Going around in circles with Directv after 9 years of great service.

[Nuworld]

Well folks, I'm new and my first post.
Great forum! I have found a lot of great info here.
Many thanks to the team and all the members that help the forum.

Well here is my story with D* after 9 years of great service.
My wife and i just bought our first home and are very excited!

Before we just rented a house in the country and this is where we had D* for 9 years with no problems.
I'll Post some photos here in a sec.

Our rental was in a very wooded area with many tall trees and had never had a problem with getting HD service.
BTW: We had an 5 LNB dish at our old place and still have the HR21 receiver.

We have been in our new house now for three weeks now and had D* come out 4 times and still no service. (LOS) issues.
The first tech was just a kid and even said he did not know how to install the international dish (My Wife is Chinese) and also said there is no LOS.

So i told him to call his supervisor and hit the road.
The Kid left and about an hour latter a D* supervisor showed up and checked things out and said no problem we have a site where we can set the dish and get you all set up.

I'm thinking GREAT!! The supervisor said he would have a tech that knew what he was doing come out in about 2-3 days. I said great no problem.

The next day I get a call from the same supervisor that came out the day before and said he needs to check again.
He said he did not know about the dish package we had ( HD and International Chinese) and there might be a problem with getting the 119 sat.

Well of course, There is a very large tree in LOS of 119 sat. and said we could down grade to the 3 LNB dish but i would lose some international channels and was told to call D* CSR and to find out what channels i would lose.

I was told be CSR that i would lose some spanish channels and that's it by not receiving the 119 sat. I said great no problem for i do not speak Spanish ( I speak English and Chinese) So everything is set up for this weekend 10-1-2011 between 4-8pm

So now back to the LOS issue and the photos.
I used the dishpointer app on my Droid and took some setting of out new house and i even went back to our old house and took some settings.

In the following photos you will see both old and new house have very the same LOS issue

Here is the settings and view from our old house using dishpionter, It was taken just below the dish.




As you can see there are many large trees in the LOS for all D* Sats


Now here is the settings for for our now house.



As you can see here i only have a problem with the 119 sat.

Now i remind you all, In the first photo there are trees in LOS. But i had never had a problem getting a good signal and always had great HD.

Any and all input would be great.

I would hate to have to cancel D* after all these years and go with cable.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys!

It sure looks by the pictures you posted that you should be able to get service at your new house, except for the 119 satellite. The rub is, why could you get signal at your old house based on the picture you posted. I have heard that the dishpointer app isn't always accurate. Maybe it's a little off in both shots?

 

[Hutch1814]

Well your 1st picture I believe is wrong. The reason I say that is where I'm at (up north) we have a 41 degree angle so by judging from the house in the pic I don't see it. App may be wrong, I'm not sure. As far as the 119 on the 2nd pic it could be an issue. We're required to have 10 degrees on both sides of the "birds" for tree growth and wind (blowing limbs). I don't think you'll have issues as long as you stick with the LNB3 and just do without the 119. Hope that helps

 

[Nuworld]

Well your 1st picture I believe is wrong. The reason I say that is where I'm at (up north) we have a 41 degree angle so by judging from the house in the pic I don't see it. App may be wrong, I'm not sure. As far as the 119 on the 2nd pic it could be an issue. We're required to have 10 degrees on both sides of the "birds" for tree growth and wind (blowing limbs). I don't think you'll have issues as long as you stick with the LNB3 and just do without the 119. Hope that helps

It's dead on the spot here in north east ohio.
I even had a friend that works at nasa here in cleveland come out with the good tools that nasa uses.

The old house is dead on and even the new house is also dead on.

What i don't get is at the old house we still got good number on all sats even the 119 going through the trees.

 

[Jimbo]

Alot depends on when you were using it as well as the amount of leaves on the trees.

Your only using the 119 sat when your watching your international channels for the most part.
Theres not much else on it.
The rest of your programming is coming from the 99, 101 and 103 Sats.

 

[Nuworld]

Alot depends on when you were using it as well as the amount of leaves on the trees.

Your only using the 119 sat when your watching your international channels for the most part.
Theres not much else on it.
The rest of your programming is coming from the 99, 101 and 103 Sats.

Great! Thanks for the help.

With that being said i have just 2 more questions.

I) we have the Mandarindirect III package. D* said this requires a separate dish other than the 3lnb.
Is the correct?

2) with the 3lnb will we still get our HD channels?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Jimbo]

Great! Thanks for the help.

With that being said i have just 2 more questions.

I) we have the Mandarindirect III package. D* said this requires a separate dish other than the 3lnb.
Is the correct?

2) with the 3lnb will we still get our HD channels?

Thanks again for all the help.

With the 3 lnb set up, 99, 101 and 103 YES you will get your HD channels.

I do not know what Sat this other package comes from, someone else may though.

