# HD channels coming and going



## jason williams (Jan 24, 2007)

Yesterday I was getting SHOW WEST and Animal Planet for about 15 minutes in HD then it went away.. Has anyone else experienced this?


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## mexican-bum (Feb 26, 2006)

jason williams said:


> Yesterday I was getting SHOW WEST and Animal Planet for about 15 minutes in HD then it went away.. Has anyone else experienced this?


nope don't believe so, about what time??


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## rrrick8 (Mar 20, 2007)

jason williams said:


> Yesterday I was getting SHOW WEST and Animal Planet for about 15 minutes in HD then it went away.. Has anyone else experienced this?


Curious...
How did you get them? Were you just watching them and they suddenly went HD, or did you turn it to the station and the were in HD?


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## Bowtaz3 (Sep 8, 2007)

jason williams said:


> Yesterday I was getting SHOW WEST and Animal Planet for about 15 minutes in HD then it went away.. Has anyone else experienced this?


 Nope not yet


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## msmith198025 (Jun 28, 2007)

Guys i hate to throw water on it, but alot of people have been claiming this for fun to get a reaction, take it with a grain of salt


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## Brandon428 (Mar 21, 2007)

Complete BS. Delete this thread.


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## jfuchtm (Aug 22, 2007)

Fire up the truck ma, were going to iowa to look for this jason williams fella!


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Curiouser and curiouser...


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## rrrick8 (Mar 20, 2007)

Tom Robertson said:


> Curiouser and curiouser...


That's why I'd like him to answer my questions.


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## jason williams (Jan 24, 2007)

rrrick8 said:


> Curious...
> How did you get them? Were you just watching them and they suddenly went HD, or did you turn it to the station and the were in HD?


I was checking all the channels D* was suppossed to bring up in HD about 1 pm yesterday and these 2 channels were the only ones I found in HD.. They remained in HD for at least 15 minutes but when I checked them again about an hour later they were back in SD.


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## djzack67 (Sep 18, 2007)

jason williams said:


> I was checking all the channels D* was suppossed to bring up in HD about 1 pm yesterday and these 2 channels were the only ones I found in HD.. They remained in HD for at least 15 minutes but when I checked them again about an hour later they were back in SD.


any proof?


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## cygnusloop (Jan 26, 2007)

jason williams said:


> I was checking all the channels D* was suppossed to bring up in HD about 1 pm yesterday and these 2 channels were the only ones I found in HD.. They remained in HD for at least 15 minutes but when I checked them again about an hour later they were back in SD.


Next time take pics!


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

i hate to do this... but i throw the red flag again...


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## jfuchtm (Aug 22, 2007)

Timeout, we have a challenge on the field


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## jeffman (Sep 9, 2007)

hmmmmm...So you got new HD and only watched for 15 mins then came back an hour l8r. Smells like fish!


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## djzack67 (Sep 18, 2007)

jfuchtm said:


> Timeout, we have a challenge on the field


just thinking that same line


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## jburroughs (Jan 13, 2007)

Maybe the receiver bugged out and the channel was stretched and the OP thought they were HD?
What channel were these on?


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

Shenanigans?


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## Smthkd (Sep 1, 2004)

This actually happend to me on TBS 247 but I decided not to say anything because I didn't want to get branded as a liar on here! I just happy to see someone else had the same experience, which I take as a positive step!!!


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## bbabu (Sep 15, 2007)

jburroughs said:


> Maybe the receiver bugged out and the channel was stretched and the OP thought they were HD?
> What channel were these on?


I've had that happen quite a few times on my H20. It usually occurs if I'm in the guide and I let it sit in "guide" mode for a little bit before flipping it back- changing the channel seems to fix it immediately.

Never happens on my HR20-700's, but my H20 has always been a "little" flaky since the latest update (still works well, BTW).


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## drx792 (Feb 28, 2007)

Whooo Billy Madison!!!


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## kwinston (Sep 8, 2007)

jason williams said:


> I was checking all the channels D* was suppossed to bring up in HD about 1 pm yesterday and these 2 channels were the only ones I found in HD.. They remained in HD for at least 15 minutes but when I checked them again about an hour later they were back in SD.


Go to the directv forums with the rest of the story tellers on there. Leave us alone


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

drx792 said:


> Whooo Billy Madison!!!


haha.. yeah... i took it back off though.. don't wanna get in trouble..


