Hiding a satellite dish...... cable sucks!

[ckilkus]

I have been a happy DirecTV with DirecTivo customer for about six years. The only thing I was unhappy with was that DirecTV would not add the TivoToGo and Home Media Option to their service. So when I moved into a new apartment where the landlord preferred I not mount a dish, I figured i would go back to cable and use a Series 2 Tivo. Now, two months later and I have just about had it with cable TV. Besides the picture quality from the cable being horrible, Adelphia is unbelievably inept. When I joined I asked for the HD DVR on offer, but the tech brought a standard cable box accidentally. Then to get the right box brought out I had to schedule another appointment for the tech to bring it (why can't I just pick it up?), but of course the first one they had was two weeks later and I was going to be out of town. I rescheduled again (another two week wait) and have been sitting here all afternoon waiting for the guy to arrive. When I called I found out they had rescheduled my appointment without telling me for another two weeks into the future. Are they retarded?? How can a cable company expect to keep customers if they operate like this??

Anyway, that's it, I am going back to DirecTV, I'll just talk my landlord into it. It would be really helpful if I could make the lowest impact on his building however.

Is there anyway to hide a satellite dish in a fabric or a plastic box so that it looks like part of the roof? I searched around and saw a couple things in Europe that do this, but they are for completely different kinds of dishes. Any ideas??

Thanks!

[JimSpence]

You could put one of these on the roof. :)
http://www.dish-rock.com/newrock.htm

BTW, your landlord cannot prevent you from having a dish, within certain guidelines.

[Krosis]

You could put one of these on the roof. :)
http://www.dish-rock.com/newrock.htm

BTW, your landlord cannot prevent you from having a dish, within certain guidelines.
If I was a Landlord I would be more concerned about a big 'ol rock on the roof than a satellite dish :confused:

[stevel]

I doubt the landlord would be thrilled about a dish of any kind on the roof, as that makes permanent holes, but if you do go this route, check out the new roof mounts at www.smarthome.com - they minimize damage and make it possible to remove the mount later.

[IWantMyDTiVo]

I rescheduled again (another two week wait) and have been sitting here all afternoon waiting for the guy to arrive. When I called I found out they had rescheduled my appointment without telling me for another two weeks into the future. Are they retarded?? How can a cable company expect to keep customers if they operate like this??


I also don't know how they expect to stay in business. At least 80% of my neigbors dropped Comcast and put in Direct TV (and/or Dish) due to similar stories. The low-price of HDTV support -- rental vs. buying of a digital recorder is appealing -- but when I was in a local BestBuy last week, I mentioned a few "Comcast stories" and had a few other people wander over to share Comcast horror stories for the next half hour. The salesman was on the floor laughing at some of the stuff and said, "How can they expect to stay in business when I hear stories like this every day."

You don't happen to live in Hollywood do you?

BTW, Comcast wanted to remove any DTV antennas and/or lines left to insure that an end-user would be stuck if they kept their dishes (this was part of a special “come-back” offer.) I guess they weren’t too confident of their quality/satisfaction/etc…

A few residents in the area put up the dish anyway – with landlord warnings -- and cited FCC rulings (All’s I know is the landlord left them alone). A few others were lucky enough to have balconies, a patio fence (heavy construction) that allowed them to arrange for a bolt-up-dish arrangement that can be pulled down -- if needed -- in less than 20-minutes. The dishes are still there.

YMMV

[ckilkus]

I'm in Santa Monica with Adelphia, which I have heard is the worst cable company of all...... unfortunately I'm experiencing it first hand.

After my cable went out (again! for the third time in two days!) I called customer service to get it re-booted, or whatever it is they do from the home office. The CSR said my account showed that I already had a HD DVR, but I explained that this is what I was waiting for the tech to bring me, but as you know they never showed up and rescheduled my appointment for two weeks in the future without telling me. She said she would make the appropriate changes to my account. Well, whatever she did knocked me out of that appointment I had and made a new one for two MORE weeks later.... so now I have to wait a month just for them to drop a box off at my house!! Amazing! If it wasn't happening to me I would laugh!

