My mother in law lives in Suffolk, on her own (she's 90). With the digital changeover soon, she's going to need a new TV aerial (at present has has only a set top one, which is frankly not good).
I could put one in the loft, but I don't do roofs.
So, does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to have a new aerial supplied, fitted on roof, and feeder run to the living room?
The house is a 1960s end of terrace 3 bedroom council house.
Thanks
In message , Bob Eager writes
Is she not old enough to get it done for free under the changeover scheme?
Pure guess, these days I'd say £200.
Ask in uk.tech.digital-tv One of the main posters there is Bill Wright, who does it for a living (but not in your m-i-l's area).
nothing about that. We'll sort that out via the website.
If she can get any sginal at all on a set top aerial, you'll likely find a good loft aerial & amplifier is sufficient.
NT
If its a straight forward install (bog standard aerial and down lead, no amps / splitters required etc) then anything from £160 - £250 probably.
He also helped set up this site:
Have a read before you shell out. Chances are if the set top aerial delivers a picture now, it'll handle the digital just fine.
If she uses the help scheme the £40 flat fee includes an aerial upgrade, where required to receive the PSB muxes, at no additional cost.
Thanks. Just jhope that includes an upgrade from a set top to a rooftop if necessary!
The guide book says "fitting a new dish or aerial, where we can, if it is needed to make the new equipment work." It doesn't run to upgrading signal distribution systems in care homes though :~)
If she is high up loft is actually a possibility.
I am and it works for me within about 10 miles of Sudbury..
No idea about typical cowboy roof installer - i'd guess at £150-£250 - the aerials are cheap, its the labour.
Had one done the other day for £200 including pole and masthead amp.
Suffolk is a bit of a generalisation!
Presumably, from the use of a set top aerial, she is close to a transmitter - but which one?
It isn't just price you need to worry about, it is finding someone who isn't a cowboy to do it.
We visited some of my wife's friends in Southwold last year. While we were there, I noticed a lot of new/newish installations which had obviously been done by the same firm/person. No cheap contract aerials, no plastic bird food aerials [1] and very neatly done with masts and fixings which won't buckle in the first gale!
All in all, I got the impression that the work had been done by somebody who took a pride in his work and didn't skimp on materials (as most of the cost is labour, as others have said, that is a very important point!)
If she is anywhere near the Southwold area, I might be able to trace this firm/person if it would help.
If you are not sure which transmitter she is using, you may find this site useful:
Even in London just the first part of the post code could mislead terribly. There are such things as tower blocks which cast long shadows. And even some hills.
IMLE there are even some hills in Suffolk which can militate for a longer mast.
If it sort of works on analogue with a set top aerial, the chances are digital will be fine with a loft mounted one. Especially since the transmitted power will increase when analogue is switched off.
Agreed - but many people are reluctant to give their full PostCode these days. I don't know why, particularly when they post under a pseudonym as, when discussing a subject like this, accuracy can be important.
The funny thing is that, as maps show the centre of the PostCode area - which may well be a field or park, even in London, the chances of revealing their precise location (which, presumably, is what they want to hide) is pretty much unlikely.
My own full PostCode covers a row of nearly 30 houses. The terrain is level, broadside onto the local transmitter and there are no tower blocks or tall trees, so it doesn't make any difference which precise point you choose.
However, in an identical geographical area, half the houses might be on one side of a hill and the the remainder on the other side. The precise location could then determine the choice of transmitter or, if there is only one, just how easy or difficult it would be to receive a decent signal.
So, even a full PostCode doesn't tell the whole story: we have to rely on the common sense of posters to provide the other important imformation that only their eyes can provide ...
But the current use of a set top aerial suggest that no hills are involved in the current scenario ...
As for hills, a quick glance at spot heights on the OS map suggests that a heath, at 64 metres aod, is pretty much what passes for 'high' in Suffolk ...
Works fine here - but then we're not far from The Wrekin - though I didn't know that at the time I put the aerial up. It was murky weather for a couple of weeks after we moved until one day it cleared and we saw that we have a fine view of the hill and the transmitter from our kitchen.
I did wonder why I'd had to fit an attenuator to get the telly to work properly!
I remember putting a TV aerial on to of Marks and Sparks in Hammersmith
- very odd reception 'cos of the flyover. IIRC there was a tiny little infill station bolted to the side of the flyover itself.
I was describing the region for price purposes (e.g. as popposed to London), rather than for signal strength purposes or to ask for a particular installer.
Sudbury.
Agreed. But this was the starting point...
Probably too far away.
I know which transmitter - Sudbury! But the signal is weak - she's just the wrong side of a hill.
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