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## diggumsmax (Sep 12, 2006)

Smthkd said:


> This actually happend to me on TBS 247 but I decided not to say anything because I didn't want to get branded as a liar on here! I just happy to see someone else had the same experience, which I take as a positive step!!!


I was about to call BS but maybe there is something to this. Not saying he's write but I trust someone with over 500 posts more than I do someone with 25 posts (no offense to the OP).


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

Smthkd said:


> This actually happend to me on TBS 247 but I decided not to say anything because I didn't want to get branded as a liar on here! I just happy to see someone else had the same experience, which I take as a positive step!!!


uh oh... the sickness is spreading...


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## marksman (Dec 23, 2006)

jeffman said:


> hmmmmm...So you got new HD and only watched for 15 mins then came back an hour l8r. Smells like fish!


I don't know.. a lot of us are past watching HD for the sake of it being in HD. I could easily imagine the actual content on those two channels not be something I want to watch and skipping on...

Of the things people might lie about, this would be one of the weirder ones. I don't doubt some have done it, but still, it is just a very odd thing to lie about.


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## lisakson (Sep 1, 2007)

jason williams said:


> Yesterday I was getting SHOW WEST and Animal Planet for about 15 minutes in HD then it went away.. Has anyone else experienced this?


Nope. But I did experience something strange with my HD locals. A few times during the show it would switch between HD and SD and then back to HD.... But no new channels...)-:


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

lisakson said:


> Nope. But I did experience something strange with my HD locals. A few times during the show it would switch between HD and SD and then back to HD.... But no new channels...)-:


:welcome_s :welcome_s :welcome_s


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## LameLefty (Sep 29, 2006)

lisakson said:


> Nope. But I did experience something strange with my HD locals. A few times during the show it would switch between HD and SD and then back to HD.... But no new channels...)-:


Unfortunately, that's a problem with your locals, not indicative of anything with Directv. Probably everyone with HD locals has seen the same thing at least a few times, whether OTA or via satellite.


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## saxon2000 (Oct 25, 2006)

jason williams said:


> Yesterday I was getting SHOW WEST and Animal Planet for about 15 minutes in HD then it went away.. Has anyone else experienced this?


Yeah,

Not too many people know this, but Iowa is actually connected to the Bermuda Triangle.

Yeah, WORMHOLE wouldn't ya know.

I mean, that would explain it, right?

:wizardhat


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## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

this guy really needs to get a life. anything for attention eh?


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## joerockt (Sep 6, 2007)

lol...No wonder people are posting this stuff. Its frigging hilarious to see you guys squirm...


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## EMoMoney (Dec 19, 2005)

I had Kung Fu HD for about 15 minutes.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

I propose a new rule: if you're going to post anything about new HD channels you have or had, you must provide solid photographic evidence along with it. Otherwise, you can't say anything.


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## cygnusloop (Jan 26, 2007)

Jeremy W said:


> I propose a new rule: if you're going to post anything about new HD channels you have or had, you must provide solid photographic evidence along with it. Otherwise, you can't say anything.


+1!!!


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## bbaleno (Aug 1, 2007)

+1 also

couldn't resist increasing my post count


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## Fl_Gulfer (Apr 28, 2005)

Looks like they will turn on Sunday 6 am eastern. http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/107891-new-hd-channels-start-time.html


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

Fl_Gulfer said:


> Looks like they will turn on Sunday 6 am eastern. http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/107891-new-hd-channels-start-time.html


Hey, Jeremy said *photographic* evidence!!!


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Fl_Gulfer said:


> Looks like they will turn on Sunday 6 am eastern. http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/107891-new-hd-channels-start-time.html


Just a random post from a random dude. I give it a 0/10 on the credibility scale.


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## Raphael754 (May 22, 2007)

Fl_Gulfer said:


> Looks like they will turn on Sunday 6 am eastern. http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/107891-new-hd-channels-start-time.html


Hope this is true:hurah: :hurah: :hurah: :hurah:


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## HDsnob (Jan 21, 2007)

I called CS for something else last night, but while they were on the phone I thought I would play dumb and ask about the new HD. the information she got from her "Supervisor" was that they turned on a few channels to a small portion of the US and people were having some problems and they had to pull them. So, I guess _*IF*_ you buy what she said then the OP may not be that far off. FWIW


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## rrrick8 (Mar 20, 2007)

hilmar2k said:


> Hey, Jeremy said *photographic* evidence!!!


You want a picture of the post?


