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Digital TV Aerial Installation in a loft for New Build Home in Lancaster

2/14/2017

There are many new build sites in and around Lancaster that a requiring TV aerial installation in their lofts. The builders such as Barratts and Storey Homes will happily install the TV sockets for the home in which ever room the new home owner requires, yet they don’t install the aerial or amplifier to service these TV points. This is where we come in and get the loft aerial installed and working for you. When we arrive we will have all of the correct equipment on our vans so that we will be able to complete the job within the time of our visit. We will not need to nip out to pick up some piece of equipment that we may need. Having installed plenty of digital aerials in the new builds in and around Lancaster, we know exactly what is required to carry out a successful aerial installation in Lancaster

Aerial Installation to 7 points

aerial installation in loft in lancaster

With the aerial in the loft situation, usually the builders will have coiled up the coax cable connecting to all of the TV sockets around the house, and left the cable coiled near the loft hatch, making the ability to finish the job that bit quicker. Once in the loft we use a log periodic digital aerial and by connecting this to a spectrum analyser direct the aerial into the best position to pick up the strongest signal. We then fit an aerial spike to the most suitable rafter and set about attaching the aerial head to it. After this we run a length of coax cable to where the embedded coax cable is. Now, depending on how many TV points there are in the house will determine whether or not we use a passive splitter or an amplified one. If there are 4 or more TV sockets in the house, then we would generally use some sort of amplified splitter such as a set-back amp or a masthead amplifier.

TV Aerial Fitted in Loft for New Build in Lancaster

aerial to 7 TV sockets in new home in lancaster

With the Storey homes, they go to that little bit more effort in the construction of the homes and will equip the loft with a light and also a power socket. This is usually located near the loft hatch and is there for the amp to plug into. If there is no power socket and the home has 4 or more points, then we would use a masthead amp. This kind of amp is split into 2 parts, the splitter device, and the power unit. The power to the amp is sent to the splitter part via the coax cable going from the TV point to the loft. It doesn’t matter which one is used just so long as it is used. As with the pictures shown of one of the aerial installation jobs we did in Lancaster, it shows a set-back amp having been installed and it is plugged into a power socket in the loft. With this aerial installation we were able to provide a quality Freeview signal for all 7 aerial sockets in the home.

TV Wall Mounting in Lancaster

2/7/2017

We recently did a TV wall mounting installation for a customer who had moved into the luxury apartments built at the old hospital on Quernmore Rd. I must admit, it was a little difficult trying to navigate my way to the right entrance for the appartment, but after calling the customer I got it sorted.

Possibly worth investing in a few signs, and also they could do with getting the road signs up by now. Anyway, I think they have done a good job of converting the old hospital building into luxury flats.

I was asked to install a new LCD 50" television on a stud wall for this chap, plus he wanted the cabling hidden, because of course it looks neater, but it also keeps them away from little hands and he had twin grandsons at 6 months old visiting regularly, so it would ony be a matter of time before they would be pulling and tugging on those exposed cables.

As with all of my TV wall mounts, I take great care in picking the right TV wall bracket, and making sure that where it is going to be situated is also going to be a viable place for it to be installed. With the wall being a studded out wall, I used special plugs design for use with plasterboard and set about lining up the drill holes and screwing them in. I always measure twice before doing any kind of work, just to ensure I get it right the first time.

I also pride myself on getting the bracket lined up level in an the correct position, this then makes the TV sit level too. After the Tv was installed on the wall, I measured out the trunking and fit that, again using my level to get it perfect for my customers. Although the picture I took from my phone is a little fuzzy I hope you can see the job that was done, was done well.

Digital TV Aerial Installation in Lancaster

11/25/2016

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These are just a few pictures of an aerial installation carried out at a property in Lancaster the other week. It was installed on a bungalow that had no chimney, yet we still needed to install an outside aerial. The signal strength was going to be good, due to the fact that the actual TV mast at Over Kellet was visible from the road so we knew thsignal would be good. We fitted a mini log periodic TV Aerial to a cranked mast that was fixed to a wall bracket that we drilled into the wall, as seen in the picture below.

The small aerial pulled in over 60db in signal strength and the quality was very good. This aerial although only small, packs a big punch and will compete with much larger antennas on the market.

