Does your landlord have rules against installing satellite dishes on your unit's outdoor areas? Yeah, ours too. It's a common enough problem that somebody in England thought they should manufacture a satellite dish that looks like a patio chair, just to keep your landlord off your back.
Many apartment buildings, our own included, put restrictions on what can and can't be set out on your outdoor space. There's two obvious problems with their policies: (A) "the man" is trying to keep us down again, and (B) it eliminates satellite dish television service as an option since there's nowhere to install a dish.
If you want to skirt the restrictions and install satellite service anyway, you'll have to go incognito with your dish. We've seen some clever satellite urban camouflage before, but nothing quite like this: A satellite dish that moonlights as a patio chair.
The SatPlus Sat Chair is a completely functional satellite dish. Without the removable cushion in place, SatPlus provides equivalent recpetion to a traditional 24-inch dish. With the cushion in place, it's nothing more than a comfortable chair for the deck.
Unfortunately, this satellite chair comes with a hefty price tag of £219.95 (around $325)
and is only for sale in Europe, if you couldn't tell by the quoted British Pounds.
We'd love to see something like this for sale in the States to help us get around rental restrictions or association rules. If you've seen anything like the SatPlus Sat Chair in North America, send us a tip and let us know.
[via Gizmodo]
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No doub this is more attractive than a satelite dish. But federal law generally restricts landlords, homeowners' associations, etc., from prohibiting the installation and maintenance of antennas, such as satelite dishes, when the anetenna can be installed in an area that is within the tenant's exclusive control, such as a balcony.
More detailed information can be found on the FCC's website at: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-reception-devices-rule
yeah, meggs is right.
Huh, yeah tell that to my HOA. Not exactly worth going to court over or having their attention to get me for every little mis-step because I've caused an upset.
That chair is so ugly...
the chair looks like one of those depressing pieces of medical equipment old people have to help them use the bathroom or whatever :[
Our HOA has some rules/guidelines on where to install said dish (for uniformity and general appearance), but like Meggs says, It's the Law (and any half-reputable property management outfit should know it).
I also have to agree with Holler about the bathtub chair similarities... Perhaps that explains the seemingly detachable seat...
.. and a pretty bad photoshop job, as well.
This is a step in the right direction. It is an unfair statement, however to state that "the man" is trying to keep us down. The dishes are hideous and they are no different than being bombarded with too many hideous signs, etc. The goal is to make things more beautiful when people live in close contact rather than some hideous asphalt jungle. This design just proves that they can be built in more creative ways, and they can go one step further that this design and become more esthetically pleasing. If I lived in close quarters I would rather see a boring looking chair on a patio next door than a bunch of hideous saucers. Come on design people. Get to work with creative ideas!