All posts by Keith
Below are all of Keith 's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Pamela - what Ian says is right in some way- but Ian is assumong there is an amplifier somewhere maybe in the loft- not all Aerials need an amplifier a lot of aerials are on the chimney the cable comes straight down the roof over the gutter and is tacked down the exterior of the property- what happens with old cable is that it gets brittle because of the suns UV rays - as it becomes brittle it cracks and lets water in - also the cable rubs on the roof and the gutter and slowly over years cuts into the cable - if the aerial is old enough for this to happen then I suggest start from scratch , new Bracket mast and aerial with fresh cable - I may be right - ian may be right - as to where the water is getting to but I would say 90% that its deffinatly water somewhere thats causing the problem
Keith KB Aerials sheffield 01142514389 07946481125
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Ian I think the reason would be that we can go and install 5 aerials in that amount of time and earn more money so what your asking for is someone to turn down doing 5 domestic jobs which can easily be achieved in a day which is equivelent to the time alloted to complete your job, plus doing commercial work is a pain as you dont get paid on the day (which you would if you was doing domestic) plus at the moment were all busy doing the digital switchover
I know its probably not what you want to hear but your not going to get an aerial installer to work for £150 a day when they can earn that in an hour or 2 and travel 3 miles doing so
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Mark, Mazbar, - yep i think Ian can understand now - thanks for backing me up I missed the "ten weeks training~" -ive been doing this 10 years on my own and have a bckground in the industry going back to when I was 14 so thats 22 years in total - I am still coming up against things that I haven't seen before and have to overcome - one person put it aptly - aerial installation is a black art no 2 jobs are the same - i tell my customers when they are moving into a new build when they ask why has the housing company not installed an aerial - they install gas water and electricity- all these can be guaranteed that they will be on site and work - the one thing they cannot guarantee is if an aerial will work - will those trees block the satellite signal or cause interference with the transmission of the uhf signal - thats why new houses don't have an aerial as standard - its just about the only thing you don't get when you move in - that and a bed!
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I once had a next door neighbour demand i removed an aerial as the lashing wire was on his half of the chimney! WTF
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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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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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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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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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Dont think any one cares about conversation issues - Very rare I get asked - I do always try and do a discreet job where possible especially when its a idyllic location
But Yes - you see 100 cm dish festooned down some streets where its obvious arab sat is required - people dont give a dam by looks of things !
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Friday 3 June 2011 12:28AM
HI Tom Its Keith KB Aerials, In Sheffield weve bumped into each other a few times,
To explain to other aerial installers first- Sheffield varies vastly in signal strength the city is huge and has 2 main transmitters Emley moor and Cross Pool (sheffield Transmitter) it is also covered by a host of tiny relay transmitters that after switchover will transmit 3 muxes only, As Sheffield is on 7 hills it is difficult to get reception in a lot of places and its not uncommon to turn to using the Belmont transmitter or even waltham, so using mast head amplifiers in and around sheffield is very common, Yes the signal strength will get lifted after switchover to a point that some masthead amps will be driven into cross modulation and will need removing,
Basically the fact of the matter is that the amplifiers were needed to receive reception - a customer would not want an installation that does not work, due to the nature of the job we have to make it work NOW , things will change after switchover - the work that needs doing to rectify the transmitters lifting the signal by I believe is 12db will HAVE TO BE PAID FOR by the customer - at the end of the day it is another call out- swap an amp for a splitter or fit appropriate attenuators to each tv - you should not be out of pocket for these jobs
KEITH KB AERIALS SHEFFIELD