What price for an aerial installation?
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV In responses to the guideline I posted about how much having a new aerial fitted should cost, Ian Grice posted: "£40-£50? Every aerial fitter I contacted wants at least £150+VAT considering you can get a class 3 aerial for under £10 and a class 2 for under £15 and cable is 40p a metre why are they charging so much for 30 minutes work?"
OK, for some places putting up a TV aerial is hard work, such as multi-story properties. As many people will simply be exchanging a Group A, B, C/D, E or K aerial for a wideband type, often without changing the supporting pole or cable, a high price cannot be justified.
I am concerned that some companies will exploit vulnerable groups (such as the elderly).
So, I what prices have you been quoted for aerial installations? What price have you paid for installation?
Do you know of any companies to avoid? Do you know of any companies that are good value for money?
Or do you work for a great aerial installation company?
Help with TV/radio stations?
Friday, 8 July 2011
C
Craig P12:34 AM
IAN,
By Digital I was reffering to an aerial which is designed and built for the effective reception of Freeview signal's, which is commonly know by the general public as digital tv or "digi!" or even that great big well known firm from day's gone by, known as "OnDigital" why did they choose that name I wonder ? but to answer your statement I must first ask this question, " how can a person who has repaired tv equipment, installed aerial's, installed, programmed, repaired and maintained Professional Comms equipment including PMR Radio, Trunked Radio systems,GSM equipment for the past 16 years (i.e. since the age of 15) and is CAI approved.........."
How Can I posibly be talking out of my backside simply because I mentioned a commonly used term of "Digital Aerial"??????????????
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I
Ian8:44 AM
Commonly used'.....mostly by people outside the trade with little or no technical knowledge. You claim to be CAI Approved (and we all know approval is not difficult to obtain, you don't even need the correct tools anymore), you should then know that there is no such thing as a digital aerial'. Even the CAI don't call them such, they are referred to as Benchmarked Aerials which are Digital Compatible'. If you were to advertise that you fit digital aerials' or you were to tell a customer that you have fitted them a digital aerial' you could find yourself in hot water with Trading Standards being as you would have committed an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968'. As far as your CAI Approval' goes, I understand that in order to squeeze more money from their members the CAI is rebranding their training / certificate schemes and are looking at creating a CAI Diploma', of course in a few years' time when this has also become worthless they might then think about creating a CAI Degree', to squeeze the members for some more of their hard earned income.
If you are a proper engineer then use the correct terms to educate the other users and not layman's terms which only confuses the issue.
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KB Aerials Sheffield
8:22 PM
8:22 PM
A lot of people make the mistake of calling an aerial for digital reception a digital aerial - its an easy slip of the tongue (keyboard) we get asked on a daily basis "do you install digital aerials" so correcting people virtually every phone call becomes a chore
how many people call a Dyson a hoover - virtually every one does how many people used to call a portable cassette player a walkman or a ball point pen a biro Ian I think your being a bit harsh to craig - ive made slip of the tongue - I know there is no such thing as a "digital aerial" as the means for broadcasting uhf is still the same you still need an aerial tuned to a particular set of frequencies wether its a wide band a group A B K C/D I try ever so hard not to call an aerial a digital aerial and I do correct people but when I correct people they just look at me as if im not of this planet the more intellectual would call it being pedantic
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KB Aerials Sheffield
8:25 PM
8:25 PM
Oh and craig - whoever branded "On Digital" was a genius so so simple name but you say it virtually every time you tune a tv in
Yes madam that channel is ON DIGITAL -- Makes me smile inwardly every time i say it!
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Saturday, 9 July 2011
I
Ian5:45 AM
Guys your trade should be regulated properly like Niceic registered contractors,
I have had aerial installers in the past go to my clients and I end up with having calls complaining about the aerial installer.
I ask y? And the responses are!!!
He was in a rush! Workmanship is shocking! Very ignorant as he just wanted the money and be gone, had no respect for our hse as his client! He was originally asked to connect new tv equipment and left half of it saying don't have time but he quoted for it,, but stil wanted full payment! ( cowboy)!!
We started doing the aerials ourselves just to stop having these complaints which has been successful.
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M
Mazbar6:54 AM
No ian you started doing aerials to make more money. If you have just started doing the aerials yourself you will be making a mess yourself ie wall brackets on the chimney or very poor lashings with the j bolts fully tightend up that go slack very quickley. If you had a poor experiance with an rigger why did you use him again or did you have a bad experance with one and tar all of us with the same brush. Stop giving yiur customers a poor job and find a good rigger who does a proper job. By the way did the rigger charge for fitting the tv i know i dont if i am called out to do an aerial but if they want it fitting to a wall there would be an extra charge. Also conecting the equipment up is fine but it can take longer than the jobitself to show people how there new equipment works. So ian dont be the cowboy get somebody who is trained to do the job and is insured to do the job because uf you are a spark or a tv shop you your public insurance wont cover you to go on a roof and do aerial work .
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KB Aerials Sheffield
9:38 AM
9:38 AM
Mazbar I agree with you
But Ian -- I also agree with you in the respect that our industry should be regulated - like gas safe like Niceic
Bring it on would love to get rid of the cowboys
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KB Aerials Sheffield
9:53 AM
9:53 AM
Mazbar - you have to admit that any one with a halfords budget socket set a van who has a mate as a sign writer and can borrow his dads ladders (when hes not window cleaning) - can walk into blakes (in sheffield other aerial shops are available) buy a contract aerial and a roll of rg6 proclaim I am an aerial installer give me the money
- Public liability insurance -- Whats that why do I need it
Working at heights - ropes and harness - for sissies
tying a ladder down in so it doesn't move - don't do that when I clean windows?
Analyser - whats that for I can see the transmitter (now why the hell is there no digital when I have loaded the van back up and am tuning the tv in )
im not saying I was proficient at first not by a long way 22 yrs in the industry and im still learning! - had good teachers though one I will mention - Bill wright (google him wrights aerials) but im in this for the long haul not the quick buck - most of my work is through recommendation
Regulate - get rid of the rotten eggs ! don't see it as a bad thing
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M
marianne hastings10:15 AM
We live near Calstock and have had real problems with all BBC channels over the last week or so. The signal is so bad, the blue and red DAB shows on the TV. All the other freevew channels are absolutly fine, no problems at all. I have retuned but that hasn't helped. BBC was working prefectly at 6.00am this morning but I have just a blank screen now and have to resort to watching on the laptop. Has anybody got any suggestions
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J
jb3812:03 PM
marianne hastings: Assuming you are receiving your signal from Carradon Hill (BBC1 Ch28) your problem could be caused by engineering works at the transmitter, these having been forecast about five days ago and affecting digital TV and radio.
By the way "assuming" was mentioned as reception from two local transmitters are also show as a possibility with your post code, these being Gunnislake @ 1mile and Tavistock @ 4miles.
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