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## LameLefty (Sep 29, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Just a random post from a random dude. I give it a 0/10 on the credibility scale.


Even if he is an installer so what? We all know EVERYTHING they say is true too, don't we? :lol:

If it doesn't come from Bschneider or ScoBuc, I take every single thing on that site with a BIG grain of NaCl.


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## jabrwocky7 (Oct 22, 2006)

Shennanigans!


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## rrrick8 (Mar 20, 2007)

HDsnob said:


> I called CS for something else last night, but while they were on the phone I thought I would play dumb and ask about the new HD. the information she got from her "Supervisor" was that they turned on a few channels to a small portion of the US and people were having some problems and they had to pull them. So, I guess _*IF*_ you buy what she said then the OP may not be that far off. FWIW


No, I don't buy that because they were never turned on to the general public at all.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

rrrick8 said:


> You want a picture of the post?


No, I'd like a picture of the person as they typed the post, with a copy of the memo from D* that gave him this info. Then I would like the photo authenticated. Then, maybe, I'd give it some credibility.


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## Guitar Hero (Dec 13, 2005)

He's a DTV installer. Which means he didn't finish high school. Why should we believe him HD will go live Sunday at 6AM? My prediction of Saturday 6AM is just as credible. 

The 'installer/tech guy' who came to my house on Wednesday didn't know anything about the supposed HD launch. 

Enough said.


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## EMoMoney (Dec 19, 2005)

Guitar Hero said:


> He's a DTV installer. Which means he didn't finish high school. Why should we believe him HD will go live Sunday at 6AM? My prediction of Saturday 6AM is just as credible.
> 
> The 'installer/tech guy' who came to my house on Wednesday didn't know anything about the supposed HD launch.
> 
> Enough said.


So that means all Installers dropped out of HS? That's a little ignorant.


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## HDsnob (Jan 21, 2007)

rrrick8 said:


> No, I don't buy that because they were never turned on to the general public at all.


Wasn't saying I bought it, just relaying what I heard. You only have to spend a couple minutes around here to know you can't trust what a CSR says.


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## jeffman (Sep 9, 2007)

LameLefty said:


> Even if he is an installer so what? We all know EVERYTHING they say is true too, don't we? :lol:
> 
> .


And they all did a great job of peaking everyones 103(b) alignment!


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## jeffman (Sep 9, 2007)

Guitar Hero said:


> He's a DTV installer. Which means he didn't finish high school. Why should we believe him HD will go live Sunday at 6AM? My prediction of Saturday 6AM is just as credible.
> 
> The 'installer/tech guy' who came to my house on Wednesday didn't know anything about the supposed HD launch.
> 
> Enough said.


LOL, another one for you. Did you get it aligned this time?


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## Raphael754 (May 22, 2007)

The guy just posted he was joking:eek2: :eek2:


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

Raphael754 said:


> The guy just posted he was joking:eek2: :eek2:


Hence why many of us gave it little or no credibility.


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## VARTV (Dec 14, 2006)

Guitar Hero said:


> He's a DTV installer. Which means he didn't finish high school. Why should we believe him HD will go live Sunday at 6AM? My prediction of Saturday 6AM is just as credible.
> 
> The 'installer/tech guy' who came to my house on Wednesday didn't know anything about the supposed HD launch.
> 
> Enough said.





EMoMoney said:


> So that means all Installers dropped out of HS? That's a little ignorant.


My installer had to be a pimp doing DirecTV installs during the day. I was shocked...


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## HDsnob (Jan 21, 2007)

Despite no new HD its still a great day when a Yankees fan and Sox fan can agree on something...without DBStalk where would this world be?


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

HDsnob said:


> Despite no new HD its still a great day when a Yankees fan and Sox fan can agree on something...without DBStalk where would this world be?


There are a couple of Yankee fans on this site that I generally see eye-to-with. Of course, maybe that's because I don't have to actually see their eyes. Might be tempted to gouge them out with a spoon.....


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## dogs31 (Feb 27, 2006)

I say Friday is when they'll turn on. If they don't all is well.


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

LameLefty said:


> Even if he is an installer so what? We all know EVERYTHING they say is true too, don't we? :lol:
> 
> If it doesn't come from Bschneider or ScoBuc, I take every single thing on that site with a BIG grain of NaCl.


And BSchneider said yesterday he didnt expect the delay to last more than 2 1/2 days. That would put the launch for tomorrow.


