Aerial survey - quote advice

Ben wrote:
Hi - I had someone around to do a survey for a roof aerial today. He
seemed knowledgeable and nice, but his quote seemed very high - I'm
sure some of the quoted items don't cost that much, and the labour
cost seemed quite steep. But I'm no expert - can someone tell me
whether this is justified or not?

1x UNIX 52(A) High Gain £110
1x 10ft mast+fixings £42.50
12m CS100 digital coax £24
3 hours labour £220

I'm sure I've seen CS100 for less than half that, and UNIX 52 elements
for far less, but am I mistaken? There were two of them, but even so
£220 for labour seems quite generous... I may pay it if it is
reasonable, but I suspect it may not be! Any advice?

Cheers,

Ben


Over here in Northern Ireland, I would give a price for similar as...
1x Televes 1042 £ 52.00
1x 14" Cradle HDG Lashing Kit £ 15.50
1x 10'x2" Alloy Mast £ 19.00
1x 15m Webro WF100 Cable £ 11.25
1x Coax Plug £ 1.00
1.5 hours time £ 67.50
Vat £ 29.18
Total £195.93

Hope this a guide for you.

Regards
Glenn...

On 25 Mar, 13:31, Usenet wrote:
Ben wrote:
Hi - I had someone around to do a survey for a roof aerial today. He
seemed knowledgeable and nice, but his quote seemed very high - I'm
sure some of the quoted items don't cost that much, and the labour
cost seemed quite steep. But I'm no expert - can someone tell me
whether this is justified or not?

1x UNIX 52(A) High Gain £110
1x 10ft mast+fixings £42.50
12m CS100 digital coax £24
3 hours labour £220

I'm sure I've seen CS100 for less than half that, and UNIX 52 elements
for far less, but am I mistaken? There were two of them, but even so
£220 for labour seems quite generous... I may pay it if it is
reasonable, but I suspect it may not be! Any advice?

Cheers,

Ben

Over here in Northern Ireland, I would give a price for similar as...
1x Televes 1042 £ 52.00
1x 14" Cradle HDG Lashing Kit £ 15.50
1x 10'x2" Alloy Mast £ 19.00
1x 15m Webro WF100 Cable £ 11.25
1x Coax Plug £ 1.00
1.5 hours time £ 67.50
Vat £ 29.18
Total £195.93

Hope this a guide for you.

Regards
Glenn...

Thanks - theres a shop round the corner that has quoted £120+Vat ,
which actually seems a bit too cheap, but he's using the same hardware
as the expensive man. He's might not be a CAI member, but he is just
around the corner! I think I may go with him.

Cheers,

Ben

Ben wrote:
On 25 Mar, 13:31, Usenet wrote:
Ben wrote:
Hi - I had someone around to do a survey for a roof aerial today. He
seemed knowledgeable and nice, but his quote seemed very high - I'm
sure some of the quoted items don't cost that much, and the labour
cost seemed quite steep. But I'm no expert - can someone tell me
whether this is justified or not?

1x UNIX 52(A) High Gain £110
1x 10ft mast+fixings £42.50
12m CS100 digital coax £24
3 hours labour £220

I'm sure I've seen CS100 for less than half that, and UNIX 52
elements for far less, but am I mistaken? There were two of them,
but even so £220 for labour seems quite generous... I may pay it if
it is reasonable, but I suspect it may not be! Any advice?

Cheers,

Ben

Over here in Northern Ireland, I would give a price for similar as...
1x Televes 1042 £ 52.00
1x 14" Cradle HDG Lashing Kit £ 15.50
1x 10'x2" Alloy Mast £ 19.00
1x 15m Webro WF100 Cable £ 11.25
1x Coax Plug £ 1.00
1.5 hours time £ 67.50
Vat £ 29.18
Total £195.93

Hope this a guide for you.

Regards
Glenn...

Thanks - theres a shop round the corner that has quoted £120+Vat ,
which actually seems a bit too cheap, but he's using the same hardware
as the expensive man. He's might not be a CAI member, but he is just
around the corner! I think I may go with him.

Cheers,

Ben

As others have mentioned, being a CAI member is no guarentee of anything.

Adrian A wrote:
Ben wrote:
On 25 Mar, 13:31, Usenet wrote:
Ben wrote:
Hi - I had someone around to do a survey for a roof aerial today. He
seemed knowledgeable and nice, but his quote seemed very high - I'm
sure some of the quoted items don't cost that much, and the labour
cost seemed quite steep. But I'm no expert - can someone tell me
whether this is justified or not?
1x UNIX 52(A) High Gain £110
1x 10ft mast+fixings £42.50
12m CS100 digital coax £24
3 hours labour £220
I'm sure I've seen CS100 for less than half that, and UNIX 52
elements for far less, but am I mistaken? There were two of them,
but even so £220 for labour seems quite generous... I may pay it if
it is reasonable, but I suspect it may not be! Any advice?
Cheers,
Ben
Over here in Northern Ireland, I would give a price for similar as...
1x Televes 1042 £ 52.00
1x 14" Cradle HDG Lashing Kit £ 15.50
1x 10'x2" Alloy Mast £ 19.00
1x 15m Webro WF100 Cable £ 11.25
1x Coax Plug £ 1.00
1.5 hours time £ 67.50
Vat £ 29.18
Total £195.93

Hope this a guide for you.

