggested you change to cable as an alternative. In any event, you need to get another installer.

 

[Watrat]

Good evening,
Thanks for the replies. According to the installers the reason they wouldn't use my current mount is that the wind would push around the bigger dish. Does that make sense? I wish I could say that I have never had issues with this particular sub contractor..its funny how many complaining calls it takes to get someone to do the job that the subs say can't be done.
As far as hiring my own installer..I would be all for that. How would I find one in my area and what about the equipment? I bought the dvr through directv and they took it back with them.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Tom

PS. I guess what I am wondering...if there are no line of sight problems is it in fact possible to mount on top of a chimney or is wind really the issue? if it is can anything be used to protect it in place?

 

[bobnielsen]

The AT-9 installation manual shows an example of installing on a brick chimney with a strap mount.

 

[memory]

WE ARE TOLD as installers on this that CHIMNEY mounts are a NO NO and that if we do this that we will fail a QC sooo any installer that says he cant do it isnt lying cause DTV says that is a automatic QC fail sooooo take it up with DTV!!! PLUS I wont mount them on there either

 

[Watrat]

WE ARE TOLD as installers on this that CHIMNEY mounts are a NO NO and that if we do this that we will fail a QC sooo any installer that says he cant do it isnt lying cause DTV says that is a automatic QC fail sooooo take it up with DTV!!! PLUS I wont mount them on there either

Can I ask why chimneys are a supposed no no then?

 

[greenie95125]

Good evening,
Was wondering if people could throw some suggestions my way about a mounting problem that I seem to have with regard to the new 5lnb dish. My current 3lnb is mounted on an extender arm to the top of my chimney. When the installers came out they eyeballed it from the ground and said "nope, dish is too big and it won't mount that way." They were already 5 hours late and were in a hurry. They suggested throwing it up on my brand new roof as being the "only" other place it would work. Does this seem logical and, short of getting comcast as they suggested, is there someway to keep my current mount and put the new dish on that? Chimney bands?? They did have in their truck a stink pipe mount but they didn't want to use that because of the wind.
Is there any solution here or should I give up hope? In my previous two installs of dishes..the one lnb and three lnb it always seems that the subcontractor finds some excuse for not wanting to do the job and its much complaining and supervisors having to come out and Directv themselves coming out. Am recovering from surgery and not in the fighting mood at the moment, especially if its a lost cause.

Thanks

Tom

That's bull! I mounted my AT9 with concrete anchors to the side of my brick chimney. We've had some pretty decent winds since then, and it's solid as a rock. I kept telling myself that I'd use a strap as well, but never got around to it. I probably won't bother at this point. I epoxied the anchors in the holes as well.

Ever since I had an installer come to my house, to install e*, and put holes in my roof (in the rain), crawled under my house to run coax w/out a crawl suit (tracking dry dirt EVERYWHERE), and just doing a lousy job on the install overall... I do my own work. I was a customer of e* for less than two days, and that was the main reason. It took my wife and I almost all of the next day to clean up after this guy. For that trouble e* offered me nothing... until I told them to cancel my account. Then they tried, but to no avail.

I've been with d* ever since.

--Mike

 

[Watrat]

Hey Mike,
Thanks for the reply..I think the only difference would be that the new dish would be mounted to an extender so it has a clear line of sight. When I first got directv the installers didn't know how to drill into brick...and they wore out their drill bits because they didn't realize that they had to put anchors in first...true story. 5 years later when I got hd the first installer refused to even touch a chimney...his supervisor came out and said there was al ine of sight and he would get someone else..that installer said that he isn't allowed to drill into a chimney. Eventually someone in a directv truck showed up and said theres no reason they couldn't install it and he put an extender arm so there were no issues.
Like I mentioned I would get my own installer out here if I knew where to look.

 

[travelswiss]

Hey Mike,
Like I mentioned I would get my own installer out here if I knew where to look.

I'd do a google search with your city's name and satellite. Look for a company that does both corporate and residential installs. I'd also post the city on this site, there may be dbs members who know of someone. Good luck.

 

[Watrat]

Am looking in the Watertown, Ma area. Would they also supply the equipment? dish and hddvr? The one I purchased thru directv was taken back with their installers. Would further complaining to directv do anything?

 

[travelswiss]

Am looking in the Watertown, Ma area. Would they also supply the equipment? dish and hddvr? The one I purchased thru directv was taken back with their installers. Would further complaining to directv do anything?