And the picture quality of Adelphia is REALLY bad, especially on the networks. CBS was so bad today that I could barely make out what's happening on screen, and this is with their premium digital cable package.

Anyway, enough ranting. I am definitely switching back to DirecTV and getting an HD DVR with Tivo...... hopefully I can just hack it to add Home Media Option and Tivo2Go (I was upset with DirecTV because they were not supopporting these services from Tivo). I've never wanted to go through the hassle to do this, but now that I have seen the alternative first hand, I'll be happy to be back with DirecTV even considering the frustrations I had with them originally.

One thing DirecTV could do to add a lot more users is to make an effort to appease the concerns of landlords who worry about having dozens of dishes on their roof and all sorts of holes punched into the roof and walls. In my building they could mount a single dish that could potentially service all the apartments, and wire up the whole building. Then all a tenant has to do is call to have the tech bring the box and turn on the service. The cable companies get a lot more customers just because it seems to a tenant like cable is an easy thing to set-up.

[JWThiers]

You could mount a pole in a big flower pot (Concrete and dirt in pot) and run the cables through a door or window (or wall) that would have no permanent damage to the structure.

[stevel]

DirecTV doesn't need to do anything to enable wide-scale distribution of a central dish. All you need is some big-honkin' multiswitches and the cabling. But the average renter would rather just plug in a TV and have it work. Nevertheless, some apartment complexes do distribute DirecTV, though they may do it with modulators or stackers on a single cable.

[rook]

mini phased array flat panel dish:
http://www.satcomweb.com/

Rook

[BarrySeymour]

JimSpence, in two minutes of casual browsing I saw two posts of yours that made me laugh out loud! You're a gem!

I had Adelphia and yes, they sucked. My experiences were not as bad a some, but I had high speed internet and the Bronze cable pack (local channels in analog with lines and ghosts) and paid $105.00 a month. I switched to DTV with an R10 for about $50 a month and got Verizon DSL (which was *faster* than Adelphia) for $30/month. Local channels are digital and clearer, picture quality is better than my old TiVo (no mulitlple conversions from digital to analog and back) and I was able to find a used Hughes DTivo on Craigslist for THIRTY BUX and hooked it up downstairs myself with some coax, a switch box and a drill.

The only problem I have with DirecTV is it's owner and his politics, but that's a whole 'nother story for a whole 'nother forum. I am one happy DTV camper.

[JimSpence]

JimSpence, in two minutes of casual browsing I saw two posts of yours that made me laugh out loud! You're a gem!
...
The only problem I have with DirecTV is it's owner and his politics, but that's a whole 'nother story for a whole 'nother forum. I am one happy DTV camper.Thanks, I think. :cool:

If we all made purchases based on the politics of owners, we'd all be going without one thing or another. :o

[DeDondeEs]

You could put one of these on the roof. :)
http://www.dish-rock.com/newrock.htm

BTW, your landlord cannot prevent you from having a dish, within certain guidelines.

ROFL I don't have to hide my dish, but I would almost get one of these just to get my neighbors wondering what the heck a big rock is doing on my roof...

[davezatz]

Actually apartment complexes and condos can legally block a dish installation. Read that FCC doc again. At my former condo, you could put it only within your personally owned space - which means balcony. The roof is a common area (not to mention the cable would have to go through someone else's unit to get to mine), the air beyond my balcony was also common area.

My new apartment has no balcony or railing... and I'm sure they can/will prevent me from drilling holes into the stone wall. The roof has a pool and tennis court, so they may not want my dish up there. I'm contemplating putting one inside...

How can I test signal strength through my window without investing a lot of dough? Could I buy a cheapie dish and box on ebay and get a signal strength without subscribing for service? (I've never had satellite so I'm newbie...)

[rigs49]

This is hilarious, Imagine a huge rock on a roof. Kinda reminds me of that beer commercial. JimSpence and Krosis' reply right after had me laughing and still do. You people are great have a good one. TIVO RULES!!!!

[ckilkus]

Those satcom dishes (plates?) seem like a good option since they aren't as obtrusive as a normal DirecTV dish. I could probably convince my landlord to mount one of those, and if not just mount it almost flat against an outisde wall so it doesn't look like a satellite dish. I just can't find out from them if they will work with HD DirecTV. Or if I can paint them. Anyone know?

