My neighbors just installed a Direct TV Dish in their backyard and it is pointing directly towards my bedroom.

Question

Who should I complain to? Direct TV? The HOA? You can see the dish from the street, so I am thinking the HOA might do something about it.

Answer 1

Go to a pawn shop and buy a box.

Answer 2

Yeah I'm not sure what you're issue here is either...There is no way it's pointed at your bedroom...it has to be pointed to the western sky. You may be able to SEE it from your bedroom....but not sure what your argument is there. Do you just think it's ugly and don't want to see it? I don't get it. Most HOA's don't have issues with directv or DISHsatellites as long as they are installed in the back or side of the house, not the front.

Answer 3

What's your problem?  First, the dish is NOT pointed direct at your bedroom ... if it were they would not get any programs. It's pointed above your house at the satellite. Second, no-one can see anything via a dish ... it's a receiver for electrical satellite signals.  Third, unless you are in a very unusual area there is no law against satellite dishes being visible ... they more or less have to be.  The only way you have a case is if the dish overlaps your property.

Answer 4

First, there is nothing the HOA can do - you are permitted, by federal law, to have a mini-dish for satellite.  And yes, this law was put into place because HOAs tried to prevent people from getting satellite, claiming the dishes would lower property values, etc.

Second, you, I and everyone else in North America is being bombarded by thousands of different frequenices of radio, radar, and general electro-magnetic energy each and every second on this planet - and that's been the case ever since the planet Earth and mankind has existed.

Finally, the satellite dish is only a receiver - it is NOT a transmitter.  All it's doing is picking up the signal from the satellites.

That said, in the photo, it does appear that the dish is pointed right at your window.  I wonder why the installer did that, since you usually need a fairly unobstructed view of the sky to get decent reception.  A few tree branches is OK, but an entire townhouse is something else altogether!  However, rest assured that nothing is being transmitted or "beamed" at you.

Answer 5

The dish is a receiver, it is harmless.  It's just another type of TV antenna like the "rabbit ears" on your Mom & Dad's old TV.  You will not be exposed to any radio waves because the dish doesn't send, it only "catches".

As for if the HOA can do anything about it, they can't.  It's protected under Federal Law.  Neither can your city, county or state.  Congress, through the FCC, invalidated those restrictions many years ago with a law called OTARD (see link, below). So, as long as it's not a safety issue (and it doesn't sound like it is), it's there for the forseeable future.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

I hope this helps.  Please return and select a Best Answer from all of those submitted.