Advice Needed Expert help needed. Totally stumped!

[Tony1A]

I have seen shoddy work done by so-called Sky installers. For example, no waterproofing on the F connector. Poor

 

[Vipersan]

What an epic ...
Imo and for what it's worth ..
The old maxim ..if a jobs worth doing ...etc etc.
It ain't rocket science but so called experts would have you believe it is.
Unless you're genuinely afeared of heights and working up ladders.
DIY is ALWAYS the answer.
that way you know it's been done correctly.
rgds
VS

 

[A nonymous]

I'm s**t scared of heights

A healthy fear of heights is always good in this line of work as you never become to complacent and you always take care whilst working at height.

I do use roof cat ladders but in all honesty if i can get a good aerial signal from the apex wall i will always install an aerial there. If the apex is a no go then i install it on the chimney, but its definitely a last resort for me.

I very rarely install dishes on chimneys and when i do its no bigger than a zone 1 Sky dish. If you have seen the damage that can be done by wind load on a dish bolted to a chimney you would never even contemplate it


Have to agree with Vipersan though, if you want it done properly do it yourself. That is unless you use Analoguesats patented tyre mount system

 

[Lazarus]

That is unless you use Analoguesats patented tyre mount system

You need a Hedge Fund for that ....................

 

[dxsat]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune with installers. They seem to be in denial about the quality of their work. Did they try a different LNB? it's been known for ages that some satellite tuners are 'allergic' to some LNBs. They should also have tried a separate temporary cable run in PF100 or similar down from the dish, avoiding the existing route. The possibility of local interference from something in your house shouldn't be discounted either. It's often the cause of unexplained reception problems.

 

[smoggy07]

Did they not check the problem freq on their meter at the TV end of the coax?

I'd put money on it being LNB related

 

[PaulR]

Did they not check the problem freq on their meter at the TV end of the coax?

We've already asked this and similar questions but haven't had an answer.

 

[SatSap]

Hi

Original installer came around today, bringing with him a 'friend', a Sky installer. The original installer stood in my front room with his hands in his pockets still telling me it was my TV and that he'd done the job properly...and immediately began banging on about Panasonic TVs being better than Samsung and I should get one of those instead...moving on.

The Sky installer he turned up with tested the shotgun cable. He disconnected it from my TV and to his meter /box (as the other company did) and eventually found the missing channels which appeared on it. But when he connected the lead back to my TV the channels disappeared. The original installer kept saying, "see, your TV is faulty".

The TV is actually a brand new replacement. Because of the problems I made sure and got an identical one and have also tested this new one again and it works perfectly at my friends house on his dish. I know the flaming thing works. But bozo was having none of it. Insisting it was my tv even in the face of this. I was having to talk over him to talk to the other chap who was doing his darnedest to try and work it out. Eventually he went out to his van and got an inline amp and connected it to the main sat lead and to the tv. Missing channels appeared instantly. He said the tuner needed more signal and replacing the shotgun cable with WF100 would double the signal and he would also recommend a 60cm dish as well. He said this to the original installer who was standing there and his response was, " yeah, but there'd be no guarantee that would work and if it didn't work I'd charge you.." even the chap that had come with him looked bemused. Eventually after going round and round getting nowhere he said he couldn't do anything till after Xmas now anyway so I'd have to wait. Looks like I've just been shafted. Disappointingly, the Sky bloke tried to sell me the inline amp for £25 and then when I said no, dropped it to £15. Told him I'd already paid to have the job done and and looked over at the original installer and he got quite stroppy and left.

So, I've pretty much had a gutsful. The original installer doesn't want to come back, and quite frankly he clearly hasn't got the skills or the desire to do the job properly so I now don't want him to step foot in my house again.

So I'm guessing I have to go for a clean install? Two separate runs of WF100 cable and a new 60cm dish? This has cost me a fortune.

 

[zorbua]

I would first go for another LNB.....say a 'Best' type 0.1db LNB or a 'Black ultra' 0.2db. With experience I can say that for 28E Satellite these mentioned LNB's make quite a difference at least down here (Malta) where the signal is quite low.

