South Florida Voom Zone!!!

[truqui]

Ok...Here we are in sunny sofla with our Voom HD!!!
I guess this is where we'll meet for everything VOOM and bikinis

I been a Voomer since 3/15 and loving it more everyday! It was a smooth install from a guy in Palm Beach but unfortunately did everything wrong (but I was able to see great SAT and OTA. Anyway someone who really knew his stuff came out yesterday, fixed it all and now it's just right!!! I have all my locals (14) and great Sat signal numbers...I'm happy!
Harold

 

[gtsmith]

Hey, South Florida Voomer here. I'm in Hobe Sound and I'll be damned but that little Stealth Master antenna is getting in all the Palm Beach OTA's and ABC and UPN a bit further north and west of me. Very happy with it. I've had mine in since the 17th of March, if I remember correctly. The installer knew enough to do it my way. He seemed knowledgeable and when I told him I'd handle the OTA antenna install and the cable running and the hook up to "my equipment", he was fine with it. I prefer to do this stuff myself anyways.

What's funny is as I drive around PB county I am always watching other homes and condo units for sat dishes and have yet to see a Voom! sat dish. Not a single one yet - well except for the one on my house

What type of TV are you watching the Voom on?

-GT

 

[truqui]

Welcome GT...!!!
Same here...I haven't seen any Voom Dishes around although I know that a member of this forum lives in my neck of the woods...West Miramar! I'm trying to convince my friends to jump on the Voom offer...what can they lose?

Yes that little Stealth does seem to get good reception! Can't get the Palm Beach stations becsause I would have to point it further north and probably lose the Miami stations.

I'm enjoying Voom on a Mitsubishi 55413, wonderful PQ especially in HD!
What are you viewing?
H.

 

[gtsmith]

Hey truqui,

That Mitsu is a _very_ nice set. I have an InFocus X1 projected on to a DIY screen and frame at around 7.5 feet diagonal screen size, the main viewing area is about 13 feet back. The X1 does not have the image your Mitsu has but it works for me.

Good luck turning your friends on to Voom!. My friends and family are so behind the HD curve it's pathetic. Every time I speak with them about HDTV their eyes glaze over.

Good luck!

 

[truqui]

Yeah the Mits is very very nice...
Wow your screen size is measured in feet not inches!!! Must be nice...

I'm a little down today because I had to unplug the whole setup for a few days. I'm having the audio/video entertainment center built in and construction started today. I will have to live without HD for a few days...but when it's done it will be my pride and joy (uh, besides my kids!)
H.

 

[tvv]

Miami User

Had my VOOM installed yesterday, 3/30. I'm trying to compare DT and VOOM as my 12 month contract w/DT expires in June. Picture quality seems comparable between DT HD and VOOM HD. My signal strength is 48%; is this good ? I'm used to 98% and higher with DT. Also, is there a built in timer in this Motorola receiver so I can record movies without having to perform "timer programming" on my DVD Recorder ?

Thanks

 

[truqui]

Welcome tvv...congrats on your Voom install.

I'm no expert but I can tell you that you still have the previous software installed in your new box. We all have had it like that until last week. A new firmware will download directly to your box soon. When this is done you will see your signal strength closer to 90's. They changed the scale to 0-100 like D*, so add another 50 to the 48 and you will probably see it at 98 48 is good for Voom!
The software download has a few fixes for the box including the program planner which will also work after the update, among other things like quicker channel changing. Don't know anything about the timer question though, sorry.

Do you know about the "magic" red button?
Open the door on the front panel where the card is located and you'll see a red button. That controls the boxes output scanning rate/resolution. With each press of the button the orange leds right above it will light up. The top one only means 1080i, the second 720p, the third 480p and the first is 480i with the next press all light up meaning it will output the original resolution of the broadcast. The default I believe is 480i. Change it to 1080i and you'll see a huge difference between D* and Voom.
Enjoy...!!!

 

[discodol]

OTA Ft Lauderdale

Thanks for opening the South Florida thread! I live near Oakland and Federal and cannot receive 4.1 WFORDT CBS or 17.1 WLRNDT although they are mapped. Is anyone else having a problem with these two stations? If not I will have to start looking at my antenna. Also for those of you looking for a calibration Chuck Williams will be here the first week of April around the 6th. Otherwise I am glad I got Voom and have suspended by D* account while evaluating. I am pretty sure I will be keeping Voom and eliminating D*.

 

[truqui]

Welcome discodol...
4.1 is probably the best signal for me...I'm out in the Miramar/Pembroke Pines area.
17.1 I've been told, has not been up for several weeks due to tower repairs. My install was after they started repairing so I'm sure once they're working, we will get it.

How do you guys like Voom so far?

 

[pOiNTBLaNK]

I get everything but channel 7. I live in the south.. (South Kendall by Cutler Ridge)

 

[Vlad D]

Glad you started this thread.

I got Voom on 3/13 and then got a friend of mine, who also lives by me in the Miramar/Penbroke Pines area, to get Voom. Another friend of mine who lives in Coral Springs is getting an HDTV this month and I already convinced him to get Voom. I think slowly but surely we'll start seeing those Voom dishes popping up in our neighborhoods.