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## DVRaholic (Nov 19, 2005)

hilmar2k said:


> There are a couple of Yankee fans on this site that I generally see eye-to-with. Of course, maybe that's because I don't have to actually see their eyes. Might be tempted to gouge them out with a spoon.....


Hey Hey.... 
Can you say 1-1/2 games ??
The EVIL Empire is Right behind you!!! 
Getting Nervous are we 

Hopefully the HD will be up in the morning
and One of those channels will be NESN-HD on conus
This way when I watch you guys LOSE I can see it in Glorious HD
That Grand Slam last night would of looked PERFECT in HD


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## Guitar Hero (Dec 13, 2005)

EMoMoney said:


> So that means all Installers dropped out of HS? That's a little ignorant.


11 techs to my house, and all as dumb as toast.

Ignorant?


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## Guitar Hero (Dec 13, 2005)

jeffman said:


> LOL, another one for you. Did you get it aligned this time?


Yeah, but not great levels. But, it was better than before. Check my sig.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

DVRaholic said:


> Hey Hey....
> Can you say 1-1/2 games ??
> The EVIL Empire is Right behind you!!!
> Getting Nervous are we


Actually, not really. This would matter if we didn't have the wild card (which I personally don't care for), but since we do, not so much.


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## quickfire (Nov 14, 2003)

Smthkd said:


> This actually happend to me on TBS 247 but I decided not to say anything because I didn't want to get branded as a liar on here! I just happy to see someone else had the same experience, which I take as a positive step!!!


I believe Smthkd!!!!


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## purtman (Sep 19, 2006)

Guitar Hero said:


> 11 techs to my house, and all as dumb as toast.
> 
> Ignorant?


Who do you know that you were able to get the smart ones? :lol:


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

quickfire said:


> I believe Smthkd!!!!


I suppose it is not out of the range of possibility. But skepticism is very appropriate.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

At this point I'll consider it somewhere between coincidence and hogwash until I see this: 

A photograph or screen cap clearly showing HD content on a currently SD channel. I want to see the channel banner, and I want to see whatever display on your TV shows the resolution, and I want to see clear, HD programming. 

The Shadow will know if it's a fake. I see even the most clever Photoshop work all day.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I want to see whatever display on your TV shows the resolution


That doesn't really prove anything, because with Native off, everything is either 720p or 1080i.


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## skyviewmark1 (Sep 28, 2006)

Somehow I resent the statement that us installers are high school dropouts.. I have a college degree.. And my 103b satellite dish gets 93 or better on all transponders that are active. And so do all the ones that I install.. 

But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night..


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

skyviewmark1 said:


> Somehow I resent the statement that us installers are high school dropouts.. I have a college degree.. And my 103b satellite dish gets 93 or better on all transponders that are active. And so do all the ones that I install..
> 
> But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night..


You're fighting a losing battle, Mark. Regardless of how many people we help around here to fix a problem, we (installers) are all idiots in the eyes of some.

BTW, I'm also from s.w. Alabama.

JJ


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## keithw1975 (Oct 1, 2006)

If you installers would simply spill the beans about area 51 and the truth about why D10 isn't giving us channels then people would stop saying mean things about you. lol


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

keithw1975 said:


> If you installers would simply spill the beans about area 51 and the truth about why D10 isn't giving us channels then people would stop saying mean things about you. lol


:lol:


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

keithw1975 said:


> If you installers would simply spill the beans about area 51 and the truth about why D10 isn't giving us channels then people would stop saying mean things about you. lol


Ok, I'll spill the beans, but it will probably mean the end of me. 

They HD launch gets pushed back everytime someone:

1) Whines about no DLB
2) Calls all installers idiots
3) Calls all CSRs idiots

:soapbox:


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## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

the installer guy on satellite guys said he was joking about a tailpipe joke he made not about the fact he says dtv will launch the hd's on sunday at 6am. still....i'm tired of dates too.....just give us the freaking channels.....please, so we can move on.


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## knoxbh (May 1, 2002)

A friend had his new dish, etc. installed yesterday to get HD. The installer was terrific. We had quite a rain storm here in FL at the time and he continued the outside installation until it was finished! Came inside and set up the new box, transferred on older R15 into the bedroom, checked everything out and before he left, I asked about the new HD channels. Looks like he told the truth - said we should be seeing something in the next 2 days (and he was right)! He did a great job, was pleasant in spite of the weather. He was one Hell of an installer. He may be the exception but if we have any problems with our Directv equipment, hope we get him.


