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Close friends launch Poway-based DirecTV dealership

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By Peijean Tsai

As a young man in Germany, Rainer Zach entered competitions and had aspirations to move to Hawaii to become a professional windsurfer.

Zach instead ended up in New York and then Chicago, where he built a career for over 20 years in the hospitality business, running nightclubs and restaurants.

Although he never became a professional windsurfer, Zach did land in San Diego where he could enjoy the frequently sunny weather and the Pacific Ocean for water sports.

“It’s not Hawaii but it’s pretty close,” said Zach, a resident of Poway where he lives with his family. “After 22 years I finally realized my dream, you know?”

San Diego is also where Zach and Dominic O’Mahony are running their new local business, Synchronized Home Solutions, an authorized DirecTV dealer for residential and commercial video and audio solutions. The two close friends, both originally from Europe, first met in New York and built businesses together. They still own a pub together in Chicago. O’Mahony moved to San Diego and suggested that Zach also relocate so they could run their own digital satellite TV company. Over the past three months the pair have worked to get the business off the ground.

Synchronized Home Solutions offers the popular DirecTV product, along with the personalized service that can only come from a local retailer. In fact, Zach and O’Mahony even give customers their personal cell phone numbers if there are issues.

“We know the installation because we do all our own installations. You don’t have to worry about talking to someone in a call center in (another state) or overseas that might not be familiar with it. People like that personal service, rather than talking to strangers,” Zach said.

DirecTV satellite television is an alternative to cable TV that offers better picture quality and more high definition channels, Zach said. Packages start at a $29.99 monthly introductory rate. The $39.99 package is the most popular, with over 200 channels and many upgrades. Digital video recording, such as Tivo service, is also available.

This summer customers have been especially excited to install DirecTV to secure a free upgrade of NFL Sunday Ticket, to access all 14 football games played every Sunday, Zach said.

“We do a lot of military family installations because they’re from all over the place. With DirecTV it’s the only way they can see their home team,” Zach said.

DirecTV satellite service can be installed in houses as well as smaller homes such as condominiums as long as there is a balcony or patio that faces south, southeast, southwest, or, in some cases, west. There is no obligation for customers to have the business come to their home to make sure the setup will work. The dish equipment can be mounted on a free-standing mount that is non-penetrating to structures, Zach said.

“The dish doesn’t have to go on the roof. That’s a big misconception,” Zach said. “A lot of renters think they can’t get it because they can’t mount anything on the roof.”

Zach and O’Mahony have plans to expand soon by opening a storefront in Westfield North County Mall in Escondido at the end of September, hiring additional sales and installation staff. The business is at 14260 Garden Road, Suite A-6 in Poway.

For more information, call 858-386-6609.

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