FTA System for €175

cpslane

Was thinking about getting a Fta system since the UK channels are very poor using my antenna.
I seen a company in my area offering a Fta system plus installation for €175
i gave them a phone call and was told they are snowed under with orders atm and couldn't give me a install date but it should be within 2 weeks.
having seen some company's looking for up to €450 for a Fta system i was thinking this offer sounds too good to be true and was wondering if maybe they were using old Sky boxes but they told me no and the boxes they use even has built in games. the price includes receiver dish cable and full installation plus if i get more then 1 receiver they will do 2 room for €150 each

Has anyone bought this offer in the Louth area and what do you think of the system?

TheDriver

I would get brand names for their equipment coz the dishmust be fairly ropey for that money TBH and the games included are pure crap by the way, tetris type of thing.

cpslane

The dish they said they use is a sonstiqe 60cm with a .2 lnb what ever that means. and they use 2 types of receivers. they said the receivers have 2 scarts and RS-232 serial port and some other stuff i didnt understand like loop through?.
they did say its just a special offer and normal price is €300.
sorry if none of that makes sense but im not fully up to date with satellite systems. thats why i was wondering if anyone had bought one.

marathont

I would probably wait until march, when this bbc freesat is supposed to launch, and see what kind of boxes are available.

TheDriver

well for 150 euro its an excellent price if they can stand over names etc. Think Some more seasoned boards members would know about the brand names all the same. Usual price of 300 sounds right but don't see why they are so cut price as nomoney being made out of that!

Tony

I would agree with the driver, 300 is about right so I would wonder are they using decent quality dishes and wf100 cable. Don't take my word for it though as I am a retailer myself so not exactly objective

watty

You can get a reasonable system for €150, but that includes no install. I'd want €150 for an install or else I'm doing a favour.

maybe the dish is small & flimsy and they don't do the cable neat. A good bolted bracket and well installed cable is x5 the work of a flimsy screwed on dish and loose cable.

A 80cm dish needs more care & time on alignment than a 55cm too. The Sky installs are subsidized. Paying for a years Sky is not the worst way to get a FTA system.

djburkejdburke

If this is the same system that i bought from a company advertising in the Local Trader just before Christmas all i can say is that i could not fault the work that was carried out or the equipment. Installation was very neat and fast. Hid the cables as best they could. They installers said the have been installing different system for the past 8 years and seem to know alot about satellites. All in all i am very happy with the system that i got and the price i paid.

watty

Beware endorsements from people with one post count

cpslane

They called me back this morning to say one of there engineers would be in my area and could fit me in due to a canceled job near me.
It is a company advertising in the local trader so might be the same.
i told them to go ahead and they will be here about 2pm.
what questions should i ask the engineer when he gets here? and what should i look out for?
i know its only €175 but i dont want to waste money on something not worth it.
i would be great full for any help

St Senan

Their is lots of questions you could ask him but the 1st question from me would be does he have public liability insurance. Other questions would be is what make of digibox is he supplying also look for a receipt with some sort of land line contact number in case you have a problem within the 1st year. I cant see how they are able to justify doing a supply and fit FTA system for that kind of money when every one else around the country is doing FTA systems in or around the €300 mark. I would suspect that the dish and box they are supplying wouldn't be of good quality

Tony

Perhaps you could take a look at the serial no. of the cable he/she uses, it should be marked every metre or so.

s_gr

What is the name of the company?

MisterAnarchy

watty wrote: »

You can get a reasonable system for €150, but that includes no install. I'd want €150 for an install or else I'm doing a favour.

€150 for 90 minutes work seems a bit steep to be fair.
€175 total isnt too cheap especially when Lidl were doing a full kit for €85 lately.

Tony

s_gr wrote: »

What is the name of the company?

would it be fair to name the company if they are not on here to give their side? just wondering

Tony

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

€150 for 90 minutes work seems a bit steep to be fair.
€175 total isnt too cheap especially when Lidl were doing a full kit for €85 lately.

theres a lot more to it than 90 minutes work, 175 installed is cheap, to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. No true comparison with Lidl is valid until we know the quality of the equipment provided, the lidl unit does not have RF out for example their unit may well have.

