Just moved...issues with reinstall and question about antenna

lostcause

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jun 22, 2004
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I finally moved and got voom to reinstall at my new condo. I was scheduled for an install this morning, but the installer called me last night and said he was near my house and could come by right away. Of course I said sure. Well, it seems he was in a hurry and just wanted to get in and out despite having volunteered to come out early. It was an issue getting the dish mounted where I wanted. The building is a two story with a slant shingled roof. I wanted to mount it on the wooden edge, but he insisted he had to mount it on the top drilling into the shingles because he had no LOS where I wanted the dish. Bear in mind, he hadn't even gone up there yet...just eyed it and said there was a tree in the way. Being a condo, I can't really have them drilling into the shingles so it had to go on the edge. Knowing the elevation, I knew that the dish would clear the tree by at least 15 feet mounted where I wanted it. After 15 minutes arguing, he finally said he would give it a try but charge me 40.00 when it didn't work and he had to move it...turns out he got a 97 signal strength and cleared the tree by roughly 15 feet...It was all I could do to not say "I told you so."

Anyways, being a condo, I'm ok putting up the dish (I think...hopefully), but the winegard antenna stuck out like a sore thumb and was really an eyesore. I had to ask him to take it down. Of course this became another issue...finally he took it down.

Now, here's my question. With dtv I had one of those terk antennas that looks like a thick twisted coathanger and mounts to the dish very inconspicuously and it worked perfectly. I thought about asking him to put that antenna up on the voom dish, but considering that he treated every other request I had as an inconvenience and seemed reluctant to work with me, I decided against asking him for anything else. It wasn't so much that the install was bad, but everything I asked him to do seemed to be such an inconvenience to him that I just wanted him to be done and gone.

Oh..my question...is there any technical reason why the terk antenna won't work with the voom box? If it should work ok, how should I go about getting voom to send an installer out who might actually be willing to work with me and take the extra 10 minutes to mount the antenna I want to use?

In the meantime I decided to try a radio shack antenna, but that was completely useless. If I can't get voom to send someone out to finish the job, is there any other indoor antenna I can try? I've heard the silver sensor is good. Any opinions or suggestions?
 
Hey look into the MetroStar that I got it, it's a saucer shaped antenna, and it has a range of 45-55 miles, powered just like the winegard (same manufacturer even) people on this forum have not had many good things to say about Terk.
 
lostcause said:
....
In the meantime I decided to try a radio shack antenna, but that was completely useless. If I can't get voom to send someone out to finish the job, is there any other indoor antenna I can try? I've heard the silver sensor is good. Any opinions or suggestions?

I use silver sensor. I bought it ~ 2 years ago after reading many glowing reviews. Indeed, this small and inexpensive piece of plastic and metal thrown behind my TV set works better than the much bigger antenna provided by Voom that sits on my roof. I am ~8 miles from the towers and get strong OTA signals in almost any antenna position. :)
 
Oh no sorry lostcause, it is an outdoor, but I was thinking it may be more aestheticly pleasing than the batwing.
 
BTW, where on the voom box does the external antenna connect? The winegard was connected using a diplexer attached to the box (on the right side when looking at it from the back). When I take the diplexer off, there is a separate antenna connection, but there is also another antenna connection towards the center of the box.
 
Also, where can I find a silver sensor? I can always pick one up off the net, but are there any local stores or chains that carry them?
 
i had square shooter...worked well, except it wont pick up anything below channel 5....needed to go outside though..
I had a terk, and it was ok, but only got 7 of the 18 channels I get now with the Voom installed Winegard...i live 25 miles southwest of Chicago...
 
Wow, the winegard batwing was too ugly? I thought it was rather nice looking for an antenna. Doesn't scream HAM RADIO.

--Dan
 
Do any of the antennas provided by Voom work when placed inside of an attic? I am about to face the same issue when I move to a community where the hoa "Strictly forbids" placing antennas on the roof. Strangely, 18 and 24" dishes are allowed. I was hoping to buy and place an OTA antenna or else a silver sensor inside of the attic. If the Voom-supplied Winnegard can be mounted in the attic, I would rather save the $ towards a DVR this fall...
 
dankgus said:
Wow, the winegard batwing was too ugly? I thought it was rather nice looking for an antenna. Doesn't scream HAM RADIO.

--Dan

nah..not so much ugly but it does stand out and is definitely not low key. I'm pushing it by mounting the dish to begin with and that huge batwing only draws more attention to me that I don't really need.

No one has answered the question yet about where to connect the antenna on the back of the voom box. I have two possible connections...the one behind the diplexer or the one towards the center of the rear panel. The one behind the diplexer is a pullout module so I'm thinking it's designed to power the winegard and I shouldn't hook anything else up to it??
 
ilovebeer said:
Do any of the antennas provided by Voom work when placed inside of an attic? I am about to face the same issue when I move to a community where the hoa "Strictly forbids" placing antennas on the roof. Strangely, 18 and 24" dishes are allowed. I was hoping to buy and place an OTA antenna or else a silver sensor inside of the attic. If the Voom-supplied Winnegard can be mounted in the attic, I would rather save the $ towards a DVR this fall...

Don't know about the attic but I'm using my Winegard as a set top antenna. It actually fits really well on top of my RCA and doesn't look too bad either. When i moved it inside my apt, I started picking up stations from Detroit and Bowling Green. (I live in Toledo) So I would say that yes it SHOULD work when installed in the attic.
 
ilovebeer said:
Do any of the antennas provided by Voom work when placed inside of an attic? I am about to face the same issue when I move to a community where the hoa "Strictly forbids" placing antennas on the roof. Strangely, 18 and 24" dishes are allowed. I was hoping to buy and place an OTA antenna or else a silver sensor inside of the attic. If the Voom-supplied Winnegard can be mounted in the attic, I would rather save the $ towards a DVR this fall...

The HOA can not restrict you from putting an antenna up in an exclusive area.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

If they allow 24" dishes on the roof, then they have to allow antennas. Me I would put the antenna up and tell the HOA to "shove it", then tell them I will see them in court if they want.

BTW I would never buy a house that has an HOA, or overly restrictive covenants.

Jerry
 
jawilljr said:
The HOA can not restrict you from putting an antenna up in an exclusive area.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

If they allow 24" dishes on the roof, then they have to allow antennas. Me I would put the antenna up and tell the HOA to "shove it", then tell them I will see them in court if they want.

BTW I would never buy a house that has an HOA, or overly restrictive covenants.

Jerry

Not an exclusive area but they sure can prevent you from putting anything up in a common area, e.g. outside wall, roof, etc.... In an apartment/condo the only exclusive areas are the inside of your place and a patio that only you have access to.

BTW, still waiting for someone to tell me what input to use on the back of the voom box for an antenna...

Oh, and I did try hooking up the winegard inside the condo...didn't pick up squat. maybe i'm doing something wrong??
 
lostcause said:
Oh, and I did try hooking up the winegard inside the condo...didn't pick up squat. maybe i'm doing something wrong??

I had to run the cable from my sat into the apt, then hookup the antenna to the diplexor and run to Voom box. You may have to run around the living room holding the antenna to figure where best to put it. I was lucky in that it sits on top of the set.
 
hrmm...so the winegard only works with the diplexer? the installer took the diplexer with him since I asked him to take the antenna down....he left the antenna though. go figure.

I did try hooking it up without the diplexer though direct into the coax input that was behind the diplexer when I removed it. Still didn't pick up squat.
 
That's because the Winegard needs the diplexer to pass it the power from the box. Otherwise it's just a regular unpowered antenna.
 

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