24 inch dish question

[LMT]

Hi,

I have had Voom about 2 months now and live in the Cincinnati area. It is great when it doesn't rain (anything from a drizzle to heavy rain) I lose the signal...drops down to 70 and even as low as 20 before during a normal rain shower. I have had techs out here twice (of course this was after about 6 tries cause the techs tires were bald and it was raining, they couldn't find the tech who was supposed to arrive etc). They replaced the 18 inch dish with a 24 inch. I used to get a signal of 95-97 on clear days with the 18 inch dish. My signal is now 85 on clear days with the 24 inch dish. The tech who installed the 24 inch dish said he got a reading of 95 up top (even thought the STB said 83) and said I would be fine. It rained a week later and I could not get any signal. 2nd tech came out and adjusted the dish, and told me that the reason my signal strenth was lower than the 18 inch dish was because the bigger dish does not get as good of signal and said he could put an 18 inch dish back on....I was stunned, either I am really stupid here, or the tech really had no clue. Shouldn't you get a better signal with a bigger dish? I would think so, but afterall he was the "pro" at this so I did not argue. Needless to say it drizzled the next day, and I had no picture. They are coming back this weekend, and could someone just verify with me that a larger dish should get a better signal than a smaller dish?

Thanks!

 

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum! I wouldn't accept anything below 97 (signal quality). From what I've seen posted, the bigger dish should give you better signal when properly adjusted. The signal meter that they are using at the dish is probably tuning to the E* satellite in the same orbital slot, not to the VOOM's Rainbow-1. By the way, I hope they replaced not only the dish itself, but the arm with LNB as well.

 

[LMT]

Thanks Ilya. The guy did have trouble getting it aimed last time. I just wanted to make sure that there was not something I was missing, if they try and tell me again that a larger dish will not get as good of signal as a smaller one. And this was supposedly the best technician at this place Saturday they are supposed to check everything, hopefully they get it fixed.

 

[jimmykce1]

I have had a 30-inch dish installed about to months ago and my signal is 99 on clear days. Now the only time I loss signal is when its really downpouring here in Va.

 

[007BlackMan]

I have the 24" dish and my signal is 96 to 98 on clear days. When it's raining really hard my signal is 94 to 96 and i don't have any loss of signal here in Pa.

 

[LMT]

Well, nobody showed up from the satellite company. This is the 3rd different company that has had people not show up and not call me to let me know anything. So I call Pro Star Digital, they try to call the tech but have to leave him a message. He calls back about 30 minutes later, and says he wasn't coming out today because there is nothing he can do. He says the 24 inch dish must be messed up. He then says I will give you a call back and find out about getting a new dish in. THat was 2 1/2 hours ago, so I doubt I am getting any call back. I am not sure who to contact anymore, I have had 3 different satellite companies from over 100 miles away, and none of them can fix the poor signal I receive now with a 24 inch dish. Maxes out at 85 on sunny days, where my 18 inch dish maxed out at 97. I am about to give up, I have tried for two months to get this fixed, and none of the companies coming actually act like they want to fix anything. The one installer said "installers don't like Voom cause they have to put the OTA antenna up and do not get paid extra for it". Any suggestions on who I contact?

 

[Vreesar]

LMT, I'm not sure what situation you are in but if you are extremely frustrated have someone work with you and try to point the dish yourself using the strength meter on the VOOM STB.

The only thing that could be wrong with the equipment if all they did is swap out your dish and LNB is a defective LNB. (The arm and nob that are on the front of the dish). Also, the arm should be a different length than the one used for the 18" dish.

 

[tdillon]

I had an 18 inch dish originally. When Installs left it had a signal of 88 and I thought that was great until the first overcast day. I lost signal lock. Then I was reading on this forum that others were getting strong 90's on their signal with an 18 inch. I hooked up a cable from the STB and ran it up to the roof and hooked up a small TV set there. I re-aimed the dish and got a steady 97. This was perfect until the first rains hit Southern California. I lost signal completely in the rain. I called Voom and requested a dish upgrade. They sent out Installs to "check the connections". Installs found everything was installed correctly and Installs also requested authorization from Voom for a larger dish. Several days later Voom calls and says that they have approved the larger dish. This Saturday the Installs guy shows up with a Winegard 60 cm dish. Okay, not quite a 24, but over 23.5 inches anyway. He climbs on the roof, takes apart the old assembly and just replaces the dish portion, swapping the 24 inch reflector for the old 18. He puts the old LNB and LNB support arm on and then points the dish. He says "perfect 99". I check the STB. It is only 70. I then realize that the arm and LNB that came in the box with the new dish are still on the ground. I have him replace those two components and he re-aims the dish. He says "over 97 now". I check the STB. It is now 85. I stand outside, looking through the window in the house and start yelling out signal strength to him up on the roof. I insist that he move the antenna around. He at first declines, saying his meter showed him the "perfect" spot. I tell him that if he humors me I have a $20 bill with his name on it. He humors me and shortly we find a true 99 sweet-spot. He tightens everything down and when he gets off the roof the signal is 99, occasionally dropping to 98 every 20 seconds or so. Now I am waiting for rain. He got his $20, but why don't they believe the customers?

 

[LMT]

I probably should have just went up and adjusted it myself, but I really do not have time to mess around with it now. I like the HD content on Voom, but after 2 months of so many times sitting around waiting for techs to show up only having no one arrive, and if they do arrive they don't fix the problem. I know this really isn't Voom, but it is installs inc, either way it reflects on voom. I have no choice but to cancel it, so I am going with DTV. I will miss the HD, but at least I will be able to watch TV in the rain, I hope. Wish it would have worked out, but I am not going to keep paying Voom when they can't even get a tech to show up to fix the equipment.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

I'm getting the 24" dish and from what I'm reading here it sounds like it will work better. for the last 2 days I've had no service at all. It's a good thing I have 300+ DVDs to keep me busy when there is no TV. I just don't want to have to watch my DVDS all the time. If I wanted to just watch DVDs then I wouldn't have signed up with VOOM or any other provider.

 

[LMT]

Good luck...thats what they told me, 2 different satellite companies and 3 different technicians could not figure out why my signal was worse with a 24 inch dish, and Voom said sorry there was nothing else they could do. So I was forced to cancel and got Directv.....really happy with it so far, it rained and I could watch TV. Just miss the HD though.