Well if you have not heard, you can now get the decoder WITHOUT the Military Star card...but unlike the star card where you can have payments taken directly out, you will have to pay cash, credit or debit at the customer service desk monthly. You also have the option to pay months in advance.

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

It's about time!! I went in and looked at this and they told us it was $180 minimum to have some one install the dish and $100 for the dish....seems kind of pricey. We're going to talk to the landlady and see if she'll can discount our rent for a month or something since the dish'll get to stay.

Check around and see if you can find someone who works in signal/communications. Where I live we have military people who will do it for much less for money between payday.

Either someone like you suggested, or you can also get with pretty much any neighborhood electronics shop ajushi - and for a lot less than the guy to whom the PX will direct you for installation. Just don't make the mistake of telling the neighborhood ajushi how much you would have payed if you'd gone with the PX's man.

Actually, it is not that difficult to do on your own. Especially if you're just hooking it to a balcony. Take a look at the direction another AFRTS sat dish is pointed and use that as a reference.

You're right...it is kind of pricey but it's the best money we've spent here yet lol. My kids especially love it. Like tonight there are two Valentine cartoons on the family channel that aren't on Prime. I mean it's up to each individual but I think it's awesome for the kids:)

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Have a Blessed Day!

Michelle

Well, we have made a crack in the dam, but it is not quite equal treatment, since the U.S. government pays the bill in Europe I am told. The only advantage I see in leasing over owning is that hopefully if the box fails it wil be replaced free.

As far as installation- by all means get someone knowledgeable to assist in installation. Calling the local comm squadron might be OK, but don't pay until you get a satisfactory picture! Inexperience in drilling holes in walls can result in death by electrical shock and serious property damage if you hit a water pipe! Guess who is liable if the guy you hire screws up? My neighbor in the U.S., an Air Conditioning Installer, drilled a hole in a water pipe in his own home while attempting to put in a satellite cable. By the time the water was turned off, the wall and the floor of his bathroom were ruined.

The next big hurdle is convincing your off post building owner that one antenna on the roof can serve up to 20 or more authorized users, depending on the size of the RF Amplifier used. Some new apartments already prohibit patio & roof installations. We need to continue to write to USFK for Command Assistance in this area.
On base or post the Civil Engineers or Dept of Public Works may be setting up rules for installers, as they do in the U.S. (They may just force you to buy cable TV on Post.) Another story.

On a somewhat related note...

A few years back, the satellite that AFRTS was using to beam the signal to those in Korea burned out. So for several days, no one got a signal. Eventually, they started using a different satellite. But that meant you had to adjust your satellite dish.

AAFES not only would not refund you for the period during which no service was available, they also said you're on your own for arranging for and paying to get your dish adjusted.

Just as another note..

If you live in an apartment or complex that is commonly frequented by Americans, you might want to check your roof before you buy your satellite dish. You may only need to get the decoder box. We bought our satellite, only to discover that a previous tenant had already left his behind, and our purchase was unnecessary.

A couple of wires plugged in here, a couple of wires plugged in there, and we were up and running with no difficulty at all, the dish was even positioned correctly, with no installation required and only a minor adjustment performed one time by our neighbor, who happened to be Sat com, our only cost being a basket of cookies. :)

One problem that we had, and again, this may be a location specific thing, something that may not be the same overall, was that when we had downpours, or heavy rain and winds, we lost signal fairly easily. I suspect, however, this is a common problem with satellite overall, as we had the same trouble with satellite reception in the states, when we went with DirectTV instead of cable for a bit a few years back.

Also, some of the decoders you rent may also be "recycled", and previously used, our first one was.. and we ended up having to return it after a few months of use. We were reimbursed for the time from our initial call to AAFES about the equipment failure, until the day we received our new decoder, however, so I really can't complain too much about it.

While we were there, there were adjustments made to the system that required a reprogramming of the box to insure that you continued to receive the signal, but had no difficulties with that change, as it was *highly* publicized, and the instructions and "how tos" were posted on the AFRTS website, and were clear , concise and understandable even to a technophobe or a blonde like me. *G*


I know that just before we left, they had added the Yokota local programming on one of the satellite channels, and there was talk of Osan having a local programming option sometime in the future. Did that ever pan out? That would be an -awesome- addition for those of us living off base, as local programming would allow school closing announcements, NEO announcements and the like to be communicated not just among the community on base, but off. Supposedly, the PRIME channel available on cable was to carry such announcements, but I didn't see them when I was there. It would have been nice to know school was closed due to fog *before* my son and I walked all the way into the school :) LOL :)

Dee :)

Actually no...there isn't any plan that I know of to have what is called "virtual channels" for the various areas...Osan, etc. It's a bandwidth issue.

VR
MTL