New Aerial Needed

gogsboy

trevor_john wrote:

As some folk know ( as i have helped in the past) I own my own aerial company.The only fair way to get an aerial fitted wiuthout being ripped off,is to get a member of the "confederation of aerial industries " to do the job.Check out their website

https://www.cai.org.uk

You can read about the double guarantee and also search for an installer in your area.There are a lot of cowboys out there ripping folk off,so check the above site and you wont go far wrong.
Trevor

There can be two sides to this, one side you dont often hear about, but tread carefully with some of the 'members'.

I know of some who have taken shortcuts at others expense

gogsboy

espresso wrote:

:T

Best advice yet.

Shouldn't the owner of the aerial company have know this?

Is there not a one off fee of around £150?

There was when it first came out, on the ball aerial companies would have known about it for sure, whether they would recommend it is another matter

espresso

gogsboy wrote:

Is there not a one off fee of around £150?

Only to supply and install new equipment.

:T

Prudent

pinkpauline34 wrote:

I'm in Scotland and I paid £70 for a new aerial in my loft and he even connected up my freeview box for me.

Where abouts are you? I am also in Scotland and looking for an aerial plus two new points in order to use freeview.

espresso

Depending on where you are i.e. not in a difficult reception area, you could probably do it for yourself. Enter your details into this website for more detailed information.

:T

chintanm78

Hi there all,
I am considering a new aerial upgrade because we have had our old analogue one for nearly 20 years now as we want freeview. However a bit of online research has shown that via Maplin or Dastv.co.uk you can get an aerial I'm guessing thats comparable to what the installers are quoting me for a:
Vision V10-481F 48 Element Digital Wide Band Aerial for 14.95 plus VAT - top of the range in case of poor reception for freeview. I'm being quoted in the local Bucks area ₤150-₤215 which implies that fitting and installation is coming out at anything from ₤130+ to just one room. There are also things like using digital cabling to each room to consider.

Do you think this is quite expensive and would it feasible to ask someone to come and install an aerial I have purchased?

How long do you think the whole process should take - no more than a few hours if that I'm guessing?

Thanks for any feedback.

espresso

chintanm78 wrote:

Hi there all,
I am considering a new aerial upgrade because we have had our old analogue one for nearly 20 years now as we want freeview. However a bit of online research has shown that via Maplin or Dastv.co.uk you can get an aerial I'm guessing thats comparable to what the installers are quoting me for a:
Vision V10-481F 48 Element Digital Wide Band Aerial for 14.95 plus VAT - top of the range in case of poor reception for freeview. I'm being quoted in the local Bucks area ₤150-₤215 which implies that fitting and installation is coming out at anything from ₤130+ to just one room. There are also things like using digital cabling to each room to consider.

Do you think this is quite expensive and would it feasible to ask someone to come and install an aerial I have purchased?

How long do you think the whole process should take - no more than a few hours if that I'm guessing?

Thanks for any feedback.

I doubt if they would want to fit an aerial that you had purchased, and if they did they would want to make it worth their while when they present their invoice. You are not just paying for the aerial/cable which only cost the riggers a few quid but for their experience, test equipment, ladders, tools etc. If you think that you can do it for yourself, you will save money. Enter you details here to get more information about local transmitters and a suitable aerial. Use good quality CT100 double screened cable.

HTH

General_Hogwart

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5352069.htm

This one looks quite good.

The reception at my house isn't great, do you think it would make a great difference if the aerial was in the loft instead of on the roof?

espresso

[QUOTE=Foggie
The reception at my house isn't great, do you think it would make a great difference if the aerial was in the loft instead of on the roof?[/QUOTE]

It depends what your roof tiles are made of. Some contain metallic particles which attenuate the signal more. Try it and see but it will work better outside!

HTH

chintanm78

Well I've done some more research and espresso helped by pointing me to the link which tells you your nearest transmitter. The most important things it appears to get good freeview reception are:
1)Check your local transmitter mine is Crystal Palace so the best aerial grouping for me is Group A. This is because it transmits channels between 21 and 37 and that is what group A aerial's pickup. The wideband ones pick up everything-good I thought but apparently not and can result in a worse signal
2) Check for an aerial that is benchmarked by the CAI
http://www.cai.org.uk/downloads/CAI%20Aerial%20Benchmarking%20Scheme.pdf - standard 1 the highest and 4 the lowest

Note: A wideband aerial is different to a High gain aerial. Wide gain picks up all channels from 21-68, not necessarily a good thing.
3) As many others have said ensure that cable used it double screened copper cable - this guy explain why
http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/coaxcablequalityhmdim.htm
http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/digitalterrtvrecep.htm
4) CAI approved installer - you can search 4 a local one on the website.

According to CAI the best Standard 1 aerial in group A is Blake DMX10A retails at 39.99

So there you go - if you want anymore info here is a fab site which makes it all a lot clearer :
http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051054&sid=2&subid=0

Hope it helps.