Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule

jim5506 · 04-26-2007, 03:19 PM

Anarchist!

electrictroy · 04-27-2007, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonsZX2SR

I went through a 'discussion' with the local zoning board over a mast and rotor which mounted an antenna 11' 8" above the peak of my house roof (with a chimney that was another 2' higher than the roof). A local zoning board memeber and neighbor visited me to tell me to take the antenna down, I gave him a copy of FCC 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000 and suggested that he talk to the town counsel. A few days later I recieved a call from the town attorney.

So in other words, you were only 9' 8" above the "highest point of the house". You could have added two more feet and still been legal.

That's what annoys me about zoning boards.

They go around & harass homeowners telling the owners they are "out of compliance" with the laws, which is a total and complete lie. The Zoning Boards ought to take time to LEARN THE FUCKING LAWS instead of unduly harassing innocent citizens.

"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their
substance." - Declaration of Independence

JonsZX2SR · 04-27-2007, 02:34 PM

That is correct... The town attorney was far more reasonable and has actually contacted me about both OTA and satellite HDTV reception. So there are a few 'good guys' out there as well...

Had the zoning board memeber not been a jerk about things, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to disseminate information to his neighbors. He is now surrounded on all sides with 'legal' satellite dishes and antennas. The irony about objections over rooftop antennas is it freqently pushes people to post mounted satellite dishes on private property in the yard.

Zoning boards have even less grounds to restrict ground level antennas (unless there is a land use covenant in place) and would be better off leaving reasonable rooftop antennas alone.

If this had become more of an issue, I had plans for extending my brick chimney another 10-12 feet to improve the updraft and get the exhaust above a few tall trees. An even taller mast would have been an "unintended" result.

stonedog23 · 04-29-2007, 11:05 AM

My apartment landlord has tried to make all the tenants buy $25,000 worth of renter's insurance plus a $100 deposit in exchange for us to put up satellite antenna even on private use balconies. Mind you, renter's insurance is not even required to rent an apartment here. Everyone in the complex took down their dishes except me. I cited the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and refused this unreasonable expense. ALL of my neighbors don't know their rights and have taken their dishes down. I have the only dish in an entire apartment complex; it looks crazy as there were dishes galore a month ago. A lot of my neighbors are immigrants and have complied. Hell, I am under a new two year contract and I'll be damned if I pay for satellite tv service and can't watch it! We have gone round and round on this but I have been the only one not to waver. It looks like a ghost town with all the missing satellites that were there just a month ago.

electrictroy · 04-30-2007, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonedog23

My apartment landlord has tried to make all the tenants buy $25,000 worth of renter's insurance plus a $100 deposit in exchange for us to put up satellite antenna even on private use balconies.

Let me get this straight. The landlord basically said:

- Take down your satellite dish.
- or - You can leave it there, but you have to buy Renter's insurance.

A landlord's not allowed to do that. He can't take away your right to erect a dish. Nor can he force you to buy renter's insurance. I think I'd contact the local district attorney, and see if you can prosecute the landlord for violating the law (I'm sure if the DA looks hard enough, the landlord is out-of-compliance in many areas).

stonedog23 · 04-30-2007, 07:21 AM

Troy, you have it correct, that is what happened and I am the only holdout.

electrictroy · 04-30-2007, 09:07 AM

I'd still call the DA.

Else your landlord's going to just keep harassing you: "Pay up for insurance, or take down the dish."

JonsZX2SR · 04-30-2007, 02:07 PM

You might want to get 1 or 2 additional level headed friends and try to sit down with the landlord before the situation becomes polarized.

While FCC 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000 allows condominium owners and to some degree tenants the right to install satellite dishes (with a size limit) in areas deemed to be for the exclusive use of the tenant or unit owner, it does have limits.

For example if you are installing a dish on a private porch and balcony it does not necessarly imply the right to mount the dish with any part of it outside the footprint of the private area. In cases where structural integrity or safety is at question, the install may require proof of safety. If the dish is mounted on a floor stand on the balcony you are probably covered. If you need to attach to an external wall (even inside the balcony) or if part of the install extends outside the footprint the landlord or condo association may be able to force a relocation.

Similarly the cable install companies are starting to take a safety first approach. How many times have you seen a dish located on a lower roof rather than at the top of the house.

An interesting situation is happening with condo installs where a private terrace or patio is deeded to the unit. (The ex-g/f has this situation.) The unit owner may be able to pole mount a dish in a southern mounted private area while being restricted from mounting a dish in a less offensive but restricted common area. If the condo associations are reasonable, they may allow roof mounted dishes as a compromise with terms written into the unit deed and covenance.

Some landlords or condo associations can be unreasonable, with resulting fireworks.

