New 'freeview' aerial being fitted... Alert: Clueless!
 

I'm having a new roof aerial upgrade and being a total pleb on the technical
side of digital/freeview tv would like to ask a few questions..

I've arranged an appt. for an installer from a reputable local company to
'survey and advise' on an upgraded aerial for freeview etc.
I want a fairly decent mid/high quality roof aerial and cabling to run into
a single upstairs room.

What sort of cabling should I ask for?
How do I tell a good aerial from an average one given the engineer will
throw lots of brands/specs at me?
ie. Is there a 'make' to look out for or avoid. Can I specify a particular
'known' good aerial or aerial-type.

Routing - Is it standard practice to drill brickwork for cable egress or is
it likely he will simply pull out old coax and use same 'hole' given that my
existing aerial is currently wedged and FIRMLY siliconed between brick and
new uPVC window frame?
Are there any pros/cons in having a 'TV point' on wall near hole, with
seperate cable to TV OR is it better to have a (say) 4m trailing cable to TV
on other side of the room?

Sorry for so many questions - as I said, I'm clueless.
Any advice/tips on what to ask for/look for very gratefully accepted.

Thanks.

"David Illingworth-Young" wrote in message
...
I'm having a new roof aerial upgrade and being a total pleb on the
technical
side of digital/freeview tv would like to ask a few questions..

A total pleb is one who DOESN'T ask questions.


I've arranged an appt. for an installer from a reputable local company to
'survey and advise' on an upgraded aerial for freeview etc.
I want a fairly decent mid/high quality roof aerial and cabling to run
into
a single upstairs room.

If it's for a single upstairs room, it should be straightforward - no long
cable runs required.


What sort of cabling should I ask for?
How do I tell a good aerial from an average one given the engineer will
throw lots of brands/specs at me?
ie. Is there a 'make' to look out for or avoid. Can I specify a
particular
'known' good aerial or aerial-type.

Depends on where you are and signal strength. Have a look round you and see
what your neighbours have for their aerials. Can you ask any of them if
they have freeview and what their reception is like (the postcode check is
not reliable if you are in a fringe reception area. Mine works ok 99% of
the time although I'm not supposed to be able to receive it)? Unless you
are in a very weak area, bog-standard coax will be quite acceptable,
particularly as it appears you will only have a short cable run. The best
aerial is the one that works best for you at the cheapest price. You don't
want to lash out on a £££ on a quadruple 999 element yagi with spin-drier
and capuccino-making facilities if you don't need to, do you? A good quality
aerial amplifier (eg Labgear) will be very valuable if the signal is on the
weak side, and won't be expensive. I don't have enough experience to
recommend which aerial makes to go for or which to avoid (if any).

Routing - Is it standard practice to drill brickwork for cable egress or
is
it likely he will simply pull out old coax and use same 'hole' given that
my
existing aerial is currently wedged and FIRMLY siliconed between brick and
new uPVC window frame?

On my roof, cable access is under a tile into the loft. There is also a
feed-out cable from the loft just between the topmost brick and the soffit.
It doesn't matter too much where the cable goes in, but if it is exposed to
the weather it should go down past the hole and loop back up to it (to avoid
rainwater running down the lead and into the hole). Best bet in your case
would be to cut the cable and not disturb the silicone if it is in good
nick. The installer can put a blob of silicone cement over the cut end of
the old coax to seal it if water ingress through that cable is a
possibility.

Are there any pros/cons in having a 'TV point' on wall near hole, with
seperate cable to TV OR is it better to have a (say) 4m trailing cable to
TV
on other side of the room?

In general, the aerial point should be as unobtrusive as possible - with a
few cm of the skirting board, for example. Best not to have trailing leads
if they can be avoided. Remember too that coax should not have any kinks in
it - just smooth, round bends.

Sorry for so many questions - as I said, I'm clueless.

Not clueless at all - you asked all the right questions.

Any advice/tips on what to ask for/look for very gratefully accepted.

Thanks.

