I can't live without my HDTV Magazine.

Hi,
I guess I can be called an early adopter. I bought a HD capable set in Oct. 2000 and started recieving HD signals as soon as my cable company offerred them in about Jan 2002 and that company is Rogers Cable in Toronto Ontario.

I live in a condo so it's cable or nothing according to our bylaws.

About a year before buying my set I paid the $35.00US a year subscription fee to www.ilovehdtv.com, or HDTV Magazine. It is owned by Dale Cripps (a very nice man) and the most passionate communicator of hdtv info on the planet. This gentleman is evangelical in his quest to educate the masses re hdtv.

The daily schedule arrives each morning with that days listings of HD programming and any extra info or roumers that Dale has been able to garner from his multitude of contacts.

I highly reccomend that you subscribe to his publication. For Dale it is a labour of love and I think that he has to subidize it personally.

Anyway, there are trial memberships available so I hope that you all at least check it out and say Hi to Dale for me.

Peter m.

I live in a condo so it's cable or nothing according to our bylaws.

It depends on how much you want to take on the condo association. I have, served on the board of directors for a condo and I an serving on a board for a Townhome Assoc. now, and since I am in the business of selling and installing home theater they ask me to handle this area. There is a Federal law that requires HOAs and apartments to allow the installation of antennas for the purpose of receiving satellite, over-the-air and internet signals under some restrictions. Restrictions are limited to the placement and attachment of the antenna mounting mast, but generally if you have a southern sky exposure, you are allowed by law to install a dish up to 36" in diameter and any size if you are in Alaska.

At the townhomes where I am a board member the guideline is that the owners may not attach the mounting mast to the structure that is part of the common areas, which includes the building walls and the patio fences. What the owners do is fill a bucket with concrete to hold the mast and sit it on their patios. About once a month someone will have a new service installed and their dish has to be moved, so it is important to check with the association before installing a system.

Like I said, you may not be interested in making a stink about getting a dish, or you may not have a southern sky exposure (southeastern for Voom) but for others that read this forum I felt it important to point out that Federal law prevents HOAs from blanket forbiding of dishes.

Here is a link to the FCC Fact sheets on this subject:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

In rereading the original post, I noticed the poster is in Canada. My reply in message #2 applies to people within the USA. I don't know the law in Canada.