Get antenna installed by installer?

[mraveling]

I subscribed yesterday and an installer is coming out tomorrow...

I tried to ask about getting an antenna and they wouldn't allow it or give me the name of the installer. I am not using their locals, mainly because they won't do HD locals for a long time in my market (Rochester, MN) as well as the fact I live at a high enough elevation I can pick up some non-local market channels even with a cheap pair of rabbit ears and want to do a rooftop antenna to improve.

Anyway around this? I'm trying to get it done in one shot by the same installer. Yes, I'm trying to save a few bucks as well if possible.

 

[hendrix04]

I don't know about getting the sat installer to do an OTA antenna install, but I would still subscribe to locals so you can get guide data

 

[Dgenx321]

Save a few bucks??

If the installer does it, it won't be free. You're looking at $200-400 for a OTA installed....

 

[Jared Twomey]

as an installer... i'm not doing it for free. and most of the time, i wont do it
i install satellites, not antennas.
on occasion, i have mounted and hooked up everything for the customer (being paid for it of course), but they have to worry about getting everything aimed correctly... i'll throw it up there in the general direction, but i'm not going to spend a ton of time trying to fine tune an antenna

 

[Jared Twomey]

and they wont give you the name of the installer, because they probably wont know who it is until the day of the install.
You possibly could have found a local retailer, and possibly one that also did OTA, but its a little too late for that now

 

[mraveling]

Notice I did not say I expected to get it for free... I was trying to save a few dollars off a standard antenna installation quote I received, figuring if they were already getting something, they would possibly discount the other part of it. It's the old two birds with one stone adage. Is there something wrong with that? I certainly don't go out looking to spend more money than I need to. That's why I went with Dish in the first place - better cost than DirecTV and Charter. If it wasn't about money, I was plenty happy with the Charter DVR and HD offerings (and internet), just the price sucked.

I would think someone already out on the install would be willing to make some extra money while maybe cutting a slight deal. But judging from the response, I'm guessing installers have plenty of work and don't need to make a little extra.

 

[Van]

Installers love to make extra but the problem is that most dont have much knowledge about antenna's for starters. Another problem is that dish network installers wether inhouse or sub are pretty heavily routed each day with alot of work and drive time and the last thing that the would have time for is to spend another hour or three installing an antenna. Labour rate is $59 an hour so figure atleast being charged for two hours if one will do it.

 

[vegassatellite]

There's a good probability that your tech will be too overbooked to do anything beyond what is on the work order. You can try calling a local retailer and tell him your situation. If there's a way for him to grab the order or build you a new one, he'll advise you on it. Look in the phone book for a retailer who advertises OTA or C-Band, as those guys usually know OTA.

As an installer, I put in OTA at a rate of $80 per hour with a standard install including mounting antenna on roof with tripod, pointing it in the direction specified by antennaweb.org and grounding it. Quality of signal is not guaranteed, but as long as they want to pay the $80 every hour, I'll keep trying my darndest.

 

[Skibum]

I'll hook up some rabbit ears to the antenna input of your receiver and even throw an A/B switch on a TV2 cable with more rabbit ears (you provide the antennas), but I won't go beyond that without suitable compensation.

 

[mraveling]

Thanks for the replies... I'd certainly pay the installer 120 or so + antenna cost if it meant a decent signal. Although with the snow here today (a couple inches) I'm not sure if my install will get pushed back or not.

 

[Jared Twomey]

i noticed you say +antenna cost... do you expect the installer to have an antenna? If so, its most likely not going to get installed. Most installers do not carry around ota antennas.

Your best bet is to have an antenna on hand, assembled, ready to go, and hopefully he will mount it and run some wire...