I want DirecTV But its not working out!

[bigbassdave]

Let me start by saying that currently I am a AT&T Uverse subscriber and I am not at all pleased. Sure I have more HD channels than I did with cable but WOW are my shows compressed. Seriously, some of the stuff I watch in HD looks like I'm watching it on youtube. Plus I can't watch my beloved Padres who are doing great this year. To make matters worse my audio cuts in and out so badly when using my dvr its almost unbearable. Sadly, I do not live in an area that supports Verizon Fios so I figured my next best option would be DirecTv or Dish. So I set something up and the DirecTv installers came out. Well much to my dismay they informed me that a rather large tree branch was blocking my line of sight. I should add that I live in a condo, and while I own the place I figured the HOA would frown on my chopping off tree branches. Well I canceled the order and tried to live with UVERSE for another 4 months or so. Last week I decided enough was enough. I went to Home Depot and bought a long pruning saw. At night I did the unthinkable and cut the poor defensless branch from the unsuspecting tree. Days later DirecTv was out again. This time the installer informed me that since legally they can not use the pre existing wires outside because they are owned by the cable company and that he would have to run white coax from one end of my condo to the other! Well, being married to a very understanding young lady who allows me to have rather large speakers already this simply was not going to work. She would never go for a large cable running across the ceiling or baseboard not to mention I kind of pride myself on the sleek look of my theaters. So now I'm stuck. Do I stick with this horrible service that At&t has to offer or do I go back to cable licking my wounds and over pay for a service that is in my mind barely acceptable. Anyway I got to vent and would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Imho:
RUNNING CABLE OR WIRE BEHIND A BASEBOARD

Result: Win-Win

 

[highfigh]

Let me start by saying that currently I am a AT&T Uverse subscriber and I am not at all pleased. Sure I have more HD channels than I did with cable but WOW are my shows compressed. Seriously, some of the stuff I watch in HD looks like I'm watching it on youtube. Plus I can't watch my beloved Padres who are doing great this year. To make matters worse my audio cuts in and out so badly when using my dvr its almost unbearable. Sadly, I do not live in an area that supports Verizon Fios so I figured my next best option would be DirecTv or Dish. So I set something up and the DirecTv installers came out. Well much to my dismay they informed me that a rather large tree branch was blocking my line of sight. I should add that I live in a condo, and while I own the place I figured the HOA would frown on my chopping off tree branches. Well I canceled the order and tried to live with UVERSE for another 4 months or so. Last week I decided enough was enough. I went to Home Depot and bought a long pruning saw. At night I did the unthinkable and cut the poor defensless branch from the unsuspecting tree. Days later DirecTv was out again. This time the installer informed me that since legally they can not use the pre existing wires outside because they are owned by the cable company and that he would have to run white coax from one end of my condo to the other! Well, being married to a very understanding young lady who allows me to have rather large speakers already this simply was not going to work. She would never go for a large cable running across the ceiling or baseboard not to mention I kind of pride myself on the sleek look of my theaters. So now I'm stuck. Do I stick with this horrible service that At&t has to offer or do I go back to cable licking my wounds and over pay for a service that is in my mind barely acceptable. Anyway I got to vent and would love to hear your thoughts.

Did he say why white coax was needed? I don't think I have EVER seen DirecTV use that, anywhere.

If the cable needs to be run outside, why not use one of the 100, or so, different methods of concealing cabling? It doesn't take much imagination to think of using it but installers are so pressed for time they can't afford to discuss things for long. Also, they make almost nothing for a typical installation job.

I don't think you're stuck but you may want to either do the concealing moulding install yourself or hire someone to do it. Clear it with the HOA (something I'll never deal with) if it's visible from the street and if it's not, just do it. Unless you have a lot of trees around the place, you should be able to find a good location for the dish. If you have a chimney, you could mount it somewhere close to that where it's hidden from view (assuming your HOA requires that) and since most chimneys are basically ampty now, you should have no problem running the cables to the basement (if you have one). If you don't have a basement, I would assume there's a common location where the cables meet, so they can be distributed.

 

[Midwesthonky]

Legally, the installer can't mess with the Cable company's cables. He didn't say he couldn't use cables that were modified by the homeowner... wink wink, nudge nudge. What if set up the dish, dialed it in, accidentally told you exactly what he would do if could use the cable company's wires, and then turned his back for 5 or 10 minutes. Whoa, when he turned back, they were cut and hooked up to the dish...

 

[highfigh]

Legally, the installer can't mess with the Cable company's cables. He didn't say he couldn't use cables that were modified by the homeowner... wink wink, nudge nudge. What if set up the dish, dialed it in, accidentally told you exactly what he would do if could use the cable company's wires, and then turned his back for 5 or 10 minutes. Whoa, when he turned back, they were cut and hooked up to the dish...

According to the National Electrical Code, any communications cabling is supposed to be grounded at the service entrance and unless the cable, AT&T or satellite companies know something I don't, that can't be done without cutting the cables at the demarcation point and connecting them to a grounding block so they can be grounded to the conduit drop from the meter box or inside, to a cold water pipe on the feed side of the water meter.

That means before the demarc point, the cabling is the provider's baby and after, it's the responsibility of the customer. This also means that any alternative provider can connect to the feed side of the grounding block without problems. If cable TV service is terminated, the cable is usually disconnected at the pole and left connected to the building. Satellite service terminations are similar, although the equipment usually goes back unless it was actually purchased by the customer and the cabling belongs to the customer.