 

[JerseyMatt]

They're probably referring to the 5LNB because 119 carries TVB1, TVB2, TVBE, TVBS USA, CCTV 4 America, and Tai Seng (basically the whole JadeWorld package).

Yes, at this point all HD is on 99/101/103.

Is there another area of the yard that can see 119? It would be a non-standard install, but you could technically point an old round dish at 119 separately and 'add' it into the system. Would require a 4-cable SL3 dish for your main though. Don't think it can be done with a SWM LNB.

 

[Nuworld]

They're probably referring to the 5LNB because 119 carries TVB1, TVB2, TVBE, TVBS USA, CCTV 4 America, and Tai Seng (basically the whole JadeWorld package).

Yes, at this point all HD is on 99/101/103.

Is there another area of the yard that can see 119? It would be a non-standard install, but you could technically point an old round dish at 119 separately and 'add' it into the system. Would require a 4-cable SL3 dish for your main though. Don't think it can be done with a SWM LNB.

We have Mandarindirect III now.
We use to have the jadeworld and yes that was with a 5lnb dish.

D* says that Mandarindirect III take a separate dish pointing in a different location.

As for another location in the yard. That's a no go.

 

[JerseyMatt]

Ahh ok, it appears MandarinDirectIII is at 95°. So yes it would require a separate round dish anyway. And as far as 119 if there's nowhere in the yard that can see it, your only other option is to top the tree.. However, with the exception of TVB1 and TVB2, it appears the JadeWorld package is mirrored on the 95° slot.

Now the question becomes is 95° going to be like 72.5, where in order to 'standardize' the installs they'll be migrating the international packages all to 119°?

 

[Nuworld]

Well folks, I'm new and my first post.
Great forum! I have found a lot of great info here.
Many thanks to the team and all the members that help the forum.

Well here is my story with D* after 9 years of great service.
My wife and i just bought our first home and are very excited!

Before we just rented a house in the country and this is where we had D* for 9 years with no problems.
I'll Post some photos here in a sec.

Our rental was in a very wooded area with many tall trees and had never had a problem with getting HD service.
BTW: We had an 5 LNB dish at our old place and still have the HR21 receiver.

We have been in our new house now for three weeks now and had D* come out 4 times and still no service. (LOS) issues.
The first tech was just a kid and even said he did not know how to install the international dish (My Wife is Chinese) and also said there is no LOS.

So i told him to call his supervisor and hit the road.
The Kid left and about an hour latter a D* supervisor showed up and checked things out and said no problem we have a site where we can set the dish and get you all set up.

I'm thinking GREAT!! The supervisor said he would have a tech that knew what he was doing come out in about 2-3 days. I said great no problem.

The next day I get a call from the same supervisor that came out the day before and said he needs to check again.
He said he did not know about the dish package we had ( HD and International Chinese) and there might be a problem with getting the 119 sat.

Well of course, There is a very large tree in LOS of 119 sat. and said we could down grade to the 3 LNB dish but i would lose some international channels and was told to call D* CSR and to find out what channels i would lose.

I was told be CSR that i would lose some spanish channels and that's it by not receiving the 119 sat. I said great no problem for i do not speak Spanish ( I speak English and Chinese) So everything is set up for this weekend 10-1-2011 between 4-8pm

So now back to the LOS issue and the photos.
I used the dishpointer app on my Droid and took some setting of out new house and i even went back to our old house and took some settings.

In the following photos you will see both old and new house have very the same LOS issue

Here is the settings and view from our old house using dishpionter, It was taken just below the dish.

View attachment 70084


As you can see there are many large trees in the LOS for all D* Sats


Now here is the settings for for our now house.

View attachment 70085

As you can see here i only have a problem with the 119 sat.

Now i remind you all, In the first photo there are trees in LOS. But i had never had a problem getting a good signal and always had great HD.

Any and all input would be great.

I would hate to have to cancel D* after all these years and go with cable.

Well folks, Here we go again.
The tech was just here again after three weeks with no service and guess what. He brought the wrong dish AGAIN.
I'm so pissed at D* right now I'm about ready to chuck the receiver out the windows.

After days and hours on the phone with D* CSR i thought we might had this problem fixed. NOT!!
It seams no one at D* is on the same page and can not follow instructions.

The tech today was to bring the 3lnb and the international dish but did not.
Came with the 5 lnb and no international dish.

So the tech canceled the work order again for the 3rd time. and told me to call D*.

Like hell i will!! When i do i will be canceling my service after many years of great service.

This is a bunch of crap for I'm being forced to go with cable (TW) and I'm not to happy with there service to say the least.

So before i call D* and put my fist though the phone and punch who ever answers the phone.
I'm open to advise and any other option there is to fix this issue.

Sorry for the rant folks but I'm just so pissed off right now and still have no TV in our new house after 3 weeks.

