A friend recently bought a new antenna and associated OTA equipment & devices. She called Dish Network to install it and they did a great job. They even replaced & repaired some of the flashing & shingles around the area where the pole mount was placed.
I had no idea they were doing this but once you think about it, seems like a pretty good fit. They’ve got the trucks, equipment and a huge install base from which to pull referrals (and ex customers?).
Dish Network in the Antenna Install business? Wow.
Also, now fully (and openly) affiliated with Air TV and Sling products, as part of the same entity. Of course we know they’re under Dish Network’s umbrella, I didn’t expect to see bleed-through of branding on any of their sites. Blurring the lines a bit, and in this case I think it will bode well for Dish overall.
If I were to do it all over again, I’d probably be willing to pay for professional install rather than to go up on my roof and spend four hours boiling (and swearing), while installing my Antop. And the next friend who asks for help with antenna install will get this link, rather than a visit-with-a-ladder.
Going up the ladder my friend, you were reaching for the heavens, touching the sky. Antenna installation is a spiritual endeavor The Wagyu was well deserved!
I would say Wagyu is closer to a spiritual endeavor than rooftop install. Although the results were sterling and did find me in OTA Heaven …… After it was over with .
Think of the pioneers who pushed westward; we push upward. They had their steers; we have our Wagyu. If I remember, the waiter referred to ours as Kobe (a strain of Wagyu). This cattle is beer fed and serenaded with classical music. The marbleized beef is magnificent.
Dish has done antenna installs for quite a while, even way back to when Dish used a single dish/lnb, there was an antenna that mounted on the back of the dish.
What will blow your mind… Here in the Houston, Tx area, Dish Network is an “Official Service Provider for SAMSUNG”. Imagine my surprise when a Dish Van pulled into my driveway (Late as usual) and the tech said that he was here to fix the FlexWash washing machine. Of course, they didn’t fix it, tech spent most of his time texting “Senior Tech”. Dish started out with Samsung doing recall-kit installations. Now they are full fledged (supposedly) factory trained techs for Samsung appliances as well.
Next thing you know, the small engine mechanic down the road will be showing up to diag / repair the MPPT charge controller and inverter combination of a high voltage solar system.
When you think about it, they are such a perfect fit for the OTA antenna realm. The install job that I saw was done beautifully and with a lot of attention to detail.
I’m wondering why anyone has to climb upon the roof to install an antenna? I think the days are over for installing those large, old fashioned honkers such as the huge 8 bays or mile long yagis.
An Antop will do just as well. Fasten a rod to the corner wall of the house with the Antop already tied to it. Or just screw the Antop onto the wall itself with a bracket.
The antenna Sling TV is offering doesn’t need to sit atop the roof.
Next time around, I’d try to do a simple wall-attach or attic placement, before going through all the hassle of hoisting and climbing up on a rooftop for half a day.
Sometimes it’s worth sacrificing height for accessibility. I have friends with antennas in high places - they dread the thought of going up there to fix things.
I think that HOA’s have not addressed the issue of antennas because no one in the past 30 years expected a social move towards OTA and cord cutting. Suddenly it has become massive - a million households dropped their cable just in the past quarter. No one expected a resurgence in antenna installations.
HOAs have stayed ignorant of this phenomenon to the extent that most of them are not even aware of the FCC regulations restricting any organization from wholeheartedly forbidding antenna installation. Every single case in which an HOA has attempted to restrict a home owner from putting up an antenna has been lost before the FCC and in court. There are limitations on how high an antenna can be (15’ above roof level) that can be contested by an HOA but that is about it.
I’ve told my HOA, “Keep bugging me about knit picking little things and I’ll LEGALLY install a big honking antenna one foot above my roof for the whole neighborhood to see.” When one of the board members laughed, I showed him the FCC document and he turned 3 different colors. “Back off buddy,” I told him, “Because YOUR house will be facing a huge 8 bay antenna.”
Many HOAs and Condo associations don’t know the laws, regarding personal antennas. Many of those who do, try to bluff the homeowners into thinking they are not allowed to hoist an antenna. Sadly, 90% of these homeowners believe it, don’t know any better, shrug and cease their (antenna) efforts.
Many of these HOAs and condo associations “prohibit” the property owner’s antenna install by writing this into their own rules & by laws, knowing most homeowners will never challenge it. Fortunately, the growing phenomenon of Cord Cutting is putting a dent in this.
BTW I think the Antop antenna is a cute solution to the HOA problem. There really is nothing offensive about installing one slightly above the roof or on a wall since it doesn’t come across as a mass of steel and wires. Or even placing it on a balcony railing. In some respects it is no different than a dish which HOAs accept.
I subscribe to a couple of British streaming channels (Acorn and Britbox) and one can’t help but notice in shows how many households have antennas. It’s easier to get OTA reception in England because there is not one central broadcast tower per locality but a network of transmitters distributed throughout all the regions. The funny thing is to see even some castles with antennas…
Britbox is owned by the BBC carrying BBC produced shows from the past and present. Acorn has programs from around the British Commonwealth (England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.). Both on the Roku. PBS has a few of these shows.
Here is a description of the state of OTA in England from a British contributor to AVS forums:
"Watch Doc Martin, etc… and you will see nice UHF yagis on homes… 500 year old homes and buildings with TV antennas!
Yes - rooftop (or at a minimum attic) installed aerials are just a standard thing here. If you build or buy a house it would be really strange for it not to have a rooftop Freeview aerial. If you live in an apartment building or flat conversion you may get a satellite feed, but this would be in addition to an RF feed from an antenna distribution system for OTA. I’ve never lived in a house or apartment without a reliable OTA RF feed in the main living room.
Cable TV is far less dominant here - probably because by the 60s and 70s OTA was delivering decent pictures to most households which had roof top aerials."
The Wagyu was well deserved!
