just back from a certain DIY shed . . .

.. . . . where I stood silently, pretending to study the door bell display,
as a man examined the television aerials and made his selection. He
struggled to decide between the basic wideband one and the 'high gain'
wideband one, finally chosing the latter. This was in an area where wideband
aerials aren't needed. He looked at the different masts and selected one
that was not strong enough for the aerial. He then went on to pile a tiny
wall bracket, a 20m length of coax (the old type with very poor screening),
four plastic plug/coachbolt sets, and a few other small items on his
trolley. I think he would have spent about £60.

The job will be a poor one even if he installs everything expertly, because
the aerial is of a type that I know to be a very poor performer, the cable
is terrible stuff, and the fixings are totally inadequate.

Bill

In article ,
says...
. . . . where I stood silently, pretending to study the door bell display,
as a man examined the television aerials and made his selection....

The job will be a poor one even if he installs everything expertly, because
the aerial is of a type that I know to be a very poor performer, the cable
is terrible stuff, and the fixings are totally inadequate.

Bill



So did you follow him home and pop a business card through the
letterbox, for when the thing blows down next week?

And what were you doing in the shed, anyway... You're much better than
that!

"AJ" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
. . . . where I stood silently, pretending to study the door bell
display,
as a man examined the television aerials and made his selection....

The job will be a poor one even if he installs everything expertly,
because
the aerial is of a type that I know to be a very poor performer, the
cable
is terrible stuff, and the fixings are totally inadequate.

Bill



So did you follow him home and pop a business card through the
letterbox, for when the thing blows down next week?

And what were you doing in the shed, anyway... You're much better than
that!

You should have done the Harry Enfield thing,"now i do not believe you
really want to do that"

In message , Bill Wright
writes

The job will be a poor one even if he installs everything expertly, because
the aerial is of a type that I know to be a very poor performer, the cable
is terrible stuff, and the fixings are totally inadequate.

Bill



I had a similar experience in Wickes a while back except that I didn't
have the nerve to let the guy complete his purchase. I got chatting to
him and pointed out that there was a good aerial manufacturer and
supplier of all the items he needed literally just over the road.
I was at the suppliers later and he was still in a state of shock when I
arrived. The story he got was that a member of staff at Wickes had said
their kit was crap and sent the customer over the road. Even if he
didn't get the story right at least he got some good kit and hopefully a
good picture on his TV.
--
Bill

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
. . . . where I stood silently, pretending to study the door bell display,
as a man examined the television aerials and made his selection. He
struggled to decide between the basic wideband one and the 'high gain'
wideband one, finally chosing the latter. This was in an area where
wideband aerials aren't needed. He looked at the different masts and
selected one that was not strong enough for the aerial. He then went on to
pile a tiny wall bracket, a 20m length of coax (the old type with very poor
screening), four plastic plug/coachbolt sets, and a few other small items
on his trolley. I think he would have spent about £60.

The job will be a poor one even if he installs everything expertly,
because the aerial is of a type that I know to be a very poor performer,
the cable is terrible stuff, and the fixings are totally inadequate.

Bill

Most aerials sold to the public are wideband, not many are grouped now due
to frequency allocations. It isn't a money maker for the manufacturer to
produce a small amount of aerials.
I would have liked to have gone to a shop and bought a Group C/D and a Group
A but couldn't.
The poles sold in the shop you mention are suitable for the aerials they
sell, it's just that most of us like to use something larger to stop any
movement. He might have thought the wall bracket was suitable for the short
6ft pole and small aerial. For the type of bracket, the fixings sound
suitable.
The cable is probably not the best in the world, but it did the job for many
years for millions of people and still does. It was only when digital
transmissions on much lower power with lower aerials were switched on that
reception suffered. People now use better quality coax to squeeze every bit
of signal in to the Tv that they can!
I would like to know why TVs do not have F type connectors, why are we still
using a very old fashioned socket. People still can't fit the plugs
correctly and never solder them.
The job he does might be perfectly OK for his situation. It's not something
you are in a position to comment on.

Marsbar wrote:
I would like to know why TVs do not have F type connectors, why are
we still using a very old fashioned socket. People still can't fit
the plugs correctly and never solder them.
The job he does might be perfectly OK for his situation. It's not
something you are in a position to comment on.

The first time I saw an F connector was 25 years ago on the back of an
American TV, that set was at least 10 years old then, I thought at the time
it was a much better arrangement than Belling Lee.

Marsbar wrote:

Tagged: Tiscali Idiot

"Marsbar" wrote in message
...

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
. . . . where I stood silently, pretending to study the door bell display,
as a man examined the television aerials and made his selection. He
struggled to decide between the basic wideband one and the 'high gain'
wideband one, finally chosing the latter. This was in an area where
wideband aerials aren't needed. He looked at the different masts and
selected one that was not strong enough for the aerial. He then went on to
pile a tiny wall bracket, a 20m length of coax (the old type with very
poor screening), four plastic plug/coachbolt sets, and a few other small
items on his trolley. I think he would have spent about £60.

The job will be a poor one even if he installs everything expertly,
because the aerial is of a type that I know to be a very poor performer,
the cable is terrible stuff, and the fixings are totally inadequate.

Bill

Most aerials sold to the public are wideband, not many are grouped now due
to frequency allocations. It isn't a money maker for the manufacturer to
produce a small amount of aerials.
I would have liked to have gone to a shop and bought a Group C/D and a
Group A but couldn't.
The poles sold in the shop you mention are suitable for the aerials they
sell, it's just that most of us like to use something larger to stop any
movement. He might have thought the wall bracket was suitable for the
short 6ft pole and small aerial. For the type of bracket, the fixings
sound suitable.
The cable is probably not the best in the world, but it did the job for
many years for millions of people and still does. It was only when
digital transmissions on much lower power with lower aerials were switched
on that reception suffered. People now use better quality coax to squeeze
every bit of signal in to the Tv that they can!
I would like to know why TVs do not have F type connectors, why are we
still using a very old fashioned socket. People still can't fit the plugs
correctly and never solder them.
The job he does might be perfectly OK for his situation. It's not
something you are in a position to comment on.

Marsbar,

I think Bill is in a much better position than you to make comment. He was
there, you were not. I would also suggest Bill is a lot better qualified
than you, unless of course you can prove otherwise.

Mel.

"AJ" wrote in message
...
So did you follow him home and pop a business card through the
letterbox, for when the thing blows down next week?
To be honest I was ever so tempted to have a word in his ear, but why should
I really?


And what were you doing in the shed, anyway

I was discovering that they sell woodscrews at a price 4 times that of
Screwfix!

Bill

"Marsbar" wrote in message
...
The job he does might be perfectly OK for his situation. It's not
something you are in a position to comment on.

OK then.

Bill