Need some clarification and maybe some guidance here...
Got a lot of years CATV exp. Right now I'm on the installation side of things. Prices paid are continually decreasing or at least not increasing to keep up with the rising costs of doing business, i.e. gas, ins.... I figure today's average for an installer is lower than what was average in the mid 80's due to increasingly stringent specifications and care having to be taken with the addition of digital offerings and cable modems, in other words this aint your fathers analog system anymore but we're not gonna pay any extra for the work you have to do to cover YOUR OWN ASS. No pay for custom work, no pay for wallfishes, no pay for buried cables after the ground block to insure a "cosmetically pleasing" result etc....
That having been said, I just want to know if the satellite industry is a viable option to make a good living and actually get paid for work that goes above the call of the "basic install"...
Let me put it this way, at least in the area I'm in, "basic install" means by whatever means necessary. Let's say I go to a house for an outlet upgrade, the job pays around $15.00 no matter how it has to be done, housewrap, attic crawl, burial.. doesn't matter, pays the same, take it or leave it. Now on the practical side not all of them are ball busters but there's been more than one occasion where a seemingly simple outlet upgrade has turned into a half day or more affair due to the house being "custom construction" or in an historic district with limitations on what the city will allow for visible cables yada yada yada..... Keep in mind this is just ONE example....
Are the satellite people being compensated for the extra work like I'm hearing they are? I know locally we're losing more CATV installers to a particular sat. contractor. The stories I'm hearing sure make the grass seem not only greener but flourishing on the other side....
I'm in the Central Florida area, I can install just about any house with one eye tied behind my back and am willing to do just about anything if the money is right simply because I enjoy the work but the older I get, the wiser I get and know that the industry is just not swinging in the installers favor.
Somebody convince me, is satellite all that it is cracked up to be?
Good tech may want to change horses
Member #: 31432
Registered: 6/25/2004
Posted:
217
Name:
Doughnut
Occupation:
CATV/SAT Tech
Location:
Florida
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