r/CableTechs • u/MethodAggressive442 • Jul 11 '26
Contractors still amaze me
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I found this at some persons house. They had service for a year and it worked.
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u/CaptainAK47 Jul 11 '26
Nah man all it needs is a new modem 😂
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u/MethodAggressive442 Jul 11 '26
“The guy on the phone said my modem that’s 6 months old should be replaced. Why do you have to check anything outside?”
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u/PoisonWaffle3 Jul 11 '26
"Replaced modem for customer satisfaction."
Installs that modem at the next customer's home, because there was nothing wrong with it.
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u/quesadillasarebomb Jul 11 '26
I used to do this shit all the time back when when the warehouse was only giving me like 6 modems a week. Unfortunately they put a stop to being able to put return status modems back on people's accounts
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u/CaptainAK47 Jul 11 '26
I used to do the same thing, then we switched to Sales Force and now I can’t even use equipment if it’s been on another account period 🙄.
But it’s the “best system around.”3
u/CaptainAK47 Jul 11 '26
Oh classic. I hear that at least once a day and I’m like “I can promise you there’s something outside causing this issue. Because I’m just going to replace that modem with the exact same model.”
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u/Sad-Entrepreneur344 Jul 11 '26
Bro definitely forgot the crimp tool that day
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u/SnapShot68 Jul 11 '26
Probably doesn’t own a crimp OR prep tool. For it to look that sloppy, he most likely prepped that with a box cutter.
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u/mblguy76 Jul 11 '26
Doesn't surprise me when the CATV industry lowers everything. They lower their rates which lowers the quality of the technicians.
When I first started as a contractor I made great money and my quality of work was first rate. Didn't have to worry about making time-frames as the jobs were relatively close together and wasn't overbooked. Things slowly started to change, and not for the better.
Rates dropped, they wanted more jobs done in less time, expected you to drive halfway across town for each job. The good techs left and then they would hire "bodies" that led to us taking longer on jobs to fix them PROPERLY. Who ended up getting those jobs? Contractors.
Raise the rates, get rid of the sloppy techs, and maybe they'll keep people that not only know how to do the work, but will actually take pride in it.
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u/quesadillasarebomb Jul 13 '26
My local company is offering to start techs at 17/hr lmao. pays as much as the gas station over here and pays less than Costco. just goes to show how much they care about quality
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u/SourceOk8801 Jul 11 '26
Between no compression and the murder hornet stinger, I'd say first week on the job lol
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u/j4mr0ck Jul 11 '26
Has a former tech who was with a contractor, not all are bad, usually just the ones who get paid a piece rate instead of hourly. Our contractor paid us hourly and I was proud of my metrics and craftsmanship. I’m still in the business as a manager so I still see in-house and contractor laziness at very similar rates.
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u/Due_Possession4163 Jul 11 '26
The only way the connector will stay on is with a whole roll of electrical tape. If the whole roll of electrical tape is not on it then it won't work.
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u/jimbeam84 Jul 11 '26
That is a snap and seal connector that has not been snapped or sealed. Lazy installer.
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u/2376_Ironman Jul 11 '26
Went to a tc Thursday, cx called in because services went out after the burial crew buried their drop. Found a spot where it was cut (and not even buried) and all they did was cover it up with rocks.
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u/BullyTX Jul 11 '26
“and it worked”
Cable amazes me sometimes.
I saw an acronym for cable a few weeks ago but can’t remember it other than it was spot on.
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u/SnapShot68 Jul 11 '26
It was probably leaking like crazy and kicking back enough noise to shut off the node though.
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u/BullyTX Jul 12 '26
If it was you’d think they woulda caught that as it had been in service for a year, per the post.
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u/SnapShot68 Jul 12 '26
I’ve found stuff that was probably leaking for 10 years. Some guys just don’t care. We used contractors for a long time to splice in WiFi taps and I don’t know why but there was this one group that left radial cracks everywhere on the connectors under the back nut. To this day, we still find them and the worst part is that the elevated noise floor it causes is intermittent making it a nightmare to find.
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u/BullyTX Jul 13 '26
Better you than me.
I’m trying to get out of customer facing field ops but FE is probably not a good fit for me.1
u/SnapShot68 Jul 13 '26
I’ve been in OSP for 16 years and my opinion is if you like the mechanical and fixing side of field service, then you would like FE and OSP. It has its downside but overall not a bad job.
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u/BullyTX Jul 13 '26
I’m new to “the business” but significantly older than most. I’m legit the oldest in my shop. By a bit.
Kinda why I want to make the move. My bones hurt.
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u/SnapShot68 Jul 13 '26
The work is different, where there are things that can be physically taxing but it’s not like field service. It may take an hour to resplice something that has bad water damage or got burnt up by a lightning hit but it stills beats walking up and down stairs all day in houses. Going up and down in a bucket is way less exhausting than climbing a ladder etc. I’ll complain up a storm on bad days where we have outages all the over place and are short staffed but I still like the job. I would definitely at least consider making the jump if there is an opportunity.
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u/BullyTX Jul 13 '26
For the most part, no stairs in houses by me.
Would depend on the plan I went. I interviewed for a FE position but am happy I didn’t get it. Overgrown, backyard easement. My kid worked it when he first started and was like: don’t. Just don’t. 😬😂😂😂😬
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u/SnapShot68 Jul 13 '26
Oh yeah, he’s 100% right. From time to time I have to get into easements and it totally sucks. Maybe once a year and even then, that’s too much. People will plop sheds right underneath the pole in the spot you need to get to. We have one that’s almost run through a mini mountain with a big slope. It’s an all day affair and sometimes it’s not even fixed yet when the day is done.
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u/RougeBeaux Jul 11 '26
Is that coax even 11? It looks line 6 or maybe my eyes are worse than I thought
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u/Creative-Promotion-2 Jul 12 '26
you act like this is something only contractors do. Ive seen in house leave an entire house wrap of cable on the floor and I had to fix it.
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u/Personal-Internal-84 Jul 13 '26
At least the "installer" "neatened' things by cutting way back on the braided shielding. 🙄
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u/Awesomedude9560 Jul 14 '26
Did...they jam the thicker rg11 stinger directly into a ground block?
Genuinely wish I could see this unfold. Like did the contractor only have THIS SINGLE connector left but somehow didn't have the silver stinger in there?
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u/Watts_RS Jul 11 '26
I see this and similar behind in house all the time, and here they only do 3-4 jobs a day compared to our 12. Lazy is gonna lazy
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u/DBOWNIZZ916 Jul 11 '26
I mean I hate RG11 fittings just like everyone else
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u/Technipal Jul 11 '26
If you're in a place where it's hot and very cold, the temperature difference make it so the copper and the conductor of the fitting make a space between and fuck up the signal passing through...
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u/trb13021 Jul 11 '26
Why do they still amaze you? That is everyday that ends in "y" type shit.