Unless you are in some sort of apartment where you don't have an exclusive use area you can use to point your dish from, this is not true. No homeowners association AKA asshole association can prevent anyone from having a dish up to 1 meter in diameter. Don't let someone railroad you. FCC Fact Sheet I really don't know how anyone could stand to watch CCTV much, but CCTV 4 & 9, and several other Mandarin language channels, mostly from Taiwan, are available totally free, they are not encrypted at all, anyone with a free to air receiver and a dish of 30" minimum size can watch them. You also need a clear view (no trees, buildings, or other obstructions) to the south.