Professional Installers out there....I'm Desperate for Help

[philssatellite]

I don't know if this is the problem but, here goes. If you had the regualr 18" dish before then changed to the phase 3.. you cannot run thru the old multi-switch (if you had over 2 receivers before) using the phase 3 dish. make sure it is not run thru a multi-switch of any kind. if you use a phase 3 dish you must use a multi-switch for the phase 3 dish. the regular 3 in 4 out will drive one crazy sometimes also. you may have already tried this but if not and there is a multi-switch somewhere.

 

[wobbie]

I say throw the whole kit and kaboodle out the window. Who did the install for you. Alocal company that you purchased it thru or one of DirecTV's Home Service Provider. Tell the installer when you call him to bring a supervisor with him. Sounds to me like you got one of those $9.00 an hour DirecTV techs. Replace the Dish and tell the installer to make sure that everything is plum before he sets the dish on the mast.

 

[Bill1955]

Hi everyone, Talked with the Installer's headquarters today. They say they will send their best multi-satellite installer on Tuesday.....I specifically mentioned a new dish and multiswitch....the woman on the phone said...."No, we'd sooner think it was the footprint"? !?!?!?! I said "Footprint?? What is that?" She answered it has something to do with your zip code and the satellite signal and when I questioned her further she said it was too technical for her!!!!!!!! I knew she was conferring with someone else on the other end of the phone........so........what is a footprint? Does that mean that it still could be LOS????

 

[TYORK]

yes bill i think that is what she was trying to tell you LOS issue .

 

[Bill1955]

If it finally turns out to be a LOS issue......what should I expect from the installer on Tuesday? That he'll just leave because I have LOS problems or will he try to resolve the LOS issue??? I know this sounds crazy, but I don't know what I should expect anymore????????

 

[TYORK]

If it finally turns out to be a LOS issue......what should I expect from the installer on Tuesday? That he'll just leave because I have LOS problems or will he try to resolve the LOS issue??? I know this sounds crazy, but I don't know what I should expect anymore????????

He should fix it he may have to move it to a different location to get a good line of sight but yes he should not leave there until you are working./

Tyork

 

[dragon002]

bill.
,

t is right, dont let him leave until you have service , as a matter of fact, when he shows up, call directv and put him on the phone with a retention (regular directv ) employee. bet his *ss gets in gear then :shocked

do you have a digital camera that you can take pix of the dish and the line of sight??? if so please post them as well as any switches and the recievers you have. wow!! a polaroid moment!!!!!!!!

dragon

 

[wobbie]

Call alocal guy. Ask hin to come out. Then call DirecTV and tell them what you have been going thru. Threaten to cancel if they do credit your account the amount that the local dealer wants to charge you. I've been to aseveral service calls that people have called me as the DirecTV guys or anyone else they sent out could not fix the problem. I've always told the people that I did remedy the problem for to do what I mentioned and it has been successful for them everytime. Just my oppinion but it should have been working properly before the original installer left.

 

[dragon002]

wobbie,

it is unbelievable they haven't sent a HSP out there yet!!!

and he CANT leave until it is right.

dragon

 

[Bill1955]

Thanks guys........you are really the greatest.........I wish you were in my area........okay....so Dragon, how do I post these pictures. I'll take them tomorrow, I really do want you all to see it.......

P.S. This is NOT unusual. Living where we do we get the worst service on EVERYTHING. All of the locals feel we have NO options(and we don't) so we are at their mercy. Even in the retail stores, the clerks pick their nails or chat on the phone BEFORE waiting on the customers................oh well, one of these days we'll get out of here...........

 

[wobbie]

Bill, what part of the country are you in. There may be someone on this board that is close to you and is willing to come over and help you out. DRagon, I'm guessing that they have sent an HSP out. Do you know what they are paying those guys nowadays??? Around here (Omaha) they are'nt paying anything and anyone with any experience that worked for them has left. Heck, they got a 23 and 24 year old kid running the show.

 

[Mike500]

If I were the technician, I would bring out an old non DirecTV +plus receiver, a 22 khz tone generator, a 22 Khz tone switch and and two standard 18 inch dishes on portable mounts.

