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What price for an aerial installation?

What prices have you been quoted and paid for an aerial installation?

What prices have you been quoted and paid for an aerial install
Published on by on UK Free TV
In responses to the guideline I posted about how much having a new aerial fitted should cost, Ian Grice posted: "£40-£50? Every aerial fitter I contacted wants at least £150+VAT considering you can get a class 3 aerial for under £10 and a class 2 for under £15 and cable is 40p a metre why are they charging so much for 30 minutes work?"

OK, for some places putting up a TV aerial is hard work, such as multi-story properties. As many people will simply be exchanging a Group A, B, C/D, E or K aerial for a wideband type, often without changing the supporting pole or cable, a high price cannot be justified.

I am concerned that some companies will exploit vulnerable groups (such as the elderly).

So, I what prices have you been quoted for aerial installations? What price have you paid for installation?

Do you know of any companies to avoid? Do you know of any companies that are good value for money?

Or do you work for a great aerial installation company?





Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

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Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

pml
Sunday 6 July 2008 1:00PM
Steve, how much are you paying Virgin a month? I think you will find it wont take long before you have reached the £350.00 mark. One year, two years maybe? Your average aerial lasts for twenty. £350.00 does sound excessive for one TV. Especially as you have managed to get it working in the loft! That isnt recommended by the way but it does infer that you are in a reasonably good area or you wouldnt get much if anything at all from the loft. Therefore, for that money or thereabouts, you should have got all three tv's connected and working from a new outdoor aerial.
steve, bedworth
Sunday 6 July 2008 1:42PM
I paid initially sky £21.00, phone 23.45 and setanta 12.99 ( new price)= £57.44.

I then went to top up anytime which cost me £54.93 per month ( phone etc, etc).