My last apartment wouldn't allow dishes either, but I just mounted one on the roof anyway. It was a big building of 50 units. They gave me a hard time in the beginnning, but eventually when they realized I paid my rent on time and didn't bother anyone they never mentioned it again. When I was moving out I went up to the roof to remove the dish and found that three other apartments had hooked themselves into my dish!! Needless to say, I left it up there for them.

I'm sure if DirecTV was smart enough to install a dish for the whole building, and wire all the floors up like the cable companies did, they would have had just about everyone there using DirecTV service.......

[ADent]

You can put a DBS dish behind plastic (but not rubber), so inside a trash can, or under a BBQ Grill cover are solutions. One of the complexes here has tall tripods so people can see over the roof.

If you have no balcony or such, inside a south facing window is your only real hope.

[Crash_Corrigan]

There are companies that provide dish and wiring to apartments and condo associations. Unfortunately, they tack on an extra surcharge on your Directv bill for providing the equipment. Ugh!

I don't think that it's fair to be billed an extra $5 per month (that's $60 per year) forever for the privilege of using a communal dish, especially when you can get a dish and install on your patio for $100 or less. Think about it. Potentially 12 owners in each building in my condo complex could be paying a total of $720 per year every year to use the communal dish on the roof of each building. There's no way I'd participate in my condo association's communal dish program. It's a ripoff. The association should have bought the dishes outright. I'm glad my patio faced the right direction and that I put my original dish up before the condo association cut the deal for the communal dishes. In some ways, I surprised they haven't tried to force me to use the communal dish and pay the extra monthly fee.

[ckilkus]

Ahh hah! That was the info I was trying to find out, what material can be in front of a dish without corrupting the signal. Plastic you say? I called several CSRs and tiers at DirecTV but they didn't know. Seemed like a basic question to me.....

So I can build a plastic box of some sort around a dish. Hiding it in a trash can is a good idea (and somehow fitting) but unfortunately won't work for my layout.

[durvivor]

There are companies that provide dish and wiring to apartments and condo associations. Unfortunately, they tack on an extra surcharge on your Directv bill for providing the equipment. Ugh!

I don't think that it's fair to be billed an extra $5 per month (that's $60 per year) forever for the privilege of using a communal dish, especially when you can get a dish and install on your patio for $100 or less. Think about it. Potentially 12 owners in each building in my condo complex could be paying a total of $720 per year every year to use the communal dish on the roof of each building. There's no way I'd participate in my condo association's communal dish program. It's a ripoff. The association should have bought the dishes outright. I'm glad my patio faced the right direction and that I put my original dish up before the condo association cut the deal for the communal dishes. In some ways, I surprised they haven't tried to force me to use the communal dish and pay the extra monthly fee.

Or, even better paying $6.38 a month after taxes like I do, and they refuse, will not even speak to me, and generally like to pretend that High Definition signals do not exist.

Thanks a lot Qwest Choice TV & Online. (boo, boo, boo Qwest Choice TV & Online)

[Stanley Rohner]

No matter what Jim says, if the landlord says no dish, you ain't gonna have a dish.

You can always sue the landlord over it. That would be fun, and really cheap I'm sure.

[JWThiers]

No matter what Jim says, if the landlord says no dish, you ain't gonna have a dish.
So you mount a dish on a pole in a 10 gallon pottery flower pot on your balcony or private area and run the wires through a door or window. If it isn't attached to the structure and you don't drill holes there is nothing a landlord or condo association could do. What do they do tell you you can't have a flower pot on your balcony or leave your window open a crack! Heck you could even landscape around the pole. OK they could tell you you can't leave stuff out on the balcony but faced with the law and the fact that not permanent attachment what can the complain about?

[davezatz]

How can I test signal strength through my window without investing a lot of dough? Could I buy a cheapie dish and box on ebay and get a signal strength without subscribing for service? (I've never had satellite so I'm newbie...)

