Cowboy Riggers

I had one round today. Another clueless idiot.

We use Ridge Hill, so I told him I wanted a new Group A put up. Of
course, he only had widebands in the van, there's a surprise! I told him
they were no good for group A and he told me I wouldn't be able to get
one - which is a lie.

I've been wanting to get this done for a while now, but can't seem to
find anyone in the Bristol area who can carry out this simple task.

I think it's time we declared open season on these wasters for the
benefit of mankind.

On May 18, 5:38*pm, Silk wrote:
I had one round today. Another clueless idiot.

We use Ridge Hill, so I told him I wanted a new Group A put up. Of
course, he only had widebands in the van, there's a surprise! I told him
they were no good for group A and he told me I wouldn't be able to get
one - which is a lie.

I've been wanting to get this done for a while now, but can't seem to
find anyone in the Bristol area who can carry out this simple task.

I think it's time we declared open season on these wasters for the
benefit of mankind.

They're either lazy, or still trying to use up old stock they bought
before April (when Ridge Hill was still wide band).

The thing is, if you can't find any one with technical competence, you
might as well find the nearest brave (ladder climbing!) person with
handy-man competence (i.e. will fix the thing properly!), and talk
them through what you want, supplying the aerial and down lead
yourself.

(I'm assuming anyone who thinks a wideband aerial is best for Ridge
Hill is unlikely to own, or know how to use, a signal meter - so
brings exactly zero benefit!).

Cheers,
David.

On 18/05/2011 18:49, wrote:

(I'm assuming anyone who thinks a wideband aerial is best for Ridge
Hill is unlikely to own, or know how to use, a signal meter - so
brings exactly zero benefit!).

I think it's just a case of wideband for everything. I'm going to do
just that - order the stuff online and get a mate with some ladders to
put it up for me.

I tried explaining to him that the gain at the bottom of the band on his
"high gain" wideband is about the same as the existing 10 element group
A contract aerial that's already on the roof. He didn't have a clue what
I was talking about.

In article , Silk
scribeth thus
On 18/05/2011 18:49, wrote:

(I'm assuming anyone who thinks a wideband aerial is best for Ridge
Hill is unlikely to own, or know how to use, a signal meter - so
brings exactly zero benefit!).

I think it's just a case of wideband for everything. I'm going to do
just that - order the stuff online and get a mate with some ladders to
put it up for me.

I tried explaining to him that the gain at the bottom of the band on his
"high gain" wideband is about the same as the existing 10 element group
A contract aerial that's already on the roof. He didn't have a clue what
I was talking about.


Most aerial riggers receive no formal training and from what I've seen
of it just fiddle about with an aerial poke it in the right direction
and hope of the best!..

Gain, Bandwidth, and response curves are a sort of alien talk to the
average rigger..
--
Tony Sayer

On 19/05/2011 08:31, Brian Gaff wrote:
I think you hit the nail on the head with the lazy description. In most
close in places they can get away with their one size fits all ethos, they
come unstuck when faced with anything other than this though.
Brian


I find it all a bit worrying. It was ok for me as I sent him away with a
flea in his ear.

I have a feeling, if it were anyone else, he would have replaced the
aerial with flash looking wideband, it wouldn't have been any better,
next step, masthead. Final bill - 200 quid + VAT. It should have been,
18 element group A, 100 quid + VAT.

The problem is, he hasn't broken any laws and has, in theory, done
nothing wrong.

On Friday, May 20th, 2011 at 08:22:48h +0100, Silk wrote:

in theory, done nothing wrong.

There are those who would argue that ethically he has done
something wrong, and that if he were a member of a Trades Guild/Union
with real principles and standards, would have broken the rules
of his own profession and therefore should be punished by that Trades
Guild/Union, and for repeated violations expelled and thus not allowed
to to continue to operate.

Without these protections, it is in the interests of consumers
that the activities of such companies should be publicised and
others warned.

Presumably you have already written to your local newspapers
warning others?

On 20/05/2011 14:21, J G Miller wrote:

Presumably you have already written to your local newspapers
warning others?

The trouble is, they're all the same. The fact of the matter is, if they
provide a service that the customer is happy to pay for - and the
evidence suggests that to be the case - there's not a lot can be done.

On Friday, May 20th, 2011 at 16:04:26 +0100, Silk wrote:

The trouble is, they're all the same. The fact of the matter is, if they
provide a service that the customer is happy to pay for - and the
evidence suggests that to be the case - there's not a lot can be done.

Yes, I can understand your frustration.

As you say the problem is that the ignorant customer is just happy to
pay for a sub-standard installation.

Perhaps a letter to trading systems would at least bring the attention
of the authorities to the matter, but they probably lack the education
or even intelligence to understand the technical details, and will of
course do nothing about it.

Therefore the response is to educate the consumer, but as you are only
probably too aware, that is a difficult uphill battle and most people
think it is just not a solution worth pursuing.

But at least the people behind the paras.ORG web site think it may
make a difference to try and get some information out to consumers ...

On 20/05/2011 16:04, Silk wrote:
On 20/05/2011 14:21, J G Miller wrote:

Presumably you have already written to your local newspapers
warning others?

The trouble is, they're all the same. The fact of the matter is, if they
provide a service that the customer is happy to pay for - and the
evidence suggests that to be the case - there's not a lot can be done.


I've thought about this, and often when BBC watchdog reels out another
sad sorry tale about how someone has commited themselves to handing over
lots of dosh for a job not well done. i.e. has been fleeced.

And on the other hand, there probably are many companies suffering bad
debts and non-payers, for perfectly acceptable work they have expended
effort on.

My solution for these jobs? Escrow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escrow

It could suit both parties and be useful in building confidence. Of
course only reputable companies that know what they are doing would only
sign up to the scheme, and this would be a good filter for deciding who
should do the work.

--
Adrian C

J G Miller wrote:

As you say the problem is that the ignorant customer is just happy to
pay for a sub-standard installation.

No they're not happy at all! They employ a supposed professional, meant
to be trained in the topic and expect them to do a decent job and charge
them a reasonable fee for doing so. If we were all experts in everything
we wouldn't need to employ anyone. Agreed ripping off inexperienced
customers has become the order of the day in the UK but that doesn't
make it right.

Did you see Watchdog last night, where they had shorted out the aerial
lead and the guy changed the box for £407! Silly customer, why didn't
the old biddy check it out for herself?