does dish network have a on-line-installers training course to become a independent certified installer? if not how can you get certified? thanks!
dish network installers online training
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They don't really have a training course. There is the SBCA certification but Dish does not really back it. About the only training is by riding with someone in the field and just doing installs.
wow so there is no certification? no wonder you get some installers that don't know what they are doing. a simple on line course to make shire the people installing do there job, would save them so much money on return calls and customers leaving because of pore work. may be you can suggest it to dish people if you think its a good idea.
It takes a minimum of one year in the field with supervision, just to become confident enough, about the Satellite Systems. Then it takes another year, just so you can have the confidence in yourself.
Simply studying on line doesn't give you the ability to fully understand how to do the job, but hey, neither does any other vocation in the world!!!
Simply studying on line doesn't give you the ability to fully understand how to do the job, but hey, neither does any other vocation in the world!!!
some distributors want their retailers to have SBCA certified installers. When I first started installing they were really picky about it... they seem to have started to relax on that policy though
SBCA certification never was worth much. The useful content would fit on a single page. 
OTOH, Doctor Bob, it does NOT take a whole year under supervision. In fact, I've brought a few guys up to speed in just a couple of weeks. Of course, I only recruit people that have a brain. That's fairly easy to do if you pay them properly.
OTOH, Doctor Bob, it does NOT take a whole year under supervision. In fact, I've brought a few guys up to speed in just a couple of weeks. Of course, I only recruit people that have a brain. That's fairly easy to do if you pay them properly.
I trained for one day with a guy. I'm not going to say I was the best installer right off the bat, but it definately didnt take a year of supervised installing... within 6 months I was over all of our installers, and training the new guys. In my opinion it doesnt take more than a couple months or so to see how good of an installer a person is going to be. If you install 2 or 3 systems a day, 5 or 6 days a week... it shouldnt take long to learn the theory behind the job, and the little stuff that every installer should know.
I quit installing for that company almost a year ago now, and I still get calls from a few of their guys, (that I would have fired a long time ago), with stupid questions. For example... one guy (that has been installing Directv for 3 years, Dish about a year) called me the other day and said he said he was workin on a new prewired house, he hooked up the wire to the wall plate, and plugged it in and the receiver started making a buzzing noise.... he had checked every connector he could think of, replaced the switch and lnb, replaced the receiver, and wasted almost an hour doing it... soon as he told me that I told him to pull the wall plate off... because the contracter had used screw on connectors and had shorted the wire out... problem solved.
Moral of the story... in my opinion, some people are cut out to be installers, others aren't.
And as far as the SBCA thing goes, I agree that what they focused on was the very basic stuff that was almost common sense if you had worked installing at all, but we still sent all of our guys to be certified... mainly so that if they started doing stuff that they shouldn't (not grounding, not tightening all the bolts, only putting 2 lag bolts in the mast, ect) then they couldnt say they didnt know... they went through and past the test, they should know what they should and shouldnt do
I quit installing for that company almost a year ago now, and I still get calls from a few of their guys, (that I would have fired a long time ago), with stupid questions. For example... one guy (that has been installing Directv for 3 years, Dish about a year) called me the other day and said he said he was workin on a new prewired house, he hooked up the wire to the wall plate, and plugged it in and the receiver started making a buzzing noise.... he had checked every connector he could think of, replaced the switch and lnb, replaced the receiver, and wasted almost an hour doing it... soon as he told me that I told him to pull the wall plate off... because the contracter had used screw on connectors and had shorted the wire out... problem solved.
Moral of the story... in my opinion, some people are cut out to be installers, others aren't.
And as far as the SBCA thing goes, I agree that what they focused on was the very basic stuff that was almost common sense if you had worked installing at all, but we still sent all of our guys to be certified... mainly so that if they started doing stuff that they shouldn't (not grounding, not tightening all the bolts, only putting 2 lag bolts in the mast, ect) then they couldnt say they didnt know... they went through and past the test, they should know what they should and shouldnt do
SimpleSimon said:SBCA certification never was worth much. The useful content would fit on a single page.
OTOH, Doctor Bob, it does NOT take a whole year under supervision. In fact, I've brought a few guys up to speed in just a couple of weeks. Of course, I only recruit people that have a brain. That's fairly easy to do if you pay them properly.
