# Does Dish charge to come out and reaim your satellite dish due to weather???



## michaelmantis (Oct 28, 2003)

Woke up this morning and found that most everythign on the 110 and 119 satellites was not coming in on my 510. It's been an extremely windy day in northern Illinois and I think one of my dishes got blown slightly out of alignment.

I did a signal check and I'm getting between 25 and 50, mainly around 25. Signal on the second dish I have, aimed at 62.5 is working a little bit better.

Do I just call Dish and ask them to have someone come out and reaim the dish? Do they charge for this? I don't have the tools or knowledge to do it myself and I hope they don't charge for this!

Any advice??? Am I even on the right track as to the cause of this problem? I've had my Dish service for over a year and this is the first time this has happend for more than a few hours.

Thanks,
Mike


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## MSoper72 (Jun 18, 2004)

michaelmantis said:


> Woke up this morning and found that most everythign on the 110 and 119 satellites was not coming in on my 510. It's been an extremely windy day in northern Illinois and I think one of my dishes got blown slightly out of alignment.
> 
> I did a signal check and I'm getting between 25 and 50, mainly around 25. Signal on the second dish I have, aimed at 62.5 is working a little bit better.
> 
> ...


I'm not sure if they charge or not, but when my Dish got out of alignment. I put a tv where I could see it and had it on the Dish pointing feature and I re-aligned the Dish myself. Now, I'm getting between 95 to 110 for both 119 & 110. You can call a Tech at Dish and find out or have someone help you and do it yourself.

Yes, you are on the right track. When my Dish got out of alignment. I recently had a thunderstorm and the high winds knocked it out of alignment. At the time, I did not have a signal finder. So, I was in your situation, but I did not want to wait around for someone to come out. So, I did it myself.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

No unless you are within the warranty timeframe of the install. I know that it used to be three months but it might be six months now.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

michaelmantis said:


> Woke up this morning and found that most everythign on the 110 and 119 satellites was not coming in on my 510. It's been an extremely windy day in northern Illinois and I think one of my dishes got blown slightly out of alignment.
> 
> I did a signal check and I'm getting between 25 and 50, mainly around 25. Signal on the second dish I have, aimed at 62.5 is working a little bit better.


If you are still getting both 110 and 119 you are not too far out of alignment.

You may want to take a look before calling - they will charge for the re-align. Look to see if the path to the sky remains clear. If there is a tree that got bent it may be blocking you out and E* can't fix that. Also note to see if your dish was hit by anything that would have bumped it more than the wind.

Go to the "point dish" screen on your receiver (MENU-6-1-1-Point Dish) and type in your zipcode. Select Dish500 and either 110 or 119 and it will tell you where your dish needs to point. Go to your dish and make sure that the elevation is set properly (skew can be checked too, but is harder to bash). With a year old dish there will probably be enough dirt/rust marks near the bolts to see if anything moved. The harder setting to check is azimuth. This would be the most likely to have changed - the dish spinning on the mast. Check the condition of the dish as well, loose feedhorn arm - twisted LNB. If it all lines up then you probably need to fix the azimuth.

Again, if you are getting both 110 and 119 you are not off by much, so adjust slowly. I'd say a degree or two to the west should do it. If you can set a TV where you can see or at least hear it on the "point dish" screen it will help.

BTW: Do you remember what "good" numbers were for you? I get over 100 on all transponders, over 110 on most transponders, and 125 on some (on 110 and 119). I even get decent numbers on 61.5. The only time I see 25-50 is during the heaviest storms with dense cloud cover or thunderstorms.

JL


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## michaelmantis (Oct 28, 2003)

I was hitting between 100-115 almost every day for over the last year on each satellite, almost every transponder...

Something just happend outside today that caused the dish to move. There are no trees in the area, absolutly none, and I know nothing hit the dish.

I don't have a ladder to get up to the second story and I don't really want to walk up on the roof of my townhouse to play with the dish.

I dont get it, if the cable company had their lines messed up by the wind they would fix it and not charge the customer anything, why does Dish???

I love my service, had no complaints, but I'll cancel my service and sign up with the local cable guy whos offering 3 months free and is only $10 more a month before i'll shell out $50-$100 bucks to someone to realign my dish. I just see it as an installation flaw, if the install was done right, the dish wouldn't move.

When I do call Dish is there anything or anyone I can ask for that may be able to help??


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## MSoper72 (Jun 18, 2004)

michaelmantis said:


> I was hitting between 100-115 almost every day for over the last year on each satellite, almost every transponder...
> 
> Something just happend outside today that caused the dish to move. There are no trees in the area, absolutly none, and I know nothing hit the dish.
> 
> ...