Virgin already done my phone and broadband and for an extra 26 quid gave me all the tv I wanted with setanta thrown in.= £49.45.
Having just freeview was never an only option for me, so the price of the ariel was unjustifiable, I did need a good arial to download the various programmes off top up anytime, but was able to put one in the loft (2 actually) with booster. they are special loft only arials. We get the odd stalling from them but it is very rare. Now we get what we had from sky, all the programmes we watched before, phone calls 24/7 free, setanta sports and get decent coverage on freeview if we wish.
pml
Sunday 6 July 2008 4:03PM
Pardon me Steve but "they are special loft only aerials" Thats a cracker! RAOFLMFAO!!! Priceless! Absolutely Priceless!! Also, this "rare" "odd stalling" you get is only acceptable to you because you did the job yourself. Would you have been so accepting of it had you of laid out some hard earned on an aerial? You see I think we are getting to the central issue here in that (and Im not having a go at you personally Steve) but you are willing to pay the likes of Sky or Virgin £50+ a month for what? A load of dross - mostly repeats and reality TV shows but not willing to pay for a man's time. Reflective of todays society I feel. Everyone is an "expert" & knows best. They also know the "cost" of everything but the "value" of nothing. Your man was very steep in his price - we do not know the reason for this - rogue? 3 storey property in a town centre? or something else - The rogue option maybe correct - like all trades they are abound but if you get one dont tar all of us with the same brush. For those like myself who do take the profession seriously and always try to do the best for their customers it is always galling when it isnt appreciated and belittled by those who have had a bad experience elsewhere.
steve, bedworth
Sunday 6 July 2008 8:29PM
pml, maybe I have not made myself clear.
The arials were indoor use arials. loft arials. The reason I went down that road was simply because I was not prepared to pay around 350 for a job that I knew I was getting ripped off on.Several quotes given to me on the phone without coming out was around the 300 quid mark. I needed a better arial than the one I had so I could get downloaded progs from top up. I made the choice to risk buying an indoor loft arial with booster for 39.99. It worked but gave me problems with signal until I moved arial higher up in loft, and now unless weather is absolutely appalling my picture is fine. Just freeview is never an option in my home due to kids wanting disney etc so it was a case of finding better packages. sky would have cost me with my other bills around £57.00, top up with an increase in setanta etc would have come in at 52. virgin offered me 24/7 tv with setanta thrown in, so with my other bills came to 49.oo quid. Now I get all the tv I want, I get freeview at more than acceptable signal levels and all it cost me was £80.00 for two arials. ignore the payments to virgin etc because they were in the equation no matter what. like for like if I had freeview only then I would have paid 80 quid compared to 350.
As for knocking your good self or any other reputable engineer I have not done so. But please don't undermine me when I talk about the freely available loft arials.
pml
Sunday 6 July 2008 10:40PM
Steve, my point about the "loft aerial" is that there is no such thing. An aerial is an aerial and according to all the broadcast authorities an aerial should never be mounted in a loft space. And yet the sheds sell them packaged and labelled as just that. What I cant quite understand is how all the firms you contacted wanted £300.00 which would imply you are in a fringe area and yet you have a DIY loft aerial working. Very strange. They cant ALL be rip-off merchants?? There must be something else that affected the price if you are not in a fringe area. Or maybe you are just in a particularly good spot within a fringe area?? Dont know. Something doesnt add up. Also as I said before you are happy with the unreliable reception you have managed to get as it is a result of your own efforts. No one else to blame!! Having a proper digital compatible aerial mounted outside would though give much better quality reception than you currently have that is guaranteed but if you are happy with what you have presently from our diy exploits thats fine.
Norriss
Monday 7 July 2008 12:38AM
pML YES THEY CAN ALL BE RIP OFF MERCHANTS
thats the whole point mate and some of you are nasty self important aholes who write stuff like Thats a cracker! RAOFLMFAO!!! when people join a discussion, not having a go at you personally Steve yeah right your not.
oldhand
Monday 7 July 2008 12:41AM
The loft aerial issue is another political fudge, again we the installers are informed & know that loft aerials (which have never been a good idea) will work only in certain situations & even then may break up if someone uses a hairdryer etc in the next room ! but because it is unacceptable to tell the public that a indoor aerial is a compromise at best & useless at worst ! because of the percieved outcry that will happen when the public realise that they may have to pay to have decent aerials for all of their secondry tv's as well as the main set. its a bit similar to installers being told to only use benchmarked wb aerials & cables but the public being told that their old grouped aerials with 10 year old cheapo cable should work fine ! This is almost as good as freesat letting Associate RDI members fit freesat when they have no qualifications or have no heights training & in some cases arn't even on a course to gain training or how some bigger comanies are able to use "in house" training for their employees to gain "full rdi status" I bet thats totaly unbiased ! Its all politics. Its all pretty shameful !
Berne
Monday 7 July 2008 1:17AM
I live in West Wales on the coast I can pick up perfect freeview with an aerial in my loft that's not much better than a coat hanger my neighbour has a set top aerial and gets freeview fine so it depends on signal strength not politics
Just to see what would happen I phoned 5 different company's for an idea what they would charge said I hadn't got a box yet went between £180 to £350 all of them said I needed a new aerial the only politics I can see is your like MPs and their expenses