So far I am loving Voom, and more importantly so is my wife! Actually, she watches it more than me (probably because I'm always on this forum or another one reading about Voom instead of watching. )

 

[truqui]

Welcome Vlad...!!!
I was wondering when you would find your way here!!!

I'm also enjoying Voom and glorious HD...
Isn't great when you have friends over and show them your setup? I have seen then drop their jaw in awe when they see the PQ...gets them all the time!

 

[ricks]

Live in Royal Palm Beach and set for a Monday install. I have been told for ages that Hi-Tech in Ft. Laud. is the only Voom installer in the area. I live in a townhouse and have some unique issues so I had one of Hi-Tech's installers (Scott) out for a site survey about a week ago. Loved his attitude and his "no cut corners" plan on the installation. Yesterday I receive a call from some company called All Services International in Ft. Laud. They, and Installs, Inc., say that "Hi-Tech is all out of Voom equipment and the install has been reassigned to All Services". Sounds like a bunch of B.S. to me. Now I'm out a site survey and will be starting over with an install on Monday from square one when I set out to resolve issues and problems before the actual install. Anyone down here ever hear of this company, All Services International?

 

[ParishM]

Hello all, I am in Pembroke Pines and have an install
scheduled for this Tuesday. I haven't heard from
anyone yet so I hope they show up on Tues and get
on with it.

I already subscribe to DTV and am hoping Voom
works good as good or better. I opted for the bigger
VA VA Voom package and have a Sony KP65WV700
65".

I will post my install experience.



04/11/04 8:45pm
got an update email from Voom today saying the
installer will be Southern Satellite And Audio Inc.



P....

 

[truqui]

Welcome to to South Florida Voom Zone Ricks and ParishM...!!! You will soon see what the whole Voom hype is all about.
Hopefully your installations will not be full of mistakes that unfortunately plague installers that are not familiar with Voom.
My install was done by Professional Installations Of Palm Beach and seemed fine until I had a service call come over from an independent who works for Installs, Inc exclusively and fixed it all.
Don't sweat the not receiving calls from the installer, mine never called until he was on his way to my house and I think that goes for most.

These forums are really good for us to be prepared and in most cases we know more than the installers about Voom.

Good luck guys and let us know how your installation goes!

 

[ricks]

Professional Installations of Palm Beach - well, that makes the third company. When I first got the name of Hi-Tech, I called them to find out who installed in Palm Beach (assuming they wouldn't be doing it from Ft. Laud) - they actually got a little uppity at my question and somewhat haughtily advised "we install for Voom throughout the State". So I had them come out for the site survey, which turned out to be a waste. My installer for today from All Services called this morning and cancelled. I fully agreed with him considering the horrible weather today. He says he does "all of the training for Voom installs". Now a third company pops up. Who knows. He'll be out tomorrow, assuming the weather changes, but it doesn't look promising.

 

[truqui]

Yeah, today that rain was really bad, although in a sense it's good...too many brush fires lately! Hopefully the weather doesn't keep you from getting installed tomorrow.

 

[ricks]

Well, a very happy install today. Somehow we got it in between the tornado-type weather early this morning and the heavy rain we're getting now. After reading for many weeks about the horrible install stories all around the country I consider myself very fortunate. A true gentleman from All Services International in Ft. Lauderale by the name of Hugo (never did get his last name but he says he owns the company) did just an excellent job. Did everything the right way and clearly knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way. Locals are A-OK too with just a Silver Sensor except for the ABC station that is 25 miles in the opposite direction and on the far side of my townhouse (that's a problem I've got to think about for awhile). With all of the problem installs, Hugo deserves a public pat on the back for a job well done.

 

[ParishM]

well the installer called & said he was 15 minutes away and
showed up on time. the install went fine but they did have
trouble getting all the local chanels with the stealth OTA
antenna. they said if i have any trouble with locals they
will come back out and install a larger OTA antenna.

it's just my luck that we get a nasty storm right after
my install and i loose signal for over an hour (DTV too)

should i keep the receiver in 1080 mode all the time or
in "Native" mode ?

the guide does suck not starting on the currently selected
channel.

what's the deal with these updates i have heard about ?
should i shut the receiver off @ night ?




P....

 

[truqui]

well the installer called & said he was 15 minutes away and
showed up on time. the install went fine but they did have
trouble getting all the local chanels with the stealth OTA
antenna. they said if i have any trouble with locals they
will come back out and install a larger OTA antenna.

it's just my luck that we get a nasty storm right after
my install and i loose signal for over an hour (DTV too)

should i keep the receiver in 1080 mode all the time or
in "Native" mode ?

the guide does suck not starting on the currently selected
channel.

what's the deal with these updates i have heard about ?
should i shut the receiver off @ night ?




P....

You as well as ricks probably have the original firmware that comes with the box. Late tonight you'll get the updates that include fixes for many things including the last channel on the Program Guide and a few other things you will notice before you get the download. We all have had two or three downloads already.

Just power off with your remote and the download will be done.
I keep the scan rate at 1080i because before the updates, i used to have lockups when native was 720p. Most of read have it to native in other words with all four LCDs lit up. I assume you know about that red button, right?