Located on the north of the river Ribble, Preston is Lancashire’s administrative center. This charming city can still show a few pieces of evidence that date back to the days of the Roman Empire. So, the city is older than it may seem. Even before a settlement appeared in the area where Preston lies today, Roman roads passed where the center of the city is today.

It is believed that a Roman camp or station was located southeast of the town’s center, which explains why these ancient roads existed in Preston. One of the roads is believed to be the one leading from Carlisle to Manchester, which used to cross the river and lead to the previously mentioned Roman camping site.
 
Concerning the name of the city, Preston, one theory suggests that it came from the town’s Priest. He made reference to a priory that was founded near the lowest ford of River Ribble, by St. Wilfrid. Similarities between the Paschal Lamb that is featured both St. Wilfrid’s crest and Preston’s crest can be considered as proofs to confirm this theory. The first time Preston was ever mentioned in a book was back in 1086.

​Its name appears in the Domesday Book, but by that time, Preston was already a developed city in the central Lancashire area, known as Amounderness in those days. Between 1218 and 1219, Preston underwent an assessment for tax purposes and the results showed that the city was the wealthiest one in the entire county.

The guild week that is still celebrated in Preston in nowadays dates back to 1179. King Henry II allowed the Burgesses of Preston to hold a so-called “Guild Merchant” and, since then, it is celebrated in Preston every 20 years, the last one being held in 2012, with its start on the 2nd of September. It is worth mentioning that the guild of Preston is the only guild that continues to be celebrated in the United Kingdom.
 
The pre-industrial era caught Preston in the middle of several decisive battles in the history of the UK. Because the city was located between London and Glasgow, at an equal distance of each, the location served as background for a few significant battles, such as the Battle of Preston in 1648, during the English Civil War.

During the 19th century, Preston transformed from a market town to a larger, more developed industrial city. The water frame, for example, was invented in Preston, by Richard Arkwright. According to certain writing, Preston was the first city located outside London that used gas for lighting the streets. Karl Marks even called Preston as being the next St. Petersburg.
 
When Preston reached the year 1901, it was a flourishing industrial city, with more than 120,000 people living there. Between the wars, new industries came to Preston, which improved the situation triggered by the decline of the cotton industry. Engineering and the manufacturing of electrical goods changed the economy of the city.

During World War II, the city recorded no fatalities and only endure several air raids. In 1960, the center of the city received a new face. Old buildings were torn down in order to make room for new and more modern developments, like the St. George’s Shopping Centre, opened in 1966, and, 20 years later, the Fishergate Shopping Centre.

Written by Digitec Aerials of Preston https://www.digitec-aerials.co.uk/preston-tv-aerial-installation.htmlPreston TV Aerial Installation

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Firstly we need to discuss what 4G is and how does it effect my TV reception?

Well when local aerial installers in Preston refer to 4G we tend to mean any kind of radio frequency usually associated with mobile phones that can disrupt the signals being received by a TV antenna. Since the roll out of 4G a few years ago and with more and more masts broadcasting a 4G signal, there have been an increase number of people reporting problems with their Freeview reception.

The 4G signal is a problem only to Freeview and doesn't effect satellite or cable TV, only Freeview which is received via an antenna usually fitted in the loft or outside on a chimney. 

It is also a little strange as one house can be effected yet a neighbouring property can remain unaffected due to the set up of the aerial in that house. The signal being received is more likely to be effected if it is being split and or amplified. I have noticed this myself, and I was able to resolve the fault by using a 4G filter that I fitted at the base of the mast.

Preston shouldn't be effected too much even though there are a number of new mobile phone masts that have popped up recently. One of the reasons is that the signal coming in from winter hill is a good quality strong signal, and will help when it comes to having problems with 4G. However,there can be  some that are effected as mentioned before if they are using an amplified splitter.

These kind of aerial installations are probably the main stay of my work. To install a new aerial on a chimney stack and to run off a 4 way splitter to 4 different rooms in a house. I must admit it that I really do prefer to do these kind of jobs since in this case the house had no aerial installed and it was a fresh set up. There was no need to incorporate an already existing aerial system, which can be a bit of a pain.

As you can see in the image above, this is the aerial set up where I have bolted the bracket to the chimney. I prefer to use this kind of install as I feel it is a much better and stronger fixing opposed to using a lashing kit. A lashing kit is where a piece of wire is wrapped around the chimney stack to fasten the bracket to the chimney. I have seen plenty of these kind of setups go slack and lose their grip over a few years.

Also, as you can see, there is a small box near the base of the mast. This is a waterproof housing for the 4 way passive splitter from which the coax cables are run. In Leyland the signal strength is very strong, in this occasion reading around 70db which is near the top end. This reading tells me that it can be split multiple times without the need for an expensive amplifier.

So, in all I used a log periodic aerial, with built in 4g filter, a galvanised steel bracket and mast and a good run of coax cable. By using a good quality aerial and having it set up by a trained professional there is no need to have multiple aerials on the roof , just the one works perfectly

For more info and getting a quote on this kind of aerial system, please just phone one of the numbers on the website.

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

​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. 

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.

 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.

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.

For more information on getting a TV aerial installation go to ​https://www.digitec-aerials.co.uk/tv-aerial-installation-lancaster--morecambe.html

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.

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.

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/

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.

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/

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.