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 8:21AM
Berne: Whilst it is true that in some places you can get Freeview reception with a loft or set-top aerial, this is not usually a reliable set-up. And it probably won't work at all with the upcoming DVB-T2 HD transmission, with the 256QAM broadcast mode.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 10:31AM
pml, again you miss the point. I decided to put up my own arial, it works I get 85% signal which by my reckoning means I am only 15% short of full.. so obviously my "loft arial" has worked. You are correct in the fact that I have to face waltham while others next door face sutton coldfield and that I need a booster on my outside arial. But even allowing for the booster I bought an arial with booster fit for purpose ALL for £39.99 each one.any trouble I do get is now down to atmospheric condition.. As I said I did have trouble with it at first but some tweaking has got me an arial fit for..
can you guarantee me that an outside arial would not also give me trouble in really bad weather? My brother in law had a reputable dealer who fitted an arial fit for, he has 98% signal, yet still has the odd problem now and again.
oldhand
Monday 7 July 2008 10:33AM
Berne, what i meant by politics is that the powers to be, wont come out & say that indoor & loft aerials will only work in certain situations, so they can avoid an outcry about the real cost to the public of the so called digital dividend . I believe the bbc & digital uk quote £80-£150 for a single aerial to one point as a reasonable price for the work & materials involved & that dont include a freeview box. of course its down to signal level & quality, but its also down to those running the show to not make sweeping statements like loft & settop aerials will be fine ! The bbc say that aerials should be mounted outside but not everyone is sing from the same hymn sheet.
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 10:38AM
oldhand: The official BBC line is loft aerials are bad "Aerials in the loft
It is possible to get good reception with an aerial in the loft of your house. However, the incoming
signal will be weakened by such things as roof tiles, loft insulation, water tanks, electrical cable and
even the gables of the house. On the other hand, the aerial will be protected from atmospheric
corrosion and so will not need to be checked as often as an outdoor aerial. A CAI-registered
installer will be able to advise whether an aerial in the loft will be suitable." www.bbc.co.uk link icon http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/pdf/factsheet_tvaerials.pdf "The signals from loft aerials are typically 10% or less than those from a comparable roof aerial" (see www.bbc.co.uk link icon http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/articles/2007/03/26/reception.pdf) , but for example BBC Northern Ireland recommends them! www.bbc.co.uk link icon BBC - Northern Ireland - On Your Behalf
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 10:47AM
steve, bedworth: To be fair, the problem with loft aerials and digital reception is not that you can't get a signal, but they are unreliable, so they only work say 85% of the time, which is regarded technically as "no reception"; this is the problem you have just stated.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 12:23PM
but mine works brian, I suffer less disruption than I did with my outside arial which was not fit for use.
I don't dispute what pml says about reputable engineers who will give you an arial fit for purpose, but even outside on my roof I would still be prone to atmospheric conditions.
This arial is fine, I may get the odd blip maybe twice a week which lasts for about 2 seconds if that. I can live with that.
The problem as pml puts it is not that people like me decide to pay sky or virgin ( that is our choice) but rather what the going rate is for the job.
take my example, I have proved that other than having the arial on my roof it is fine and fit for. It cost me 39.99.
If a dealer came and said 39.99 for the arial, £40 for extra cable and £15.00 per hour to fit, my estimate would be certainly no more than 3 hours work at most, this only comes to £124.99. Even taking into account a better arial at say £80, it would still only amount to £165.00, which is on par with the 150 so very often quoted. I would happily pay that. The fact is brian wether you or pml like it or not engineers are now grasping that people know they need arials and are upping the price now to take advantage. After all once the arials are all upgraded work will drop off. Its human nature in these situations for people to get what they can out of a situation.
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 12:31PM
steve, bedworth: If you are happy with your loft aerial, fine. But that does not extrapolate to everyone. I can't see you being able to watch Freeview HD when it starts, for example.
pete
Monday 7 July 2008 12:43PM
Hi berne,when you say west wales i assume you mean pembrokeshire, which is my local county, its a shame you didnt call me i would have quoted 140 for a triax SG18W or as we mostly use 150 for a blake dmx10 both to include 6ft pole lashing, cradle and bench marked down lead, when you say you live on the coast that could be from pendine amroth s/foot tenby up to fresh east or maybe north of the county st davids fishguard dinas newport etc all of which are fringe areas,maybe you could let me know. is your coat hanger a wideband or grouped one, do you have any sort of amp on it, when you say "I phoned 5 different company's for an idea what they would charge" to me that implies you asked for a price to upgrade your aerial, but then you say "all of them said I needed a new aerial " well hang on you just asked them for a price,i can only assume you contacted the national companys as we only have 6 pembs based installers and i get the wife to phone for quotes now and again and we have never been quoted more than 195.00 (excluding boosters). if you are south of the county then i wonder what transmitter you are on , our local one presely or may be carmel in crosshands or even huntshaw cross ( do you get local news and weather or the cornish) not having a go just interested cheers for now pete
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 1:17PM
brian,