If the cable company didn't install a grounding block, they violated the NEC and should be made to rectify this ASAP. Once this is done, you're free to connect any other cabling to the feed side. If the cable company wants to get sticky about the wiring and only if they installed ALL cabling inside the building, they may try to charge for another provider using their installed cables. I'd tell them to pound sand.

 

[Mac11700]

About 10 years ago I lived in a apartment that never before had any satellite coverage. I begged and pleaded with the owner and finally was given permission to have my own installed,she agreed provided it was done professionally and complied with all electrical codes,and I footed all of the expense. I contacted both Dish and Direct and met with their contracted installers and wasn't impressed with either company's installers recommendations. Both wanted to attempt similar shoddy installs with that same "white" coax since the runs were rather long to get it into my lower apartment and the dish was going to be on the roof 3 stories up.Many of the contracted installers use the cheapest components and make short cuts so they can make the most profit.

Long story short,I ran the cable myself and hid it along side the buildings rain downspouts and along the mortar lines in the brick facade,then inside along the ceiling/wall junction in closets and finally through the wall into the living room. I provided and installed the approved grounding rod for it since I didn't want any grounding connections tied in to the existing electrical side. The extra effort paid off and when I called to set up my install.I also demanded they send a non contracted installer and a full time employee to do the installation. This anyone can do with either company provided they can agree to the time table for the install.It took setting up my appointment 2 weeks in advance to have it this way.

The difference in my reception between having a contracted employee and a regular employee of Direct is night and day.My dish points through several large trees the closest is 40 feet away and the furthers is 80 yards.The contracted installer wouldn't put my dish where I had it then,or now on my own home,where as the hourly employee knew how to set up the dish to do so and spent several hours getting the signal dialed in perfectly.My signal is perfect and I only get rain fade on occasion and usually when the the storm is directly in line with the dish,this is pointed directly through 2 very large and full full grown trees, a very close Tulip tree and a Pin oak further out. Don't let some 2nd rate contractor tell you otherwise about needing to remove just a single tree limb,because IMHO that is a joke.Call the company and demand they use a non-contracted installer and they do the install to code.Most of these outside contractor guys are in too big a hurry to get in and out of your home since they get paid by the job,not the hour.Make ever effort to be there when they are installing it,so it will be done correctly.

Mac

 

[highfigh]

provided and installed the approved grounding rod for it since I didn't want any grounding connections tied in to the existing electrical side.

That would normally be fine but you still have the cable connected to the receiver, which is connected to the rest of the equipment that's grounded through the electrical service ground. What you did is create a possible issue with the ground by placing your ground stake at a place that's not necessarily at the same electrical potential as the breaker panel. You can verify this by disconnecting the cable from the satellite receiver and measuring the voltage between the shield and any of the AV equipment that has a grounding pin on its plug.

 

[jostenmeat]

Let me start by saying that currently I am a AT&T Uverse subscriber and I am not at all pleased. Sure I have more HD channels than I did with cable but WOW are my shows compressed. Seriously, some of the stuff I watch in HD looks like I'm watching it on youtube. Plus I can't watch my beloved Padres who are doing great this year. To make matters worse my audio cuts in and out so badly when using my dvr its almost unbearable. Sadly, I do not live in an area that supports Verizon Fios so I figured my next best option would be DirecTv or Dish. So I set something up and the DirecTv installers came out. Well much to my dismay they informed me that a rather large tree branch was blocking my line of sight. I should add that I live in a condo, and while I own the place I figured the HOA would frown on my chopping off tree branches. Well I canceled the order and tried to live with UVERSE for another 4 months or so. Last week I decided enough was enough. I went to Home Depot and bought a long pruning saw. At night I did the unthinkable and cut the poor defensless branch from the unsuspecting tree. Days later DirecTv was out again. This time the installer informed me that since legally they can not use the pre existing wires outside because they are owned by the cable company and that he would have to run white coax from one end of my condo to the other! Well, being married to a very understanding young lady who allows me to have rather large speakers already this simply was not going to work. She would never go for a large cable running across the ceiling or baseboard not to mention I kind of pride myself on the sleek look of my theaters. So now I'm stuck. Do I stick with this horrible service that At&t has to offer or do I go back to cable licking my wounds and over pay for a service that is in my mind barely acceptable. Anyway I got to vent and would love to hear your thoughts.

I am positive I am not seeing the entire situation, but in case you cannot proceed with provider change, you might consider the possibility of adding OTA. Check this signal strength tool, it's cool:
http://www.tvfool.com/

I don't know if you can throw an antler in the attic, or maybe something not too offensive on the wall, or even just on the floor, maybe behind the entertainment center or something. The issue is the direction it needs to be pointed, so check out the link above to know, and assess the situation.

Maybe something like a Winegard SquareShooter.

I haven't paid for TV programming in years. Yet, I still can watch Winter Olympics, Final Four basketball, local NBA, every NFL game, local programming with channels from multiple counties, news, more foreign stations than I can shake a stick at . . . but ok only a small handful are in HD. There are not a few who combine OTA with their paid programming here. They will switch to OTA for superbowl, etc, for the better pic.

But those that are in HD are basically FIOS quality . . . for free . . .

Doh, I just noticed you have a projector. Which means there isn't a built in ATSC tuner. Maybe you have some other component that has it. Do cable boxes have them? Why do I greatly doubt it. Tivo's will have them. I use the ePVision PHD-205LE ATSC/QAM tuner.

Add RG6 cable ($10-15), antenna, and you're good to go.