Congrats on solving this guy's problem. Not sure why you're up in arms over what I wrote. If they plugged the Tivo sat connections into the antenna lead I would assume something wrong would happen, too.

I am also not familiar with the purported problem of D* not using custom installers. They won't even let you buy a receiver and install it yourself anymore. DIYers are trying to bribe the D* installers to let the customer go pick up their new receivers themselves when all they have to do is plug them in, but can't get a guy to show up. Maybe you just mean outside contractors aren't being used. Sorry, they are attempting to screw far more than just you guys. They'll be losing my business if they don't figure it out next year.