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I may not like it, but it's a fact. Fewer people have satellite TV than they used to. Both DIRECTV and DISH have seen declining numbers of satellite subscribers as people choose to go to streaming-only services like DIRECTV for Internet and Sling. Some folks are choosing to abandon live TV altogether, but I have a feeling they'll be back.

An antenna gives you free live TV with no monthly fee

On the other hand, streaming app prices are soaring. It's now to the point where subscribing to the five most popular streaming apps costs more than the average pay-TV subscription. So where does live TV fit into all that? You might find that you miss live news and sports and the old-school feeling of just sitting down and relaxing in front of the TV.

You can get all of that back for one price by adding an antenna. There's no monthly cost for live TV from an antenna, and you'll get dozens of channels of live TV with an antenna that aren't available on pay-TV or streaming.

When you buy an antenna from Solid Signal, you get something you can install yourself as you see fit. Most outdoor antennas are designed to mount to virtually any vertical surface, but typically people will get some sort of mount like the one you see at the top of this article.

But the question is, can you use the mount that came with your satellite dish? Can you use that wiring as well? You'll like the answer…

Sure, why not?

If you've decided to cut the cord, you have a perfect place to put an antenna: right where that satellite dish used to be up on your roof. If it's mounted on an eave, it may not be able to support one of the larger antennas, but there's no reason not to reuse a satellite dish mount. You can even reuse the cable.

After disconnecting the cable from the dish with a 7/16″ wrench, fish it out from the dish arm and leave it aside for now. Loosen the bolts that hold the dish to the mast and you should be able to lift it up off the mast leaving a nice clean place to put that antenna.

DISH dishes and standard-definition DIRECTV dishes use a 1.66″ outer diameter mast. DIRECTV HD dishes use a 2″ outer diameter mast. Either way, most antennas should mount easily to either size. If you're using something like our Winegard Elite 360 that has its own tiny mast, you can still zip-tie it to the satellite mast if you want.

When it comes down to it, there are enough holes in your roof. Why drill another one just to put up an antenna?

One thing to consider about the cable

The splitters used for satellite aren't very good for passing antenna TV signals. If you find that using the old satellite TV cable isn't working for you, replace the splitters with something inexpensive like these.

If you have more questions about which antenna to buy or which accessories will work well for you, call the experts at Solid Signal! We're here for you during East Coast business hours. When you call, you'll get an expert in our Novi, Michigan offices, not some overseas script reader. Try us out — call 888-233-7563. If it's after hours, just fill out the form below.


The post Can you mount an antenna where your dish used to be? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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