Anyone have any ideas on this? I really really don't want to give Comcast anymore dough... and I'd like to keep Tivo if possible.

[Yog-Sothoth]

From the "rock" website: If you have a need for a bigger rock,
please contact us for price and shipping costs.

LOL!

Anyway, I can say that I was never pleased with Adelphia's TV service, so I kept the internet and got Dish Network for TV. When I called Dish a couple of months ago, the rep said I couldn't get any price break on adding a standard receiver to my account. I immediately called and got DirecTV (of course, when I called to cancel Dish, they tried to keep me by giving me the receiver and installation for free). I like DirecTV better anyway, especially with TiVo, as opposed to a regular DVR. As for Adelphia, I'm still pleased with their internet service, especially now that my downstream is over 6Mb. Even with them on their way out (going to Comcast here), they're still making upgrades to their system and getting new customers.

[JWThiers]

How can I test signal strength through my window without investing a lot of dough? Could I buy a cheapie dish and box on ebay and get a signal strength without subscribing for service? (I've never had satellite so I'm newbie...)
All you need is a clear view (line of sight)of the southern sky. For rough idea of direction the Sats are over the equator south of texas, so SW for east coast, SE for West coast S for plains states. If you absolutely need to test the signal you need a dish and a signal strength meter (Dish about $100 if just getting a dish and no receiver, Meter about $20). The easiest thing to do is Order from directv as it includes installation, then it is their problem.

[davezatz]

All you need is a clear view (line of sight)of the southern sky. For rough idea of direction the Sats are over the equator south of texas, so SW for east coast, SE for West coast S for plains states. If you absolutely need to test the signal you need a dish and a signal strength meter (Dish about $100 if just getting a dish and no receiver, Meter about $20). The easiest thing to do is Order from directv as it includes installation, then it is their problem.
It would become my problem... being an inside install, I'd want to verify ahead of time it would work and I'd also want to carefully mount and camoflauge the Dish in the apartment. We definitely face the correct direction, and on the 15th floor we're above the trees and no other buildings are in the way... BUT I've read older windows may contain lead which can impede the signal - we don't know anything about our windows.

I did see I could get 18" dishes on ebay for about $30 shipped and meters for about $10 shipped which seems reasonable to conduct my little experiment... but all the inexpensive meters seem to draw power from the receiver. Is there some other coax source I could use to give it power?

[Yog-Sothoth]

You could try using a Plexiglas window instead of glass. Read here (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/rec-video/dbs/welcome/).

[rook]

Gee - if you weren't being a smartass with you "Your mom's house" as a location, I bet someone here might even help you if they were close by. I have an old dish and reciever that could be used as signal meter that I'd give you - but I'm not packing it up and shipping it.

Rook

[davezatz]

reciever that could be used as signal meter
So can any DirecTV receiver be used as a meter without a card or subscription? Those are also going for only a few bucks on ebay.

[rook]

So can any DirecTV receiver be used as a meter without a card or subscription? Those are also going for only a few bucks on ebay.

Yes, well at least all the Directv's I've ever owned.

If you need a card, I have about 6 old ones. The card doesn't have to be activated to get a reciever to work (because they activated it by satelite and therefore would be pretty ridiculous to require a card to set up your system)

Rook

[appleye1]

So can any DirecTV receiver be used as a meter without a card or subscription? Those are also going for only a few bucks on ebay.
I've got an old receiver that I kept around to aim my dish when needed. It has no card at all and I can still get to the signal strength area on the menu. Not sure if that is true of all receivers though.

[ckilkus]

Whoopee! I talked to my landlord, gave him all the various options I learned here, and he agreed to allow me to mount a dish! He says if we can mount it directly to a vent pipe on the roof with some sort of U clamp (so it is not permanently attached adn we don't have to drill holes), and it is not too visible from the street he is fine with it. That shouldn't be a problem since there are vent pipes coming up from the bathrooms out of site from the street.

