Hi everyone, I'd like to know if there are any Voom Subscribers here in Sacramento, CA. I called up Voom's Toll-Free number last Friday and I've been told that my install date will be this coming Monday. Any idea who the installer might be here in Sacto? The CSR from Voom didn't gave me any information on who the installer would be, if there are already Voomers here in Sacto, please reply on how your install went, and how Voom works for you. Thanks!
Any Voomers from Sacramento, CA ?
- Thread starter Yadnus
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Here in Rancho Cordova! Crave Electronics will do the install. Make sure they put the dish in a location that the wind will have no affect on the dish. The reception window is very narrow with the small dish.
Let me know if you need anything else: taron1@bigfoot.com
Welcome to VOOM!
Let me know if you need anything else: taron1@bigfoot.com
Welcome to VOOM!
Taron1 said:
I am in Bay Point, Ca and also had Crave Electronics come out and do my initial install. They were professional, and the guys I had seemed to know what they were talking about, but they did not have my dished peaked before they left. I also had to argue with them about paying an extra 35 bucks for running a second line for the OTA, that literally used maybe 50 ft of cable tops! In the end, they didn't charge me for the extra cable for the OTA, and a couple days after the install I had to go up on the roof, and peak the dish myself. BTW I tried getting the installer to come back out to peak it, but he kept insisting that I couldn't get no higher signal than the low 40's he got me. It took me little time to get up into the high 50's. This was with the old signal scale btw, now I'm recieving high 90's with the new. My advice is just to keep on top of the installers, watch what they do, ask questions, and don't hesitate to pick up that phone, and call installs inc.
deeann said:
Thanks for the reply, I have some more questions for you if you don't mind.
1. Did Crave Electronics contact you before the install date to confirm the install or did they just showed up the day of the actuall install?
2. Did you have your diplexer installed or not?
3. How long did the actual installation took?
4. Did you get all the Local OTA's or did you encounter any problems? also is the Stealth Antenna good enough or did you have to upgrade? Did they install the antenna together with the dish?
5. Since I also have DirecTV right now installed on my cable wires running throughout the house, I'm wondering if the installers will create a seperate hole in the wall for Voom's to go through? Will they charge extra for that? I'm just wondering if you had the same situation.
That's all for now, thanks for your patience and response.
Yadnus
>>>I have some more questions for you if you don't mind.<<<
Sure!
>>>>1. Did Crave Electronics contact you before the install date to confirm the install or did they just showed up the day of the actuall install? <<<<
My husband called them on Thursday to confirm.
>>>>2. Did you have your diplexer installed or not? <<<<
Nope (see lower on in the post).
>>>>3. How long did the actual installation took?<<<<
&
>>>4. Did you get all the Local OTA's or did you encounter any problems? also is the Stealth Antenna good enough or did you have to upgrade? Did they install the antenna together with the dish? <<<<
About two to two 1/2 hours or so. It was a little tricky to get the line of sight. We have a lot of trees, but that wasn't the problem. There is a tall tree about 2 blocks away that was causing a problem with getting the signal, so the installer moved the dish and pole mounted it to a ham radio antenna on the roof left over from the people who lived here before.
The Stealth antenna is mounted separately off a roof overhang.
Both are working well with this arrangement so far.
The sat signal has been usually upper 80's - low 90's (post software update numbers), and the OTA is upper 70's (better than I expected). Occasional breakups on the HD channels but way better than I had w/Comcast. All of the expected digital locals are getting received okay (see my note below about 31-KMAX).
>>>5. Since I also have DirecTV right now installed on my cable wires running throughout the house, I'm wondering if the installers will create a seperate hole in the wall for Voom's to go through? Will they charge extra for that? I'm just wondering if you had the same situation.<<<<
We had cable and one existing line into the house. Crave wanted to originally charge $80.00 for the separate OTA line, but we got it resolved through Installs Inc before the install took place (and even through I didn't originally see it because I checked my Yahoo acount too late, I also received email from a representative at Voom corporate early Friday wanting me to call so they could help resolve it also as Wilt H. saw my post about it on the Yahoo group).
We ended up re-using the existing cable wall plate (and RG6 internal coax which works fine) for the dish and a new line and wallplate was installed for OTA w/ no charge.
