I moved over the weekend, and amid all my stuff is a satellite antenna that I’d “planted” in a large flower pot filled with about 150 pounds of concrete. My previous apartment had no objection to satellite dishes (and federal law says they can’t) but they did have a reasonable objection to people drilling holes in exterior walls, causing leaks, or using insufficient hardware and having someone get clobbered by antennas falling off.
So, I made the “satellite bush” as one friend named it. Quite heavy so it won’t blow around in wind, but not attached to the building so everyone’s happy.
Now, anyone that’s set up a satellite dish knows they’re pretty fussy about how they’re aimed. Nudge the thing 1/8" and you’ve lost everything. At my new place, I didn’t bother asking the new landlord about bolting a dish to the wall, even though he seems to think I’m the best tenant ever and has been doing all he can to make me happy. I picked a spot on the south-facing patio and parked the satellite bush and moved it around until the intentionally crooked mast matched the slope of the patio and became perfectly plumb. At this point, the dish is pointing into the living room, so I loosen the thing and rotate it so it’s facing out. I connect the cables between it and the receiver and turn it on.
Lo and behold, I had TV again! Startled that I was getting anything, I brought up the signal strength menu and found I had accidentally aimed the dish so well that I was getting 116% signal strength. No compass, no sextant, no give it a twist and hollering to someone in the house “How’s it now?” I went back out and carefully tightened the bolts without disturbing the position and went back inside to watch TV.
Perhaps I should quit my day job and start installing satellite antennas.