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## Skins Fan (Sep 18, 2007)

It also happened at my house. Yesterday afternoon I was watching NGC 278 . A message came up saying this show is now being shown in HDTV. All of a sudden one of the ch 900 adult programs came on ----in HD. Just then my wife came in the room and wanted to take my head off. I said no, no honey, it is national geographic and I showed her the channel guide. She said what is it, one of those "lost" societies in an unexplored region? I said uh, yes. It suddenly switched back to catching crabs in Alaska. That's what I get for lying to my wife.


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## purtman (Sep 19, 2006)

To the installers, I will not say you're dumb as a log. I've normally had good installers. But since we've moved to Kansas City, I've felt like the installers don't want to work. We got the new 5-lnb dish and noticed a significant drop off in the signal and more pixelation in our bedroom set. Our signal dropped off by about 10 points or more. I was told that we should have that much of a lower signal with the new dish. I knew that was a load of garbage. After getting the HR20 last September, we'd continually lose one of the tuners in our bedroom when it rained or when it got cold. The installers kept insisting it was the DVR and even had a new one sent out. I told him that I used the two existings DVRs we had. Each time I had a problem, I'd switch it with the other one and get the same issues. Therefore, I knew it was not the DVRs. Finally, on the sixth time, somebody checked and found water in the line. It kept freezing up and therefore we had these issues. It took six times of me telling them it was the line before the checked. They were also supposed to do the re-alignment. Not once. Last Saturday I had an installer come out for the seventh try to re-do the alignment. He said the signals (some 70s, 60s, and even a couple of 50s) were fine. Unless I had lots of pixelation, he couldn't (aka, "wouldn't") do it. There are other people who live in this area and their signals are in the 90s. We have had rain fade a bunch of times here in Kansas City. Prior to this, we lived in Connecticut (we had 25-30 snowfalls both winters there) and only had rainfade ONCE!. We had 60-foot trees in our backyard and just once did we lose the signal. We've lost our signal at least a dozen times since we moved to Kansas City and it rarely snows here. If I pay for an installer to come out, I expect him to do his best, not to just give the customer an adequate signal on sunny days.


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## borghe (Oct 6, 2006)

the installers who installed my AT-9 and first HR20 last October were top notch. I mean these guys were knowledgeable, friendly, and even in good spirits despite working until 9pm on an extremely cold and windy Wisconsin October night.

I've actually only ever had one installer who didn't really know what he was doing, but he outright admitted to me that this was only his first week on the job. The only thing that actually made it bad was that the contractor he worked for refused to send him any assistance. i mean I heard them on the phone saying there were three guys at another house so no one was available and he had to figure it out. To top it off it was a repair order so he was barely getting anything for it.. the entire 8 hours he spent at my house he later found that those three guys pounded out like 3 installs... I know you installers are doing the math on this one.. yeah, pretty sucky.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

knoxbh said:


> ......I asked about the new HD channels. Looks like he told the truth - said we should be seeing something in the next 2 days (and he was right)!


How was he right? There aren't any new HD channels yet, unless you count the test channel on 498 (which I don't).


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## LameLefty (Sep 29, 2006)

Both installers I've had out in the last year were good at the basics but the first guy either didn't know he was supposed to replace the 6802 switch I had with a WB68 or didn't want to bother, so I had to have a second guy out in July when I discovered the issue. That fellow wanted to argue with me about whether it was necessary but didn't even know about the ch. 499 test. Once I explained it to him he understood it and was pleased for the info and said he planned to use it to help determine that everything was setup correctly. 

On the other hand, he did look at my signals (mid/upper 90's on 101, upper 80's/low 90's on 99 where my locals are) and say he would tweak the dish while he was there - tweak he most certainly did. When he was done I had ten transponders on 101 at 100, and most of the rest at 95 or higher. 99 TPs were all mid/upper 90's. 110 and 119 are upper 90's - 100, and 103(b) - which wasn't even active at the time - range from one low of 94 to a high of 97. That guy can tweak my dish anytime! :lol:


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm still waiting to see some evidence...


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## noneroy (Aug 21, 2006)

Well, this is a little off the OP's topic, but the first guy who came out didn't know what he was doing. he used MY cell phone to call D* while he used HIS cell phone to make a personal call. He also didn't know jack about the HR 20 (it had just came out) and tried to convince me that 480p was HD.  