The installer they sent was really great (and a really nice guy!).
** Note: You will be missing KMAX UPN (31) as it's not mapped yet. The bonus part of having a separate OTA line it that if you use a high quality spitter you can split the OTA line before the box and send the other end to your VCR to use as an analog tuner (which will be the only way to get 31 right now). Analog only notes --> The analog 31 and 58 (KCQA) don't come in great, but I'm pretty sure you're familiar with what they generally look like here anyway even via cable or sat
. 40 (FOX) comes in fantastic where I'm at. 10 & 13 are okay. 3 & 6 are pretty bad. YMMV depending on your location.
I'm doing this so I can both see 31 if needed (don't really watch it much, but good to have available) and also to be able to tape The Simpsons off OTA and watch something off the Sat at the same time.
*** Additional note: For SDTV I'm doing the same as I did with Comcast and the Moto 5100 box, which is running out a separate S-Video line from the box into my S-Video switcher (Sima SVS-4). If you can do something like that (S-Vid or Composite), you might find the SDTV channels much nicer looking. The black levels for SD and HD are different and the SD channels might look pretty washed out (via component or DVI), or at least they do on my display, so S-Video works much better in our case (but again, YMMV).
>>>That's all for now, thanks for your patience and response.<<<
No problem and hope it helps!
DeeAnn
Sure!
>>>>1. Did Crave Electronics contact you before the install date to confirm the install or did they just showed up the day of the actuall install? <<<<
My husband called them on Thursday to confirm.
>>>>2. Did you have your diplexer installed or not? <<<<
Nope (see lower on in the post).
>>>>3. How long did the actual installation took?<<<<
&
>>>4. Did you get all the Local OTA's or did you encounter any problems? also is the Stealth Antenna good enough or did you have to upgrade? Did they install the antenna together with the dish? <<<<
About two to two 1/2 hours or so. It was a little tricky to get the line of sight. We have a lot of trees, but that wasn't the problem. There is a tall tree about 2 blocks away that was causing a problem with getting the signal, so the installer moved the dish and pole mounted it to a ham radio antenna on the roof left over from the people who lived here before.
The Stealth antenna is mounted separately off a roof overhang.
Both are working well with this arrangement so far.
The sat signal has been usually upper 80's - low 90's (post software update numbers), and the OTA is upper 70's (better than I expected). Occasional breakups on the HD channels but way better than I had w/Comcast. All of the expected digital locals are getting received okay (see my note below about 31-KMAX).
>>>5. Since I also have DirecTV right now installed on my cable wires running throughout the house, I'm wondering if the installers will create a seperate hole in the wall for Voom's to go through? Will they charge extra for that? I'm just wondering if you had the same situation.<<<<
We had cable and one existing line into the house. Crave wanted to originally charge $80.00 for the separate OTA line, but we got it resolved through Installs Inc before the install took place (and even through I didn't originally see it because I checked my Yahoo acount too late, I also received email from a representative at Voom corporate early Friday wanting me to call so they could help resolve it also as Wilt H. saw my post about it on the Yahoo group).
We ended up re-using the existing cable wall plate (and RG6 internal coax which works fine) for the dish and a new line and wallplate was installed for OTA w/ no charge.
The installer they sent was really great (and a really nice guy!).
** Note: You will be missing KMAX UPN (31) as it's not mapped yet. The bonus part of having a separate OTA line it that if you use a high quality spitter you can split the OTA line before the box and send the other end to your VCR to use as an analog tuner (which will be the only way to get 31 right now). Analog only notes --> The analog 31 and 58 (KCQA) don't come in great, but I'm pretty sure you're familiar with what they generally look like here anyway even via cable or sat
. 40 (FOX) comes in fantastic where I'm at. 10 & 13 are okay. 3 & 6 are pretty bad. YMMV depending on your location. I'm doing this so I can both see 31 if needed (don't really watch it much, but good to have available) and also to be able to tape The Simpsons off OTA and watch something off the Sat at the same time.