Then, I would set up the receiver directly for 101 connected to a dish at 101.

Then, set up the receiver with the 22 Khz tone generator in line with a second dish at 119.

If both of these works, then I'd set up the 22 Khz switch with the tone generator between it and the receiver and the switch and the switch to each dish at 101 and 119.

If this set up works, I would then try out your receiver without the 22Khz tone generator in line. If the receiver works, you have verified that it works.

Then, using barrel connectors and the highest quality coax with good connectors like Snap-N-Seal, I would then run the receiver's line through one coax in your install at a time through the verified test setup.

If go through this test with everything controlled excepting the one component that you are testing, you will find the offending part.

This is time consuming, but given the time that you've already spent and the complications in the problem, it is the only definitive method.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Bill:

Please tell us where you live (approximatley). Curious about your LOS.
My trick to determing LOS before buying D* was to know where in the sky the sats are and then cross referencing where a bright star is. e.g., I knew that if I could see Orion @ 10pm from my desired dish location, than I would have LOS to the sats.

Your problem sounds overcomplicated.

 

[Bill1955]

I"m in Maine (Far North Eastern, a mile from the Canadian Border) zip=04740.

Today I put the dish on a 3 foot pole and roamed around the roof with it while my wife watched the signal meter. About the best we can ever get 110 is 75%(and those channel come in fine). We had the ODD transponders(23,25,27,29,31) of 119 giving us between 95 and 100 on every single ODD one, the signal meter was just screaming.......not even a whisper of a signal on the EVENS, nothing........We do have some trees.......but I'm pretty sure the dish is clearing them.....

 

[fkostyn]

As mentioned before in this post, It wouldn't surprize me if you end up with a bad dish. Keep up informed!

 

[wobbie]

Bill, reiterate will quickly. All your missing is the even transponders on the 119 satellite??? Are you receiving the locals in your area and if I may ask what channels are you missing?? Any HBO's or the locals alll together or just certain channels?? Have you called DirecTV themselves and asked if they may be having any trouble with the satellite. I recall I ran into this problem once and after pulling all my hair out I called DirecTV and of course after a long period of trying to get tp talk to someone that knew what they were doing I found out that they were having troble with the "spot beam" as they called it from the 119 satellite. That may help as I did not see it mentioned as a possible solution. Keep us posted.

 

[Bill1955]

Wobbie........., YES the only thing we're missing are the even's on 119. its the majority of the HD channels that we are missing.......Discovery HD, ESPNHD, HDNet, FoxW and NBCW.(we don't have HBO, but we are getting SHO-HD) There are a bunch of the 400 channels on the even transponders too, but we're not interested in those. We get the HD channels that are broadcast off the 110.............And yes we've been in contact with Directv, about 4 times, and as far as they are telling us they are not having trouble.

 

[wobbie]

Do your local channels come off the 119?? Or do you have any locals at all? The reason I ask is some areas require a second dish for the locals and the software on the receivers may be outdated. The only other thing I would try is a new dish as mentioned before and if that doesn't solve it, then check the voltage coming out of the reciever. Check the voltage with the reciever on an even transponder, then change the channel to an odd transponder and check again. Seems as if everything else has been tried especially if you've already ran a temp drop straight from the dish to the recievers. I have ran into bad rolls of cable, but my guess would be that the tech that ran the temp drop would know if he did have bad cable.

 

[dishjockey]

Bill your hsp up there is probably directech good luck finding an experianced tech that works for them . I was in their burlington vt. warehouse last week there was a guy loading a ford taurus wagon with a ladder strapped on top .
Great image for directv.
They pull warm bodies off the street promising good pay after a month or two these guys figure out they can make more money working for mcdonalds and quit.

 

[Cliff]

I may be showing my ignorance, but does the dish you are using require a setting on the skew angle? It sounds like their my be a problem with the cross polarization on the LNB's because of an incorrect skew setting either on the dish or the LNB mount is bent slightly throwing off the angle of reception.