Soon new to voom

[owvernon]

Well I'm scheduled to have Voom installed on Jan 4th, 2005 I have many worries considering the amout of bad installation issues. I (in the past installed D* twice at 2 locations with nothing more than a compass and the D* STB. I turned the volume all the way up and listened for the best tone. The very first install I got a 92% sig with an 18" dish on a piece of plywood with 2 cinder blocks in SE Washington St. After 1 yr I moved about 25 miles and setup again on a leaning power pole 40' from the house and got a 91% sig with only a STB and a good ear using only the original STB again. NOW I'm wanting HDTV and I'm a Amateur radio operator so I know a bit about antenna aiming and have a tower and a rotor so if the installer can't get it right - I WILL - hopefully they will get close though. It saves me a bit of time. I do not have a clear view of the HDTV towers (due to dirt [hills] but I'm only 15 miles away from 4 HDTV transmitters and 75 mi from one more [with a clear view](acording to TitanTV but Antennaweb is wrong - again) my wife works for a TV station lol)). I have a clear view to the East - Southeast (not exactly sure where the sat is though for Voom). I'm getting more aprehensive as time goes but my installation date is Jan 4th, 2005 and to top it off I plan to move by May or June 2005. But if they only deliver the equip I can do the rest myself I guess. It will only take time and the cooperation of my wife (she can be my ear) now lol. Maybe I should wait until I move but not sure it will happen before the $1 install deal ends.. hmmmm any ideas??

 

[davekendra]

Calm down and down worry too much. As a ham radio operator, you have all you need to know about the off-air antenna in that head of yours (my dad was a ham). Concentrate on making sure that the installer gets that dish in the best possible location and really gets a solid signal for you though. The satellite generally tracks along a position in the southern sky (SSW for me in Pennsylvania). Try to make sure you have no trees/other obstructions in that direction. All the typically normal stuff. If the OTA antenna isn't ideal for you, you will know how to get it improved. There is a scanner built-in to the VOOM box that will find any local station stronger than basic level and give you access to it. With a rotor and fine-tuning that with a longer-range directional array you should have no trouble getting what you want in terms of local channels. Good luck and relax. I've been with VOOM over a year now and their picture quality is better than any other choices out there. You'll be glad you signed them up. I would direct you to the comments by ddlsmith at http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=253455#post253455 for another recent subscriber. His comments about treating the installer well wouldn't hurt. You'll be glad you did.