*** Additional note: For SDTV I'm doing the same as I did with Comcast and the Moto 5100 box, which is running out a separate S-Video line from the box into my S-Video switcher (Sima SVS-4). If you can do something like that (S-Vid or Composite), you might find the SDTV channels much nicer looking. The black levels for SD and HD are different and the SD channels might look pretty washed out (via component or DVI), or at least they do on my display, so S-Video works much better in our case (but again, YMMV).
>>>That's all for now, thanks for your patience and response.<<<
No problem and hope it helps!
DeeAnn
My install is tomorrow, I'll let you know. I live in South Natomas. Should there be anything I should watch out for?
I'm in Citrus Heights. Installer couldn't get LOS anywhere at my house. Problem was elevation is -19 and to the East (94) and couldn't clear Oak trees to the East. He said new satellite should be available in a few months that is +45 elevation and South direction that I could clear.
The installer (Dan from Crave) came out at 2:35pm and was out of here by 4:15pm. he did a very professional job and was very easy to talk with. I had everything set up to where all he had to do was plug in the STB and put the dish up. I'm getting a signal of 90 to 94 and all but one of the OTA channels. I'm going to call VOOM for a stronger OTB antenna and I should be just fine. Fantastic pictures!!!
I am in Rocklin and was installed yesterday. I am not getting a single OTA station. I will be getting a call within the next 24 hours to schedule an antenna upgrade. I don't understand why they don't do a simple antennaweb check and install the appropriate antenna. Sat signal is at 90 while strength is at 68. ESPN in my Starstream HD Beta cable is a much better quality than Voom ESPN.
Any Voomers from Sacramento, CA?
I am also in Rocklin and am scheduled for installation on Tuesday but not holding my breath! Who did your install and how did it go? I called Installs, Inc., but they would not give me the installer's phone number, only a name, but not the company. Having read all the horror stories here, I'm pretty apprehensive. Had ordered an install a couple of months ago, but cancelled it when no one called or showed, even after I called VOOM on the day they were supposed to be here, and was told they were just running late! Hoping for better luck this time.
Poole said:
I am also in Rocklin and am scheduled for installation on Tuesday but not holding my breath! Who did your install and how did it go? I called Installs, Inc., but they would not give me the installer's phone number, only a name, but not the company. Having read all the horror stories here, I'm pretty apprehensive. Had ordered an install a couple of months ago, but cancelled it when no one called or showed, even after I called VOOM on the day they were supposed to be here, and was told they were just running late! Hoping for better luck this time.
The install was performed by Crave (see info below.) He was scheduled to be here between 8 and 12 but showed up at 12:30. I called Crave 3 times during the window just to make sure he was not going to be a no-show. The install was a very simply process. I only had one receiver installed. He mounted the sat and antenna on an eve, used a diplexor, and ran the one cable about 30 feet into the wall. I posted in another thread some quality info. I have Starstream Beta HD Cable and the picture quality is more crisp and vibrant on the cable. They don't have UPN31 mapped yet. I have sent e-mails and called about this issue but am not holding my breath.
If you need to reach them, here is their contact information:
Company: Crave Electronics Inc. Rp
Phone Number: (888) 265-9128
E-mail Address: EMAILCRAVE@AOL.COM
If you need to reach them, here is their contact information:
Company: Crave Electronics Inc. Rp
Phone Number: (888) 265-9128
E-mail Address: EMAILCRAVE@AOL.COM
Thanks for the info, Poole. I'll keep my fingers crossed!
Do you think Starstream is ever going to go "live" with HD? They've been telling me "just a couple more months" every time I've called in the last year and a half.
Do you think Starstream is ever going to go "live" with HD? They've been telling me "just a couple more months" every time I've called in the last year and a half.
Starstream just dropped INDH 1 and 2 due to failed negotiations. I spoke with them yesterday and they are not going to do a full launch until they get all the networks signed on. They said they are searching for a replacement for INHD but did not know what. I too keep getting the "it will be just a couple more months." At least I got on the Beta program and have been enjoying it for free for almost a year.
Vicki, don't fret. My OTA are coming in and look very good. All it took was resetting the STB. Don't know why Voom would not have suggested that. I still think the antenna upgrade is warranted. I just hope it is the CM4228. I like how it looks and it is very powerful.