The point is that in some cases (and I agree not all) the loft arial will be good enough, but for engineers to disregard them outright is abysmal.
As I said my brother in law has an outside digital arial, upgraded last year, it cost him a reasonable 175.00.
He gets most of the time very good pictures, but sometimes it pixels etc.
His is no different to mine other than outside.
I agree that the best arial should be outside and made that point clear to my wife before doing what I did. However when summing up, taking into account the trouble I hear others having with outside digi arials, them my choice is no different.Except I saved money..
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 1:20PM
steve, bedworth: I can't agree that to "disregard them outright is abysmal" as Digital UK, the BBC, CAI, Freeview and everyone else says they should not be installed.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 1:22PM
brian, as an afterthought, there are two people in my house who would not hesitate in telling me if they were getting sub standard pictures and thats my kids, they are not backwards in coming forwards. And I have heard nothing from them since I installed their aria, they both run off an arial in loft, they get full signal..
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 1:24PM
steve, bedworth: With Digital TV you don't get "substandard pictures", you get all or nothing. Loft aerials tend to give you "all" until there is problem, then you get nothing.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 1:51PM
but that is the same as outside arials Brian.By substandard I mean sparking pics etc. These are just as able to occur using outside arials.
To put this to bed I don't dispute that outside arials are the preferred choice. But in certain cases indoor loft arials can and do produce equally fine pics.
The problem is how many engineers are willing to charge a fair price for job in hand
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 1:56PM
steve, bedworth: You just don't get "sparking pics" with Freeview though. Loft aerials receive less of the signal (only 10% according to the BBC) so are more prone to interference, and also "go bad" under Inversion.
pete
Monday 7 July 2008 3:59PM
it is my understanding that we are advised not to fit in lofts because an aerial should work in all weather conditions, if we have snow and it sits on your roof this will severly affect your ability to recieve an acceptable signal, also with new builds this foil back insullation in lofts and cavity walls screens it as well
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 4:02PM
pete: Yes, the reason for not putting aerials in lofts is mainly the poor signal for the reasons you list.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 4:31PM
Brian I must be the exception to the rule, my signal strength is 85% and as I said the disruption I get is not worth worrying about, it is hardly noticable in the grand scheme of things.
I have seen my brother in laws tv on a bad day, he has outside , upgraded arial and he gets the freezing squares in his pics, but not all the time, I don't even get that now, all I get is the picture momentarily stopping for about 2 secs and even that is few and far between now. I don't dispute that the outside choice is the best option for getting as near as full signal though, but I am saying that in some cases loft installation can and does work
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 4:32PM
steve, bedworth: It might work NOW, but it probably won't work the whole time. That is the general problem with loft installs.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 4:43PM
I have had this arial fitted since January brian and other than me having to move it higher up to get better signal, I have had no other probs than ones mentioned.
it may be worth noting that I have it facing the sky form the very top of my roof joists and that the only thing stopping the signal coming through whole is one roof tile.I have no padding etc on my roof, only the rose tiles. I have to say the booster on my kids arial is 3 times better than mine and they have full freeview with no hiccups.
again I don't dispute that the best option is an outside arial, but there will be cases where people will try loft..
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 4:44PM
steve, bedworth: It just isn't worth the hassle. The roof is the correct place for a TV aerial!
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 4:56PM
there is no hassle brian.
it took me all of 40 minutes to fit and saved me a good wedge compared to the quotes I got.
Briantist
Monday 7 July 2008 4:57PM
steve, bedworth: I mean the hassle of having the TV go off when there is high pressure or snow. It's simply something that a professional installer won't do because they just don't want to have to come back and move the aerial to the roof. I don't know your postcode, but are YOU 100% sure that it will still work when the frequencies shift at switchover? So many of the problems that I get email about relate to loft aerials that worked when they were installed and then don't later.
pml
Monday 7 July 2008 6:49PM
Steve, you say "my signal strength is 85%" - you see this is the problem, digital isnt all about "strength" its about quality. Too many errors and it falls down. And not forgetting that this 85% is only being achieved by using an amplifier - something that should be avoided at all times and only used when essential to compensate for forward losses - not insufficiencies in the incoming signal. You are happy with your results at the price you have paid out - great. But for others who read about your success on here who are tempted to go that route they could end up wasting money trying to achieve the same ends. That £80.00 may be better spent put towards the cost of a decent outdoor rig for many. For Norriss’ benefit – my sarcasm towards your loft aerial statement was directed at the fact you have been understandably taken in by what is a misleading description – not your lack of knowledge for believing it. Your Brother in law's problems could be to do with ingress noise if that 98% is achieved directly from the aerial with no amplification and could be caused by any outside interference sources getting through onto the signal. I would look at the screening integrity of the installation - the quality of his connections and cable etc. If they're ok it could be coming in through the aerial itself - is he near a main road? Traffic noise, that’s “electromagnetic” noise not “audible” (just in case anyone’s confused), could be the cause.
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 8:15PM Bedworth
Brian and pml,
first brian, All I know so far is that my arial has worked with rain, sleet and snow lashing down outside and gale force winds, my postcode is cv12 0Lq.Even with the lovely warm weather we had recently I had only a minor blip.My argument is this, if I am getting good signal and I have faced many weather situations which I have, then it works.. if you are saying it will come to an end when the switchover happens, lets wait and see. personally if that happens we will look at an outside arial but I will not be overcharged for it.