I would suggest that you call and talk to either a Technician or a Supervisor. To see what can be done. For a minor problem such as re-alignment. It should be free. Just call to be sure if it is or not.


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## Shappyss (Jun 26, 2004)

michaelmantis said:


> I was hitting between 100-115 almost every day for over the last year on each satellite, almost every transponder...
> 
> Something just happend outside today that caused the dish to move. There are no trees in the area, absolutly none, and I know nothing hit the dish.
> 
> ...


I would say what you just wrote and tell them if they don't do it for free you will switch to cable


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

If you have no trees, why is it up on roof. Put it where it can be easy to work on.


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

michaelmantis said:


> I dont get it, if the cable company had their lines messed up by the wind they would fix it and not charge the customer anything, why does Dish???


 They do that because the lines are theirs, not yours. With TW, they own the wiring up to the "box" they often install on the side of your house (similar to what the telcos do). If you add a splitter and some cable to a different TV and there's a problem, you fix it yourself or *pay* the cable company to do it. If it's wiring they put it, they won't charge.

*You* own that dish. Well, if you're leasing, you don't and that gives you even more leverage at getting it re-aligned for free. Lease normally means "no committment", so you can walk at anytime.


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## dnsc_installer (Sep 11, 2004)

Jacob S said:


> No unless you are within the warranty timeframe of the install. I know that it used to be three months but it might be six months now.


Ok, here is the answer to this. If it is a DNSC RSP (dish network service corporation regional service provider) they are only required to carry a 90 day installation warranty. If it is a retailer that put in the equipment, then they are required to carry a 6 month installation warranty. Most of the time you can tell the differenceby what the techinician pulls up in. All of E*'s RSP's in the southern illinois, western kentucky and most of indiana, drive white ford rangers, or chevy s-10's that clearly say Dish Network on them. Most retailers hire sub-contractors who drive their own vehicles. ( I know I have worked both sides of that fence). If you still don't know, call the company that put it in, and ask them if they are an RSP (Regional Service Provider), or a retailer for Dish Network. Then refer back to the second sentence of this post.


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## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

What I have seen to be a huge problem is that the retailers and RSPs are charging $79+ for a service call and they are keeping more than half. Now that I am more on my own, I only charge $39 for a service call, which is my time to drive to the customer and do the job. We have to have insurance and pay for our own tools and supplies, so we cannot just go out and fix something for free. With cable, after the free promo, you are paying a higher rate and getting a lousy picture in a lot of cases, and this is why you pay me. It's the luck of the draw. If it is too much, then swicth to cable or direct. Or add the DHPP for $5.99, and you will still have to pay a $29 on site service call fee.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

michaelmantis said:


> I dont get it, if the cable company had their lines messed up by the wind they would fix it and not charge the customer anything, why does Dish???


If the wind messed up a cable line there would be more than one customer out of service. It is an economy of scale. Even if it is the drop from the pole to your house, the cable company is local (even if owned out of state). They are in a better position to act and react when failure strikes.

Generally speaking, satellite doesn't require a lot of maintainance. As long as the install is done right and no abnormal events happen (such as the hurricanes in Florida). And Dish did a good job of rolling through Florida and reaiming dishes after those major event. An economy of scale.

BTW: Have you bothered to call Dish Network and ask them? Or did you just come here and gripe? What website would you go to if your cable went out to complain? Or would you pick up your phone and call the provider? At this point, E* doesn't even know you have a problem and you are already threatening to leave!

Cable does go out - often in some areas (my "cable" - used for internet only - was out for two days last year due to a power failure - my satellite worked fine since I have a generator). And there were times my power was on and cable was out. Satellite worked fine.

It seems that there is a level difference between a cable customer and a satellite customer. Cable customers (generally) pay much more for less programming service, but the service is idiot proof. I guess the choice comes down to what level of customer you are.

JL


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

I charge my minimum service call of $75 to realign the dish. BUT, I always spend time on the phone telling the customer how they can do it themselves before I go to the site. If they can do it themselves I have saved them $75 plus tax. If not, it is worth it to them to have me come out and do it for them. I also inform them that I may only be there for five minutes or so if all goes well. I have never had anyone complain that I charge too much and about 50% of them are able to do it themselves before I roll to the site.


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## Mike500 (May 10, 2002)

If installed correctly, there is very little possibility that the wind moved the dish. The only possibility would be an 85+ mph wind like a tornado or a hurricaine. I know that none of them, which I have installed over the years have had this happen.