Try to find out what is behind the landlords restrictions. They may have gotten questionable information from legal counsel regarding liability. Better to defuse the situation to everyone's benefit than have it escalate.

dettch · 08-14-2007, 10:11 AM

Before getting too excited about external antenna, listen to my experience. I just got a new HD TV and switched to Dish HD from Dish regular. The great installer (from whom I bought the TV) tied my old RABBIT EARS into the Dish system and I get all my locals (they all have HD) with 90-100% signal strength. And they appear on the DISH menu system with all the bells and whistles. I did add some tinfoil to the rabbit ears and that boosted the signal by about 10%. I was unable to get most of the locals with the same rabbit ears previously. My local PBS also has five subsets (childrens, educational, government and two regular PBS feeds) with the best HD imaginable. I almost feel that I don't need the puny Dish HD offerings but couldn't get along without the HD Dual recorder...

Bob in Idaho

Tony Neece · 09-06-2007, 12:21 AM

I wonder if these officias zoning officers aren't treading on hot water.
They have a duty to know the law and regulations. Restricting citizens activities in violation of law is really violating civil rights under color of authority and I would think would open the city up to a law suit with damages assesed. That may be why Jons city attorney became suddenly reasonable.

metal134 · 09-06-2007, 12:51 AM

Quote:

I find this regulation incredibly frustrating. I agree that no local or other governmental agency ought be allowed to prohibit antennae. But a private community, or rental? If you want an antenna, move to a place that allows 'em, you know?

Bull. What I find frustrating is that kind of attitude. If I want to put a antenna on my house and my private community doesn't want me to, I really don't care. I do not care one bit.

dhfleming · 09-17-2007, 12:55 PM

"Most" HD signals are in the UHF range. In our area ALL of the local stations except one are broadcasting their HD signal in UHF. The ownership of your apartment complex are obviously ignorant to this fact or they would be taking steps NOW to fix the MATV system.

Sounds like they are setting you up to join the millions of other Americans - mostly the underpaid lower class - that will find their otherwise perfectly fine TV's have become snowy-screened paperweights when the analog signals are cut off. My advice to you is... MOVE, because landlords don't give a flying crap whether you have TV or not.

QuantumIguana · 11-08-2007, 12:02 PM

I have a pair of rabbit ears that has a cable connection, and a switch to go from cable to antenna. I was having a problem with some some of the digital OTA stations that would not come in. I disconnected the cable from the antenna, and then all the OTA stations came in just fine. It appears that the switch isn't working quite right, and some of the cable signal was bleeding through when I had the switch set to antenna.

I thought this might be useful information if someone is having problems with their antenna, something to look at.

electrictroy · 12-03-2007, 12:46 PM

I have high-speed internet.

Whatever I can not get via antenna, I get by downloading.

Easy.
Convenient.

rscme · 12-21-2007, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSawdey

It's partly considered an emergency preparedness issue... since emergency broadcasts take over your TV (like the monthly tests) to tell you what to do, so to prevent this could endanger you. Satellite has nothing to do with this, the FCC only has authority over OTA broadcasts. The federal law trumps everything below it.

This isn't an HDTV issue, it's an any kind of TV issue... and, by the way, there is no such thing as an HDTV antenna... radio waves are received by an antenna, doesn't matter how they are modulated or what their content is.

The user above stated that there is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. Well, yes and no. It is solely for HD but you are not going to pick up HD with the old syle rabbit ears. It is actually a UHF/VHF antenna that pick up digital broadcasts from channels 2 -69. They are engineered differently than your fathers rabbit ears and are engineered to receive 1080i (which is HD) broadcasts. It can also receive 720p (technically HD as ell) and lower but the important thing is that they are amplified and mine can pick up signals as far away as 45 miles. Please check my web site for further info MaineHDTV dot Blogspot dot com. Thanks,

04-26-2007, 03:19 PM	#61
jim5506 Yellow Submarine Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 2,416	Anarchist! __________________ Programming: Dish HD Absolute with 0.01 Cinemax Displays: Sony VPH-D50Q - 7 ft on the wall; Hitachi 57R59 Receivers: DishNetwork ViP722k; DishNetwork ViP211K; DishNetwork ViP211; DishNetwork 301; 2 - TiVo Series 2's; Accurian 6000; Samsung SIR-T351; Panasonic ShowStopper 2000; ATI HDTV Wonder Dish 1000 on 110,119,129; Dish 500 on 61.5; DPP44 Sony 80GB PS3; Toshiba HD-DVD

04-27-2007, 02:34 PM	#63
JonsZX2SR How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 28	That is correct... The town attorney was far more reasonable and has actually contacted me about both OTA and satellite HDTV reception. So there are a few 'good guys' out there as well... Had the zoning board memeber not been a jerk about things, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to disseminate information to his neighbors. He is now surrounded on all sides with 'legal' satellite dishes and antennas. The irony about objections over rooftop antennas is it freqently pushes people to post mounted satellite dishes on private property in the yard. Zoning boards have even less grounds to restrict ground level antennas (unless there is a land use covenant in place) and would be better off leaving reasonable rooftop antennas alone. If this had become more of an issue, I had plans for extending my brick chimney another 10-12 feet to improve the updraft and get the exhaust above a few tall trees. An even taller mast would have been an "unintended" result. __________________ Digital TV or bust...

