South wall has space for up to three satellite antennas. Current installation includes Dish Network for television and Sky Blue for internet. Click the image for a larger view.

Television reception by conventional means is virtually nonexistent in this part of New Mexico. You'll also not find DSL or cable internet like many other homes. Instead, television and internet are both achieved with satellite receivers. The two choices for TV are, of course, Dish Network and Direct TV. Dish is the choice currently installed, and like Direct TV, it offers virtually everything any other television provider can, including remote programming. The local channels here are the Albuquerque network stations. Internet is provided by Kit Carson's association with Sky Blue, a major provider of satellite internet. Kit Carson is the local power coop and has been quite reliable. Sky Blue is also a reliable service provider, and internet service is quite reliable. About the only time servie is interrupted for either (TV or internet) is when a severe thunderstorm passes to the south between the antennas and line of sight with the satellites, and that's a rare event.

Kit Carson Electric Coop recently began a construction project (funded primarily with stimulus money from the federal government) to bring fiber optic internet to all of their customer base, including homes here at the Hidden Lake subdivision. Once fiber optics are installed, internet service will be as good as any major provider in any major city, according to Kit Carson. Currently, the project manager at Kit Carson is expecting fiber optics to be here by the fall of 2012. Of course, this could change, and we'll update this page if new information becomes available.

Most rooms are wired with two RG-6U coax cables, capable of carrying satellite or TV signals throughout the house. There is also at least one Cat 5E and one telephone cable in each room; some have more. All cables are terminated in the "automation" room, located under the stairs in the great room. From there, satellite TV is converted to regular TV signals using RF modulators and transmitted via the cable system throughout the house. The satellite internet modem is located there too, and enters the house network via a router.

There are three satellite antenna locations along the south wall, each with extra bracing in the walls to secure the antennas, and each with two RG-6U coax cables that terminate in the automation room. Many configurations are possible with this infrastructure.