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Hello, I'm a Direcway installer in South Dakota and i was wondering if anyone else has had problems with the Direcway people constantly putting you on a different satellite than it says on the work order. When the page that direcway issues with new work orders said that some midwestern states, SD included, were to commission to G4R and the rest of the country to G11, about half of the time we were actually supposed to be on G11 too. Now that the whole country is on G11, they like to assign you to AMC 3 for some odd reason. And you can't find out until it's already sighted in and crosspoled unless you call in ahead of time, in which case you are treated like you are mental by the support people. When the modem fails to restart completely into an operational state because you're on the wrong sat, you generally have two choices, both causing you to waste about an hour. One, resight the dish to the new sat, or two, call in for a xponder change and hold for a half hour and then spend another half hour explaining how a tree is just blocking the satellite that we were assigned and the only one we can comission too is G11, like it said on the WO. I generally choose the latter. Also, on at least 70percent of the installs i do, there's some software config glitch that eats up about a half hour. The cross pol screen often loops between requesting and testing, doing nothing in between, and, or, it fails a couple of times throughout the registration process, which you must do again if they put you on the wrong sat. These problems are often frusturating and time consuming, but by far the thing that puts me off most about dways is that DAMN SHROUD. They are literally designed not to fit and to be a complete pain in the ass to install. Three hands are needed to put in that bottom screw, and there's still a big gap there most of the time. For the customer, Dways are great and very reliable, but from an install standpoint, i hope Wild Blue has made some improvements. I'm sorry i turned my simple inquiry into a mile long rant, but i'd like to see if anyone else has similar frustrations, or better ways of doing anything.
Posts: 1 | From: Rapid City, SD | Registered: Jul 2004
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So for those of you who think it is your DataStorm causing problems, you can see by this post that it is Hughes. It actually looks like our setup is at least less sensitive during the setup procedure. I have never been assigned to a satellite different than the one I requested. By the way globb, Wild Blue can't have made any improvements, their satellite is only schedule to launch tomorrow. Six months to get it settled into its orbit and adjust its transmissions and then, well, who the heck know what's next since no one even know how the KA band will work.
-------------------- Bill Adams Winegard Company Posts: 15778 | From: Traveling the Western US | Registered: May 2003
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Datastorm installers (most of us anyway) use a VAR to commission customers. SO we request the satellite that we want after having discussed travel plans with the customer. And if thru some clerical error, they gave us the wrong bird, (has never happened to me either) then I would have a new billing ID issued before I even commissioned the modems/modem.
As far as consumer fixed dishes. . .you might want to start pointing to G3C by defalt instead. As of day before last, all new installs now go in G3C. G11 is out (for the time being at least). It does seem like a procedural defecit to not let the installer know in advance which bird the customer will be assigned to. But you said something about a satellite assignment showing on a work order? Granted all my installs are dealer assigned and I have yet to do a fullfillment for DirecWAY, but my "service orders" that are generated when I sign up a customer don't say anything about which bird they will be on. Nothing like pointing a dish, commissioning it and then having to repoint it again to a different bird.
Preferred, of course, is to know with good likelihood which sat they will be assigned to, and point to that one first. But if you really can't have any idea which bird they will be assigned to, if I were you, I would point to a bird that is easy to pass ACP. Don't spend a lot of time peaking it perfectly. Just get it pointed and snug enough to not blow in the breeze and pass ACP. Then commission it and find out which sat the customer has been assigned to. If you are on the right one, then spend a bit more time peaking and getting ACP as high as possible before locking it tight. If you are on the wrong bird and have to repoint, at least you didn't spend a bunch of time peaking it perfectly and locking it all down, just to move it again.
My personal DW6000 dish is on AMC3, but I have yet to do another AMC3 since. Are they assigning AMC3 in your area?
The whole queued 99 thing can be a hassle. I just save some other tasks for when I have down time like that. Or go off and get some gatorade while the ACP servers catch their breath. Bill made a good point for Datastorm users who may be reading this, that it is a good example of how DirecWAY and Datastorm interact, and that a Datastorm is liking having an certified installer in a box. But the installer, whether he be software and a cricuit board, or a human, still has to deal with DirecWAY ACP issues when they ocurr.
Concerning the shroud. I agree it is a sloppy fit. But what do you expect for a $600 dish? Amazing they can actually produce these things and subsidize the price and make the costs to consumers as low as it is. As long as the electronics are working I am happy. The shroud is really there to keep the LNB from getting bumped and to make the dish look a bit more sleek. It serves no function for keeping rain out. I prefer to attach the coax end that will be used as the permanent cable and then put the shroud on. You can then tilt the skew way over so that pesky bottom screw falls into the hole instead of falling out of the hole, bouncing off the roof and into the weeds below. Once the cable is attached and the shroud on, you can bring the skew back to your predicted value so you can point the dish. Then you don't have to go back to the shroud and swap out cables and possibly bump the dish out of alignment again.
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I always call before I roll the truck to see what Bird we are going to on that day I have called and they said we will call back and let me know later...
-------------------- Bill Posts: 13 | From: AndersonVille, Ga | Registered: Jul 2004
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