Now pml,what more can I say, my picture on freeview is brilliant, yes I have the odd blip where picture stalls but voices still talk, this happens once in a blue moon. I have had success, but if anyone here is reading and thinking of doing it.. well that is their choice. It worked for me because I decided that was the route I wanted to try. I would not encourage anyone to do what I did unless they are prepared to gamble 40 quid on an arial with booster. ( mind I had the option to take the arial back if it failed, so it was a win win situation),
As for your accustaion that I have been taken in, no I have not, I checked what I needed, checked if it could work and took the gamble.
As for my brother in laws problems, it answers the question that it goes wrong even with an ouitside arial
steve, bedworth
Monday 7 July 2008 8:17PM
pml again as an afterthought, I needed a booster on my old present arial to pick up the analogue signal, so having a booster for the new one is no different.
pml
Monday 7 July 2008 10:52PM
"As for your accustaion that I have been taken in, no I have not" - but you said "they are special loft only arials"??? Sounds taken in to me! And as for your "afterthought" it is very different. Very different indeed. Anyway I think even Brian's tired of this one now. And I really dont mind if people give it a go because a high percentage will fail in their endeavours and end up taking back their "special loft only aerials" and paying someone like me to get up on the roof and fit a decent one. Fortunately for me and my profession, most people cant be ar5ed and just pay us to do it in the first place.
Berne
Monday 7 July 2008 10:57PM
Steve it`s amazing isn`t it, Your the one using it ,you tell them it works ok ,but they have to tell you it doesn`t. I get perfect Freeview with a crappy little aerial but Pete says it`s a shame I didn`t phone him cos he would have done me a new aerial for £140, but I don`t need it I`ve got freeview and it works PML seems to be saying if we don`t give an expert money we will definitely have problems sooner or later and Briantist seems to say if it works now it either shouldn`t or won`t at some point. Can`t win can you, every way they put it your supposed to pay a pro. Well mate like you mine works now it worked before and if I have problems in the future I`ll sort them out then if it ant broke I don`t need to pay anyone to fix it .but I know enough to realise for basic Freeview reception knowing enough to be an expert is pretty easy. Your running a few tvs off freeview is your booster a distribution amp cos that's what I use for 4 TVs. Your way out Pete Blaenplwyf covers my area and I said I get perfect freeview so why would I buy an aerial off you?
pml
Monday 7 July 2008 11:08PM
Oh, and I really dont want to go down the "how much" argument again but as you touched on it....£15.00/hour. Thats fine for the engineer - now then for the engineer to get that - how much an hour do you think the firm that employs him should charge you? Bearing in mind all the additional support structure that got him there. Where did you get his number from - a paid directory? Who answered the phone and booked the call - a receptionist maybe? Is the receptionist working from a rented premises or from home? Is he/she paye? Add on employers NI for starters. When he turns up does come by buss or in a fully stocked fully insured van with all the correct tools to perform an installation? Does the van require deisel (and you know whats happened to that recently), tyres, road tax, maintenance? Does he know what he's doing - has he had training? Can he work safely on your property - is he insured to do so? Does he have the correct test equipment? Is he backed up by a trade association? And the list goes on....Now then, we started with £15.00/hour. Now as we are not yet in a communist state and his boss is legally allowed to make some money out of sending him there too, so.... any ideas what he should be charged out at? I think you would agree a bit more than £15.00/hour?? Of course a lot of those overheads are diminished if you are a one man band and they will probably work cheaper - but I still doubt if you would find one any good for £15.00/hour. If you remove all those overheads you of course end up with a cowboy or someone dotting on. How else?
pml
Monday 7 July 2008 11:31PM
Berne, "PML seems to be saying if we don’t give an expert money we will definitely have problems sooner or later" - bang on mate - Steve's comment I believe was; "yes I have the odd blip where picture stalls but voices still talk". When I say what I do, it is because my customers are not so tolerant of "the odd blip where picture stalls but voices still talk" - it gives them the right 'ump! You and Steve are only happy to put up with it because it is working well enough for the limited outlay. And again I say (as has Brian has) Well done to you both - I'm really pleased for you. And don't take our word for it - wait and see..... there are guys at the BBC and DUK who are vastly more knowledgeable than I who are paid a lot of money to look into the future of DSO and forecast how it is all going to pan out for different scenarios, so don’t look at it so hard and fast, if they aren’t sure, how the hell can you or I be? DSO is a sprawling ugly fluid mass for which it is difficult to predict all the possible repercussions that may appear along the way - some might say that it would be easier to knit fog – but the advice they are giving at present is all we have to go on. And “they” reckon there will be more issues, different to those we face now, both during and post switchover. But hey-ho, you should get by for the next couple of years or so (depending where you are) ok and then you can email Brian or get in a queue somewhere for a reputable engineer to turn up and use his knowledge and experience to resolve the new, unforeseen issues.
Berne
Tuesday 8 July 2008 12:02AM
PML get it right I don`t live in steves house I live in Wales and I get PERFECT FREEVIEW RECEPTION no blips I can put up with PERFECT RECEPTION You say If they aren’t sure, how the hell can you or I be? and all the other stuff you wrote about not knowing about future developments spot on why bother paying you when you admit you have no idea what will be required a year or 5 from now it`s not like your gonna pop round to help me out in 18 months time what with the price of fuel and all that you just made the perfect argument for sticking with what I`ve got. I couldn`t give a toss about your overheads if I don`t need I aint gonna buy it your always going on about it`s not a communist state yet spot on it`s all about business and if you can`t keep your cost down and be competitive tough luck it`s not our problem.
Tony
Tuesday 8 July 2008 12:17AM
The loft aerial includes brackets for installation in a roof space as part of the package. These units are not designed for exposure to the elements resulting in considerable savings in the manufacturing process.
The less rugged construction achieves a considerably lower retail price when compared to external models. PML my trade catalogue seems to think your wrong that sounds very much like a loft aerial to me.
Just off to RAOFLMFAO at your expense.
Briantist
Tuesday 8 July 2008 8:07AM
steve, bedworth: Please don't think that I am saying that it never works. The problems are:

1) The change to all 64QAM mode at switch-over, the shift of frequencies; and

2) You have resorted to using a booster, which costs money to run and is not very "green"; and

3) The change of multiplex B (and all eventually) to DVB-T2, 256QAM ASSUMES a roof-top aerial. The assumption is taken because of a decade of advise NOT to fit loft aerials. We cannot say exactly how this will work as the system has ONE test transmission, see www.ukfree.tv link icon BBC starts Freeview HD test in Guildford | ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover advice, since 2002 ;

4) The post-switchover power levels of TV signals are designed for roof-top reception. Whereas the old analogue system was over-powered. cf Kyoto Protocol etc.
steve, bedworth
Tuesday 8 July 2008 1:12PM
pml, this is quite simple what I am saying. The special loft arial I referred to was the one I bought which stipulated on the box it should not be used outside. As for people not calling engineers out to fit a proper one, I have never condoned that, I have said many times the right way to go is an outside arial, however YOU made the point that to get no blips that was the way I had to go. This is clearly wrong, blips happen with outside arials as they do with inside one's ( although less chance I admit).
AS for the booster, I have one on my old analogue arial, always have had, So logic tells me that when I fitted my new one, this too needed a booster.
As for the 15.00 quid per hour, I don't have a problem with arial companies charging a reasonable rate, but it has to be reasonable.

Brian, all I am saying is that loft arials can work, for how long I don't know but then neither do you or pml.
Briantist
Tuesday 8 July 2008 1:16PM
steve, bedworth: Just out of interest, could you name the store that sold you the "loft aerial" and the make and model?
steve, bedworth
Tuesday 8 July 2008 1:19PM
Tony thanks for that.
I know I bought an arial designed for loft use, however pml thought best to criticise me over it.