Regards
Glenn...
Thanks - theres a shop round the corner that has quoted £120+Vat ,
which actually seems a bit too cheap, but he's using the same hardware
as the expensive man. He's might not be a CAI member, but he is just
around the corner! I think I may go with him.

Cheers,

Ben

As others have mentioned, being a CAI member is no guarentee of anything.


CAI membership may not convince you guys of a good job to be done,
referral is best for that. It does mean though that they have been
inspected for standard of workmanship and have public liability insurance.

Combine CAI membership with referral and you shouldn't go to far wrong.

Regards
Glenn.

kim wrote:
"Ben" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi - I had someone around to do a survey for a roof aerial today. He
seemed knowledgeable and nice, but his quote seemed very high - I'm
sure some of the quoted items don't cost that much, and the labour
cost seemed quite steep. But I'm no expert - can someone tell me
whether this is justified or not?

1x UNIX 52(A) High Gain £110
1x 10ft mast+fixings £42.50
12m CS100 digital coax £24
3 hours labour £220

I'm sure I've seen CS100 for less than half that, and UNIX 52 elements
for far less, but am I mistaken? There were two of them, but even so
£220 for labour seems quite generous... I may pay it if it is
reasonable, but I suspect it may not be! Any advice?

Cowboy = £50+ per hour
Skilled professional = circa £100 per hour
Specialist = circa £150 per hour

You get what you pay for.

(kim)



Kim, I've worked in the Aerial trade for 15 years and would class myself
as Specialist. There is no way on this earth I would get away with
charging £150 per hour. Anyone getting enough work for a weeks work
would be able to make a good living on £45-£65 per hour. An average
aerial install only takes 1 to 1.5 hours tops unless there is something
very tricky about the job.

Over here in Northern Ireland 99% of installer require 2 aerials and a
diplexer as well. Your installing to receive 5 local analogue, the 6
local muxes, 4 Irish analogue and 3 Irish muxes. Average cost for that
£195 to £215

Regards
Glenn...

In article , Steve Thackery
writes
Unlike the others, I think it's a rip-off.

£70 per hour for labour is as much, or more, than most garages charge, and
they have enormous overheads to support. This guy's got a van and a shed
for his stores.

And he seems to be taking a good 100% markup on the RETAIL price of the
hardware. How much is he buying it in for, do you suppose?

He's charging that much only because enough people are prepared to pay it.
You can choose to contribute to that, or not.

Steve



FWIW....

We have a couple of aerial riggers on a job on a water tower next month.
They charge £500 for a day. Two of them and they have to write a couple
of books i.e. method statements and risk assessments etc and carry
liability insurance of some silly amount....
--
Tony Sayer

Buy the hardware you need yourself from somewhere like www.tvaerials.com, so
you don't pay for the ridiculous mark-up and then use your local installer.



"Ben" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 25 Mar, 13:31, Usenet wrote:
Ben wrote:
Hi - I had someone around to do a survey for a roof aerial today. He
seemed knowledgeable and nice, but his quote seemed very high - I'm
sure some of the quoted items don't cost that much, and the labour
cost seemed quite steep. But I'm no expert - can someone tell me
whether this is justified or not?

1x UNIX 52(A) High Gain £110
1x 10ft mast+fixings £42.50
12m CS100 digital coax £24
3 hours labour £220

I'm sure I've seen CS100 for less than half that, and UNIX 52 elements
for far less, but am I mistaken? There were two of them, but even so
£220 for labour seems quite generous... I may pay it if it is
reasonable, but I suspect it may not be! Any advice?

Cheers,

Ben

Over here in Northern Ireland, I would give a price for similar as...
1x Televes 1042 £ 52.00
1x 14" Cradle HDG Lashing Kit £ 15.50
1x 10'x2" Alloy Mast £ 19.00
1x 15m Webro WF100 Cable £ 11.25
1x Coax Plug £ 1.00
1.5 hours time £ 67.50
Vat £ 29.18
Total £195.93

Hope this a guide for you.

Regards
Glenn...

Thanks - theres a shop round the corner that has quoted £120+Vat ,
which actually seems a bit too cheap, but he's using the same hardware
as the expensive man. He's might not be a CAI member, but he is just
around the corner! I think I may go with him.

