DirecTv installed an HD receiver today.. PROBLEMS!

Jimi C · 01-17-2007, 07:35 PM

So Back in early December I called DirecTv to take advantage of an offer for a free HDTV receiver. Finally today they came to do the job. We've had some bad weather in the area the last few days that apperantly left a sheet of ice on my roof that until now I was unaware of. The Directv guy made no mention of this and seemed to perform the install of my new dish without issue.
Finally the guy comes inside to install the receiver. This is when Directv's policy of making everything into a complete nightmare kicked in. The guy comes in bitching about how cold it is outside and how he cant wait to go home. He takes the box for the reciver and uses it to angrily push all of the stuff on my coffee table out of his way to so he cant set the box on it, while still talking to himself and completly ignoring me. I witness him having trouble sliding the cords through the front of my tv stand, so I decide to run around to the back, plug in the box and hook it up to my display before he takes his anger out on my gear.
At this point he fires up the box and asks me to get him a telephone. Ok. I have no clue what the guy on the other end of the phone was telling this install guy but it only added fuel to the fire.
Skip ahead, after 15 minutes of rebooting the box the thing finally finds a signal and downloads whatever it is that it needs. I get all of my standard channels and things are looking up. Now, he attempts to tune into a high def channel. Nothing happens. He asks the guy to activate the high def, still nothing. Reboot again and nothing. This is when he notices that I installed a coupler and ran about 20ft of cheap coaxil cable because I had moved my tv in the time since I got directv. He tells me that it must be the garbage cable I have that is preventing the channels from coming in. I disagree with him and tell him that the cable is no worse than what he has running into the house from the dish.
Finally, he tells me that it "could possible be" my neighbors tree. He told me that because of the ice, he installed the dish at the lowest point on my roof and that it should have been installed at the peak where the old one was. (duh!)But he couldnt do anything about it now and that I had to call DirecTv once the ice melted off my roof and they would send somebody out.
Ok, I have no problem with that. The last thing I want to deal with is a dead directv guy in my yard. My problem is the fact that he shouldnt have done anything knowing it wasnt optimal. How many holes do I need in my roof? He should have just told me about the icy roof in the first place and offered to reschedule. Am I wrong here?

But.. after he left I tried to tune into the high def channels again. Some of them are coming in but obviously are not at full strength. Is it possible that I would get all of the other channels but not the high def due to a tree? Could it just be the cable? Does anyone know?

ChristopherDAC · 01-17-2007, 08:26 PM

With super-high-band as used on satellite, cable can make a difference. Make sure you are using RG-6 — you can get the "quad shield" kind at Radio Shack, which is fine. Also, the tree could definitely be cutting back your signal strength. Reception with satellite varies according to weather conditions, so it's quite possible that you could have intermittent reception.

Definitely get the dish moved up as soon as possible.

Jimi C · 01-17-2007, 09:44 PM

Well I had to wait over a month for the initial appointment so im not holding out hope that it will happen anytime soon. In the meantime I will buy a better cable and see if that makes a difference.

The tree is at least 40 yards away and has no leaves on it. If its a problem now I have a feeling that come spring my dish will be totally unusable if not moved.

Robert_J · 01-18-2007, 10:08 AM

Since you had a new dish installed, I'm assuming it was an AT-9 model or similar 5lnb dish. Those are extremely difficult to install. Your sub-contracted installer was probably paid $75 for the install no matter how long it took. My guess is that he didn't do try to peak your signal strength on each LNB. Call D* and complain. They will give you free HBO or Showtime for a few months to ease your pain.

Can you post your signal strength for each satellite/transponder combo? That may tell us where the problem lies. If it is specific to a single satellite, then it could be a simple fix.

The tree that is 40 yards away should not cause any problems unless it is extremely tall. The satellite signal comes in at a higher angle and bounces off the dish like a bank shot in basketball. There are some dishes that look like they are aimed direclty at the side of a house 20 feet away but get a great signal.

-Robert

Steve_Pannell · 01-18-2007, 10:39 AM

I had this happen on a rainy night:

Standard def channels were ok (reduced signal but still "locked in")
Some Hi-def channels were ok, too.
Some Hi-def channels were totally out.

If the dish is pointed correctly then it might be the icy tree blocking some of the signal.

**HTF Ads**

Jimi C · 01-18-2007, 04:42 PM

Thats alot of number Robert.

Satellite: 101º (A)

Transponders (32 @ 101º)

1-8 69 57 68 53 68 75 66 77

9-16 66 58 64 55 69 81 66 82

17-24 68 61 68 57 68 81 66 78

25-32 67 39 69 75 74 77 69 78

Let me know if you need more info. I can tell you that today I am able to receive Discovery HD and ESPN 2HD with mediocre quality. They are the only HD channels I get both sound and picture. Other channels I can get some fuzz but for the other 6 or 7 I get nothing at all.

Robert_J · 01-18-2007, 05:15 PM

Those are horrible numbers for the 101 satellite. Did you take them on a cloudy day? What about the 110 and 119 satellite? I'm not familiar with the quipment but I'm sure you can also get readings from the new MPEG4 satellites if you have a H20 or HR20 receiver.

-Robert

Jimi C · 01-18-2007, 07:16 PM

I live in Buffalo. Its always a cloudy day.

I have an H20 receiver.

Sat 110º (C)

3 Transponders at 110º

1-8 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0

9-16 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a n/a n/a.. you get the idea, all n/a from here on.

119º reads all zeros or n/a.

It shows 99º also but that reads all n/a or zero as well.

predgw · 01-18-2007, 10:35 PM

Bottom line, Directv sucks. I was told as a new customer I could get Hd tv hookup for free. The guy gave me a bill for $450 when he got done. When my contract is up, that dish is going in the trash. Get them to move the Dish to the peak. You really have to be persistent with them.