You're welcome. I hope others reply in case they have better ideas than me.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

"David Illingworth-Young" wrote in message
...
I'm having a new roof aerial upgrade and being a total pleb on the
technical
side of digital/freeview tv would like to ask a few questions..

I've arranged an appt. for an installer from a reputable local company to
'survey and advise' on an upgraded aerial for freeview etc.



I think you have said it all. Its a reputable company. Leave it to them.
They know the district and what they are doing. I think you must have trust
in people sometimes. It would be quite annoying to have a person who admits
knowing nothing to question an expert. If you do put questions to him, how
do you know how to interpret his answers?

Rickey

"Rickey" wrote in message
...

"David Illingworth-Young" wrote in message
...
I'm having a new roof aerial upgrade and being a total pleb on the
technical
side of digital/freeview tv would like to ask a few questions..

I've arranged an appt. for an installer from a reputable local company to
'survey and advise' on an upgraded aerial for freeview etc.



I think you have said it all. Its a reputable company. Leave it to them.
They know the district and what they are doing. I think you must have
trust
in people sometimes. It would be quite annoying to have a person who
admits
knowing nothing to question an expert. If you do put questions to him, how
do you know how to interpret his answers?

I had a 'digital' aerial fitted and it's just a case of what the company are
used to and have in stock. I got offered a basic, a mid range and a dogs
b*llocks! The latter was over the top in my situation and of course you pay
through the nose for a fitter to come and do it (sorry Bill!) compared to
doing it yourself where you could have your own choice of cable and aerial
at keen prices. I don't roof ladder and don't like the look of doing it
either - don't fancy a bit of the ol' Roy Hull just yet so I paid up.

Anyway, the fitter did want to run the cable straight through the wall, no
aerial point, to the unit. less connections the better he said. In the
end, I preferred an aerial point. End result, using signal strength meters
on my Sony IDTV 90% and 10 on my Thomson DHD4000. Quality is around 90%.

If your aerial rigger comes recommended by friends or is CAI approved you
stand a better chance of getting a good job done.

I disagree with Jeff about co-ax. Always use double screened copper on
copper CT100/PF100 type co-ax. It should be CAI tested and benchmarked.
Using quality cable helps avoid impulse interference as well as avoiding
excessive cable losses. I agree with his advice on avoiding sharp bends, I
would also avoid joints and wall boxes unless they are the F connector
barrel type (MK do these) or the ones with a completely screened connection
area (Maxview do these.)

The aerial should be from a reputable manufacturer (Triax, Televes, Blake,
Antiference) and be fitted with a balun to ensure good impedance matching
between aerial and cable. The rigger should know whether a grouped aerial or
wideband model is appropriate for your area/transmitter.

Any good rigger should fit an aerial with a balun, and double screened co-ax
as standard for an installation on DTTV.

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 13:49:24 -0000, "Jeff Layman"
wrote:


Depends on where you are and signal strength. Have a look round you and see
what your neighbours have for their aerials. Can you ask any of them if
they have freeview and what their reception is like (the postcode check is
not reliable if you are in a fringe reception area. Mine works ok 99% of
the time although I'm not supposed to be able to receive it)? Unless you
are in a very weak area, bog-standard coax will be quite acceptable,
particularly as it appears you will only have a short cable run. The best
aerial is the one that works best for you at the cheapest price. You don't
want to lash out on a £££ on a quadruple 999 element yagi with spin-drier
and capuccino-making facilities if you don't need to, do you? A good quality
aerial amplifier (eg Labgear) will be very valuable if the signal is on the
weak side, and won't be expensive. I don't have enough experience to
recommend which aerial makes to go for or which to avoid (if any).

I moved to a place with a communal aerial and have lost the sky
multiplex on Freeview and do get some breakup on other channels. Would
one of these labgear amplifiers help deal with the problem? What's the
cost of these sort of thigs?