My dad just had an installer come out to put in his HD. I left very clear notes to lock the TV at 720p resolution and to put black pillar boxes up for 4:3 content. The installer had his TV outputting at 1080i because 'it'll look better'. Hey, jackass, it's an LCD TV so interlaced is going to look like crap.

Having said that, I recently had someone out to put the dish into cement and get it all re-setup. THAT guy knew his stuff. He was excellent and I've got upper 90s on most transponders.

It's hit or miss. But that's only partially D*'s fault. They subcontract out the work. They don't have any way to do quality control like your local cable company can.....I say it's partially D*'s fault because if they really cared, they'd start cracking down on it.

I'd say any installer that takes the time to hang out on these forums and read up on the subject is probably the kind of guy I'd want working on my house. So please don't take this personally.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

noneroy said:


> It's hit or miss. But that's only partially D*'s fault. They subcontract out the work. They don't have any way to do quality control like your local cable company can.....I say it's partially D*'s fault because if they really cared, they'd start cracking down on it.


Ultimately, it is _completely _DirecTV's responsibility. The made the choice to go with a contractor network, which contractors to choose, how to compensate them, and how to do quality control. Installation is the weak link for DirecTV IMHO.



noneroy said:


> I'd say any installer that takes the time to hang out on these forums and read up on the subject is probably the kind of guy I'd want working on my house. So please don't take this personally.


Agreed 100%.


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

noneroy said:


> he used MY cell phone to call D* while he used HIS cell phone to make a personal call.


Although I agree with your post, I can understand why he did this.

I have 3000 minutes per month on my cell phone plan and I use most of them doing this job. I figure I spend an hour and a half to two hours a day sitting on hold with D* or the hsp. Before I upgraded my plan, I was sometimes spending $250+ a month on my cell bill.

I don't get any reimbursment for my bill either. Some techs do, but it's usually not even close to what the tech actually pays for their service (hsp techs here get reimbursed about $30 a month for their cell phone bill).

At least he didn't ask to use your cell phone to make his personal call. :lol:


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## upnorth (Jun 21, 2006)

keithw1975 said:


> If you installers would simply spill the beans about area 51 and the truth about why D10 isn't giving us channels then people would stop saying mean things about you. lol


And why would you think that the installers would know the truth as to why D10 isn't giving us channels yet?
They just install the equipment and most dishs were installed before D10 and tuned to the available birds which if done correctly D10 should fall in no problem.
My AT9 was installed in May of 2006 and today I am getting strong signal levels from D10.
As far as answering your question to why D10 isn't giving us channels plain and simple there not ready yet so lets keep off there a$$ and let them do there jobs.


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## purtman (Sep 19, 2006)

TigersFanJJ said:


> Although I agree with your post, I can understand why he did this.
> 
> I have 3000 minutes per month on my cell phone plan and I use most of them doing this job. I figure I spend an hour and a half to two hours a day sitting on hold with D* or the hsp. Before I upgraded my plan, I was sometimes spending $250+ a month on my cell bill.
> 
> ...


That's still an added expense for the customer and you can always write it off on your taxes.


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## RobertSeattle (Aug 27, 2006)

:nono:


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## AlanSaysYo (Aug 22, 2007)

I'm sure there are plenty of good installers out there. I wish I had encountered even one during the time I've been with D*.

Of the four idiots that have been to my house, two were complete jerks, one was completely incompetent, and one was a liar. 

It's so bad that my wife flatly refuses to be at home when DirecTV comes by. She won't even talk to them.


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

purtman said:


> That's still an added expense for the customer and you can always write it off on your taxes.


Yes, but writing it off on your taxes hardly makes it free for the tech. Whereas 99% of the time, 5-20 minutes on the customer's cell phone won't be an added expense at all. Even that 1% of the time where it is an added charge, you are looking at about $8 max (at $.40 a minute).


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## grandpaken (Feb 4, 2006)

purtman said:


> That's still an added expense for the customer and you can always write it off on your taxes.


That's only true if the installer files a return as a business. If he's an employee he can put it on his return but only for the portion that exceeds 2% of his adjusted gross income.


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## Ext 721 (Feb 26, 2007)

TigersFanJJ said:


> You're fighting a losing battle, Mark. Regardless of how many people we help around here to fix a problem, we (installers) are all idiots in the eyes of some.
> 
> BTW, I'm also from s.w. Alabama.
> 
> JJ


I'll remind you of the "idiots" at the DMV...

when I was young, my father would always go to the DMV on a fine august tuesday morning, sit in "line" for 10 minutes, and get his license renewal/new plates/etc.

