Ordered upgrade on line, quick install but...

[tangodelta]

I ordered an upgrade to a H20 receiver at D* website on Wednesday evening. (I included that because somewhere on this forum I remember seeing a question about upgrading on line) It stated that someone would contact me within 72 hours to schedule the install. On Friday morning I called the 888 number and got an appointment for today 12-4PM. Talk about shocked!

The "installers" showed up about 1150 AM. Two young guys, bag of tools and the dish and receiver. One goes inside and starts installing the receiver, one starts putting together the dish. Simple upgrade, replace the dish and receiver, no wiring. They did a good job and were here about an hour. I asked about wiring another room for my now extra "legacy" Sony receiver and he told me they would but outside wiring only. The D* website states that about the free installation. I want it run through the "attic" crawlspace. No problem. I will do it later this year when it finally cools off a little.

Now for the but...

They drove a late model SUV with non commercial plates. They didn't use any kind of signal strength meter. When I asked who they worked for the guy in charge gave me a non answer - "the main company in P*****x. How long had they been doing this - "long time". Have you been busy - "yeah, installs or service calls all day every day". The guy doing all the grunt work didn't speak english. My Spanish s**ks.

I am happy with the install. They searched for the bird just like I would have now or back in my military satcom days. They didn't use a compass. After a while I guess you pretty much know where the bird is at if you are always looking for the same one(s).

Maybe I should have called a local dealer/installer. We should give local experts our business.

Maybe I did give my business to a local "mom and pop". Who knows?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Directv installers are all subcontractors. What ever company that serves your area is who you get. If they are real busy they can sub the job out again to another company. If it works I wouldn't worry, If you start to have problems,Call D* and I'm sure they will take care of it.

 

[boba]

You have at least a 90 day install warranty. A suggestion is to post your location and signal strengths on the 103 and 99 satellites. If it is possible I would also suggest taking a 1/2" wrench and making sure they tightened the nuts on your dish. That was a fast install even if it was a team of 2 workers. I believe D* charges $25 to connect your moved receiver if done at the time of an upgrade, you should have used the telephone and called retention to get your best upgrade.

 

[grydlok]

I ordered an upgrade to a H20 receiver at D* website on Wednesday evening. (I included that because somewhere on this forum I remember seeing a question about upgrading on line) It stated that someone would contact me within 72 hours to schedule the install. On Friday morning I called the 888 number and got an appointment for today 12-4PM. Talk about shocked!

The "installers" showed up about 1150 AM. Two young guys, bag of tools and the dish and receiver. One goes inside and starts installing the receiver, one starts putting together the dish. Simple upgrade, replace the dish and receiver, no wiring. They did a good job and were here about an hour. I asked about wiring another room for my now extra "legacy" Sony receiver and he told me they would but outside wiring only. The D* website states that about the free installation. I want it run through the "attic" crawlspace. No problem. I will do it later this year when it finally cools off a little.

Now for the but...

They drove a late model SUV with non commercial plates. They didn't use any kind of signal strength meter. When I asked who they worked for the guy in charge gave me a non answer - "the main company in P*****x. How long had they been doing this - "long time". Have you been busy - "yeah, installs or service calls all day every day". The guy doing all the grunt work didn't speak english. My Spanish s**ks.

I am happy with the install. They searched for the bird just like I would have now or back in my military satcom days. They didn't use a compass. After a while I guess you pretty much know where the bird is at if you are always looking for the same one(s).

Maybe I should have called a local dealer/installer. We should give local experts our business.

Maybe I did give my business to a local "mom and pop". Who knows?

.

Wall fishes are not free. It's not included on standard free installation

 

[tangodelta]

Don't misunderstand. I am happy with the installation and know wall fishes/attic crawls are not included in the free install. I only posted it because of all the discussions about using local installers, professional installers etc. And it never hurts to ask. The guy might have said he would do it for $XX and we would go from there.

I watched the guy installing the dish. Trust me, the nuts are tight.

The signal strengths are:

119 - 86-93
110 - 90-93
103 - 78-89
101 - 90-100 except for TP 26 which is 73
99 - 52 on TP 3, no other signal

my location - 33.5N 112.3W

If the info on Lyngsat is correct, why would I care about 99?

If any of you installers think this is a problem, let me know. I am not missing any channels I should have.

As for how I bought it and what I paid, it's like buying anything - someone ALWAYS knows how to get it cheaper and loves to point out how you got scr*w*d. Based on the fact that one output on my old LNB was intermittant and the best deal I fould on a single LNB dish was about $50, I look at it as a $50 upgrade. Have no desire to record more TV I won't have time to watch.