TIA

BTW - I'm using an old Pioneer OnD box.
--

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Please reply to the group
Replies to this address will bounce!
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"Cheeky" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 13:49:24 -0000, "Jeff Layman"
wrote:

(snip)
I moved to a place with a communal aerial and have lost the sky
multiplex on Freeview and do get some breakup on other channels. Would
one of these labgear amplifiers help deal with the problem? What's the
cost of these sort of thigs?

Should help. In general, they cost only £20 - 30 (depending on how much
amplification you need), with another £10 or so for the power supply. Any
decent aerial fitter should be able to fix one for a few quid. They need to
be fitted as close to the aerial as possible (usually on the support mast).
You may find that you can get away with a set-top amplifier fitted between
the aerial socket and your tv. Argos (amongst others) does them. But don't
expect miracles; it might just give you enough gain in signal strength to
stop the breakup. Then again, it may not. Still, they only cost a few £.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:17:02 -0000, "Jeff Layman"
wrote:

"Cheeky" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 13:49:24 -0000, "Jeff Layman"
wrote:

(snip)
I moved to a place with a communal aerial and have lost the sky
multiplex on Freeview and do get some breakup on other channels. Would
one of these labgear amplifiers help deal with the problem? What's the
cost of these sort of thigs?

Should help. In general, they cost only £20 - 30 (depending on how much
amplification you need), with another £10 or so for the power supply. Any
decent aerial fitter should be able to fix one for a few quid. They need to
be fitted as close to the aerial as possible (usually on the support mast).
You may find that you can get away with a set-top amplifier fitted between
the aerial socket and your tv. Argos (amongst others) does them. But don't
expect miracles; it might just give you enough gain in signal strength to
stop the breakup. Then again, it may not. Still, they only cost a few £.

Bummer. I've no idea where the aerial is... Can't even see it from the
ground floor (it's a 4 storey building). I've currently got a cheapo
booster on... reckon it's worth splashing a bit more out or is it a
lost cause...?
--

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
Please reply to the group
Replies to this address will bounce!
ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

"Cheeky" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:17:02 -0000, "Jeff Layman"
wrote:

"Cheeky" wrote in message
(snip)

Bummer. I've no idea where the aerial is... Can't even see it from the
ground floor (it's a 4 storey building). I've currently got a cheapo
booster on... reckon it's worth splashing a bit more out or is it a
lost cause...?
--

Very difficult to say, but my feeling is that your signal strength is so
weak, or has too high a noise level, for a different set-top amplifier to
help much. Do the other flats have poor reception too? If so, maybe the
landlord will lash out on a new amp.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

"Brownie" wrote in message
...

"Rickey" wrote in message
...

"David Illingworth-Young" wrote in message
...
I'm having a new roof aerial upgrade and being a total pleb on the
technical
side of digital/freeview tv would like to ask a few questions..

I've arranged an appt. for an installer from a reputable local company
to
'survey and advise' on an upgraded aerial for freeview etc.



I think you have said it all. Its a reputable company. Leave it to them.
They know the district and what they are doing. I think you must have
trust
in people sometimes. It would be quite annoying to have a person who
admits
knowing nothing to question an expert. If you do put questions to him,
how
do you know how to interpret his answers?

I had a 'digital' aerial fitted and it's just a case of what the company
are
used to and have in stock. I got offered a basic, a mid range and a dogs
b*llocks! The latter was over the top in my situation and of course you
pay
through the nose for a fitter to come and do it (sorry Bill!) compared to
doing it yourself where you could have your own choice of cable and aerial
at keen prices. I don't roof ladder and don't like the look of doing it
either - don't fancy a bit of the ol' Roy Hull just yet so I paid up.

Anyway, the fitter did want to run the cable straight through the wall, no
aerial point, to the unit. less connections the better he said. In the
end, I preferred an aerial point. End result, using signal strength
meters
on my Sony IDTV 90% and 10 on my Thomson DHD4000. Quality is around 90%.

If the signal is strong enough, you shouldn't need a high-gain (big,
expensive) aerial and it won't matter if you have a point, although that
will take something off the signal when it reaches the equipment. That may
be why fitters don't like doing it on principle, but then again, the direct
cable is easier to install.