I should have clarified those statements a little better... LOL I really meant to say that if you have never installed Satellites, or Off Air Antennas, and you really don't know that much about Electronics or Electricity, then you will have to spend a year (just like any other apprenticeship program) before you Yada Yada Yada... Oh, of course they may not have even driven a nail into wood before either... RONTGLMAO....
Of course not everybody is as smart as you are Simple, and of course I'm also sure that you didn't have to go to any school, to learn the things that you did, because you seem to know it all... RONTGLMAO....
You need to grow up, just a little!!!
Is there any good sites that would help someone new at installing? I got 2 days training at the shop and rode with someone a week. Now I have been on my own for 2 weeks. I have been doing well but I have only been given trouble calls and easy installs (mostly). I have trouble answering some customers questions.
to be perfectly honest with ya, this is the site you are looking for... if you have a question or an idea, throw it out here, you will get the answer.
As an installer myself, I enjoy coming on here and looking for the threads started by people doing their own install, or by new installers trying to figure something out. Most likely someone has already done exactly what you are trying to do... the search button is your friend
As an installer myself, I enjoy coming on here and looking for the threads started by people doing their own install, or by new installers trying to figure something out. Most likely someone has already done exactly what you are trying to do... the search button is your friend
Alvn8r said:
Hey Alvn8r, that is why it takes at least a year, so that you retain that knowledge, and learn all of the tricks of the trade. Taking note and applying all of those tricks, takes time to absorb, because not every job is the same, and you may not have the opportunity to use a specific talent every month...
You can't learn any trade over night!!! The SBCA course was only meant as a refresher, and for the level I & II course, it was only a one day program.
No one ever enforced the SBCA Certifications, as was promised, and that is why there are so many negative feelings, from the Techs. No one has any respect for the SBCA Certs, at this point, because they would not keep the Felons and Flakes out of the Industry.
i got the basic knowledge i think? i move (full time rv'r) and reset my dish network getting signals at least 90+ and my direcway 80's+ cp 99 (both using np mounts) in minutes. not to mention my motorized fta system. so i think i have the basics. what i need is all the specifics. like what switch can be used with another or like on wild blue you cannot just go around a corner you have to make a 12-18" loop right before. (something about the signal bending) i just thought every comany had a training program. where you can become certified to install there product. at wildblue they are really hard on there installers. they have a three strikes rule. you screw up three installs your done. i read this on there website. i called several sat companies getting no where fast. o-well I'll keep plucking at it.
hobojoe said:
Well good for you Hobo, and you almost have to have all of that knowledge, because it would cost you a fortune if you called out a Tech in every area that you landed in... RONTGLMAO....
If you are ever in the Southern California area, give me a call, and we can chat!!!
Wildblue installers HAVE to be certified through Wildblue... in this area the certification has to be done through the distributor. You can't activate a system without your certification number.
I'm wildblue certified. I didn't have a choice. Go to the class or go home (no work for me that day) It was a bigger joke than SBCA. At least I didn't have to pay for it. I wish I could have that day of my life back though. The company sent 4 of us, I was the only one that passed on the first try (dudes, it was open technical manual, how those guys kept flunking is beyond me.)
Our beam got shut down right after the class, and then they finally told us how much we'd be paid for a WB, with us supplying the drop......get this......$90. I managed to get fired finally, so I am not gonna get raked over the coals on that.
All you wanna be pro installers, be very careful out there, I would caution you to avoid "contracts" that allow someone else to schedule your work. True contracting is not an open-ended affair like that. Stay away from companies that come up with creative ways to get out of paying you. Above all, watch your six. And don't buy supplies from the "COMPANY STORE"!!!!
Our beam got shut down right after the class, and then they finally told us how much we'd be paid for a WB, with us supplying the drop......get this......$90. I managed to get fired finally, so I am not gonna get raked over the coals on that.
All you wanna be pro installers, be very careful out there, I would caution you to avoid "contracts" that allow someone else to schedule your work. True contracting is not an open-ended affair like that. Stay away from companies that come up with creative ways to get out of paying you. Above all, watch your six. And don't buy supplies from the "COMPANY STORE"!!!!
hobojoe said:
Let me guess. You are on SM5 117 west frequency is 1050 or 1090 right?
An SBCA Certification certificate isn't worth the paper its printed on!
Anyone can install a Dish, but only a select group of people are actually installers.
Your gonna get more experence going out in the field than you would from a book anyday!
Anyone can install a Dish, but only a select group of people are actually installers.
Your gonna get more experence going out in the field than you would from a book anyday!