04-30-2007, 09:07 AM	#67
electrictroy Wii 480p looks good to me Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,895	I'd still call the DA. Else your landlord's going to just keep harassing you: "Pay up for insurance, or take down the dish." __________________ TV Band/whitespace Devices will block my Baltimore/Philly stations. No more channels 2,3,6,10,11,12,13,17,35,45,57,61,65

04-30-2007, 02:07 PM	#68
JonsZX2SR How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 28	You might want to get 1 or 2 additional level headed friends and try to sit down with the landlord before the situation becomes polarized. While FCC 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000 allows condominium owners and to some degree tenants the right to install satellite dishes (with a size limit) in areas deemed to be for the exclusive use of the tenant or unit owner, it does have limits. For example if you are installing a dish on a private porch and balcony it does not necessarly imply the right to mount the dish with any part of it outside the footprint of the private area. In cases where structural integrity or safety is at question, the install may require proof of safety. If the dish is mounted on a floor stand on the balcony you are probably covered. If you need to attach to an external wall (even inside the balcony) or if part of the install extends outside the footprint the landlord or condo association may be able to force a relocation. Similarly the cable install companies are starting to take a safety first approach. How many times have you seen a dish located on a lower roof rather than at the top of the house. An interesting situation is happening with condo installs where a private terrace or patio is deeded to the unit. (The ex-g/f has this situation.) The unit owner may be able to pole mount a dish in a southern mounted private area while being restricted from mounting a dish in a less offensive but restricted common area. If the condo associations are reasonable, they may allow roof mounted dishes as a compromise with terms written into the unit deed and covenance. Some landlords or condo associations can be unreasonable, with resulting fireworks. Try to find out what is behind the landlords restrictions. They may have gotten questionable information from legal counsel regarding liability. Better to defuse the situation to everyone's benefit than have it escalate. __________________ Digital TV or bust...

08-14-2007, 10:11 AM	#69
dettch How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 22	Antenna Before getting too excited about external antenna, listen to my experience. I just got a new HD TV and switched to Dish HD from Dish regular. The great installer (from whom I bought the TV) tied my old RABBIT EARS into the Dish system and I get all my locals (they all have HD) with 90-100% signal strength. And they appear on the DISH menu system with all the bells and whistles. I did add some tinfoil to the rabbit ears and that boosted the signal by about 10%. I was unable to get most of the locals with the same rabbit ears previously. My local PBS also has five subsets (childrens, educational, government and two regular PBS feeds) with the best HD imaginable. I almost feel that I don't need the puny Dish HD offerings but couldn't get along without the HD Dual recorder... Bob in Idaho

04-29-2007, 11:05 AM	#64
stonedog23 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 726	My apartment landlord has tried to make all the tenants buy $25,000 worth of renter's insurance plus a $100 deposit in exchange for us to put up satellite antenna even on private use balconies. Mind you, renter's insurance is not even required to rent an apartment here. Everyone in the complex took down their dishes except me. I cited the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and refused this unreasonable expense. ALL of my neighbors don't know their rights and have taken their dishes down. I have the only dish in an entire apartment complex; it looks crazy as there were dishes galore a month ago. A lot of my neighbors are immigrants and have complied. Hell, I am under a new two year contract and I'll be damned if I pay for satellite tv service and can't watch it! We have gone round and round on this but I have been the only one not to waver. It looks like a ghost town with all the missing satellites that were there just a month ago.

04-30-2007, 07:21 AM	#66
stonedog23 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 726	Troy, you have it correct, that is what happened and I am the only holdout.

09-06-2007, 12:21 AM	#70
Tony Neece My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5	I wonder if these officias zoning officers aren't treading on hot water. They have a duty to know the law and regulations. Restricting citizens activities in violation of law is really violating civil rights under color of authority and I would think would open the city up to a law suit with damages assesed. That may be why Jons city attorney became suddenly reasonable.

09-17-2007, 12:55 PM	#72
dhfleming How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 21	"Most" HD signals are in the UHF range. In our area ALL of the local stations except one are broadcasting their HD signal in UHF. The ownership of your apartment complex are obviously ignorant to this fact or they would be taking steps NOW to fix the MATV system. Sounds like they are setting you up to join the millions of other Americans - mostly the underpaid lower class - that will find their otherwise perfectly fine TV's have become snowy-screened paperweights when the analog signals are cut off. My advice to you is... MOVE, because landlords don't give a flying crap whether you have TV or not.

11-08-2007, 12:02 PM	#73
QuantumIguana High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 178	I have a pair of rabbit ears that has a cable connection, and a switch to go from cable to antenna. I was having a problem with some some of the digital OTA stations that would not come in. I disconnected the cable from the antenna, and then all the OTA stations came in just fine. It appears that the switch isn't working quite right, and some of the cable signal was bleeding through when I had the switch set to antenna. I thought this might be useful information if someone is having problems with their antenna, something to look at.

12-03-2007, 12:46 PM	#74
electrictroy Wii 480p looks good to me Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,895	I have high-speed internet. Whatever I can not get via antenna, I get by downloading. Easy. Convenient. __________________ TV Band/whitespace Devices will block my Baltimore/Philly stations. No more channels 2,3,6,10,11,12,13,17,35,45,57,61,65