But now the problem is, he told me that three other apartments in the building want DirecTv too! And he will only allow one dish. I called direcTV to see if we can hook all the apartments up to one dish and they referred me to various outside contractors, who I am sure are going to charge an arm and a leg. It seems awfully stupid of DirecTV not to make this process a bit less painless! After all, they would get four new premium subscriptions in one fell swoop just by helping us wire up the building. Considering I have been a member for 7 years and the other apartments will probably have the service for years, it seems like the investment would work out for them pretty easily. This is one of many DirecTV policies that I just can't understand......

Anyway, do you know if I can hook up three to four apartments on one standard dish that will allow HD? Do I get a triple LNB and run single cables to the apartments from the dish, and then multiswitch them inside the apartments? How many cables can I run from a dish? Can I multiswitch at the dish, and then multiswitch again in the apartments without losing signal strength?

It would be so much easier if it was a dish just for me, but i can't have my DirecTV unless I set it up so everyone else can too..........

[Stanley Rohner]

I won't count on a vent pipe being stong enough to support a DIRECTV dish.

What's the big fear about drilling holes? If you drill holes in the building to mount the dish, coat the nuts, screws, bolts, whatever with silicone sealant.

If 3-4 of you want DIRECTV and it's gonna cost and arm & leg to get it all hooked up, the cost should be split 4 ways. There's no reason you should pay for the installation if 3-4 people are going to use it.

[Jonathan_S]

Assuming you want HD ability to all apartments here is the minimum you'd need. I'm going to assume that you'll want an HDTiVo (2 inputs) and everyone else will want a normal receiver (1 input each), total of 5 outputs.

An oval dish, preferable a current Phase III with built in multiswitch. (It will have 4 outputs).

Run four coax cables from the dish to a convenient central point. Connect them to a 5x8 cascadable multiswitch.
(cascadable just means in generates 22kHz tones on the sat B and C connections so the upstream multiswitch knows which satellite signals to send on those lines)

run two coax lines from that multiswitch to your apartment, to hook up to your HDTiVo.
run one coax each from that multiswitch into each of the other apartments.
Done.


Now if they want more that one drop per apartment, or multiple coaxs per drop then it will get a little more complicated as you will exceed the basic 8 output capacity of a multiswitch. (I think they sell x16 multiswitches for contractors but they cost a fortune).

The good news is that you can cascade multiswitches off of each other, raising the total number of outputs. The bad news is that to retain HD capability you need four inputs into each additional multiswitch, so if you cascade them half the output of the preceding multiswitch gets used as inputs to the next one.

(There are some more elegant approaches for a large number of outputs, so if you figure out how many coax drops you need someone could come up with a more customized setup and probable a wiring diagram for you.)

[JaCooch]

Ummm, you could always buy a house?!!!

[Crash_Corrigan]

Just don't buy a house in a historic district or one without line of sight to all possible satellite locations Directv may some day utilize or one in an HOA where the board is opposed to dishes and antennas and will try to strong arm you.

[davezatz]

Ummm, you could always buy a house?!!!
You paying?

[wildtexaschef]

If your In texas. You can by law mount a DirecTV dish on your porch. Here in Texas there are alot of places that provide the hardware (Tripods, Railing mounts) etc... that allow you to mount your dish in ways on your Balcony/porch or even out of a window (Similar type mounting system that is used by Window Air conditioner units.

Gary

[rukasu]

hmm some one should make a mount that hangs out someones window like those damn cup holders for cars i wouldn't think it would be to difficult to engineer.

[smallwonder]

All you need is a clear view (line of sight)of the southern sky. For rough idea of direction the Sats are over the equator south of texas, so SW for east coast, SE for West coast S for plains states. If you absolutely need to test the signal you need a dish and a signal strength meter (Dish about $100 if just getting a dish and no receiver, Meter about $20). The easiest thing to do is Order from directv as it includes installation, then it is their problem.

I would first try to see if a friend or family member has an old dish/receiver, as most folks tend to upgrade over the years but may not have tossed/sold the receiver. As Rook says, if you're near one of the forum members, they'd be likely to loan you a receiver/dish (or you could buy and return one from Radio Shack if you want to be creative).

I borrowed a dish and receiver from a co-worker old inventory to test. I live in an apt. and have my dish inside my apt. discreetly hidden behind my sofa. I have it mounted on a wooden spool (I got one from Home Depot: I just found a cable spool that was almost empty and asked if I could have it - they gave it to me no questions asked).

