Do the Direct TV installers normally carry/install demarks when doing an install, like cable companies do?
Demark
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Depends on what you mean,
Installing the ground rod and grounding / bonding the electric pannel is done by an electrician. Installers do not do that. They have various clamps that bond the Directv dish to the main electric bond. If you mean the plastic boxes some cable companies use (demark boxes) then no...that went out with Primestar even though it does look cool and protects the ground block and fittings.
Joe
I was referring to the plastic enclosures. I was intending to install conduit to the dish pole and an enclosure would work well with conduit. Is a pole mount included with the free professional installation?
RE: the pole........the standard & approved charge for a contractor to put a pole in concrete & dig in some cable = $100.00 +/- Having said that...Directv in house prople are told to to it FREE if it is needed for LOS (Line of Sight)
RE: conduit...I would wait until the pole is actually set where it will be used...have a 90 degree bend and a little straight pipe available at each end of the run...or even have all the conduit available...dig it in later.
If there is no danger of underground damage just spading in the cable works ok.
RE: enclosures.....the Directv tech won't have them but I have found just using a standard plastic tool box or parts tray with a top works fine. It doesn't have to be too deep but wide is good. The cable should enter from the lower edge & it should be well ventilated. Use screen to keep the bugs out. Screw the bottom to the wall where you want it....paint to taste...and the top becomes the door with a latch. You can even use the ground block screws to attach the box to the wall. Get a box big enough to accept a 9" approx service loop....possibly a multi switch or splitter and the ground block.
OR they are also called drop boxes (CATV) or project enclosures (electronics) and are available at electric supply houses.
Either way they look better than a cable loop blowing in the wind and the fittings will last longer.
Joe
Yeah, I was going to have the conduit and sweeps on site when they come to install it. And it really doesn't matter if it's in conduit or not, it would just make it easier to replace the cable should the need ever arise.
There should be LOS in a lot of different locations but I'd rather not have the dish mounted to the house. It's a brick house with vinyl siding on the eaves. I'm just picky and don't want holes drilled into the siding or brick, hence the pole mount. But I'm not sure, I'll just wait and see what his ideas are and go from there.
There should be LOS in a lot of different locations but I'd rather not have the dish mounted to the house. It's a brick house with vinyl siding on the eaves. I'm just picky and don't want holes drilled into the siding or brick, hence the pole mount. But I'm not sure, I'll just wait and see what his ideas are and go from there.
If you want just go get a 2" OD pole. If nothing else you can get a piece at a muffler shop, just don't let them tell you it cost $5 a foot (it costs them about $13 for a 6' piece and that is what they buy it in most of the time). Put the pole in yourself it needs to be about 36" off the ground, and make sure it is solid in the ground with concrete and does not spin. You should be able to get a 6' pole, concrete and you sweeps for les than $30.
Then the tech can put the dish up and run the cable. All you would have to do is bury it later unless it is less than 20' then the tech would do it for you.
The tech wont have a box for the ground block. I don't know of one big enough to make the loops that Directv requires anyway. If done properly they should be attaced and not look bad anyway.
Attachments
Also smash the end of the pipe or run a bolt thru it before hand, then bury and fill with concrete, making sure it is PLUMB, this is critical.
This way once the concrete is set it won't be able to spin ...
This way once the concrete is set it won't be able to spin ...
Yup,
Brick is a pain to attach stuff to and there will be holes to patch. An alternative is to mount the ground block & service loops inside the crawl space or basement. You are probably correct about using the pole....and you can minimize the exterior attachments by having the tech drill your wall (I know!) one 3/4" hole that will have a plastic gromet & caulked. All the cable & ground wire go in this hole. Do this near the electric bond and have him make the connections inside the crawl space or basement, If the crawl entrance is at a distance from there the cable must enter this is no help. But I have done some neat installations where all the cable ends up on a board next to the electric panel out of the weather. Might work.
Joe
Technically, there really isn't a Demarc, as a Demarc is the dividing point between the Company stuff and the home owners stuff.
