Satellite Dish Rules

I've posted this before in my Oahu Favorites post (intended to inform new people moving to Hawaii), but looking back, it doesn't really fit there and really deserves it's own post. A few times, I've had friends or coworkers mention an interest in getting satellite TV, but uncertainty over whether or not their HOA or condo will allow them to put up a satellite dish.

The short answer is:

YES, YOU CAN, and NO, they CAN'T STOP YOU!

Reposted from my Oahu Favorites post:

We hated the Time Warner Cable and really missed our Dish Network service. We submitted the form with Forest City (Pearl Harbor military housing management company) to get permission to put in a satellite dish and got approval within a week. There is a booth set up right in the foyer of the NEX, and they offer a pretty good deal on the installation.

Note that FCC rules say a HOA cannot prohibit you from putting up a satellite dish (as long as it's less than 1 meter in diameter). Here's an excerpt from the FCC website:

The rule prohibits restrictions that impair a person's ability to install, maintain, or use an antenna covered by the rule. The rule applies to state or local laws or regulations, including zoning, land-use or building regulations, private covenants, homeowners' association rules, condominium or cooperative association restrictions, lease restrictions, or similar restrictions on property within the exclusive use or control of the antenna user where the user has an ownership or leasehold interest in the property. A restriction impairs if it: (1)unreasonably delays or prevents use of; (2) unreasonably increases the cost of; or (3) precludes a person from receiving or transmitting an acceptable quality signal from an antenna covered under the rule. The rule does not prohibit legitimate safety restrictions or restrictions designed to preserve designated or eligible historic or prehistoric properties, provided the restriction is no more burdensome than necessary to accomplish the safety or preservation purpose. [Emphasis added is mine.]

Note that they are allowed to impose certain restrictions. For example, Forest City says you can't mount it to the house. What the local satellite dish installers do is put a cinder block base down in your yard and mount the satellite dish to the cinder block base. Reception is great.

Revision 9/8/2008: Okay, we have had occasional minor interference on the screen that we never experienced while we had Dish Network on the mainland, but it hasn't been bad. I started keeping a log of the outages in March 2008, and I only logged one outage in April and one in May. So it happened less than once per month.

Note the satellite is over the continental U.S., so the dish will need to aim to the EAST-southeast. Functionality is ten times better than Time Warner Cable.

I have anecdotal evidence from one of the other officers in my wardroom that DirectTV requires a larger satellite dish than what is allowed, and he was forced to take down his DirectTV satellite dish.

End of Repost.

Update: Now that we're back on the mainland, I'm ecstatic to have DishNetwork HD service. We have an HD dual-tuner DVR receiver that feeds the family room and home theater in the basement, and we have a standard definition dual-tuner DVR receiver that feeds the master bedroom and the guest bedroom.

The dual tuner DVRs are really nice. They allow you to record two shows at the same time and watch two other shows. Plus we rarely watch commercials anymore. Just record the shows you want, watch them a little time late and fast forward through the commercials.