reluctant and uninformed installers

[Vicki]

Is there somewhere on VOOM website that details all of the installation details--what is and is not included, etc? I thought I found it once, but can't again....

....Thanks and can't wait for my VOOM Party!...

Hi bookwalk,

Looks like Illya may not be around right now, but I think this may be the link you are looking for. http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=20677

Hope your installation goes well, and that VOOM Party is huge fun! @party Vicki

 

[bookwalk]

II you would have to call voom for a upgraded antenna but not sure they will give it to you for 1 station i would have to see you zip code to know what is available to you. but voom would have to be the one to approve the upgraded antenna.[/QUOTE]


My Zipcode is 57017 and local stations are all over the place--FOX is Channel 50 in Brookings (20 miles away), PBS is Channel 18 or 20 from Hetland (30 miles), ABC/CBS from Sioux Falls (40 miles) and NBC--no digital.

So, I will have the digital OTA from VOOM and I will also have an HDTV tuner in my HDTV, so I can utilize that--plus I still have rooftop antenna that can be re-oriented to pick up what the VOOM antenna doesn't--BUT it is only set up for 300ohm--do I need a "balon?" to convert it to the 75 ohm--it is about 16 years old.

 

[TYORK]

II you would have to call voom for a upgraded antenna but not sure they will give it to you for 1 station i would have to see you zip code to know what is available to you. but voom would have to be the one to approve the upgraded antenna.

My Zipcode is 57017 and local stations are all over the place--FOX is Channel 50 in Brookings (20 miles away), PBS is Channel 18 or 20 from Hetland (30 miles), ABC/CBS from Sioux Falls (40 miles) and NBC--no digital.

So, I will have the digital OTA from VOOM and I will also have an HDTV tuner in my HDTV, so I can utilize that--plus I still have rooftop antenna that can be re-oriented to pick up what the VOOM antenna doesn't--BUT it is only set up for 300ohm--do I need a "balon?" to convert it to the 75 ohm--it is about 16 years old.[/QUOTE]

the bad new here is that antenna web only show you with 3 station in digital
CBS, PBS, NBC, and that is what voom will look at unless the other station are digital and it just is not show. You have several at 152 orientation so i am sure that is where they will point your antenna so. I sure voom will not approve an upgraded antenna but never hurt to try.

 

[NiFi]

Hey TYORK, I just found and started surfing these forums. I see your listed as in Indy, Jeff Y is your field manager there? I am in Buffalo NY, and he is mine.

 

[TYORK]

Hey TYORK, I just found and started surfing these forums. I see your listed as in Indy, Jeff Y is your field manager there? I am in Buffalo NY, and he is mine.

yeap He cover like 5 or 6 states.

 

[TYORK]

Hey TYORK, I just found and started surfing these forums. I see your listed as in Indy, Jeff Y is your field manager there? I am in Buffalo NY, and he is mine.

Have you ever meet Jeff?

 

[rkr0923]

This installer tried to tell me that Dish bought Voom and all of its programming. I know way, way more than he does by regularly reading this forum along with AVS for the past 3 weeks and many past months.

You Think!
maybe he does know something..............you sure can't go by what you read in a forum. sure, there is some good info in forums but also alot of misleading, wishful, and bias info. lot's of good info on OTA antennas, no doubt, but info on new programming and the future only a "few" people know and they ain't talking

 

[greyghost]

OK, where to begin.... Well, bookwalk has an install coming up and wanted to know what's included. Here is the INSTALLSinc scope of work:

VOOM 2 ROOM INSTALLATION-
Equipment will be shipped to installer for delivery to customer's home (dish, off air antenna, receivers, welcome kit). Mount satellite and off-air antennas, using SBCA standards, to the exterior structure of home, and align for peak satellite and off-air reception. Diplex Dish and Antenna feeds, and route two lines (four if DVR type) up to 125 ft each of RG-6 coaxial cable to two TV locations. Ground satellite, antenna, and cables to local and NEC standards. Receivers must be connected to hard wired land line or by a wireless (min 56k capable) phone system for the job to be considered complete. Program supplied remote to operate TV. Activate customer selected programming. Give the welcome kit and provide instruction to familiarize the customer with the basic use of their system. Obtain customer satisfaction sign-off.

The installer will be sent the Winegard Sensar II antenna which, according to your earlier description, should work for you. It is a bi-directional, short-mid range antenna. Also, the installer should be able to use your existing antenna and combine it with the Sensar. This may cost extra. However, customers can often get approval to have the installer do this at no additional charge to you (Voom picks up the tab).

elocs, Call INSTALLS and ask to speak to the field manager that covers your area (they almost certainly won't be able to connect you to him, but they will give him the message to call you). Tell him about the installer trying to convince you to go to E* or D*. No one wants that kind of installer in the market.

