Lightning Strike On Aerial Installation in Woolpit near Stowmarket Suffolk.

The power of nature never fails to amaze me. These pictures were from a call I had the other week after the storms we had in Suffolk. Apart from the obvious hole in chimney, notice how the roof has lifted also. As well as me the telephone man and electrician were calling at the same time to assess and put right other damage caused.

I forgot to take a photo of the aerial and coax cable but suffice to say it was not looking good.

Aerial View

Sky's new WiFi enabled Set Top Box ready for September

Sky's new WiFi enabled Set Top Box ready for September

Sky is set to upgrade its Sky+ HD box with built-in Wi-Fi for the first time.

New customers will get the latest box without the need for an Ethernet cable to access on-demand content from September.
"This will ensure every new customer will be connected automatically, and we'll also roll out this box selectively to existing customers who don't yet have an HD box," Sky's Jeremy Darroch explained.

The company intends to push its wireless connector device to existing HD customers, but it is unclear if it will be free or charged at the current price of £21.95.

Sky recently announced a new set-top box for its Now TV service, costing £10.

The device provides access to films and Sky Sports events to rent, as well as the BBC iPlayer, Demand 5, Spotify and Facebook.


Source:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a501711/sky-hd-box-to-get-built-in-wi-fi-upgrade-in-september.html

Now TV set-top box, Smart TV tech for £9.99

Sky has launched a Now TV set-top box capable of streaming things like iPlayer, Spotify and Demand 5.

The box, which costs just £9.99 including shipping, is aimed at transforming your television set into a smart TV. It rivals devices like the Apple TV and the recently-announced Google Chromecast dongle.
BSkyB began investing in Roku last year. The company is known for its set-top box offerings, with the Roku 2 XS being particularly well received. The Now TV box appears to be a rebranded version of this device, with Now TV software.

Those who invest will get access to Now TV, iPlayer, Demand 5, Spotify, Facebook and Sky channels like Sky News. Now TV allows you to rent movies on demand as well as view Sky Sports coverage.

The Now TV set-top box can be picked up from NowTV.com today.



Source:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a501440/sky-announces-now-tv-set-top-box-smart-tv-tech-for-gbp999.html

Film 4 (+1) returns to Freeview

Film 4 (+1) returns to Freeview

From the 27th of August, Film 4 (+1) returns to freeview! The +1 channel allows viewers to catch a film an hour later which helps with viewing and recording scheduling.



Customer out of reach of the main aerial transmitters e.g Sudbury, Talconeston Sandy and Crystal Palace, and therefore receiving signals from a relay transmitter  know that Film 4 has not been included in the channel line-up since the start of HD broadcasts. This changes from the start of August, when the main Film 4 stays on channel fifteen but moves broadcast frequency to become available from relay transmitters.
A simple retune of your freeview equipment will bring this channel to you.
(Those of us on main transmitters such as Sudbury, will still need to retune to accommodate the change but Film 4 remains on channel 15)

Call me if you need any help or advice with retuning.

Kevin

Aerial View 01787 311057 

www.aerial-installers.co.uk

aerial-view@aerial-installers.co.uk

Romanian TV Satellite Installation in Sudbury Suffolk

Start the day with a Satellite installation in Sudbury Suffolk. This was not a Sky installer job but an installation for a Romanian TV. Installed and checked signal was OK. My customer subscribes to the Dolce TV package 

Dish aligned to Hellas Sat 2 at 39 East, just under Sky Dish.

on the Hellas Sat 2 at 39 East and he was able to confirm all his programmes were coming through strong. Apart from Romanian TV other jobs I have for this satellite are  Bulgerian TV and Serbian TV. Peculiarly, there are not many Greek channels on Hellas Sat. In fact I'm only aware of Riksat a Cypriot channel and Sport Plus in the Bulsat package, but no more. 

TV Distribution in Halstead Essex.

This was a recall to a job completed the other week. Customer had called stating that the Sky signal was OK through the distribution system that I had installed during a refurbishment, but the Freeview signal was breaking up.

It was a simple solution. After I had finshed the work and had  left my customer had to move the main TV and boxes in the lounge in order to have new carpets fitted. On reconnection the aerial feed and the return to the loft for signal distribution around the house had got swapped over. Simple 30 second job if you know what you are looking at! Two down and still only 10.30.

Sky Repair in White Colne Essex.

Next job was only ten minutes down the road. My customer had already suspected a tree problem as to why his satellite reception was poor, and he was right. His house was listed and so dish could not be mounted on the house and had to be ground mounted on a patio mount. There was no alternative site, so I had to raise the dish by a couple of feet to clear the top of the tree. My customer is aware that the problem may reoccur in a few years.

Next stop was home for an early lunch or if you prefer a late brunch, before moving on to Bury St Edmunds.

Sky Installation in Barrow near Bury St Edmunds Suffolk.

Actually this was an installation of a new Sky HD box that Sky had supplied my customer with.

My customer also wanted to clear out all of the ‘rubbish’ under his TV (unused VCR's etc.) . So out with it all and in with the shiny new Sky box. Pair my customers Sky card up with his new Sky HD box and program the Sky remote control to operate his Panasonic TV and all done, nearly. He wanted two old aerials removed from each end of his house. First one removed with no incident.

