Melgar
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Surreptitious transplantation of satellite dishes
My grandparents have spent their lives watching their local Cleveland stations. My grandpa actually worked as a cameraman for Channel 5 (WEWS, ABC)
out of Cleveland, and they've watched their local news almost religiously. Now they've moved to the far western tip of New York state, so they could
be closer to my parents, and they've gotten Dish Network (satellite) in order to get the cable channels that they've become used to. The only problem
is that because it's upstate New York, all the local channels are out of Buffalo, and they don't really know or care much about the local news in
Buffalo.
They really wish they could watch their local Cleveland stations that they've been watching for decades. Considering that they're getting their
programming from a satellite, I couldn't see any reason they wouldn't be able to adjust the dish a bit to get Cleveland local stations instead of
Buffalo local stations. I mean, the satellites are geosynchronous, and Buffalo and Cleveland aren't very far apart. They do, in fact, get Buffalo
stations through their satellite dish and not an antenna.
Now, I recently learned about spot beaming, which allows satellites to send local broadcasts to only specific geographic regions. This probably wouldn't pose any technical
issues, since they're only about 50 miles (like 80 km) from the Ohio border. If the broadcast covers relevant parts of Ohio, it'd probably reach
where my parents and grandparents live.
So I was asking on the internet about potentially getting Cleveland channels in New York, despite not being in the correct area. I was immediately
reprimanded in one forum for suggesting doing something that would "violate the terms of service". I didn't know what it was that I could be
suggesting that might possibly violate any terms of service, and was confused at first. Then I realized what it was that they implied I was
suggesting:
1. Subscribe to Dish Network in Ohio. Get local channels working there. Have bill sent to Ohio address, have dish set up in Ohio, etc. Have many
relatives (and their old house which they still own) in Ohio, to use as a billing address.
2. Uproot satellite dishes from Ohio. Transplant them in New York state. Adjust their positions at their new location in New York. Would take a
little doing, but with a compass, a protractor, a little knowledge of how satellites work, some electronics skills, and some trial and error would
make the whole process not exceptionally difficult.
3. Set bills to be paid online, via "paperless" method, and just hope that technicians don't need to be called.
This is actually a thing that people have been known do, to take advantage of pricing differences in different cities, and while it isn't explicitly
illegal, it's against the terms of service. The worst they could do would be to refuse to provide service in the future, but because it's a different
state, they might not even do that. And if the service was in the name of, say, my grandpa, I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to the dish company people
for as long as they had the patience to talk to him. His memory is pretty bad, and he repeats himself a lot. But he loves to talk, so he's been
trying everyone's patience lately.
This is like, the "mad science" version of my plan, assuming the above-board version of my plan doesn't work. Is anyone familiar with how this works
at all? This is all just theoretical, but I'm not really seeing any reasons it'd be impossible.
The first step in the process of learning something is admitting that you don't know it already.
I'm givin' the spam shields max power at full warp, but they just dinna have the power! We're gonna have to evacuate to new forum software!
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Sulaiman
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Usually sattelite servive providers give a coverage map so try to find one for the Ohio service provider and see if it covers the new location.
If it does then it should be easy, if the new address is just outside the nominal coverage area then a larger dish should work.
Alternatively broadband internet and high speed 'phone networks would allow you to 'tune-in' over the internet - assuming that their favourite
channels are available via internet.
I'd try the internet route first.
EDIT: it looks like iPhone and Android apps are available at 5ABC
https://www.news5cleveland.com/live-cameras
bottom of page.
[Edited on 2-2-2018 by Sulaiman]
CAUTION : Hobby Chemist, not Professional or even Amateur
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aga
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If you know what the satellite is called you can find it with an app on a smartphone.
All you do is point the camera at the sky and it overlays the positions of the satellites.
There's one like that for finding stars/constellations too.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/satellite-finder-pro/id10757...
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Melgar
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The "live cameras" are just live webcams that are meant to show what the weather looks like in Cleveland at that time. What they really want to watch
is the local news there. Fortunately, that's available on their website:
https://www.news5cleveland.com/video/live-video
Note that this is only visible when the local news is playing. It says it'll "be back in a moment" like 80% of the day.
