Installer says it can't be done

1154 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by miketorse, Aug 15, 2008

ebeck88

Discussion Starter · Aug 15, 2008

Greetings everyone, my first post.

I signed up for DTV and selected an HDDVR install. Installer came today and said he can't do it, can't get a good signal because of trees. Long story short a supervisor installer is coming on the weekend to see if it can be done.

I think it can be done, but the installer said part of the roof where it might work is too high and steep. Fair enough, I said to leave me the equipment and I would do it myself. He refused saying he could get in trouble. Didn't push too hard, but called Directv and said if these guys aren't willing to go up there, if they could just send me the equipment I would be happy to do it myself. They said the only way they could do that is if they cancelled my order and I just bought equipment from Best Buy or Costco etc, and then call them up for new order.

I have no problem doing this, but would I lose out on all of the DTV offers? I liked the premier package with the free HDDVR. If I buy from Best buy I'm going to have to put out the money up front and then I might not get the 4 months package free. Anyone know how this works? What does Best Buy require when you buy a receiver from them? Thanks

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curt8403

· #2 · Aug 15, 2008

ebeck88 said:
Greetings everyone, my first post.

I signed up for DTV and selected an HDDVR install. Installer came today and said he can't do it, can't get a good signal because of trees. Long story short a supervisor installer is coming on the weekend to see if it can be done.

I think it can be done, but the installer said part of the roof where it might work is too high and steep. Fair enough, I said to leave me the equipment and I would do it myself. He refused saying he could get in trouble. Didn't push too hard, but called Directv and said if these guys aren't willing to go up there, if they could just send me the equipment I would be happy to do it myself. They said the only way they could do that is if they cancelled my order and I just bought equipment from Best Buy or Costco etc, and then call them up for new order.

I have no problem doing this, but would I lose out on all of the DTV offers? I liked the premier package with the free HDDVR. If I buy from Best buy I'm going to have to put out the money up front and then I might not get the 4 months package free. Anyone know how this works? What does Best Buy require when you buy a receiver from them? Thanks

unless your locals come from 119 all you need is a 4 degree window centered on 101
HD comes from 99 and 103 now

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davring

· #3 · Aug 15, 2008

Trouble is most installers aren't able to align the dish without seeing 119.

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Mertzen

· #4 · Aug 15, 2008

davring said:
Trouble is most installers aren't able to align the dish without seeing 119.

They must be idiots then. It can easily be done without 119. They are just afraid of the back charge.

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ebeck88

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 15, 2008

The locals would be Detroit, not sure what satellite those are on

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Johnnie5000

· #6 · Aug 15, 2008

Mertzen said:
They must be idiots then. It can easily be done without 119. They are just afraid of the back charge.

You're right on that. Out of the hundreds of 5lnb dishes I've aligned, I've used the 119 twice.

Doesn't HDNet and ESPN2-HD still come off of the 119? I know the 110 is basically emptied out.

And nobody here has seen the LOS issue at hand. Could be legit, may not be. Don't know.

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flipptyfloppity

· #7 · Aug 15, 2008

Johnnie5000 said:
You're right on that. Out of the hundreds of 5lnb dishes I've aligned, I've used the 119 twice.

Doesn't HDNet and ESPN2-HD still come off of the 119? I know the 110 is basically emptied out.

And nobody here has seen the LOS issue at hand. Could be legit, may not be. Don't know.

Starting last week, if you have an MPEG-4 receiver, you get HDNet and ESPN2-HD off 99(c). Just tune to them up in the 200-400s instead of in the 70s.

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ebeck88

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 15, 2008

Anyone know about the offers if I sign up after buying retail and installing it myself?

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Grydlok

· #9 · Aug 15, 2008

Mertzen said:
They must be idiots then. It can easily be done without 119. They are just afraid of the back charge.

So they shouldn't be afraid of a charge back?

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Mertzen

· #10 · Aug 15, 2008

ebeck88 said:
Anyone know about the offers if I sign up after buying retail and installing it myself?

I'd talk to a local dealer first. See if they can come out for a survey.

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Tiger62

· #11 · Aug 15, 2008

ebeck88 said:
Greetings everyone, my first post.

I signed up for DTV and selected an HDDVR install. Installer came today and said he can't do it, can't get a good signal because of trees. Long story short a supervisor installer is coming on the weekend to see if it can be done.

I think it can be done, but the installer said part of the roof where it might work is too high and steep. Fair enough, I said to leave me the equipment and I would do it myself. He refused saying he could get in trouble. Didn't push too hard, but called Directv and said if these guys aren't willing to go up there, if they could just send me the equipment I would be happy to do it myself. They said the only way they could do that is if they cancelled my order and I just bought equipment from Best Buy or Costco etc, and then call them up for new order.

I have no problem doing this, but would I lose out on all of the DTV offers? I liked the premier package with the free HDDVR. If I buy from Best buy I'm going to have to put out the money up front and then I might not get the 4 months package free. Anyone know how this works? What does Best Buy require when you buy a receiver from them? Thanks

Here's what I did and you can do the same...

1. Get on eBay or go to SolidSignal and buy a Slimline 5LNB dish.

2. Rent an Acutrak III meter here for 10 days for $50.

3. Install the dish yourself and aim it with the meter.

4. Call Directv and set up an install. Don't mention that you already have a dish.

5. When the tech comes for the install, tell him that you had to buy a replacement dish for a daughter who hit hers with a car and you just went ahead and put it up to save them some time. Ask them to just "swap" the dish they brought for the one already installed so you can fix your daughter's problem. They'll most likely be happy to leave you the dish and not have to do an install on the roof. Be sure that they leave you ALL of the dish parts necessary for an installation (ie. dish, LNBs, Az/El mount, monopoles, hardware)

6. Sell the dish they leave you on eBay...you've broken even except maybe for shipping and the meter rental. (Luckily, I found someone who let me borrow a meter

)

I had absolutely zero problems doing this.

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Igor

· #12 · Aug 15, 2008

Mertzen said:
They must be idiots then. It can easily be done without 119. They are just afraid of the back charge.

There are only two ways to receive from the Ka-Band satellites and not require 119 deg:

1) Slimline5 plus a SWM module or the Slimline5 with built-in SWM
2) Slimline3

A traditional install of a Slimline5 requires 119 deg because the guide data will come from 119 deg.

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miketorse

· #13 · Aug 15, 2008

I have a traditional install of a Slimline5 without 119, I get my channel guide from 101 in the middle of the night by setting it like that.

Edit: By setting both my tuners to record SD, is what I really meant to say.

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