N.B The 'Best' LNB is qute cheap at least here...around 12/15 Euros.

 

[timo_w2s]

You shouldn't really fit one of those normal LNBs on the dish, you need to get one designed for a UK Sky dish to get the maximum signal out of it due to the different shape of the dish. Ideally one of a different make to the one on the dish now to eliminate possible incompatibilities with the TV.

It's a shame the installer didn't test a new length of WF100 cable from the dish. The shotgun cable is quite thin and could be damaged or letting in interference. I only use WF100 these days, I've even brought a reel with me to Finland so I knew I was using decent stuff.

Having a 60cm dish is no bad thing as it's better for rain fade but in theory there is no reason why you can't use a standard Sky dish at your location assuming it is aligned properly and has a clear view of the sky.

 

[SatSap]

Hi again.

Ooh! I expect this is quite boring now, so sorry for continuing on. After yesterday I was going to give up completely to be honest. And given how much cr*p I've been fed by the original bl***y installer I'd like to name and shame him but of course that's not right and proper and it wouldn't achieve anything anyway.

Today someone at work said he could find out the name of the company his brother had used as he'd been pleased with them. Hmmm. Anyhow, I said okay, and phoned earlier today. and I'll be going home later on to meet him so he can assess and quote for a fix...he said he may even fix today. But I'm not holding my breath quite honestly, and I want some guarantees first anyway.

This time round I do not intend on parting with any cash whatsover...not until it's totally sorted. I'll be making it absolutely clear that this is the case before this next chap begins any work though, and make it clear the price is for a fixed and working freesat installation. This will be my final attempt to get a wretched working freesat installation and if this doesn't pan out that'll definitely be that.

The chap that I spoke to today sounded like he was knowledgeable but that means nothing in my recent experience. Before any work begins I'm going to quiz him as I'm not prepared to put up with any more rubbish from anyone. If he wants to do it he will, and if he fixes it I'll make sure I find out exactly what the problem was/is so I can post back here (and use to get some of my money back from installer 1). If he doesn't ....well I'll just come back and say thanks to all here and stick with freeview or maybe even upgrade my broadband only package to include TV from Virgin media.

 

[sonnetpete]

SatSap. don't worry this isn't in the least bit boring.

It's probable that the Samsung has got a slightly less sensitive tuner than others. Given a slightly larger and correctly aligned dish, installed with proper cable, this should not present any problems.

You can get hold of in line amplifiers much cheaper than the "engineer" was offering. Look at Ebay and item 280416097805 for instance. This isn't a substitute for having the dish sorted of course but would offer a quick and cheap fix if the next guy can't sort things immediately.

 

[PaulR]

Not boring at all. And, frankly, if bashing away at the keyboard stops you tipping over the edge then it's definitely worth while!

Please let us know what happens next.

 

[zorbua]

Believe me far from boring SatSap. The way I see it is that it's we who should thank you for explaining your problem meticulously and in great detail. In some other forums people just come in, ask whatever they want, and you never hear from them again.
Sincerely hope that somehow your problem will be solved

 

[Lazarus]

Believe me far from boring SatSap. The way I see it is that it's we who should thank you for explaining your problem meticulously and in great detail. In some other forums people just come in, ask whatever they want, and you never hear from them again.
Sincerely hope that somehow your problem will be solved

Well ħafna qal

 

[Tony1A]

Quite fascinating reading!

 

[zorbua]

Well ħafna qal

Well, well, well Tivu seems its not only me who can write in Maltese.....Had a good spell in Malta?

 

[Lazarus]

Ha! Only been once >>>> In 1970!!


.................. Google Translate

 

[Tony1A]

I was there in 1981. Would have to be the hottest summer the Maltese folk have ever known. Too bloody hot

 

[zorbua]

Ha! Only been once >>>> In 1970!!


.................. Google Translate

Google Translate....Well I actually had that feeling from the way you put those two words...not bad, mind you, just the last one word should have been the first But one never knows....I mean not being Maltese....one would expect it..
In 1970 you say...quite some time ago.....The Island has changed drastically since then....good or bad...depend how one looks at it...