Travails of the Satellite Dish

Last night Brent from Ironwood came over, ostensibly to get TiVo working on my DirecTV connection, but really we need to get my dish working for both DirecTV and DirecWay. After five hours of replacing almost everything except the reflector on my dish we got things working better than they've ever been before.

Almost all of my connections were corroded, including the new stuff we got a year ago when we got my Internet connection working. Ground blocks and splitters were clearly shorted and ruined. The sidecar on my dish had corroded out. A wasp's nest was living under my weather cover. At least one of my satellite receivers was cooked (which was okay, we were replacing it).

The main take-away from the whole deal is that the installed from DBS (local installers, not the Direct Broadcast Satellite company) that came out to do my job last year did a crappy job. I'm not afraid to say it. I looked at the connections. There was water and brown corrosion inside the connectors when we pulled them off. The new stuff has dielectric compound and rubber grommets. At least we didn't have to replace any cabling.

On the other side of it, the pipe that my fifty-pound dish hangs on was also pretty darn bad. I could make the whole thing shake with my finger. Not a big deal for DirecTV reception, but my Internet transmission side is quite sensitive to being aimed correctly. I suspect my overall Internet experience will greatly improve.

So, thanks Brent from Ironwood. Jeers to DBS.

Josh Poulson

Posted Saturday, Jan 8 2005 10:07 AM

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Travails of the Satellite Dish, Part 2

Well, long ago I posted on the problems with my satellite Internet service and finally it is solved. I have partial T1 to my rural home. Sure, it costs more, but not that much more since I can now work... [Read more]

Josh's Weblog

Linked Wednesday, Nov 16 2005 10:53 AM

Comments

There are 2 comments on this entry.

Josh,

There's a new satellite internet service called Skyway that is supposed to be better than Direcway. You might want to check it out.

dick

Posted Saturday, Jan 8 2005 12:28 PM

Skyway is a European solution, so I think you meant SpaceWay, also from Hughes. I've got an inquiry with them but haven't heard back yet. I think I have four months left on my DirecWay contract as it is.

Josh Poulson

Posted Saturday, Jan 8 2005 03:32 PM

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