I have had no problems for 5 years. I wouldn't worry so much about signal strength as mine have fluctuated over time between 63-90s depending on how often I move the dish to clean and push it back in alignment but the picture has always been there. And the signal is picked up fine through vertical vinyl blinds, which are usually closed.

[ckilkus]

Finally, it's all over with. Here's the story, in case anyone has to deal with this in the future.

I contacted DirecTv about installing a set-up that would work with our very small apartment building and they were completely unhelpful. They really don't want apartment buildings to be hooked up to one dish which seems completely ridiculous since I'm sure their subscribership would go way up if they made it easy for apartments to sign up. Anyway, I found a couple installers in the yeloow pages that would wire the buidling up for me but they would charge a few hundred and we would have to buy our DirecTivos from them. It's still not a bad deal if all the apartments are splitting the cost. But I was going to get a free DirecTivo from DirecTV so i didn't want to do that. Instead called DirecTV for a standard install and just talked with the installer when he came out about wiring up the whole buidling. He really didn't want to do it. He said if DirecTV found out he would get fined $500 and maybe not be allowed to install for DirecTV anymore!! Finally he agreed to do it if i got a signed letter from the landlord and all tenants saying we insisted on having him install it this way. Luckily he was suppossed to come back that afternoon to install for my neighbor (he had seperate appointments for everyone in the building who wanted service) so I had time to get the letters from everyone.

So that afternoon I had him install a triple LNB dish on a vent pipe, run four cables down to a central point into a 4x8 multi switch. from there I had two cables go into my apartment for the DirecTivo, three cable go into my neighbor's apartment for a DirecTivo and standard receiver, and then two more cable go into another neighbor's place. So we have one more free cable, and he said if anyone else wants to sign up he'll brng in a 16x multi-switch. Now I just have to make sure anyone else who signs up for DirecTV in my building requests this particular installer.

I was hoping that he could just run one cable from the multi-switch into each apartment, and then multi switch it again inside for the direcTivos. This would avoid drilling so many holes in the walls (three holes into my neighbor's place!). But I have since learned that is not possible. It sure would be nice if DirecTV figured out how to get their signals on one cable......

Then the landlord saw the cables running from the roof and freaked out! It was a standard DirecTV install so the cables just ran down the side of the building (out of site of the street, you had to go into a little alleyway to see them!). It didn't look great, but it was as good as any install I had seen from DirecTV. but the problem was that when the cable company installed on the building (that must have been decades ago) they put all their cables inside a plastic trim so it looked like part of the building. That's how he wanted the DirecTV cables to look. What a pain! So I had to have the installer buy some of that trim from a cable installer friend of his and come out again to rewire the four cables from the roof. It cost me $200!

At least it's all over with and I have my DirecTV. But I have to say that DirecTV did not make this an easy process even thogh I delivered them two new premium subscribers along with myself (and maybe more in the future). But I guess we all know they have some pretty screwed up policies........ Although it's still better than cable :-)

[lee espinoza]

Finally, it's all over with. Here's the story, in case anyone has to deal with this in the future.

I contacted DirecTv about installing a set-up that would work with our very small apartment building and they were completely unhelpful. They really don't want apartment buildings to be hooked up to one dish which seems completely ridiculous since I'm sure their subscribership would go way up if they made it easy for apartments to sign up. Anyway, I found a couple installers in the yeloow pages that would wire the buidling up for me but they would charge a few hundred and we would have to buy our DirecTivos from them. It's still not a bad deal if all the apartments are splitting the cost. But I was going to get a free DirecTivo from DirecTV so i didn't want to do that. Instead called DirecTV for a standard install and just talked with the installer when he came out about wiring up the whole buidling. He really didn't want to do it. He said if DirecTV found out he would get fined $500 and maybe not be allowed to install for DirecTV anymore!! Finally he agreed to do it if i got a signed letter from the landlord and all tenants saying we insisted on having him install it this way. Luckily he was suppossed to come back that afternoon to install for my neighbor (he had seperate appointments for everyone in the building who wanted service) so I had time to get the letters from everyone.

