All posts by Andrew
Below are all of Andrew's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Mazbar: This happens to me all the time. I give fair prices to everyone but then someone else comes along and undercuts and does shoddy work. (Aerials on plastic fascia boards with loft brackets anyone?)
What people don't realise is how dangerous our job can be. "you've only got to run up on the roof" I frequently hear! If it was that easy then you would be up there I feel like saying!
Anyway mate the cowboys always get found out with the good installers lasting for years!
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A freeview tuner will see the 4g signal as noise. If the 4g signal is strong enough it will flood the tuner with noise and make it so it cannot decode the freeview signal. The tuners in TV's are made to tune up to UHF68 and so will definitely see the 4g signals.
There is talk of manufacturing newer aerials that are made so that they only pick up, upto UHF60. And over a time I guess that the software in TV's and freeview boxes will also change.
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Ryan what you are charging is fine. You can guarantee that the guy doing £40 installs is using poor quality components. The problem is getting people to realise the worth of the job! It may be something you have to ride through because eventually what the other guy is doing will go wrong he'll get a bad name and then people will come looking for a real installer who uses the correct equipment.
Because times are hard people are looking for the cheap solution but I can tell everyone now you only get what you pay for, and if you don't want the hassle of having to get your "new" aerial system repaired/replaced after 3 months then I suggest paying more than £40!!
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Nicholas Willmott: Yes the same frequency range but with transmitters much closer! You have to remember that if you live nest to a freeview transmitter chances are you don't need an aerial to pick up freeview! (I have done this with Wenvoe!) There will be many many 4g transmitters dotted around like mobile phone masts meaning that the signal will be strong enough to pick up with the tiny phone antenna.
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Also the reason that they want to use the 800MHz range for 4g as it is (please correct me if I'm wrong!) a sweet spot. I.e. it will work better within these frequencies than any other.
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Mazbar: No I certainly would not! I have seen many (mis)spellings of satellite too! How's work for you at the moment?
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Mazbar: I'm steady at the moment. A hurricane would be quite nice, you know just a small one. I am lucky as I have a contract with the council (two rivers) to move satellites and aerials when they erect scaffold. I have been very ill over the last 2 days and had to have a day off yesterday! I hated it! Back to it today though!
Ryan: That's the way it goes in this trade it seems it's either all or nothing! I have been self employed for 3 years (in the trade for 6)and find a few quiet spells in the year (about now, summer holidays etc) as long as you do a good job you will always have work, the trick is not to panic and keep yourself busy when you don't have work (fence need painting? your own aerials need attending to? I know mine do!)
Andy
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Jo Dee: It could be a number of things really. What I find if the signal is strong but quality poor is an amplifier (if you have one) is failing. Although in your case as it is intermittent that would seem unlikely. Does the aerial lead go straight into the back of the TV/freeview box? or does it go through an old video recorder first? If the latter try running the cable straight into the TV/freeview box.
Do you notice it gets worse when it rains? If so you may have water getting into the system. Lastly, is there an aerial socket in the wall? or does the cable come straight through the wall? If there is a socket the problem could lie there.
Andy
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Peter Kilbride: Whenever I have come across metal roofs the aerial has always had to go outside. Even Kingspan can send an aerial crazy! Get a reputable installer to come and have a look.
Andy
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Sunday 27 January 2013 8:00PM
Dave: I completely agree, a lot of the benchmarked aerials that I see are absolutely rubbish! Poor build quality and poor strength but as you said the manufacturer has paid to get it benchmarked. Now it's completely different when it comes to cable benchmarked cable is all that should be used.
Also a little research goes a long way forearmed is forewarned!