I'd call these guys, and if they won't do it ask for a referral to someone who can, or maybe one of their installers would be willing to take the job on the weekend.

http://www.planetsatellite.com/aboutus.html

Yes, I would call D* and complain that they need to pay for an install that their installers don't have the skills for.

 

[tejohnson]

Similar situation here. The installer did not want to mount the AT9 where my dual is currently located since there is no LOS to the bird at 72.5°, but a clear LOS to the 99°-119°. (see attachment) He claimed that it was required to receive the MPEG-4 broadcasts. He was requiring the dish to be mounted on my roof, or moving the post to the front of my house (which faces south).

The thing that irked me most is that he was completely unwilling to check the signal strength, and acted as if I was lying when I claimed I currently was getting 96% signal on my HR20. I hesitate to call this installer "professional".

I called d* and they compensated me for the costs of a new slimline and multiswitch that I will install, after I described the experience with the installer (through customer retention I believe).

The installer had not heard of the slimline, nor seen the HR20.

I'm more of an opinion that this was due to lack of training for the installer and asked d* to send them updated info, etc. It may not be fair to criticize some of these installers for this very reason...

 

[D-Bamatech]

Funny, that Not a one of these posts i read here amaze me in the slightest.

You guys only know what goes on due to "what happened @ your house" And what these forums depict.

You guys ought to ride to MULTIPLE houses ALL Month long and SEE this mess
as i do.

It is simply a Joke! (and that word is NOT just an adjective it IS a FACT)

If You dont have the nominal install, there is NO sence in calling 1800 D* for a damnn thing But to get irrate and "ticked" in the end.

Use Local Installers and threaten (OR actual do) to cancel service over their approved insufficient joke of a install network. Make D* give Back what their RAPE took. Im Going to the point to where the cust's ARE making money Not paying money over this mess. Im Paid a viable wage and D* reimburses the Cust to a point to where Money is MADE . This is Not a one time affair either it IS religious.

"they" (D*) wanted to regulate and control w/ these No BID contract holding HSP's/Msp's & Underpaid threatened Kids. SO make them Pay For It!

BTW 2 so far this week Behind the HSP/ MSP for myself alone. (yesterdays had 4 No call no shows behind it as a fact)

 

[Watrat]

Funny, that Not a one of these posts i read here amaze me in the slightest.

You guys only know what goes on due to "what happened @ your house" And what these forums depict.

You guys ought to ride to MULTIPLE houses ALL Month long and SEE this mess
as i do.

It is simply a Joke! (and that word is NOT just an adjective it IS a FACT)

If You dont have the nominal install, there is NO sence in calling 1800 D* for a damnn thing But to get irrate and "ticked" in the end.

Use Local Installers and threaten (OR actual do) to cancel service over their approved insufficient joke of a install network. Make D* give Back what their RAPE took. Im Going to the point to where the cust's ARE making money Not paying money over this mess. Im Paid a viable wage and D* reimburses the Cust to a point to where Money is MADE . This is Not a one time affair either it IS religious.

"they" (D*) wanted to regulate and control w/ these No BID contract holding HSP's/Msp's & Underpaid threatened Kids. SO make them Pay For It!

BTW 2 so far this week Behind the HSP/ MSP for myself alone. (yesterdays had 4 No call no shows behind it as a fact)

So, what are you suggesting? I take it you are an installer? What should we do as customers dealing with this type of thing?

 

[memory]

I dont know why DTV tells us not to mount on a chimney I dont see a problem with it BUT we are told to NOT install this dish on a CHIMNEY and thats the bottom line and if you want to know why then feel free to call premier com in st louis mo and ask them

 

[Watrat]

I dont know why DTV tells us not to mount on a chimney I dont see a problem with it BUT we are told to NOT install this dish on a CHIMNEY and thats the bottom line and if you want to know why then feel free to call premier com in st louis mo and ask them

Is that just for the 5lnb dishes or just any dish in general?

 

[bwaldron]

So, what are you suggesting? I take it you are an installer? What should we do as customers dealing with this type of thing?

I won't use the company D* contracts with down here. While I'm sure there are some good folks working for them, they are generally awful.

If you can't do the work yourself, you can have a local independent installer do the work for you. Will cost a bit more, but you'll get better quality work. If you're a long-time customer with D*, you may well be able to get them to reimburse you for some or all of the expense.

 

[iceman2a]

DirectTech mounted my dish to a chimney! So they must not have gotten the directive from D* not to! Had they refused I would have had them leave the dish and I would have done it myself!