ALL, A zip code will not give you a reliable answer for your antenna questions. A complete address is needed when visiting www.antennaweb.org because a zip can encompass a valley or mountain or other large obstruction that can drastically chage reception from one end of your street to the other. Also, INSTALLSinc approves antenna upgrades, not Voom. In fact, unless you are calling to order Voom for the first time, chances are you are talking to someone at INSTALLSinc. You may not know because the CSRs are trained in all phases of Voom, from programming issues, to receiver issues, to installation issues. It's actually a great idea. Kind of like one-stop-shopping.

 

[TYORK]

Also, INSTALLSinc approves antenna upgrades, not Voom. In fact, unless you are calling to order Voom for the first time, chances are you are talking to someone at INSTALLSinc. You may not know because the CSRs are trained in all phases of Voom, from programming issues, to receiver issues, to installation issues. It's actually a great idea. Kind of like one-stop-shopping.
__________________
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

i hate to be the one to tell you but you are wrong on this INSTALLs INC does not approve the upgraded antenna it has to come from voom. not sure where you got your info but it is not right.

 

[dougmcbride]

...--BUT it is only set up for 300ohm--do I need a "balon?" to convert it to the 75 ohm--it is about 16 years old.

Yes - you need a balun. Can be found at Radio Shack - example:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_003_001_003_001&product_id=15-1230

 

[Indy]

This installer tried to tell me that Dish bought Voom and all of its programming. I know way, way more than he does by regularly reading this forum along with AVS for the past 3 weeks and many past months.

You Think!
maybe he does know something..............you sure can't go by what you read in a forum. sure, there is some good info in forums but also alot of misleading, wishful, and bias info. lot's of good info on OTA antennas, no doubt, but info on new programming and the future only a "few" people know and they ain't talking

No I don't think. Trust me the installer you talked to is clueless. Dish has nothing to do with the programming end of Voom nor will they have in the immediate future. But we are based on a free market society and anything can happen.

 

[greyghost]

Also, INSTALLSinc approves antenna upgrades, not Voom. In fact, unless you are calling to order Voom for the first time, chances are you are talking to someone at INSTALLSinc. You may not know because the CSRs are trained in all phases of Voom, from programming issues, to receiver issues, to installation issues. It's actually a great idea. Kind of like one-stop-shopping.
__________________
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

i hate to be the one to tell you but you are wrong on this INSTALLs INC does not approve the upgraded antenna it has to come from voom. not sure where you got your info but it is not right.

It's right. I can tell you who takes the calls. I can tell you who is authorized to approve such things. That is not to say that there aren't people at Voom who handle this sort of thing. There are. But the vast majority of install and equipment-related issues are handled from INSTALLS Buffalo. I didn't get to be an installation superhero just for my x-ray vision, ya know.

 

[TYORK]

It's right. I can tell you who takes the calls. I can tell you who is authorized to approve such things. That is not to say that there aren't people at Voom who handle this sort of thing. There are. But the vast majority of install and equipment-related issues are handled from INSTALLS Buffalo. I didn't get to be an installation superhero just for my x-ray vision, ya know.

ok you may be able to tell us all of that but i can also tell you that the CSR"S them self in BUFFALO can not AUTHORIZE a upgrade antenna if they do it come higher up or they pm voom to get it approved but for the most part they will tell the customer to call voom to get a upgraded antenna.

 

[Vicki]

GreyGhost...I'm not trying to discredit your claim...but...

ok you may be able to tell us all of that but i can also tell you that the CSR"S them self in BUFFALO can not AUTHORIZE a upgrade antenna if they do it come higher up or they pm voom to get it approved but for the most part they will tell the customer to call voom to get a upgraded antenna.

...I've only seen you posting in the past three or so days anywhere on SatelliteGuys forums, ...and I'm a real skeptic...my experience (over about a 5-month oddessy with VOOM and Installs, Inc. more closely follows what I have seen TYORK post, so since you are new, at least to me...would you be willing to provide some supporting information about how you arrived at being the Installation SuperHero?? From what I've read of your six or eight posts up to this point, it seems to me that you do have some valuable knowledge about OTA intalls, but just how close are you, really, to today's situation with VOOM installs? I haven't asked TYORK for the information, but if you are really in the "know", who should I call in the Rocklin, CA (zip 95677) area for help? Vicki

 

[greyghost]

My apologies. It was not my intention to ruffle any feathers here. Your skepticism is understandable. It has been a long time since I paid any attention to forums, and I just found this one a few days ago. I have some extra time on my hands and figured I would help some people with their issues. Tyork is obviously quite knowledgeable and, I suspect, is close to INSTALLS, perhaps even an installer for them. He is correct that the CSRs at INSTALLS can not approve upgrades- there are supervisors who are authorized- Mark, Kerri, Nick, among them. As for an installer for your area, I will, of course, direct you to call INSTALLS to ask for service. However, I suspect you will get either KJG Installations or American Cable Concepts.