In this instance, D* owns the cable from the ground block to the recvrs, unless it was reused, I guess it could go either way, but thats how we look at it in the phone business, thus it allows the Company the ability to have the sub check to see if the trouble is inside or out ... also allows them to charge for a protection plan that covers your inside wiring and jacks ... this is usually already covered with D*.
In this instance, D* owns the cable from the ground block to the recvrs, unless it was reused, I guess it could go either way, but thats how we look at it in the phone business, thus it allows the Company the ability to have the sub check to see if the trouble is inside or out ... also allows them to charge for a protection plan that covers your inside wiring and jacks ... this is usually already covered with D*.
The house is on a concrete slab, so there is no crawlspace. The coax will have to be ran in the attic. But I've made this very easy for them. When I built the house a few years ago, I installed an electrical conduit from the attic down through the wall cavity and through the brick to the outside, just for this purpose. So all he has to do is push/pull the coax up the conduit into the attic. From there all he has to do is stretch the coax across the attic space to another empty conduit that drops straight down into my structured wiring cabinet, which contains 2 homerun coaxes for each location in the home. It's also a walk in attic (via a full sized entry door from the upstairs bonus room) with plenty of room, so he can walk everywhere he needs to go.
All he has to do is mount the dish and pull the cable from it to the wiring closet and he is done. Having said that, the coax from the wiring closet to each location is RG6 but it's copper clad steel (CCS) coax, rated at 3 ghz. I've been told, and read here, that it will work fine so long as the power inverter isn't on it, which it won't be since the inverter will be installed on the new coax the installer runs to the wiring closet (there are electrical receptacles inside the wiring cabinet). But if he'd rather pull new copper core coax to all 5 locations, then that's fine with me just as long as he fishes it through the walls from the attic and into the receptacle boxes like it is now. He can use on of the existing coaxes to pull it right into the box. The boxes at each TV location contain 2 coaxes and 2 Cat5 cables. They are terminated onto Leviton Quickport F connectors (barrel) and RJ25 connectors. The barrel connectors are rated for 3 ghz, so it should work fine.
About the dmarc box. My intention is/was to use it to cover the conduit from the attic and to provide an entry point for the coax/conduit coming from the dish. At any rate, the installer is coming tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.
All he has to do is mount the dish and pull the cable from it to the wiring closet and he is done. Having said that, the coax from the wiring closet to each location is RG6 but it's copper clad steel (CCS) coax, rated at 3 ghz. I've been told, and read here, that it will work fine so long as the power inverter isn't on it, which it won't be since the inverter will be installed on the new coax the installer runs to the wiring closet (there are electrical receptacles inside the wiring cabinet). But if he'd rather pull new copper core coax to all 5 locations, then that's fine with me just as long as he fishes it through the walls from the attic and into the receptacle boxes like it is now. He can use on of the existing coaxes to pull it right into the box. The boxes at each TV location contain 2 coaxes and 2 Cat5 cables. They are terminated onto Leviton Quickport F connectors (barrel) and RJ25 connectors. The barrel connectors are rated for 3 ghz, so it should work fine.
About the dmarc box. My intention is/was to use it to cover the conduit from the attic and to provide an entry point for the coax/conduit coming from the dish. At any rate, the installer is coming tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.
Your plan seems fine.
If you can route the cable near the main electrical bond and install a ground block into your the system that would be nice. But if everything else falls into place....many rigs have run for years without the grounding detail.
Report how it goes.
Joe
If you can route the cable near the main electrical bond and install a ground block into your the system that would be nice. But if everything else falls into place....many rigs have run for years without the grounding detail.
Report how it goes.
Joe
The install went off without a hitch on Friday. I was lucky enough to get a senior tech on the install and he did a great job.
I got the Genie, 3 clients and an H25. I really like the system thus far but I do have a complaint. The guide on the Genie and it's clients (especially the clients) are slooooow. Compared to the H25, they crawl.
I got the Genie, 3 clients and an H25. I really like the system thus far but I do have a complaint. The guide on the Genie and it's clients (especially the clients) are slooooow. Compared to the H25, they crawl.
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