Yorkshire Lad Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Has anyone had a tv aerial installed lately - if so how much did you pay? Tnx S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spark Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 My parents had their aerial replaced with a digital one a few years ago. It cost them £120 including the parts (small aerial, new mount and booster amp). The installer didn't change the co-axial cable - he just removed the old aerial and connected the new one to the original cable. It will cost more if they need to put in a new co-ax. I did mine myself - Televes DAT75 with amplifier and chimney mount/1.5in pole. Parts cost around £65 and it took me around 4 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Lad Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 I wonder how long it took the installer to do your parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spark Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I wonder how long it took the installer to do your parents. I'm not sure how long the guy took. My folks didn't have a good signal, so the installer also fitted a booster (just plugged in behind the TV). The picture still wasn't that good and the guy came back for free. He replaced the booster with another model and that improved the picture slightly. My neighbour got a professional installer to put an aerial up on his chimney (on a bungalow). He was here for around 90 minutes. I don't know how much the guy charged my neighbour. My DAT75 came with a plug-in amplifier/splitter, but I installed that in the loft. That was a bit more work as I needed to find a 240V feed - I hard wired it into a junction box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ayatollah Buggeri Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Signal strength appears to be a major problem for digital broadcasting. I don't have a TV, but the signal for my DAB radio tuner is no good without an external aerial and booster (the tuner is connected to the rooftop aerial). FM stereo works fine without the booster. My neighbour has a portable DAB set that only even begins to get an acceptable signal when it's placed on one window sill. Given that the building in which we live is less than 200 yards from York Minster, we're not exactly in the middle of nowhere. I'd be interested to know how the analogue BBC2 switch-off in Cumbria went, specifically if significant numbers of households have had problems with poor reception of the digital signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Lad Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 I'm of the belief that once the analogue signal is finally switched off then the digital signal for freeview will be boosted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I'm of the belief that once the analogue signal is finally switched off then the digital signal for freeview will be boosted. That is correct. This should sort out a lot of reception problems, In the meantime installers will do what is the norm these days, sell things you may not need. I bought a new aerial - not needed. Though it was a DIY job. Even works in the loft. There are a few forums about: Digital Spy (Freeview); http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Blair Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Has anyone had a tv aerial installed lately - if so how much did you pay?Tnx S £150 including all kit, aerial + pole, cable etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ayatollah Buggeri Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I didn't know that telescreens suffered from poor reception. Maybe Big Brother isn't as all-powerful as we may have thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I paid about £90 3 years ago to have ours replaced, plus I had an additional cable ran upstairs into the bedroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prescience Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I'm not sure how long the guy took. My folks didn't have a good signal, so the installer also fitted a booster (just plugged in behind the TV). The picture still wasn't that good It is fairly pointless fitting an aerial amplifier behind the TV set. This simply boosts the snow and hash (Interference) as well as signal. If you are in a poor or low signal area, then you need an optimum very high gain aerial and a signal amplifier, installed immediately after the aerial, prior to the downfeeder. This type of amp is called a "Masthead Signal Amplifier": 'cos it is normally attached to the aerial mast, right next to the aerial terminals to minimise interference and maximise the gain of signal. They need a PSU run from the mains: this is sited in the loft and the power feed run also up to the masthead. If changing to digital, then sport out the extra few quid for satellite low loss co-axial feeder cable: well worth it. I'm just about to upgrade mine: new very high gain aerial, "Masthead" amp, new digibox, AV RF signal sender with IR remote function, automatic Scart switchbox, so the AV sender, DVD/VCR and Digibox all plumb in. We buy loads of stuff for the firm here and have an account: and that's who supplied all my kit at very keen prices. http://cpc.farnell.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worzel Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 It is fairly pointless fitting an aerial amplifier behind the TV set.This simply boosts the snow and hash (Interference) as well as signal. I cant agree with this. A booster has worked well for me and my inlaws. They were about to spend money upgrading their ariel on the advice of an ariel salesman, and I suggested a cheap booster, which worked a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prescience Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I cant agree with this. A booster has worked well for me and my inlaws. They were about to spend money upgrading their ariel on the advice of an ariel salesman, and I suggested a cheap booster, which worked a treat. Perhaps not: however your opinion flies in the face of established practice and recommended industry standards. There are, as with everything connected with electronic engineering, many variables: including the strength of signal in a location; orientation of the aerial; length of the downfeed; the level of extraneous RFI and etc and the age and quality of the co-axial cable; plus finally, the sensitivity of the receiver. Unfortunately, digital signals are not as forgiving as standard terrestial analogue. And they very much directional, rather than free radiating. Any slight mis-orientation of the aerial from the nearest transmitter means significant loss of signal and large quantities of hash, snow and etc on the TV Screen. Using an amp adjacent to the TV simply amplifies the interefence in the majority of cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worzel Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Perhaps not: however your opinion flies in the face of established practice and recommended industry standards.There are, as with everything connected with electronic engineering, many variables: including the strength of signal in a location; orientation of the aerial; length of the downfeed; the level of extraneous RFI and etc and the age and quality of the co-axial cable; plus finally, the sensitivity of the receiver. Unfortunately, digital signals are not as forgiving as standard terrestial analogue. And they very much directional, rather than free radiating. Any slight mis-orientation of the aerial from the nearest transmitter means significant loss of signal and large quantities of hash, snow and etc on the TV Screen. Using an amp adjacent to the TV simply amplifies the interefence in the majority of cases. You sound like you know what you are talking about, but fact (not my opinion) remains, without the booster next to the TV at mine and my inlaws house, the digital TV does not work to a servicable level, with it, it works absolutely fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ayatollah Buggeri Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 You sound like you know what you are talking about, but fact (not my opinion) remains, without the booster next to the TV at mine and my inlaws house, the digital TV does not work to a servicable level, with it, it works absolutely fine. My guess would be that in your case, the signal is only just too weak for the receiver to recover enough data to decompress it into a picture. So you only need a slight error correction boost, hence the signal booster next to the TV is enough. If you were in an area with a really weak signal, the steps Prescience mentioned would probably be necessary. The signal booster next to my DAB tuner brings the error level down on the display from 50-60ish and distractingly audible digital noise, to around 5-15ish and clear sounding audio (I presume the scale is 0-99, as it's two digits). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yourfriendlyestateagent Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Has anyone had a tv aerial installed lately - if so how much did you pay?Tnx S Just south of Yorkshire; £175 including freeview box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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