TV aerial

[ukheather]

I have a question about my tv aerial.

Analogue tv quality is a bit crappy most of the time, it is a little snowy ans sometimes the pictures are really bad. Digital is fine most of the time, but sometimes is breaks up and the signal goes to low.

I have just had a guy round and he sais it probably because it is mounted on next doors and water has got into something, but he is not sure exactly why it is like this.

He said he would have to put a new aerial up on its own mount for £150.

He did say my current aerial is a good aerial but he told me that he could not just move it, I think because of the water in it or something.

My current aerial is only a few years old and I paid £85 for it fitted, he did say that this seemed cheap for this aerial but it was because it was fitted on next door's and not pinned down right on the roof.

Does £150 sound ok and does this sound right?

Thank you if anyone can help.

 

[ZenStalinist]

I don't know, but what does he mean water got in? To where? If it got in the little 'box' where the cable is connected, surely it's just a case of draining that out/replacing the connectors if they rusted (usually fairly standard).

That said, it should be on the right roof!

 

[ukheather]

I think he meant water in the wire, as he said it can't be that bad otherwise there would be water in here (meaning my living room)

 

[JDLDIY]

This just doesn't sound right, never heard of water getting into the wire and would say that is improbable. Doubt that there's anything really wrong with the aerial either, sounds like a bad connection to me, would do as Zen says.

Is the aerial installed on an adjacent roof for reception reasons?

 

[ukheather]

no, I do not know why it is attached to next door's aerial.

As I said I am not 100% sure what he meant about the water.

 

[plugwash]

i expect he meant the termination block on the arial (where the coax feed is joined to the arial)

 

[ZenStalinist]

That's what I meant. Which wouldn't need a new aerial, surely could he not just try it out and replace the terminal block things if they rusted?

 

[plugwash]

the block is probablly in integeral part of the arial

in any case once your paying someone to put in the new pole and cable the cost of a new arial to put on the pole is probablly negligable by comparison to other costs

would you rewire a house and reuse the existing sockets?

 

[breezer]

as with most "how much is......." get several quotes

 

[raychem]

The aerial is probably ok,If your coaxil cable is running down the roof tiles ,like most are then the problem could be that the insulation has rubbed away at certain points and exposed the braiding.I had this problem when I purchased a Freeview box and could not get a good picture.blocking and breaking up etc.I was about to pay £100 for a new aerial to be fitted then I spotted the faulty coaxial,I connected a new length to my old aerial and have had no probs since,cost about £4.00.Admittedly my property is a bungalow so no problems with getting up to the aerial.

 

[AdamW]

Water can in fact get inside the cable. On aerial coax the inner insulator is normally a hexagonal honeycomb-type structure. If the aerial terminal box lets water in (either through a manufacturing defect or improper installation) then this can cause corrosion of the lead.

£150 sounds like a typical kind of price for a good new aerial installed. It would break down to about £50-£60 on parts (remember this is a good aerial, not a £10 one), and the labour will take an hour or two depending on where he has to run the cable. Typical trade labour rates are in the vicinity of £40 per hour so this sounds about right.

Speaking as one who spent a cold afternoon up a ladder bolting an aerial to the apex of my roof on a tall mast so I could watch Freeview, I would say they deserve every penny! Seems a lot higher from up there, it is both skilled and dangerous to be working with power tools and such at those heights.

 

[ZenStalinist]

The question is, do you need a new aerial, I mean if its installed on the wrong pole like the guy says it is, maybe the original installer was not that good anyway, and it may not be well aligned or something...

 

[raychem]

AdamW,out of curiosity what is the difference with aerials say bought from Screwfix for about a tenner and more expensive ones.I am not doubting your knowledge of this subject ,just interested why the price difference for articles like this which basically all look the same.cheers.

 

[Diyisfun]

generally price differences are either materials used, or having to pay for the advertising.

 

[2scoops0406]

Personally, I never use "normal" coax, I always use satellite cable, this has better shielding, and the materials used are superior. OK, it cost twice as much, but we're talking less than £20 difference on a standard installation