 

[TYORK]

ok i see that you have inside info to so are you a csr at installs, Field Manager, YOU can tell us

 

[Vicki]

No apologies necessary...no feathers ruffled here...just curious....

My apologies. It was not my intention to ruffle any feathers here. Your skepticism is understandable. It has been a long time since I paid any attention to forums, and I just found this one a few days ago. I have some extra time on my hands and figured I would help some people with their issues. Tyork is obviously quite knowledgeable and, I suspect, is close to INSTALLS, perhaps even an installer for them. He is correct that the CSRs at INSTALLS can not approve upgrades- there are supervisors who are authorized- Mark, Kerri, Nick, among them. As for an installer for your area, I will, of course, direct you to call INSTALLS to ask for service. However, I suspect you will get either KJG Installations or American Cable Concepts.

I suspect I may speak for many, if not all, that we are happy to have help from whatever quarter we can find it. From what I've read, TYORK is a Quality Control person for Installs, Inc. in the mid-west. What I know for sure is that she is knowledgeable and very conscientious.
:yikes
You probably are too. But please turn off your xray vision...I'm in my jammies already!!! ...And maybe wait for someone else to crown you Installation Superhero...it just seems to me to be a bit presumptious...whether it's true or not. Rant ended, no ill will entended... honestly!! Vicki

 

[elocs]

Well, back to where I started this thread, about my reluctant and uninformed installer. Yes he did try and push me towards Dish and a few days ago I received an email from a poster here (voom1215) who works for Voom and was interested in talking to me about one of my posts here and I assume it was the one that started this thread. That she works for Voom was confirmed by Sean, who gave me an alternate email to reach her since strangely, neither of the addresses in her email to me would work. I still have not heard from her.

I would have called Voom about this myself, but it was a bit of a dilemma. This installer was at least competent and I am not sure when I might need him again. If I complained, it would not be hard for him to figure out where it came from since there are not many Voomers in my area. He comes from maybe 50 miles from me and I don't know why there is not one closer. If he got dumped by Voom, who knows what I might get? It is maybe a case of better the devil I know than the devil I don't.

I am still on my quest to get NBC since my local Fox went hd it is the only one I do not have that I watch. Then I could drop cable. I may attempt to install a second antenna myself and use an a/b switch, or even a simple antenna to pick up a sd signal. Either way, I will avoid the installer.
This is definitely an area that Voom needs to address since even with a self install not everybody is capable and/or competent. I may be capable, but probably not competent. Like Dirty Harry says, "a man has to know his limitations."

 

[TYORK]

Well, back to where I started this thread, about my reluctant and uninformed installer. Yes he did try and push me towards Dish and a few days ago I received an email from a poster here (voom1215) who works for Voom and was interested in talking to me about one of my posts here and I assume it was the one that started this thread. That she works for Voom was confirmed by Sean, who gave me an alternate email to reach her since strangely, neither of the addresses in her email to me would work. I still have not heard from her.

I would have called Voom about this myself, but it was a bit of a dilemma. This installer was at least competent and I am not sure when I might need him again. If I complained, it would not be hard for him to figure out where it came from since there are not many Voomers in my area. He comes from maybe 50 miles from me and I don't know why there is not one closer. If he got dumped by Voom, who knows what I might get? It is maybe a case of better the devil I know than the devil I don't.

I am still on my quest to get NBC since my local Fox went hd it is the only one I do not have that I watch. Then I could drop cable. I may attempt to install a second antenna myself and use an a/b switch, or even a simple antenna to pick up a sd signal. Either way, I will avoid the installer.
This is definitely an area that Voom needs to address since even with a self install not everybody is capable and/or competent. I may be capable, but probably not competent. Like Dirty Harry says, "a man has to know his limitations."

they want dump him they will just tell hime to do his job that he is getting payed to do

 

[elocs]

they want dump him they will just tell hime to do his job that he is getting payed to do

Like I said, I think he could figure that the complaint came from me. As for getting paid, that was one of his complaints about Voom--that they only pay $42 per call and he inferred that they don't pay promptly. He was willing to get me a new antenna, but it seemed more so he could prove that it would not work and that I should go with Dish.
If worst came to worst, I would rather have him than somebody that did not know what they are doing. I wonder if he is getting a kickback from Dish? I do know more about what is going on with Voom than he does.