Install Help Question

[DTVNoob]

First off, appreciate your help in advance. I'm a long time reader, but do not post a lot. Whenever I do post, without fail you guys come to the rescue big time!

I recently relocated to Fayetteville, Arkansas into a new apartment/condo community. With this community I have a private balcony that points out to the Southern Sky.

A week ago my installer came out (sent by DirecTV via the Movers connection) and said he was unable to do an install because they could not meet the requirments of my apt. manager

1. Free standing satellite
2. No drilling

I assumed that condition #1 could be met by using a tri-pod, but the installer said they no longer mount 5LNB dishes (I have HD/DVR) on a tri-pod.

Condition #2 I was unsure of, but the installer did say they used to install using "flat" wires which could be run underneath the balcony door or window, but stopped using these because they would "cut" when people slammed doors/windows.

So after the failed install attempt I called CS and asked for my account to be suspended. They assured me that both conditions could be met and that the installer just didn't know what he was doing. So they set up a 2nd appointment for yesterday.

Yesterday comes and the company calls me and says they cannot do a free-standing installation, and will not come out.

I call CS back again and have my account suspended. They did tell me that both of those conditions are still possible to meet and that I should find my own installer via the Internet/Phonebook and DTV would re-imburse me up to $199 for the installation.

So my question to you guys is.....Do you believe it's possible to have a freestanding 5LNB HD/DVR Dish on my balcony and ran into my living room without drilling? Any advice on how to find a "good" installer who can perform this work?

Thanks in advance....if I left any details out, please let me know what else is needed!

 

[boba]

Yes a non Directv dealer can do the install. He is accepting the liability for problems with the installations and Directv will charge them back for problems if Directv pays any of the costs of the installation. A Slimline with SWM would allow only one line to be connected to the receiver. I believe a Slimline with SWM will run close to the $199 offered by D* never mind the cost of mount and labor. Good Luck finding a foolish dealer.

 

[Spize]

Yes a non Directv dealer can do the install. He is accepting the liability for problems with the installations and Directv will charge them back for problems if Directv pays any of the costs of the installation. A Slimline with SWM would allow only one line to be connected to the receiver. I believe a Slimline with SWM will run close to the $199 offered by D* never mind the cost of mount and labor. Good Luck finding a foolish dealer.

That would seriously take more than $199 for me to do although it can be done. The dish cost and the mounting hardware may cost more than that.

If it is a small porch you should be ready to pretty much give up using the porch at all with a slimline non-pen mount and the dish itself...

Although they do have these neat mounts that use a U bolt and pressure instead of penetration to hold onto the balcony railing... you may want to check that out and see if your LL would let you do it... Although you may be out of luck.

If you still have access to your old residence maybe you could get your old dish back and that could defray some of the cost for an independent dealer to do it, but I don't know your situation or old setup. You should have addressed this when you chose a new place to live because when they are that restrictive it is generally because they have found that to be a way to prevent installation and you often find that the apt. manager has cable, but oddly never gets a bill for it...

Living in an apartment sucks, especially if you want satellite TV.

P.S. if you are not with DirecTV for sports service and with them because cable sucks at HDTV, you may consider trying E* (Dish) because their HD dishes tend to be somewhat smaller and easier to free stand mount... personally I would prefer D*, but even E* is better than cable.

 

[Zynergi]

Buy a KAKU Rated Tripod from one of these sites sponsors (keep the receipts) and a few Flat Cables.. pick up a cinderblock and thick Sharpie from your local hardware store. Remake the appointment, have the installer install it, draw lines around where the tripod legs meet the balcony. Have the tech use some ground wire to hang the Cinderblock under the tripod but touching the floor (not free standing)

If he refuses to install the flat cable, have him barrel the line(s) at the entry point and put em in when he leaves. If he refuses to install at all immediately call D* and a Tech Supervisor should be immediately contacted.

Sounds like you got a Lazy install company.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Buy a KAKU Rated Tripod from one of these sites sponsors (keep the receipts) and a few Flat Cables.. pick up a cinderblock and thick Sharpie from your local hardware store. Remake the appointment, have the installer install it, draw lines around where the tripod legs meet the balcony. Have the tech use some ground wire to hang the Cinderblock under the tripod but touching the floor (not free standing)

If he refuses to install the flat cable, have him barrel the line(s) at the entry point and put em in when he leaves. If he refuses to install at all immediately call D* and a Tech Supervisor should be immediately contacted.

Sounds like you got a Lazy install company.

Lazy as in why attempt the potential charge back situation over and over?

This deal seems like a mess. I would need a sign off on the whole thing. The flat cables fail when crunched by doors and windows. Tripods blow over-and break things- while needing to be repointed.

So the tech supervisor ( the guy who wears the shirt that day) looks and says, "no can do".......then what.

As mentioned above........apartments have disadvantages............there was no mention of LOS here, by the way, not to mention how do you ground this mess?

Joe

 

[Zynergi]

Which is why D*/E* have and condone Non-Pen mounts.. for situations like this... i

 

[Joe Diamond]

Which is why D*/E* have and condone Non-Pen mounts.. for situations like this... i

That is not the point...........these things are never ending trouble.

They end with the customer unhappy with the continuous outages. They blame the installer for not talking them out of the installation or DTV for minimizing the problems. Landlords take a dim view of anything that impacts their building. Fios will fix this.

Joe