cpslane

All done and dusted
I have to say im very happy with it so far
Took the guy less then a hour and he did a very neat job.
he put the dish on the side of my house and ran the cable under the gutter then down behind the drain pipe. he then drilled out from behind the tv. you cant even see the cable unless u really look for it.
the cable has triax RG6 370766 179m on it and the dish also has Triax on the front of it. the receiver doesnt have a name on it and he told me the company he works for has their own factory that makes them. i tended to believe him since the box it came in had his companys name on it. the thing that goes on the arm of the dish i took the small box out of the bin and it says Inverto silver tech 0.2bd.
i asked him as many questions as i could think of
He says he has been installing satellite for years and is Vsat and Idirect qualified plus Sky. (sky was the only one i heard of before but i didnt want to ask what the others were ) they also sell and fit CCTV Video Door Intercom Broadband and a few other things and supply a lot of installers in and around Dublin with stuff.
They plan on bringing in HD FTA systems in the next month or so but said this depends on the cost. i asked how much and he said they were hoping to supply and fit them for around €300.
The basic information i could understand is that they are a new company with 5 crews working full time and the FTA systems were meant to be a promotion for that price but he thinks they might keep them at or around that price. they have stopped advertising for now since they have almost ran out of dishes he said some of the other engineers are having to use Sky dishes just to keep up with the orders they are getting via word of mouth. i was very interested in the CCTV system he had sitting in the van and he gave me his number to ring him later after he was finished since he was to busy to go through its features now.
He said he had full public liability and the system was covered for 12 months unless it was something i did. the dish is covered for winds upto 60mph but he thinks i should be ok since he put it in a sheltered spot
All i can see on the front of the receiver is Stab-Usals Diseqc 1.2 1.3 and DVB it also says game station but i havent looked at the games on it yet.

Im heading out now for awhile and when i get back i will see what ever else i can find out from it.
but all in all im happy
thanks everyone for the advise

Tony

Sounds like you got a good deal, the only issue I would have is the rg6 cable but on runs of 20m or less this should be fine.

s_gr

Tony wrote: »

would it be fair to name the company if they are not on here to give their side? just wondering

Surely just naming the company so others can get this deal is fair.

watty

The Lidl coax is not even use as Clothes Line, the Lidl receivers are old with an awkward GUI, the dish bracket is too flimsey and the dishs are minimal quality. I'd not compare with Lidl for price. A Maplin Fortec 80cm kit is a better comparison.

The Company can go in the sticky here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=155714

PM me the details and I can add it later when I'm not busy banning people.

Tony

s_gr wrote: »

Surely just naming the company so others can get this deal is fair.

Yes I agree as long as they are aware they are being mentioned on here and can respond to any possible negative posts, given the OP's report this seems unlikely now.

byte

cpslane wrote: »

All done and dusted
I have to say im very happy with it so far
Took the guy less then a hour and he did a very neat job.
he put the dish on the side of my house and ran the cable under the gutter then down behind the drain pipe. he then drilled out from behind the tv. you cant even see the cable unless u really look for it.
the cable has triax RG6 370766 179m on it and the dish also has Triax on the front of it. the receiver doesnt have a name on it and he told me the company he works for has their own factory that makes them. i tended to believe him since the box it came in had his companys name on it. the thing that goes on the arm of the dish i took the small box out of the bin and it says Inverto silver tech 0.2bd.
i asked him as many questions as i could think of
He says he has been installing satellite for years and is Vsat and Idirect qualified plus Sky. (sky was the only one i heard of before but i didnt want to ask what the others were ) they also sell and fit CCTV Video Door Intercom Broadband and a few other things and supply a lot of installers in and around Dublin with stuff.
They plan on bringing in HD FTA systems in the next month or so but said this depends on the cost. i asked how much and he said they were hoping to supply and fit them for around €300.
The basic information i could understand is that they are a new company with 5 crews working full time and the FTA systems were meant to be a promotion for that price but he thinks they might keep them at or around that price. they have stopped advertising for now since they have almost ran out of dishes he said some of the other engineers are having to use Sky dishes just to keep up with the orders they are getting via word of mouth. i was very interested in the CCTV system he had sitting in the van and he gave me his number to ring him later after he was finished since he was to busy to go through its features now.
He said he had full public liability and the system was covered for 12 months unless it was something i did. the dish is covered for winds upto 60mph but he thinks i should be ok since he put it in a sheltered spot
All i can see on the front of the receiver is Stab-Usals Diseqc 1.2 1.3 and DVB it also says game station but i havent looked at the games on it yet.

Im heading out now for awhile and when i get back i will see what ever else i can find out from it.
but all in all im happy
thanks everyone for the advise

I think you did pretty well, getting a decent Triax dish and the excellent (IMO) Inverto LNB. Sure was a good price.