I asked him one day why people thought going to the DMV was so hard.

He told me that they are also open on saturday, with a 2 hour line Just to get a number to be called!

He further told me that since things expire in the 'year-of' most people wait until the last saturday in december when the line is 5 hours long.

Typically, it's not the professionals who tend to be the idiots...but the fact that ameteurs disagree with them leads to that conclusion.

As for the DMV, they changed almost everything to birthday expiration dates. They may not have been idiots, but they sure wisened up to the fact that their customers were!

As far as installers, having been one, i'll say again, that the smart, skilled dedicated ones either step-stone to their own home theatre company, or become frustrated and leave.

The smart skilled ones who stay long-term are usually not dedicated. The ones I knew refused to learn the new dishes until forced to, and frequently claimed no LOS on a job that would not pay enough to make it worthwhile.

And as for supervisors, universally the road to promotions to management positions is to have at-least-average work and to schmooze, socialize, and seek promotion aggressively...if you are simply excellent at your job, they'll want to keep you there.

I got promoted at my current job by manipulating my superiors into thinking they were shaping and molding me and that I respected them far more than I did.

Works a lot better than that whole "do your best at everything, work hard, and good things will come" schtick.


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## jason williams (Jan 24, 2007)

Ext 721 said:


> I'll remind you of the "idiots" at the DMV...
> 
> when I was young, my father would always go to the DMV on a fine august tuesday morning, sit in "line" for 10 minutes, and get his license renewal/new plates/etc.
> 
> ...


What has all these posts got to do with my original post about HD channels coming and going...ARE YOU ALL A BUNCH OF IDIOTS OR WHAT...By the way the 15 minutes of HD that I observed had Pixelation and audio dropouts so that may me some of the reason for the HD being delayed.


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## greenwave (Oct 23, 2006)

give it up dude


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## cnmsales (Jan 9, 2007)

upnorth said:


> And why would you think that the installers would know the truth as to why D10 isn't giving us channels yet?
> They just install the equipment and most dishs were installed before D10 and tuned to the available birds which if done correctly D10 should fall in no problem.
> My AT9 was installed in May of 2006 and today I am getting strong signal levels from D10.
> As far as answering your question to why D10 isn't giving us channels plain and simple there not ready yet so lets keep off there a$$ and let them do there jobs.


Exactly, most wouldn't. I mentioned to my installer when he was out and upgraded my equipment to HD and he argued with me to the fact that D* was even launching a new satellite.


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## cbearnm (Sep 6, 2006)

TigersFanJJ said:


> Yes, but writing it off on your taxes hardly makes it free for the tech. Whereas 99% of the time, 5-20 minutes on the customer's cell phone won't be an added expense at all. Even that 1% of the time where it is an added charge, you are looking at about $8 max (at $.40 a minute).


I love the way the old "You can write it off .." gets tossed around.

Yes, it is technically true that you can 'write it off', but that doesn't mean what a lot of people seem to think it does. "Writing it off" means reducing you gross by that amount. Which translates to 'you don't pay taxes on that amount'. It's not a tax credit, it's a reduction. If you 'write off' $1200/year as business expenses, you only really save whatever your taxes would be on that. Even at 25%, you are still $900 out of pocket.

I would much rather not have to write it off (by not paying it in the first place) than to wait to pay a little less in taxes. Same with charitable donations 'Yeah, but he gets to write it off'. All it means is that you get some credit back for the donation. It is still a donation.

Sorry to go off, but this is one of those things that dis-hearten me; how little understanding of taxes most people have. Most people aren't concerned because it's mostly someone else's money (in their eyes).

Which is why I think it was a brilliant move for the feds to with-hold taxes. The worker never sees it, so they never miss it. They also don't think of how much it adds up to over the year. If everyone had to write a check for their taxes on April 15th, there would be an absolute revolt each year. In I think it would be the lower income earners that would be the loudest. Instead of getting a little 'refund' in the spring, they would realize how much they truly pay.

BTW; I am not an installer, but wouldn't think of having them use their personal phones for business purposes.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

cbearnm said:


> I love the way the old "You can write it off .." gets tossed around.


Yeah, those of us who deal with self-employment taxes have a different perspective on things.


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