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?
Monday, 9 July 2012
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Ian2:47 PM
Elaine, if left to dangle freely it is possible for the internal centre core to break, and this may be why you still have pictures on the other TV's but not on this one. It is also possible for the cable to chafe against the roof tiles of wall and this could cause the cable to fail.
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S
Stephen P4:11 PM
In all seriousness, you should have in your terms - on the written quotes/order confirmations - right of access to their properties to remove work not paid for.
elaine - unlikely that just securing it will be enough. Seems the cable or a connection has failed
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Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Hi
Not been on here for along time now as we been so busy with work, Just looking through the comments on here.
Earlier someone mentioned water ingress within coaxal cable.... Well if the proper cable which is designed for outside installations had been used it would be impossable for water to travel through it, as its a solid construction.
Many riggers are still using airspace type cables which basicaly act as a hose pipe if coming into contact with water.
You may well ask why they use it, the answer is either because its very cheap infact about 75% cheaper than solids we use or they dont know the difference, my guess 50-50.
There are good specification airspaced cables around, but should only be used internally as just one pin prick through the body of the cable will allow water ingress to the point you will be seeing pools of water by your TV etc, worse cases destroying your equipment.
Far as garantees everyone should be giving 2 years parts and labour on full installations, if companys dont offer this it should be ringing alarm bells to the clients to what there actually getting for there money.
We been giving 2 years parts and labour since the year dot, its no problem because we dont get call backs, which says it all.
Ive said this before on here, the aerial trade since going digital is easer than its ever been, all thats needed is commomon sence the right tools and not skimp on the products your supplying even if it costs that little bit more to the customer and you make that little bit less profit.
I still get a giggle now and then and often wonder were alot of these riggers came from, did they actually traine in the field or just gone on one of these 3 day courses and got the tick or what ever, or walked out of sky or telewest and desided they know it all.
Just look around the chimney pots and count the wall brackets thats been used where as they should have been chimney mounting brackets using a strap to even the load.
Go back 20 years ago you would not have seen that at all, why.... because chimneys are quite fragile, there single skin, normally very high, open to all winds and wether, and we were trained the correct way.
Wall brackets are designed for walls, and chimney mounts are for chimneys
No matter how you look at it those stacks are getting damaged and will be lucky to last 10years before the lot comes down, or the very least will need major work.
What suprises me is why local councils etc havent picked up on it because they stick out like sore thumbs, and doesnt take rocket science to see the fucture problems that will arise.
Anyway hope everyone sleeps well tonight lol.
Regards
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Les Nicol
7:03 AM
7:03 AM
satdaveuk: I've come across "Kit" properties where the local planning authority has insisteed on false stacks/chimneys in order that the properties blend in with traditional cottages or bungalows. The stacks shouldn't see any aerial or dish assembly on them at all.They are of wooden construction with a wire mesh wrapping that's been cement coated with generally a pebble dash or similar finishing. You can just imagine what happens in this scenaria as the elements impact where aerial and dish assemblies have been attached to same !!!
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Monday, 16 July 2012
D
dave10:51 AM
i have a problem with my airel on my tele it keeps freezing up on some channels it has only just started to do this i fitted a bosster when we had the digit turn over so dose this mean i need a new airel
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Ian2:18 PM
Dave, It could be one of many things. You can have too much signal as well as too little. But it is not just the signal level (Power) which is important, Carrier to Noise Ratio (C/N) and the Bit Error Rate (BER) also play an important part.
Its no good having a perfect power level only for the C/N level to be say <16dB or too many Bit Errors in every thousand bits.
I would try taking the amp off first and see what the result is, if there is no improvement then I think you would be wise to call in somebody with the correct test equipment.
Trying to solve the problem yourself you may end up feeling like a headless chicken, rounding around in circles and you cant see where you are going.
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J
jb385:54 PM
dave: Plus to that said, with any queries made that involves a reception issue then knowledge of the persons location is always required, with this being in the form of a post code or at least one from nearby, as only then can access be gained to the reception predictor that helps to assess the signal levels expected at the given location.
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Ian8:25 PM
jb38, ideally it needs to be his postcode and NOT one nearby.
The postcode predictor is apparently accurate to within 400 meters, although on one job I went to, that clearly wasn't the case.
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jb389:21 PM
Ian: My definition of nearby is exactly that NEARBY, this meaning a shop or whatever in the same street or across the road, as some people are for understandable reasons reluctant to provide any info that they "think" might pinpoint their location, "think" because post codes do not usually indicate exactly on a persons property anyway, and with any time that they might actually do always being purely through sheer luck, as in many areas the same post code will in many cases hold out for a few rows of houses.
The other aspect about this being, that I have never at any time found that reception predictors (trade or otherwise) are accurate to the degree anyway that a few streets away either side of an exact code makes any difference, this also applying to terrain predictors that take no account of anything except a naturally occurring hill, as a person could reside behind either a row of high rise tower blocks or alternatively be on the edge the Sherwood Forest furthest away from the transmitter and yet a terrain predictor would give a clear line of sight, although in fairness to terrain predictors they do state "ground level between".
I fully appreciate that in certain difficult reception areas the level of signal as tested on one property can be found to be vastly different simply by crossing the road, this being why I referred to predictors not being accurate to the extent that an exact spot on post code would make any difference to the outcome of any assessment made.
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Saturday, 4 August 2012
J
jubaer2:37 PM
I received a quotation of £215 including VAT and 12 months guarantee but still think this is very expensive! Do I need an outdoor aerial or would it be ok just using an indoor one. Also, what if I was to install the aerial myself after purchasing one from Argos? Would it be ok
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