Then again, I have redone many so called "free" fullfillment installs. A lot are screwed into the sheathing and not into the rafters. I use #14x3" hardened hex drive fully threaded sheet metal screws for the center anchoring screws. And, I make sure that they are fully set into the rafters. Then, the corners of the foot are fastened down with #14x2" screws into the plywood sheathing. All are driven without predrilling with an impact driver, which does provide an extraordinarily solid mount.

I have found many installs only screwed into the plywood or OSB (oriented strand board) sheathing. It is likely that the screws are loose. If they used cheap low grade lag screws, they need to go into predrilled holes or they will break off. If the holes are predrilled into the sheathing, and they are too large, they may not hold. Lag screws also have about an inch of smooth shank without threads near the head. If this is the part that contacts the sheathing plywood or osb, they might not hold well at all.

You might have someone climb up on the roof and check to see if the mounting screws are loose. If they are, you can replace them with larger diameter screws that are fully threaded up their shanks or use carriage bolts, if you can access and see the screws protruding in the attic.

Otherwise, the original installer failed to tighten all of the dish assembly bolts.

Most likely, it is a loose foot mount. I've found many of them over the years.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I would contact the installer/retailer that performed the installation. If the signal dropped then a loose bolt could have been the cause or wherever the mast was mounted to could have gotten warped or loose at the lag bolts, perhaps bad wood? I doubt it would be trees as they are losing the leaves, not gaining them.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Richard King said:


> I charge my minimum service call of $75 to realign the dish. BUT, I always spend time on the phone telling the customer how they can do it themselves before I go to the site. If they can do it themselves I have saved them $75 plus tax. If not, it is worth it to them to have me come out and do it for them. I also inform them that I may only be there for five minutes or so if all goes well. I have never had anyone complain that I charge too much and about 50% of them are able to do it themselves before I roll to the site.


Richard! You evil, cruel, heartless, selfish conservative (just like me)! Giving away free tech support all the time (just like me).

Oh, wait a minute. Hmmm. Unh. Never mind.  :lol:  :sure: 

I DO have to raise my rates, though.


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## Bahnzo (May 16, 2004)

I think the real issue here is not his willingness to realign it himself, but that it's on a roof. You best best bet (as mentioned here) is to get the DHPP warranty, play $29 for a service call. If you are out of your 90 day install warranty, this is your best and cheapest route. 

Btw, the DHPP can be cancelled at any time, so get it, pay for the service call, and then cancel the DHPP.


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## nightstick911 (Dec 20, 2003)

I just had to have my superdish realigned myself. My superdish was installed last November and just this month I was losing my local channels. I called dish and they sent somebody out within the week to realign it at no charge. On my monthly statement is a charge for the service call and then the next line shows the chrage has been taken off

I DO NOT have DHPP and I don't lease either i own all my own equipment.

My point is, call dish and see what they say rather than ask a question here about what dish "might" tell you on the phone.

Good luck


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## Rick_R (Sep 1, 2004)

When I had my Dish 500 installed over 4 years ago the installer stated 83% was good enough. Now after 4 years of reception hassles on some channels I did something about it. My reception was from 50% to 83%. I climbed on the roof and talked to my wife at the TV via cellphone. I now get 117% on the best channel and 85% on the worst. Judging from a post above I guess I could have done better.

The skew seting was wrong for my location even! So I reset the skew and then peaked the azimuth and elevation. Total time including geting out the ladder was less than 30 minutes.

Rick R


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## MattS (Apr 5, 2004)

When you signed your agreement, you agreed that dish is not responsible for "Acts of God". Any type of service call outside of the isntallation warranty will cost you money. Just like any other warranty out there on the market today. Just because you actually have to pay for somethingm you want to disconnect, so that youll end up paying MORE for cable and crappier service?


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## Mike500 (May 10, 2002)

Excuse the pun, but many installers throw caution to the wind and hope that there are no violent storms during the "charge back" or guarantee period. This is basically the industry's fault in continually cutting installer pay.

The cost of a near perfect install takes no more than an extra buck and another 15 minutes more. It takes only a few seconds to bang a fist on the roof or the end of a hammer handle to hear the solid sound of a rafter. High quality hardened screws cost no more than fifty cents more. And, they take less time to install, since they do not require predrilling. They seal better, too, since the friction in driving them in melts and displaces the asphalt in the shingles. When the asphalt hardens again, it provides a perfect seal, without the need of other messy and time consuming to apply sealants.

I've been installing since the early days of dbs 10 years ago, and have never had a call out to realign the dish is any of my installs. I do, however, do a lot of service on those installed by others.


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