# Satellite location consultant??



## crashoverride (Oct 20, 2010)

So my HOA is going through a massive warranty repair construction job. Basically all new siding and all soft wood trim being replaced with cement fiber board. 

The 40 buildings are four to six years old. there are 3 to 5 three story townhouses per building or 150 or so units.

As all the exterior will be unpenetrable fiber cement siding we are providing each owner a designated mounting spot complete with conduit to it.



Now the question part. How do I go about finding a person that can consult or pick the 150 spots that will need to created, suitable for both Dish and Directv (one or more dishes as needed per unit).

We are very friendly to satellites and want to both protect the buildings and provide a suitable and easy mounting location.

We are planning on removing all dishes and reinstalling them as the siding replacement occurs to minimize disruption to owners. So one idea is to have the consultant (or to designate a specific installer/company) to install any and all dishes in our community from now on.

We are in Oregon, I'm wondering if Dish or Directv would have consultants or a local satellite installer outfit or whom???

Any help would be appreciated.


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## dishinitout (Jan 4, 2013)

Can't go through in house techs, go on both websites to find a local retailer. Directv and dish wont send out in house techs unless tied to a specific work order for new install/ upgrade/service repair. The retailer will more than likely bill an hourly rate for consult but would love this as a way to get in with the HOA and possibly get more clients. You could even coordinate with them the reinstall of the dishes for the home owners. I'd try to find a retailer that either does both services or is very familiar with both so you don't need to work with two companies.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Nothing is impenetrable. Fibrous cement siding is installed with rust-free siding nails over plywood so this isn't like you're working with titanium.

Given the size of the dishes these days, it will take more than a half sheet to support even a couple of dishes. The problem with DIRECTV dishes is the struts that must be located some distance from the foot to be effective.

If you're looking for a place to mount something, there are outfits making provisions:

http://www.sturdibuild.com/products.shtml

I'd be talking to someone who does multi-dwelling-unit (MDU) satellite installs in your area. Chances are they've been there, done that. The satellite companies have divisions dedicated to such things that you should be able to contact.

I think the goal needs to be to provide a solid panel behind the siding to fasten into. Whether that's thick plywood or MDX is probably up to the builder. You probably need to talk to the siding manufacturer about the best way to drill and patch holes in the siding.


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## dishinitout (Jan 4, 2013)

An MDU company won't look at this more than likely due to only 3-5 units per building typically they prefer 1 large building with many units. A local experienced company should have no issue setting up mini MDU setups but that would be pricey.


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## toobs (Oct 10, 2012)

I live in a condo complex, where all of the unit share walls. It almost feels like a Motel 6, where it's multi levels and all of the units are link together. My unit is on the top floor. When I asked about getting satellite, I needed to get approval from the HOA and it was kinda of a hassle. The building has been wired for cable and the association wanted the installer to use the existing cables through each unit for satellite. There is an utility room downstairs that links all of the units to cable tv.

Directv came out and said that they cannot use the existing wiring from the walls to get me service and the only way is to drop the cable from my fireplace and mount the dish above. I needed to get a contractor to cut a hole in the drywall and drop the cable between the chimney to the wall because I did not wanted the cable coming in from the fireplace.

The HOA was talking about having a MDU setup for the complex, but the local retailer wanted a lot for the installation. I think, we can get Dish Network from another retailer that does MDU installs for free, but at the time, Dish Network wasn't carrying AMC and I went with Directv instead.

There are less than handful of units that have satellite because it's not an easy install for us. Unless you live on the top floor, it's impossible to get satellite. Either you have to get TWC or U-verse. 

My downstairs neighbor has U-verse, but when I called to order it, AT&T told me that it wasn't available in my unit and we live on the same side of the building.


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

It's a shame that apartments and condos don't think about this stuff in advance.
A single set of dishes on the roof, a TV and FM antenna or two, and a cable TV feed, all routed to a common wiring closet, then a set of cables in the walls for every unit, would make things so much nicer and "curb friendly" to new tenants and owners.
"Plug and Play" for most possibilities.


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

Contact Blonder-Tongue, and ask about local and regional distributors and installers.
You might want to have a single "head-end" (or, two, depending on the physical size and layout of the complex), and feed a fiber-optic to each building or group of buildings.
One set of dishes and OTA antennas could do the job at each "head end".
Also, Sonora Designs makes much of the kind of equipment that can allow you to stack multiple signals in to a network:

http://sonoradesign.com/

They could offer some good contact info.


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