Cheers,

Ben

"Piers James" wrote in message
...
Buy the hardware you need yourself from somewhere like www.tvaerials.com,
so you don't pay for the ridiculous mark-up and then use your local
installer.

Bad idea.

----------------

The voice on the phone was full of confidence and savoir faire.

"How much will you charge to erect my aerial, labour only?"

I groaned fairly inaudibly. The brassy voice continued unabashed, "I can get
an aerial for fifty quid and I want you to fix it on the roof."

At one time when people enquired in this vein I would patiently ask whether
they'd bought the right size of mast, the correct chimney fixing, and some
good quality double screened cable. I'd talk about channel groups and ask
whether the aerial was grouped or wideband, and explain which it ought to
be. I'd discuss possible reception problems in the area and try to assess
whether the aerial would be adequate. I'd ask where the aerial had come
from, knowing that some of the DIY-shed specials look good but perform
abysmally. But nowadays I don't bother. I'm getting old, you see, and a bit
cantankerous.

So I said to this chap "Look, if we come out and install your own aerial we'll
charge you £90 + VAT. But I can't promise that you'll be left with a
satisfactory installation because the gear you've bought is probably wrong
in some way, and we won't be able to guarantee the overall safety or
security of the installation because we didn't supply the materials. But if
you let us supply the equipment it will be top quality and tailored for the
job, with guaranteed results and the backing of a £1m public liability
policy. That will cost a total of £140. What do you think?"

"Oh, I'll let you know." Meaning that he'll keep plodding through the Yellow
Pages until he finds some short-of-work cowboy that will play ball. He'll
end up paying about sixty quid for the installation plus the fifty for the
aerial, and the resulting job will most likely comprise a big heavy aerial
fixed to a flimsy mast and chimney bracket - a likely 'blow down' next time
there's gale.

Many people overestimate the cost of the hardware and underestimate the cost
of having it installed. Installers look for a certain gross profit per hour,
and part of that profit comes about because we buy aerials and accessories
at a much lower price than they are sold in the DIY shops. So straight away
you're wasting money. The DIY chain will take the profit, but obviously they
won't use it to offset the installation costs. And their aerials are sold
universally, so they aren't tailored for your reception conditions and they
are always wideband, which is usually a bad thing. A good installer will
have a wide variety of aerials and accessories in the van. Your choice in
the DIY shop is rather more restricted, and frankly, even if the choice was
there you wouldn't know which to pick. A good installer wouldn't know what
aerial to use until he's been on your roof with spectrum analyser.

So if you want to actually install your own aerial you'd be wise to buy it
from a knowledgeable local rigger. At least you'll have the right gear. You'll
have a busy Saturday and I hope it doesn't end in the local casualty
department.

If however you have more sense than to go climbing about on the roof without
safety equipment and training and you decide that someone else is going to
do the job, do yourself a favour. Don't try to be clever by buying the
aerial yourself.

Bill

Bill, when I read contributions like yours it renews my faith in human
nature, albeit only briefly.

You see, at various points you talk about "a good installer". That is the
killer: there is just no way for an average punter like me to know whether
an installer is any good or not.

A "big name" in the Yellow Pages doesn't help - they're just blokes who
spent their redundancy money on a franchise.

Having used three installers, two of whom were utterly incompetent (one of
those a franchise holder), I wouldn't trust ANY installer unless they were
personally recommended by Bill himself. Because, as far as I'm concerned,
Bill's the only installer I know of who has demonstrated his competence
(fulsomely).

Bill, put yourself in my position (or Ben's, the OP). What are we to do?

Steve

Steve Thackery wrote:
Bill, when I read contributions like yours it renews my faith in human
nature, albeit only briefly.

You see, at various points you talk about "a good installer". That is the
killer: there is just no way for an average punter like me to know whether
an installer is any good or not.

A "big name" in the Yellow Pages doesn't help - they're just blokes who
spent their redundancy money on a franchise.

Having used three installers, two of whom were utterly incompetent (one of
those a franchise holder), I wouldn't trust ANY installer unless they were
personally recommended by Bill himself. Because, as far as I'm concerned,
Bill's the only installer I know of who has demonstrated his competence
(fulsomely).

Bill, put yourself in my position (or Ben's, the OP). What are we to do?

Steve


Steve, It's the same in any game, plumbing, electrical etc. Services
which the end result is hard to inspect is always subject to cowboys. I
would make a simple suggestion. Look up and down your street to see who
has the best looking (ie tidy, size of mast for aerial, size of bracket
for mast and aerial) install, go knock on the door and ask them, 'Who
did your aerial'. Then phone the company, ask them what sort of cost for
a similar job. Then see if they are a CAI member or a RDI (cough) and
make your decision.

Regards
Glenn...