So that afternoon I had him install a triple LNB dish on a vent pipe, run four cables down to a central point into a 4x8 multi switch. from there I had two cables go into my apartment for the DirecTivo, three cable go into my neighbor's apartment for a DirecTivo and standard receiver, and then two more cable go into another neighbor's place. So we have one more free cable, and he said if anyone else wants to sign up he'll brng in a 16x multi-switch. Now I just have to make sure anyone else who signs up for DirecTV in my building requests this particular installer.

I was hoping that he could just run one cable from the multi-switch into each apartment, and then multi switch it again inside for the direcTivos. This would avoid drilling so many holes in the walls (three holes into my neighbor's place!). But I have since learned that is not possible. It sure would be nice if DirecTV figured out how to get their signals on one cable......

Then the landlord saw the cables running from the roof and freaked out! It was a standard DirecTV install so the cables just ran down the side of the building (out of site of the street, you had to go into a little alleyway to see them!). It didn't look great, but it was as good as any install I had seen from DirecTV. but the problem was that when the cable company installed on the building (that must have been decades ago) they put all their cables inside a plastic trim so it looked like part of the building. That's how he wanted the DirecTV cables to look. What a pain! So I had to have the installer buy some of that trim from a cable installer friend of his and come out again to rewire the four cables from the roof. It cost me $200!

At least it's all over with and I have my DirecTV. But I have to say that DirecTV did not make this an easy process even thogh I delivered them two new premium subscribers along with myself (and maybe more in the future). But I guess we all know they have some pretty screwed up policies........ Although it's still better than cable :-)
Welcome to DirecTV, Sorry you had to go through all that but the upside is NO MORE CABLE :up:

[rigs49]

You could put one of these on the roof. :)
http://www.dish-rock.com/newrock.htm

BTW, your landlord cannot prevent you from having a dish, within certain guidelines.




Has anyone really tried these? :eek:

[JimSpence]

Wow, this thread came back from the boonies.

I'm sure the rock has been tried, but not on a roof. :)

[Kanyon71]

The rock is $299 plus like $95 shipping, for that price I don't want one on my lawn or my roof. Though here in florida people might not think much of a boulder on the roof during hurricane season. ;)

[IOTP]

I would use the international peace sign of love.

The middle finger comes to mind. :D

Mount the dish, I don't think two holes hurt's a thing. Look at it as a "tenant improvement" to the rental.

The next person who rents, might really like a pre-installed directv dish! I know I would.

[JohnnyVolcano]

Just wanted to say to anyone living in an apartment without a balcony and really really wants to have DirecTV that it is possible to have it indoors.
I live in an apartment with no balcony and landlord doesn't allow mounting dishes outside or on roof (only in personal spaces according to FCC). My living room window is facing south, so I got the dish and mounted on a small pipe with a wood base. The signal didn't go through the glass window (some glass windows do let the signal through), so I went with the plexiglass solution which let most of the signal through.
Of course, having a dish by the window in your living room isn't exactly very decorative and my wife didn't (and still doesn't) like it but it is cheaper than cable and nothing beats direcTivos and Sunday ticket.
So its possible to have an indoor dish if you are willing to live with the looks (which really isn't so bad. I have mine hidden behind a recliner).

[rigs49]

You could put one of these on the roof. :)
http://www.dish-rock.com/newrock.htm

BTW, your landlord cannot prevent you from having a dish, within certain guidelines.

Are they no longer available?:confused:

[JimSpence]

Are they no longer available?:confused:Maybe not!
Did you notice that this thread is 3 and a half years old! :)

A quick google search found this.
http://www.satellitedish.com/cover.htm

[rigs49]

Maybe not!
Did you notice that this thread is 3 and a half years old! :)

A quick google search found this.
http://www.satellitedish.com/cover.htm

You know something Jim, I may have noticed it. Thank you, this is a funny thread and I wanted a laugh today.

[JimSpence]

So are you going to use one?

[rigs49]

Maybe to hide something else Jim, but not the dish.

[rigs49]

Does anyone know if the HD receiver will still work under the rock?