My experience with a DirecTV installer.

[dmihalcin]

I ordered the service on 10/7/12 being I just bought a new HDTV (kind of behind, I know) and my cable company had maybe 20 channels in HD. So my father suggested I give DTV a try. Went online and saw they had the NFL Sunday ticket for free with all packages above basic. So I got the "Choice package."

After going to dishpointer I had this feeling I would not get a LOS (line of sight) but I decided to see what the installer would do. Then the horror stories of lazy installer turned up in searches. Of course now I'm thinking "If I get one of these guys, I'm pretty much screwed."

The installer calls me on 10/9/12 at 10:00am roughly asking me if it is OK he shows up early. Of course I agree and after the phone call, he is here in 10 minutes.

He looks at where the satellite would be in the sky and told me that I am very lucky that there is a gap in between the two 200+ FT. trees. However, the dish would need to go on a pole. I got kind of nervous about this as a pole from what I read is an additional $75.00. Of course, I asked about this. His reply "I'm not gonna charge you for a piece of steel. It is the only way I can get you signal." Sigh of relief. He proceeds to ask me if he should concrete the pole in. I tell him no, since it goes against my lease to have anything considered permanent in the lawn. I'm pretty sure steel poles stuck in concrete falls into this. So he begins install for one HDTV and two SDTV's in bedrooms. Thankfully, I got one of the nicest guys I have ever come across. He explained everything to me down to how he is going to wire it, what holes he is going to drill, how the LNB, dish, and SWM work. Installation was clean and looked good (drip lines and all) And the fact he only needed to drill 3 holes made it nice. Then he spent 20 minutes with me and my wife explaining how to work the system.

All in all. A very good experience with the installers. I was grateful enough, I brought the guy out a cup of coffee since it was pretty cold that day.

That's how my DTV install went. 96% signal according to the meter. I couldn't be happier.

 

[Joe Diamond]

I ordered the service on 10/7/12 being I just bought a new HDTV (kind of behind, I know) and my cable company had maybe 20 channels in HD. So my father suggested I give DTV a try. Went online and saw they had the NFL Sunday ticket for free with all packages above basic. So I got the "Choice package."

After going to dishpointer I had this feeling I would not get a LOS (line of sight) but I decided to see what the installer would do. Then the horror stories of lazy installer turned up in searches. Of course now I'm thinking "If I get one of these guys, I'm pretty much screwed."

The installer calls me on 10/9/12 at 10:00am roughly asking me if it is OK he shows up early. Of course I agree and after the phone call, he is here in 10 minutes.

He looks at where the satellite would be in the sky and told me that I am very lucky that there is a gap in between the two 200+ FT. trees. However, the dish would need to go on a pole. I got kind of nervous about this as a pole from what I read is an additional $75.00. Of course, I asked about this. His reply "I'm not gonna charge you for a piece of steel. It is the only way I can get you signal." Sigh of relief. He proceeds to ask me if he should concrete the pole in. I tell him no, since it goes against my lease to have anything considered permanent in the lawn. I'm pretty sure steel poles stuck in concrete falls into this. So he begins install for one HDTV and two SDTV's in bedrooms. Thankfully, I got one of the nicest guys I have ever come across. He explained everything to me down to how he is going to wire it, what holes he is going to drill, how the LNB, dish, and SWM work. Installation was clean and looked good (drip lines and all) And the fact he only needed to drill 3 holes made it nice. Then he spent 20 minutes with me and my wife explaining how to work the system.

All in all. A very good experience with the installers. I was grateful enough, I brought the guy out a cup of coffee since it was pretty cold that day.

That's how my DTV install went. 96% signal according to the meter. I couldn't be happier.

Glad it worked out!

The pole without concrete will spin in the wind (maybe) so be prepared to repoint it. Get a small hand level and check it now. The procedure is to level (plumb) the pole and then rotate the dish to hit the signal. The elevation and tilt will probably not change. A helper inside reporting on the signal meter ( in MENU & SYSTEM SET UP) by cell phone will make it EZ.

There was a time when contract installers bought those poles and charged for installing with them. In-house Directv employees just do it & Directv eats the cost of the pole & their employee costs.

Enjoy,

Joe

 

[jcrandall]

Honestly I'd get some concrete around that pole and throw the displaced dirt in a bucket. When you move, just dig it up and break up the concrete with a sledge hammer, throw it away, and replace the dirt.

Worst case is they have a foot circle with no grass, big whoop, plant some seed.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

there is no way i would ever install a pole mount without concrete.... I would deffinently get that pole secured.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys dmihalcin!

I'm glad your install went well, but if you don't get that pole secured in concrete, those 96% numbers are going to go down.

 

[Liquidforce88]

There are ways to instal a pole with no concrete, and it wont spin. I have a pole in my yard that has been there 10 years, it has never moved. Thats going from a Dish500, to a Dish1000, to a 1.2K, to a slimline.

Is it better to have concrete, Yea. But there are ways to make it work without.

 

[dmihalcin]

We had a windy day up here, maybe some decent wind for about 5 hours. Nothing's changed. I do know it takes more than 5 hours to even get the thing to move a bit. So far, no change. I have a bag of quickrete on standby, just in case.

 

[Joe Diamond]

We had a windy day up here, maybe some decent wind for about 5 hours. Nothing's changed. I do know it takes more than 5 hours to even get the thing to move a bit. So far, no change. I have a bag of quickrete on standby, just in case.

IF you decide to use the quickcrete also crank on a muffler clamp or pound a dent in the pole. Dishes have been known to spin even in concrete without something to stop the smooth, round pole from rotating. You can dig out soil around thew pole and just pour in the dry powder...tamping as you work. Ground water will make the stuff hard...if you tamp with a hammer the pole will stay up until the stuff sets up. OR it might not ever move depending on soil types and how deep the pole was pounded.

Enjoy...but watch it,....use your level!

Joe

 

[raoul5788]

There are ways to instal a pole with no concrete, and it wont spin. I have a pole in my yard that has been there 10 years, it has never moved. Thats going from a Dish500, to a Dish1000, to a 1.2K, to a slimline.

Is it better to have concrete, Yea. But there are ways to make it work without.

Is the Land of Oz north of the Mason/Dixon line?

 

[Joe Diamond]

Is the Land of Oz north of the Mason/Dixon line?

Chip,
There is also......"Pounded 'er in deep, Boss! She won't move now but water is commin' up around the pole...go figure!" OR "Hey, since the Directv guy was here the phone won't work." OR "...smell gas?" Yankee land was build by a man named Phil Dirt. You gotta find virgin ground to pound in a pole without concrete. Someone else can take a shot at how hard iis to find virgins in Yankeeland.

Joe