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TV Aerial Installation in Preston & Why I Bolt My Brackets to the Chimney

1/12/2016

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Recently we went to a call out in Prestonto see about re attaching an aerial to a chimney. The existing aerial was a large high gain version on a tall mast bolted to a bracket which had been attached to the chimney with a lashing kit. The lashing kit is a basic way of attaching the bracket to the chimney using a steel wire that goes around the breadth of the cimney and secured to either end of the bracket. What had happened during the years it had been up there, is that the cable had cut into the mortar and eventually after a storm, it had brought part of the cimney down

This had resulted in damage to not just the chimney, but also to the roof slates where the bricks fell on to, but also it smashed a velux window. This is one of the main reasons why we dont use lashing kits, since the end results sometimes end up in damaging the property. At Digitec we use a stand off galvanised bracket that is bolted to the chimney ensuring a more secure aerial installation. Not only that, we only use log periodic TV Aerials since they do not use a big back balun or reflector like most aerials and it therefore has less wind load, which is better during windy conditions.

When an aerial is installed correctly it should bring in the strongest signal available with the best quality and it shoulde be fitted in a way that will last for the lifetime of the product. It should never be installed in such a way that after a few yers is starting to cause damage to the property. Below are images of the aerial installation in Preston where we changed the big aerial on a lashing kit to a log periodic version fixed to a stand off bracket that had been securly bolted to the chimney

The signal quality and strength was so good with this aerial installation that it was possible to split the signal 4 ways with each TV Point in the propertyreceiving a good strong signal.

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TV Aerial Installation in Morecambe that Picks up Transmission from Winter Hill

12/21/2015

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The other week I got asked if it is possible to receive the transmission being broadcast from winter hill over in Morecambe & Lancaster area. I replied it did depend where your property is and if there is no interference, but it is possible and I have been able to get a strong enough signal to split a number of times.

The customers house was near the coast in Morecambe and there was nothing initially that stuck out as being problem. The job was to install a digital aerial to the gable end of the property and it was going to feed 2 TV points in the house. I wanted to check the signal strength and quality before I started fixing and bracket, so I hooked up a log periodic digital aerial to my spectrum analyzer meter and climber the ladder to where the aerial would be fitted. At that point It pick up a strong 63db with good signal quality so I could no drill into the wall and fix a stand off bracket.

The aerial install was a standard job really, stand off bracket which then holds a cranked mast with the aerial attached to the top of the mast pointing towards winter hill. At the base of the mast I fitted the 2 way passive outdoor splitter and ran the coax cable down to the 2 points in the property where the customer wanted the tv points. I fitted tv coax sockets for a neat finish and tested the signal, which was no at 57db with good quality. The result was a nice neat TV Aerial Installation & a happy customer.

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Subscription TV Tops over £1,000 a year in the UK

11/18/2014

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As a TV Aerial Installer in the North West of England I often come across customers who have recently cancelled their TV subscription service. This is mainly to do with the monthly cost of paying for the service being just too much. It is no surprise to read in this latest article from http://advanced-television.com/2014/11/17/top-uk-pay-tv-packs-top-1000-a-year/

The top TV packages from Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk, which include all the premium content and best available broadband speeds, all now cost more than £1,000 (€1,251) a year.

According to media regulator Ofcom, the average revenue per user made by TV companies has “increased as pay-TV subscribers have taken up more premium products”.

Recent figures show that BT’s overall average revenue per user has grown 7 per cent year on year to £404. Sky’s has risen from £504 four years ago to £574, while Virgin’s is £588 a year – an increase 2 per cent year on year.

To watch all Premier League football matches, plus premium shows such as Game of Thrones, House of Cards and Extant, consumers need to subscribe to Sky Sports and BT, Sky Atlantic, Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, respectively. Buying just those TV services directly – without them being bundled with any packages that include broadband or telephony – costs about £792 a year, or £839 in HD. That is on top of £145.50 a year for the BBC licence fee.

There are ways to drastically reduce the monthly cost of your TV packages. By choosing the Freeview service it is possible to get a vast majority of programs being watched throughout the UK. Then by choosing to pay for the Film and series packages from providers such as amazon or netflix, there is a way of getting the popular paid for TV programs and films which are very popular. The only way to really find what works for yourself is to browse the options before you decide to jump in with a subscription commitment. For Freeview TV, you will need a TV Aerial Installation of a quality digital aerial.

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New BBC iPlayer & Red Button Service for You View Customers

10/27/2014

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You View customers will be happy to hear that they will now be able to access the BBC iplayer & red button function via their You View boxes. Before now this function has been missing and it is no surprise that it has now been added, what with the rise of viewers accessing on demand TV and watching their favourite programs when they want to.
From http://advanced-television.com/2014/10/24/youview-adds-iplayer-and-bbc-connected-red-button/

Customers will be able to watch exclusive BBC iPlayer programmes and discover content more easily. The refreshed look and feel offers new categories including comedy, arts, history and music.

In addition, YouView customers will be able to access an increased choice of video and streaming content across news, sport and weather via BBC Connected Red Button, which can be launched from BBC TV channels.

