Satellite dish alignment
 

Hi all, I'm living in Albir. I've got a 1.8m satelite dish on the sun terrace and my neighbour has a small one. Can anyone give me an idea what a reasonable price for realignment is, and how can we check it's been done properly?

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Lovely place Albir, no idea about the realignment, just loved the place when we lived there.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

The general price round here is 50 euros. (which I think is a little bit steep)

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

IF you get a good picture then its a good setting. Just a fraction (leaning on it) makes the difference between a picture and no picture.

Sorry I don't know anyone in your area, I have a satellite meter so if I need to to I do it ,myself.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Why do you think that CBANDY? What other thing could you get a tradesman to visit your house for 50€? I guess 50€ is dear if you call a cowboy that uses a 10€ squawker out of the DIY shop but if it is a proper professional it is a very reasonable price. A specky meter to do that job properly (for example the Televes H45) is in the region of 2500€, and even the worst cheapo pro meter is around 300€. Add to this tools and the person's business expenses (Public Liability, Tools, transport, phone, warehousing, Social Security, Renta, IVA, etc) 50€ sounds good value if they live in the same town, but if not expect to pay 10-20€ more. Also if anyone is much cheaper than this it is going to be a loss-leader so they can get their foot in the door to charge you for something else that "needs repair" or "is just about to fail". Also look out for the sharp intake of breath before telling you "the last guy that came did blah blah blah and it needs rectifying immediately otherwise blah blah blah (more BS here) will happen".

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

I had mine aligned (2.4m dish) in Javea 3 months ago - cost was 60 Euros. Worth evry cent. The tech also checked all the cabling and left some very useful tuning and programming notes for the receiver.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Always good to have a recommend from a happy customer... Who was it?

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

wow - 60 euros....better increase my prices....did one yesterday as i was already in the clients area for 30 euros...and got a 10euro tip for getting to the so quick!

of course costs may increase if new LNBs are required. repalceing an LNB that is over 4 or 5 years old will help reception dramatically...LNBs sensitivity starts to decrease pretty much as soon as they are installed, so the longer an LNB has been in use the lower its performance v a new LNB.

went to a client recently whos signal had been slowly going after the recent winds...he had already had a few other people out to realign his dish, one charged for and replaced the LNB, yet both failed to notice the concrete base was cracking up and that the whole dish was moving and thus causing the dish to go out of alignment!!!

you can do a quick check yourself - sometimes nasties and debris gets into the LNB and can reduce the signal....check in there - be careful as there may be wasps or spiders in there....do not RAM anything in there to clear it up, as you may damage the PINS in the LNB, but use something like a drinking straw or "air cannister" to try and blow the obstruction away.

and dont be fooled by an installer spending 10 minutes at the dish, and a few minutes inputting the alterate ITVs and C4s into your receiver and saying use them to imporve the reception - they may not have done anything at all at the dish but charge you for information that is freely available in spanishexpatland - (service, 4, 4, 12402 and 12480!) -

check your BBC 1 / 2 reception and see if it is better or worse than before...you may not notice difference straight away, but maybe later at night when the BBC1 signals are the weakest....maybe even keep a log of the times it used to go off vs the times it currently goes off

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Dude, you're not being realistic. Would you go down to Albir for 30€? I doubt it. It would cost you the best part of 25€ just for the journey (toll and fuel).

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Sorry Dude (??) if you misunderstood me...

I did not say i will go to Albir for 30€...

I said i realigned a 2.4m dish for a client for 30e as i was already in the general area for that client.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Well each to his own, but, I don't think pricing a job base on current location is a sound business model. First you do a job for 30€. Then the client tells his neighbour. The neighbour calls for same job and you charge 50€ because you weren't in the neighbourhood. Neighbour gets mad and tells all friends not to use this guy because he doesn't have a consistant price structure and charges what he fancies on the day.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Totally agree, in my case people don`t realise how much it costs for tools, insurances, trade certificates, van, working for peanuts for 5 years learning to be a plumber.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Hi

If we are talking pricing - then simply you need to calculate much you need to earn in a day and how many jobs you can do in that day

So assuming you need 150€ a day and you can do three alignments in one day, you need 50€

BUT there is nothing wrong with "doing a favour"; if you are next door and the neighbour asks you to realign their dish - then a discount can apply. Good business and can be a good advertisment. I for one would recommend anyone that reduces their prices when relevant - Well done "The Guy"

Davexf

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

That's a different case. If, for example someone charges 50€/hour, there's no reason why that time shouldn't be shared between neighbours (maybe they even share a system). In the case of two independent jobs though things are different. The person that brings the tradesman to the area doesn't get an in-the-area discount but the other person does. Do you think that is fair?

Pricing should be based on what a job is worth, not how many a particular individual can do in a day, and what that individual's overheads are. Going on your synopsis it would seem to be fair for someone who needed to earn 300€ per day to charge twice as much.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Hell yes. Been there, done that.

Another irritant when splitting costs between neighbours is this.

One guy books a job with you, and then asks if there is a discount if his friend down the road has it done at the same time. You give them a reduced price each, and then on the day one cancels and the other throws his teddy out the pram when you try and charge the proper rate.

30 blasted years of that crap. People who don't realise that it costs money to run a van and an office, that travelling round half a dozen jobs will be open to problems with traffic, weather, difficulties in the work etc, and demand a precise time, and then when you explain that the inherent problems mean you can't give them a precise time, they respond with 'What's that got to do with it?'

Screw 'em.

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

I used to quote for the job and then add a 'whilsturere' charge.


You know, ' Whilst you are here can you just ................ "

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

Or as in Sats case he does such a good job that people just recommend him anyway. He's called in on me once for free. I recommended him to a neighbour who knew that but whp was charged. As you say ... each to his own, but its clearly a sound business model for him ;):)

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

I had my dish realigned after a storm recently. Don't know how much it cost as the rental agent took care of it but if it was 50€ or so I'd think that was very reasonable. He was stuck up on the roof in the cold and did a very good job. One thing - it said "no fix, no fee" on the side of the van. I guess all the sat guys offer that right?

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

That's just marketing, after all is there really a job that can't be done? And their not going to expect to get paid for a job that hasn't been done, are they?

Re: Satellite dish alignment
 

I had a guy in to sort my TV, no fix no fee, after 2 1/2 hours I paid him ...... to go away:(, went out and bought a new TV.