Just be advised that "moving" would be against your friend's "Terms of Service" and actually involve lying to DIRECTV with a fake account address inside the market you are trying to get locals from.
But if your friend wants to take the risk and has no ethical qualms about it then have at it.
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Is it weird that I am "moved" to place that I get the same locals - just in addition almost 20 additional ones. I "moved" to the county Boston market that gets my home locals, Burlington, VT with significantly viewed. Burlington is not a complete market (Big 4 + PBSx3) but it is HD-only so the rare HD SV takes effect. Boston has all the major English and Spanish Broadcast networks (except Azteca) in HD (except ion, but we have ch 305). Merging the two is great. Add the few subchannels we have and the Upstate New York PBS with the AM21 and it works out pretty well. I realize that most people will not have this luck, but at least I am not completely shutting out my home locals.
If you change your service address to LA, you will get ABC CBS NBC and FOX in the 390's but nothing else. The rest of the many LA locals are on the spotbeam like 99.99% of locals. You would also get LA sports RSNs (ch 691-694) and their respective blackouts. You (or your friend) can change your address over the phone to a semi-local zip code/county that gets a complete set of locals, or locals you're interested in, that isn't too far away from your actual dish. Let them change your billing address, but be sure to change it back to your real house online. On a clear day, I have low 80s for signal on the Boston locals at over 100 miles. My friend is 25 miles north and his is 73-77 so we're not sure if it would be worth the risk there. I would bet that any of the other Florida markets would probably all work for your friend. Keep in mind that the spotbeams are not circular in shape, but all should be good in Florida on a clear day. The closer the better for reliability.
An AM21 is an option, if you can get one. You will also get select subchannels from OTA in your Directv guide, but not all subchannels will be there. Long story. I would (and have done) both. I "moved" to a portion of my old home market Greensboro NC with 3 Virginia channels on SV. With the AM21, I added the Raleigh market primary channels and select subchannels from Raleigh and Greensboro with the AM21. Best locals selection ever. I don't like paying for locals that I can get for free while people in larger markets and big cities get more channels for the same price. That is why I "move" but always keep my home locals in some way. I like to watch the weather from different cities to see how the same events are covered. Your friend could "move" to a neighboring market and get a AM21 and have your home locals no matter the weather and dispute situation. You also have second affiliates that might have better picture/audio quality that might help you avoid annoying weather tickers (which is ironic, I know, but there's a time and place for weather - never on a ticker during a major show or game!)
By the way, where does your friend live (city or market)? That would help a lot. EDIT: Palm Springs, in the title. I suggest your friend "move" to Miami (perhaps a friend/family member's address) and try to get an AM21 to get the major locals from West Palm Beach on your guide, fully recordable and everything.
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