Who Wins? Deed Restrictions vc FCC Statement

[needagoodchannel]

Hi,

I live in a deed-restricted community. Their laws say that if I want to do anything to the outside of the house, I seek HOA board approval. When I first moved here 6 years ago, I wanted Direct TV. I asked for and obtained approval to have the HD Satellite Dish put on my roof. I have since stopped the service a few years ago and the company chose to leave the dish there for future use, I guess.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to cancel my cable service. I hooked up a $35 Radio Shack Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna to my Samsung HDTV. I only get about 8-10 channels. So now I am wanting to put an outdoor antenna on the roof.
(The reason I bring up about the Satellite Dish, is it looks like some outdoor antennas are just as small unless the pictures are deceiving)

This is the part I am not sure about.
The deed restrictions say:

N. Antennas, Other Devices. No exterior radio or
television antenna, satellite dish or other receiver,
transmitting device or any similar exterior structure or
apparatus may be erected or maintained except pursuant to
standards adopted by the DRB.

BUT I found this document from the FCC that seems to say I CAN have an antenna because it has to be allowed.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html
Before I argue with them, I wanted to see what you thought about this. I know the deed restrictions are a legal document.
What do you think?? Thanks.
Janice

[tigerbangs]

Put up your external antenna: The feds trump any local restrictions

[needagoodchannel]

Put up your external antenna: The feds trump any local restrictions

Sounds good to me. I just wonder why someone would put in a deed restriction that they know they cannot enforce?

[sheridan]

Deed restrictions are written based on language that has been around for years and standardized by VA and FHA. Most of them look like carbon copies of others.

Do they know they can't enforce it (the antenna part), perhaps. Some are counting on you to not know your rights. Some others are power-hungry morons who delight in telling others what they can and can't do, regardless of whose right.

I could go on and on about these people but this is not the proper forum.

[needagoodchannel]

I know first hand of which you speak.

Now for which antenna. I hope someone could help me. I live in 34638.

According to the chart, I have:

3 yellow -- 2 digital 1 analog ALL 16.3 miles away

11 red -- 7 digital, 4 analog six 29.1, two 29.7, two 30.5, one 31.1

18 blue -- 9 digital, 9 analog one 14.7, two 15.3, two 18.3, four 28.7, three 29.1, two 30.5, two 31.1, one 42.1, one 57.3

4 violet -- 3 digital, 1 analog one 18.3, one 18.4, one 28.7, one 30.5

I live where there are villas and they are very close to one another. The land is flat and the trees are very small. Shingle roof.

In considering what antenna I should buy, I know I have to consider the slope of the roof, correct? I s it possible that whoever installs the antenna could just go up and take down the satellite dish? Obviously whoever installed the dish found a way into my house! The only difference is, the dish had to be aimed at a satellite not a tower so maybe height requirements differ.

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of where the satellite dish is, and the height of my roof.

I want to do everything I can to make sure I get the right one. I don’t want to buy an antenna, spend money having someone install it, and then it being the wrong one. I am a 63 year old woman who lives alone. This website has helped me so much. So has anyone who replies to me.

This shows how high the roof is

Height of roof.jpg (120.65 KB) Viewed 982 times

This shows ho high the present dish is

Shows Satellite Dish Height.jpg (120.49 KB) Viewed 980 times

[tigerbangs]

Thank you for the great documentation. It would appear that all of your TV stations will come from Tampa-St. Pete, whose transmitters lie about 30 miles south-south-east of your home. The one exception to this is WTSP-DT, which will operate on channel 10 after June 12, and their transmitter lies about 15 miles southwest of your home. I suggest a simple 2-antenna system to solve your reception issues.

First of all, if you have not yet convetred to digital reception, do it NOW! if your TV set laready has a digital TV tuner, then you are all ready to go, however, if it does not, you must determine if you have an HDTV set that requires an external digital tuner, or if you have an analog Tv that does not have a digital tuner.

For our purposes, we will asume that you will be dealing exclusively with digital signals in your home, as analog signals have only a very short time before they go away completely. We must determine how many TV sets you intend to feed from this antenna. if you have only one set, we can probably proceed without an amplifier, but if you run 2, 3 or more TV sets in your house, we will need a distribution amplifier to be sure that all of the TV sets get adequate signal.

I would mount a tripod at the highest point of the roof, since TV signals require the best line-of-sight to the transmitters possible. A 3-foot-tripod will suffice with a 7-8 foot mast installed in it. On that tripod, I would mount a Winegard HD-7694P VHF-high-band plus UHF antenna aimed at the bulk of the Tampa-St. Pete transmitters, which lie at 155 degrees by the compass. I would then mount an AntennaCraft Y-5-7-13 VHF antenna aimed at 254 degrees. Mount the Winegard HD-7694P ABOVE the AntennaCraft antenna, separated on the mast by 4'. We will combine the two antennas using a Channel Master Join-Tenna tuned specifically to channel 10 so that we can see WTSP-DT and we will feed the output of the Jointenna down to either your single TV set, or to a small distribution amplifier and then out to s splitter that will feed the signal to the different TV sets. This system is actually fairly simple, and will provide you perfect reception for all of your local digital Tv stations. i suggest that you find a local handyman to do this work for you if you cannot find an antenna installer who is competent to do the work.

http://www.antennacraft.net
http://www.winegard.com
http://www.channelmster.com
http://www.pctinternational.com/channel ... lation.pdf

[needagoodchannel]

Tigerbangs,
Thank you!

I found each product and bookmarked it. I wonder how much Antenna Installers charge? Do you think it would be by the hour or by the job? I don't think I know of any handy-mans that are that handy to install an antenna. I don't know if the money I would save on labor would be worth it because I assume that a real antenna installer would guarantee their work.
What do you think?
I can see it now. I will definitely be the talk of the neighborhood. Yikes!

[sheridan]

Get someone qualified to do the work. The tripod will mount to the roof, which means a potential for leaks if not done right.

[needagoodchannel]

I never thought of that! Thanks for the heads up. I will get someone licensed and insured then. Since I have had no experience in antennas as an adult, I wonder how long after the installation would I see a leak. The first rainfall? I guess the leak would go into the attic. Always something to worry about.

[sheridan]

If done improperly, the first time it rains. The water would drip into the attic. And what's below the attic, your living space. So the water would drip into the insulation, soak through, and reach the sheetrock of the ceiling below. It would take awhile to be visible in the living space, but it will occur.

So it is very important that it is done correctly so you don't have these issues.