 Next one, ouch, so this is why they say you must wear a hard hat. It’s for when the rusty v bolt snaps and the pole comes down and smacks you in the head.  I can tell you it still hurts even if there is no sense there!

Freesat repair in Chevington Suffolk:

First job today was in the grounds of Ickworth Park near Bury St Edmunds. The property is at the Chevington end of the grounds where there are masses of trees. This was a Freesat problem, but the trees were not the problem. I don’t think Freeview via a TV aerial would have been very good here as there are trees at nearly 360 degrees around the property. There is one direction where the trees are not quite so high and that is in the direction of 28.2 east of south, the location of the Sky and Freesat satellite.   

The customer had a Freesat+ system and a standard Freesat box. The problem was one feed was not working. On investigation I found a join that was water damaged with corroded connections. Simple solution was to replace cable and after doing so all was well.

I passed a few minutes chatting with customer whilst I finished my tea and then decided to leave via the Horringer exit of the estate.

Sky Box Repairs

This job was fairly quick so had a bit of time to kill.  Decided to return back to the office and repair a couple of Sky boxes that I had swapped out over the previous week.  After fixing these and having some lunch I moved on to my next call in Belchamp Walter for an aerial installation.

TV Aerial Installation in Belchamp Walter Suffolk:

 The customer had been using an amplified set top aerial with a little bit of success but not very reliable. Again there were trees in the vicinity, but nowhere nearly as dense as the job from this morning. As the property was 17^th century the customer was keen to not have an external aerial. Up in the roof space, I confirmed the signal quality and strength were fine and agreed to install the aerial in the roof space. In fact I had to fit an attenuator to reduce the signal down by about 15dB.  After completing this I returned TV and checked all was looking good. Customer was cock a hoop with the final result.

Back home and restock van and check jobs booked for tomorrow. It is mainly aerial calls in and around Sudbury. Now to go and enjoy the sunshine that has finally arrived this year.


Aerial View 01787 311057

CAI Distance Learning Course – SMATV and IRS Networks

City and Guilds Course 3456-1

One of my customers told me a while ago that one of my competitors in the aerial and satellite installation business in Suffolk (he will rename nameless) told him that there was no such thing as a City and Guild qualification in the aerial and satellite industry. As I  advertise the fact that I have this qualification and gained a distinction in the course, I thought I’d post this for my more ‘inquisitive’ customers who may be sad enough to wonder “What is the SMATV and IRS Networks course?"

Well first to explain the different acronyms: 

MATV – Master Antenna TeleVision.

In other words one aerial delivering just terrestrial based signals to a multitude of points via a network, possibly in a block of flats or even a housing estate. Many CATV (Cable networks) are in fact very large MATV systems. 

SMATV – Satellite Master Antenna TeleVision.

As above, but with the addition of selected locally modulated signals, usually from satellite but could be from DTT or video recorders etc. This is the type of system normally associated with hotels etc., but could even be a CATV.

IRS – Integrated Reception System.

This is now the preferred method to deliver signals in multiple dwelling units. It gives subscribers access to all terrestrial and satellite signals as if they were connected to their own dish and aerial. The headend (all the electronics etc) is totally transparent to the consumer. 

Synopsis of course.

The course consists of ten units spread over a six-month period. Attached to each unit is a tutor marked assignment (TMA). At the end of the course, there is an exam to sit. I had to do some practical assessments at the CAI offices. It is a condition of the course that before you can take the final exam that you have obtained a minimum mark of 50% in your TMAs and have completed the practical days.

Many of my fellow students on my course never reached this far; in fact most of the employees form a large national company had dropped out long before this stage! Although you have to pass the TMAs and practicals, the final mark is purely on the exam result.

The practical assessments are generally based around making and recording measurements in different scenarios that you have to set up. The assessments not only check that you are capable of doing the work, but they also compliment what is learned in your coursework. One of the practical assessments involves designing a small system to take all off-air UHF channels and four locally modulated channels and planning the system to deliver adequate signals for all channels to multiple outlets.

Although the course is about systems design and build, much of the work involves the reasons behind why things are done rather than ‘This is how to do it’. Quite a large proportion involves the use of mathematical formulae and this is where most of the failures drop out.

CAI training programme is structured for people to follow through the courses consecutively with the distance-learning course being the most advanced. The CAI state this is not an easy course! I’d agree, but I did not find it particularly taxing either.

The ten units of study are:

·         Unit 1 Propagation of Radio Waves

·         Unit 2 Cables & Transmission Lines

·         Unit 3 Signal Generation & Broadcasting, including digital broadcasting

·         Unit 4 Principles of Aerials

·         Unit 5 Test Equipment, including the latest test methods

·         Unit 6 Satellite Reception, including digital

·         Unit 7 IRS Networks, including 5 and 9 wire

·         Unit 8 Choice of Antenna, Installation and Maintenance, including benchmarking

·         Unit 9 Signal Combining and Splitting

·         Unit 10 SMATV Networks, including digital reception