Found this site at the channel's parent company, although there doesn't seem to be much available there:
http://scripps.com/tv/wews
Trouble is, my grandparents are a bit old for learning how to use the internet, or apps or anything. I'm thinking of setting up a computer with an
HDMI output there, then setting it up to stream the local news indefinitely, and full-screen it if it's not full screen. Also, the browser crashes
sometimes, so it'd have to check for crashes regularly and restart if there's a crash. Wouldn't be a big deal, I think. My grandpa has a pension,
and my grandparents don't really do much because it's hard for them to get around. And one of the few things that's kind of important to them is
being able to watch their favorite programs on TV.
The first step in the process of learning something is admitting that you don't know it already.
I'm givin' the spam shields max power at full warp, but they just dinna have the power! We're gonna have to evacuate to new forum software!
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wg48
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Wow we have been busy the last 60 years about 200 working geostationary satellites. About 25 for the US television. Probably a lot more if you include
defunct ones and back ups. (numbers from wiki)
I would not have thought the US was big enough to have 25 satellites operating in the 10GHz band given my assumed limits on the narrowness of the
transmitting antenna imposed by size constraints for a satellite. I guess its helped by their angular separation in the sky and resilience of the FM
of the transmitted signal to interference. They even use polarization direction to double the number of channels. That’s impractical except for LOS
communications. I guess these days compression has significantly increased the available TV channels by about an order of magnitude. So 25 satellites
worth of TV is a heck of a lot of TV LOL
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Reboot
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I believe the 'normal' way to fine-tune the orientation of the dish is simply by monitoring the strength of the signal coming off it. If nothing has
changed since I last ran into the tech, there's a way to get the signal strength information from the receiver (in the setup menus.)
As I understand it, they offer an option for RVs that travel around. I would call them up and ask if you'll still be able to get your local channels
while out of the immediate area under that option. If so, that might be the easy way to go.
Otherwise, I can't see any reason why a transplant wouldn't work (although there could be issues with the unit geolocating when it calls home over the
internet or phone lines.)
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AJKOER
Radically Dubious
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I would recommend trying to buy the dishes than violate the normal service arrangement. If not possible, get internet cable TV or something.
In NY not so much a legal concern on transporting the dishes, but in general, be wary. Some conservative states, Florida for instance, make it a big
deal with, for example, unlawful set top boxes, like 10 years in jail, vigorously enforced resulting in legal bills in 6 figures at least. A case is
where there was a domestic disturbance, police called, notice the illegal devices resulting in immediate arrest.
Another state is Virginia, where a married with children South American women told me the horror story of what occurred on a trip to her mother house
for Thanksgiving with husband and kids. Car broke down, police arrived, search the cars and their person for drugs. During 2 hours of questioning ask
her separately to tell them where the drugs were hidden and they would arrest only her husband! Another racist s**t hole state to avoid!!
My personal advice is stay the f**k out of such conservative states in general.
When in doubt what kind of state you are visiting, see if any of the locals cross the street illegally. In New York City, it is wide spread behavior,
in most southern small cities, it just does not happen!
[Edited on 4-2-2018 by AJKOER]
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Melgar
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Quote: Originally posted by Reboot  | | As I understand it, they offer an option for RVs that travel around. I would call them up and ask if you'll still be able to get your local channels
while out of the immediate area under that option. If so, that might be the easy way to go. |
My grandparents haven't sold their old house yet, and that's still in Ohio. Are you sure you have that right? Because I was under the impression
that satellites used "spot beams" so that receivers could only get their local news in that location. Might you be thinking of radio? After all, the
dishes aren't very easy to configure, and it's hard to imagine an RV being able to consistently get a good lock on the signal.
@AJKOER The worst that could happen is they figure out I'm (maybe) violating the terms of service. Since they'd be paying for their service, there
would be no theft of service that could constitute a crime.
[Edited on 2/14/18 by Melgar]
The first step in the process of learning something is admitting that you don't know it already.
I'm givin' the spam shields max power at full warp, but they just dinna have the power! We're gonna have to evacuate to new forum software!
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AJKOER
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Melgar:
There are many states in America where the incarceration of humans, in full cooperation of the local conservative courts, fosters for-profit private
prisons (especially for lengthy sentences). Public prisons seem to 'lend' their inmates out to local farms.
Translation, putting you in jail (for what you think is no big deal) for a very long sentence is just good for the local economy.
[Edited on 7-3-2018 by AJKOER]
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