Would this be considered a typical installation or not?

[skenney]

I'm a pre-newbie in the thinking and learning stages... My neighbors just had their dish installed (pic attached) and I'm just curios how you guys would rate this install. This is the only one I've seen up close, but I was surprised to see some switches or splitters (not sure) up there just wire tied to the Dish mtg post. I would have thought they would have been located in the basement or a closet inside somewhere. They will definitely see some inclement weather as we live in Syracuse NY. Would this be considered a typical installation or not? Also could someone possibly identify any or all of these components? Just trying to learn before I dive in.

Thanks, Steve

 

[telecaster]

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=27443

 

[SimpleSimon]

OK. First, it LOOKS like he made sure the foot & the arms are hitting joists - that's good.

Second, it LOOKS like he's got it grounded - that's good - BUT it looks like the blocks are not close enough to the cable's entry point into the house - that's bad - BUT it's hard to tell what's what from one pic - even a high-res one like you posted.

Third, he left a bunch of slack instead of cutting the lines tight. Enh. No harm done, and it might come in handy some day.

Some people will argue that switches shouldn't be mounted on the mast. Others will say it doesn't matter. I say it depends on the install layout. I usually wall-mount them - makes troubleshooting easier if you don't have to keep climbing onto the roof to swap stuff around.

The little blocks on the mast are ground blocks the big one is a switch - almost certainly a DP34 - 3 satellites in, 4 tuners out - standard with a SuperDish.

Conclusion: It may not be perfect, but it IS better than a lot of them!

 

[boba]

I agree with Simon it is technically a correct mounting, but one that shouldn't have been done. Those roof shingles are curling and brittle that roof should be replaced now or in the very near future. That Dish will have to be removed to put new roofing shingles on and the reinstallation is going to be at the "HOMEOWNERS" expense. A good installer would have looked for an alternative site.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Yes, that's a fair point - but in all fairness to the installer, we weren't there.

I see trees in the background. It's possible that roof mount was the only way to get a clear LOS. For all we know, the installer told the customer this.

 

[Hall]

That's a SuperDish ?? Yeah, I guess so with the (3) LNBs... I've never seen a dish skewed that much before though.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Check his location - that's why.

 

[shmaque]

Funny, that looks an awful lot like my installation, minus some of the extra slack. When I went from the standard dish to a superdish, the installer didn't want to run another line down, so he threw the switch up on the roof just like this one. I also live in Syracuse, and I know that the "zip-tie" installation won't have a prayer of surviving many winters here. I realize that this is a technically ok installation, but personally, I plan on moving the switch in-doors. Just my preference.

 

[ShadowEKU]

Funny, that looks an awful lot like my installation, minus some of the extra slack. When I went from the standard dish to a superdish, the installer didn't want to run another line down, so he threw the switch up on the roof just like this one. I also live in Syracuse, and I know that the "zip-tie" installation won't have a prayer of surviving many winters here. I realize that this is a technically ok installation, but personally, I plan on moving the switch in-doors. Just my preference.

Edit: nevermind Im a tard sometimes

 

[skenney]

OK. First, it LOOKS like he made sure the foot & the arms are hitting joists - that's good.

Second, it LOOKS like he's got it grounded - that's good - BUT it looks like the blocks are not close enough to the cable's entry point into the house - that's bad - BUT it's hard to tell what's what from one pic - even a high-res one like you posted.

Third, he left a bunch of slack instead of cutting the lines tight. Enh. No harm done, and it might come in handy some day.

Some people will argue that switches shouldn't be mounted on the mast. Others will say it doesn't matter. I say it depends on the install layout. I usually wall-mount them - makes troubleshooting easier if you don't have to keep climbing onto the roof to swap stuff around.

The little blocks on the mast are ground blocks the big one is a switch - almost certainly a DP34 - 3 satellites in, 4 tuners out - standard with a SuperDish.

Conclusion: It may not be perfect, but it IS better than a lot of them!

I've attached another picture (much closer view). Yup it is grounded and it is a dp34 switch.

Just curios, why would you prefer the grounding blocks be closer to the cable entrance into the house?

Do you think it is wired this way because it's a new install under the 'Digital Home Advantage' plan and if they cancel, the dish and receivers go back to Dish Network? That way it's all set to be installed somewhere else. Just a thought...

Well, I just signed up for for the same plan to be installed Tuesday. Not sure if I'll get the same installer or not, but I would prefer to have just the 3 cables run down into the garage, where they can mount the switch and the grounding blocks on an inside wall. One of the reasons I want them inside, is I plan on picking up a dp34 switch and another receiver or 2 in the future, and it will make the whole installation cleaner and easier.

A newbie question... why are there 2 cable connections and only one is used on the lnbf on the right?

Thanks to everyone for their comments...

Steve

 

[SimpleSimon]

The idea of grounding close to the entrance (which is the requirement BTW!) is so that anything picked up along the way gets drained off before entering the house. Unless there's another set of ground blocks at the cable entry, it ain't enough.

No - installers don't care about DHA and tear down or any of that.

If it were ME, the ground blocks stay OUTSIDE, but the switch can be inside. Or in fact, the switch itself can be used as the ground block. No flames -about that, guys! Just note that the newest DP34's have EVEN MORE ground lugs on them than the old casting! So tell me why they would do that if it wasn't supposed to be used for grounding, eh?

So, to sum it up - 3 cables from the LNBFs down off the roof to the switch mounted on the wall and grounded. Then 4 cables from there to the receivers.

The SuperDish comes with a DP34 - I don't know why you'd want another one - unless you're going beyond 4 tuners.

Finally, the outside LNBF is a standard Dual - maybe when they packed the dish they were out of Singles - or maybe they even quit making Singles - higher quantity discount on Duals may make up for the cost of the extra port. Doesn't matter.

 

[skenney]

Thanks for the info...

yes, the reason for the second switch is to add additional tuners at some point.

Thanks, Steve