What sort of engineer is he when you have one in your trade book and I know B AND Q or argos or maplins sell them, yet he says they do not exist.
steve, bedowrth
Tuesday 8 July 2008 1:58PM
Brian yes I can supply you with the both of them.
The one I was using for my tv downstairs is an slx megaboost digital arial kit from B an Q and it states in its product ifo.. ideal for enclosed spaces such as lofts.
The one my kids use is a maplins one code a65fa.. a gigaboost digital arial sutiable for indoor or out.
steve, bedworth
Tuesday 8 July 2008 2:01PM
brian, look again in B and Q site.. it is there. I have just this minute got the info from there.
Briantist
Tuesday 8 July 2008 2:07PM
I note that
Maplin > Gigaboost Digital TV Aerial Kit

says "Suitable for outdoor or loft installation" rather than "suitable for loft OPERATION". "installation" just means there is a suitable bracket, not that it will work. Just like all those damn DVB-T USB adaptors that come with a useless aerial too.
Briantist
Tuesday 8 July 2008 2:23PM
steve, bedworth: Right, www.diy.com link icon SLX 14 Element Digital TV Aerial</a> says "By 2012 (end of the digital TV switchover), most outdoor aerials will require upgrading in order to be capable of receiving TV signals." - this is clearly untrue. Not MOST. It also says "Suitable for outdoor or loft installation" which is about the brackets, not the usability. www.diy.com link icon SLX Megaboost Compact Digital TV Aerial Kit> says "deal for fitting in enclosed places such as lofts" but calls it a "Megaboost outdoor aerial" just before this. www.diy.com link icon SLX 32 Element Digital TV Aerial and www.diy.com link icon SLX 48 Element High Gain Digital TV Aerial and www.diy.com link icon SLX 48 Element High Gain Digital TV Aerial also use the "installation" word!
steve, bedworth
Tuesday 8 July 2008 2:30PM
you may need to rewrite that last post brian.
Brian I am putting this one to bed now as we seem to be going over old ground.
The fact of the matter isthis, the arials bought by me state quite clearly they can be installed in the loft, which by its own merits must mean they must be able to operate in the loft.
I do agree that it does not say they will work as good as outside however, but it does not say they won't either.
Briantist
Tuesday 8 July 2008 2:38PM
steve, bedworth: The links are right, it just the wrong names have been returned for some reason. Have to sort it out by hand. As I said, it says that they have loft-mounting brackets, not that it is a good idea to mount them in the loft.
pete
Tuesday 8 July 2008 8:47PM
Berne i don't want to sell you anything you mentioned west wales and coat hanger that got my attention, i do cover as far as aberaeron and much further and i would not class you as west wales. There is some very rugged coast line around there so count yourself very lucky,i would say a very definite most people along that coast line and if you drive down into eberaeron, parts of newquay llangranog, tresaith, mwnt , aberporth, moylgrove etc you will see they mostly have 10/12ft masts, high gain aerials and mast amps.. so well done to you, the next time someone asks you what were you quoted you can now say anywere from £140.00 to £350.00, you also don't say weather, you installed it or are you taking credit for someone else's work like an installers maybe, like the previous owners of the property who thought it a good idea to get a pro in, you'll probably tell me i'm wrong and you built the place yourself all with a hammer and a screwdriver,so well done Bernie
pml
Tuesday 8 July 2008 9:19PM
Berne, you are obviously a very lucky man.... you must be because even Pete who seems to know your area is surprised at your "perfect" (never use that would in this trade) Freeview reception from your old coat hanger of a loft aerial! That is the wonderful thing about this trade. You can never ever know it all. There will always be anomalies that catch you out - and as a matter of interest - it works both ways. So far as the great "loft debate" goes - (Great input by the way Tony! what surprises me the most is the fact that you can actually read the trade catalogue - or is it in picture form?) anyway, I digress, the fact of the matter is; loft aerials work at the moment in some areas - they may not continue to do so through and after DSO - outside aerials in their various forms work COMPARATIVELY better in those same areas, FACT! and may or may not continue to do so through and after DSO dependant on many variable factors. YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE ANYONE'S WORD FOR IT. WATCH AND WAIT. AND GOOD LUCK. So far as my overheads go (thank you for your support, I shall wear it always!)to maintain my income I will need to put up prices. Not an option in the current climate. Hence I will have to take a cut in pay (don't get the violins out yet!) but how many of you would be happy to continue working as hard for less money?? No I thought not. Not your problem I know. Incidentally most of the aerial manufacturers used by the trade recently increased their prices to us by 20% as well. So the £150.00 I started talking about some time ago on here is probably now worth a lot less. Bills Up - Income Down - and now DIY loft aerials working..... what next?????



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