Loss of Sat TV Backup Plan

My condo supplies cable (which I am forced to pay for through my common fees), so in the event of extreme downpours or long term outages, I can turn to the use-it-only-as-a-last-resort Cablevision SA8300-HD DVR. I also have an antenna in the attic, but it only picks up low-powered independent stations, no big networks.

keithtd said:

With hurricane season in full swing I wondered what backup plan folks have to regain television service should something catastrophic happen to your D* system?

Mine is a portable antenna connected directly to my Samy LCD for OTA.

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Hurricane Wilma was as catastrophic as I care to go through. The backup plan was put my dish back up and start the generator

My Backup plan is to hope that my dish stays connected to my roof.

Baldmaga said:

My Backup plan is to hope that my dish stays connected to my roof.

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me to but i saved my old SD dish just in case.
And Thanks to litzdog911 :hurah: and his site i found a place that i can c-clamp my sd dish to for a few days in case my slimline on roof gives me any issues.
I had to do this in march after 3 days of high winds and 3 days after that for a service call.

I guess my backup is to wire the OTA signal from my antenna in the attic directly to the OTA tuner in my 2nd TV (my main one is hung on the wall and the RF input is unavailable).

Although where I live, we don't really have much weather.

I have an antenna connected directly for my tv for when the satellite is out which unfortunately has been quite a lot over the last week or two

,my back up plan is to not live near the coast

My backup plan is using my indoor amplified antenna that I use to pickup locals. Hopefully Direct TV adds Mobile-Pensacola area locals this month assuming the HD uplink doesn't get messed up by hurricanes.

keithtd said:

With hurricane season in full swing I wondered what backup plan folks have to regain television service should something catastrophic happen to your D* system?

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Lets see, Did the Wilma thing, watched my Dish fly :lol: off my roof and swing by the wires.

So I Have Wrabbit Ears :hurah: Spare Dishes, Dish Meter for realignments. Extra wire just in case, and of course, my Back up generator. :grin:

So I am confident that i won't be without DTV for long if anything "catastrophic happen to my D* system"

Avoid roof mounts. If at all possible, use (a) a pole mount or (b) a masonry mount with monopole braces. Keep a spare dish inside the house, even if it's just an 18" one.

My backup is an attic mount OTA antenna, but I live in the midwest so no major worries.

Relatives in florida have a small OTA antenna I setup for them inside they can use in case of outage or issues.

Roof mounts can still be fine if properly done. I saw some after Charley that were still attached just fine even though other parts of the roof were ripped off. All depends on how well you mount it and what you mount it to!

Must be nice to be able to go back to your house after a hurricane

*Katrina victim*

Grentz said:

My backup is an attic mount OTA antenna, but I live in the midwest so no major worries.

Relatives in florida have a small OTA antenna I setup for them inside they can use in case of outage or issues.

Roof mounts can still be fine if properly done. I saw some after Charley that were still attached just fine even though other parts of the roof were ripped off. All depends on how well you mount it and what you mount it to!

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Bad thing with roof mounts is if the wind gts bad enough it could pull the lags from the roof and leave some nasty leaks.

davring said:

Bad thing with roof mounts is if the wind gts bad enough it could pull the lags from the roof and leave some nasty leaks.

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Winds get bad enough, it could pull the roof from the house. :eek2:

RobertE said:

Winds get bad enough, it could pull the roof from the house. :eek2:

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lol, exactly. I saw some houses with half the roof gone and the dish still mounted to the roof!

None were slimlines though...would be interesting to know how those HUGE dishes would fair

I still think Directv made a bit of a mistake with how long they made the pole...in many installs (including roof mounts) it is just overkill and adds more leverage on the monopoles/main mount. At least they should have an option for a shorter pole.

D* sells a spare 'disaster recovery kit" for $49, including an 18" dish that receives 101 only. Looks like a good deal!

davring said:

Bad thing with roof mounts is if the wind gts bad enough it could pull the lags from the roof and leave some nasty leaks.

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Which is why installers generally won't install above an occupied space, only by bolting through the eaves.

I have basic cable in the house, a spare dish, several OTAs, and a backup generator. I lost the dish from my roof after Charlie but was back up and running the next day.