What to expect from BBC iPlayer:

Watch programs going back 30 days using a easy to use home page
View shows only shown on the updated BBC iPlayer such as Doctor Who Extra
thumb through new categories such as docs, food & drink, Arts and History programs pls more.
search using series, season, event or theme.

It has been a necessary upgrade from You View, and much needed. With the increased use of internet TV and the ability to access more of the TV programs when and where the viewing public want, it is the wrong time to be behind the curve with so many big players vying for the attention of hungry online Television viewers.

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More People are watching Time Shifted Television

10/13/2014

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At one time it the idea of pausing live TV seemed a far off dream. The thought that one could just press pause and the live television program would freeze exactly where you want seemed an impossibility, yet thats how more and more of UK residents are doing. Also, is the rise in downloading box sets from their providers and of also recording TV programs for future viewing pleasure.

From DTG

Data from over 2.3 million TiVo STBs show that a fifth of all TV is now watched in a time-shifted format—either recorded onto an internal hard drive or watched on demand—and 43% of people mostly watched TV in this manner, with 20% tuning in to live TV only for must-see moments and only 30% predominantly watching live TV.

With our lives becoming ever busier the use of the live pause or record option available to most subscribers to both paid and free to air TV is becoming more of a requirement and less of a luxury. Being able to use these options makes it more likely that when you have time to view TV we will have at least a few recorded programs to choose from instead of aimlessly channel hopping. There is no need to be subscribed to a pay Tv service such as Virgin, Sky or BT Vision as there is that option for the Free to air TV providers such as Freeview and Freesat. All that is needed is a Digital receiver with the option to record and you to can feel like the privileged few and have your favourite programs recorded for you to watch when your good and ready

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ITV wants payment for transmission from Pay-TV Servcies

9/29/2014

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It would seem that ITV and Channel 4 have finally switched on to the fact that they are effectively subsidising Sky & Virgin, by not demanding fees for the transmission of their Pay-TV services. ITV & Channel 4 broadcasting services are not free to air, but are paid for by the advertising revenue. With the pay-tv services piggybacking onto these services it is seen as in the interests of ITV & Channel 4 to charge for this privilege.
as reported in http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?id=5233

In 2013, US free-to-air broadcatsers benefited from around $3.3 billion in fees from Pay-TV providers which was less than 3% of the operators revenues and ITV has said that their investment of £1bn into original production is justification enough for retransmission fees.

Chief executive Adam Crozier said the introduction of such fees would "have clear benefits for the UK creative industries and the wider economy". He added: "The majority of viewing on these pay-TV platforms is PSB programming, yet ITV, whether as producer or broadcaster investing in creating that content, doesn't receive any payment—despite the fact that pay-TV platforms pay commercial terms for other channels."

With TV viewing becoming more diverse, independent television needs to come up with more and more was to raise income. Doing this in the U.S has lead to what some call a 'Golden Age' in traditional television

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Digital TV Aerial Installation in the Loft

9/22/2014

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With the rise of new properties being bought up by both first time buyers and those with ever expanding families, there is a rise in people requiring their digital tv aerial being installed in the loft space. One reason for this is that on some new estates the ruling is for no external TV Aerials fitted to the outside of the property. This is because the builders want to preserve the aesthetics of the new estate. Another reason for this is that with new builds, the TV points are already fitted and have their cable running within the walls and finishing in the loft space. The cables are usually coiled up together waiting to be connected to an Aerial. http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Installing_a_TV_aerial

When it comes to fitting a digital TV aerial in a loft, there are a couple of things that need to be considered. Firstly, the Aerial fitter would need to ascertain how many TV points are going to be coming off the aerial. Also, the engineer would need to find out if there are going to be any obvious obstructions to receiving a quality signal. There is already the loft and roof itself that can reduce the signal strength received in the loft by up to 50%, and in some lofts with certain types of insulation on the walls and roof space there is no way of receiving a TV signal at all.

The only way of really finding out is to rig up an Aerial to a spectrum analyzer and trying to pick up the best signal whilst in the loft. Depending on the signal strength and also quality the aerial & satellite engineer can decide not only if an aerial can be fitted in the loft, but also if there needs to be an amplifier installed to boost the signal. If an amplifier is needed, then the type of amp or booster sometimes depends on whether there is a power point in the loft. If not then the use of a masthead amplifier is the best option.

The benefits of a TV Aerial Installation in the loft is that usually all the cabling and the digital aerial itself is kept dry and away from the ravages of the UK weather. This drastically reduces the chances of corrosion and improves the lifetime of the whole aerial system. Once a quality digital TV aerial is installed by a TV Aerial Installer and everything is tested and running well, then the system should not need to be looked at again for going on 10 to 20 years.

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