 

[charper1]

So when you are doing the ordering are you making sure you have knowledge of and a copy of exactly what is being ordered; like the dish make/model/part number?? If you were getting this at order time you might be ferreting out any issues before a SUBCONTRACTED TECH (not DirecTV employee) comes out. No one can be 110% sure where the error really is. BUT

What international package are you trying to get along with the base DirecTV service that is also required? I mean FYI there is no "Chinese language" which I am sure you are familiar. Are you trying to get the Mandarin or Cantonese?

My limited knowledge (unless requirements have since changed) is that you will need the "normal" DirecTV dish setup (one that may need the SL3 or SL5 depending on your locals?) AND one that receives DirecTV Galaxy 3C at 95.0°W; correct?


I would not tell the on-phone CSR or have them confirm with you an "INTERNATIONAL" dish but instead would be confirming the SPECIFIC DirecTV Galaxy 3c 95.0°W dish setup (including that part #) for Mandarin or Cantonese reception at 95.0°W. Many people call Hispanic international too.

I am not making any excuses but when you look at how many folks are involved here and the terminology being used, there seems to be a disconnect on all sides. I have a neighbor that got her's called in and installed in 3 days; no issues; using this same verbiage and making sure she knew the exact details of what should be coming; not "names", but numbers.


You can also try going through a LOCAL installer service. As I understand it there are more than a few Ohio area guys on here.

 

[charper1]

I think the dish is called: DirecTV World Direct DTV36EDS or DTV66E

 

[Nuworld]

So when you are doing the ordering are you making sure you have knowledge of and a copy of exactly what is being ordered; like the dish make/model/part number?? If you were getting this at order time you might be ferreting out any issues before a SUBCONTRACTED TECH (not DirecTV employee) comes out. No one can be 110% sure where the error really is. BUT

What international package are you trying to get along with the base DirecTV service that is also required? I mean FYI there is no "Chinese language" which I am sure you are familiar. Are you trying to get the Mandarin or Cantonese?

My limited knowledge (unless requirements have since changed) is that you will need the "normal" DirecTV dish setup (one that may need the SL3 or SL5 depending on your locals?) AND one that receives DirecTV Galaxy 3C at 95.0°W; correct?


I would not tell the on-phone CSR or have them confirm with you an "INTERNATIONAL" dish but instead would be confirming the SPECIFIC DirecTV Galaxy 3c 95.0°W dish setup (including that part #) for Mandarin or Cantonese reception at 95.0°W. Many people call Hispanic international too.

I am not making any excuses but when you look at how many folks are involved here and the terminology being used, there seems to be a disconnect on all sides. I have a neighbor that got her's called in and installed in 3 days; no issues; using this same verbiage and making sure she knew the exact details of what should be coming; not "names", but numbers.


You can also try going through a LOCAL installer service. As I understand it there are more than a few Ohio area guys on here.

At this point it is pointless to try to explain what is needed (Witch i have a dozen time to D*) to anyone at D* let alone telling them what part numbers i need.

The guy that came out a few hours WAS a sub contractor for D* and was just following the work order he had.
Who ever wrote up the work order for the 3rd time was wrong again!!
They keep trying to give me the 5lnb and we all know that will not work for me because of the 119 LOS issue.

Like i said no one at D* is on the same page and can not follow instructions.

I do not have the patience anymore and I'm fed up going in circles with these idiots.

The only thing i have gotten out of this mess is 3 weeks credit of no service. Saved me 50 bucks. WOW! what a deal after 9 years.

 

[raoul5788]

I'm guessing that where you are requires the 5 lnb dish since your sd locals probably come from there. There is no way around the 5 lnb requirement if you get the install directly from Directv. I would call a local installer and have them do the work since they will do the 3 lnb install. You may well be able to get Directv to cover the expense if you email the office of the president and explain your situation and what has transpired. The address is on the Directv website.

 

[Nuworld]

I'm guessing that where you are requires the 5 lnb dish since your sd locals probably come from there. There is no way around the 5 lnb requirement if you get the install directly from Directv. I would call a local installer and have them do the work since they will do the 3 lnb install. You may well be able to get Directv to cover the expense if you email the office of the president and explain your situation and what has transpired. The address is on the Directv website.

it was a local installer that showed up today. still no install.

 

[NotMe546]

Maybe its time to get a cherry picker and top some trees.

 

[Nuworld]

I'm guessing that where you are requires the 5 lnb dish since your sd locals probably come from there. There is no way around the 5 lnb requirement if you get the install directly from Directv. I would call a local installer and have them do the work since they will do the 3 lnb install. You may well be able to get Directv to cover the expense if you email the office of the president and explain your situation and what has transpired. The address is on the Directv website.

You may well be able to get Directv to cover the expense if you email the office of the president and explain your situation and what has transpired. The address is on the Directv website.

Can't seam to find the president email address on D* web site.

 

[charper1]

DIRECTV: Contact DIRECTV Office of the President


I think the direct addy is one of these formats: mike.white@directv.com or michael.white@directv.com or white.michael@directv.com

 

[JerseyMatt]

mike.white@directv.com