Not The Cheapest Aerials
An interesting programme I nearly always watch is The House Of Horrors on ITV. Last night the spotlight was on rogue Tv aerial installers and their pricing tactics.
Before I go further I must add that most aerial companies operate a reputable and ethical business, but those featured on the show let the side down and are the exception to the norm.
The feature started off with one guy being quoted £380 +VAT for what was assumed to be a single point domestic aerial install, although I don’t think it was made clear. My initial thoughts were the quote is on the steep side, around 50-100% over what you would normally expect to pay for what was installed. The installation consisted of double chimney lashing brackets, a 10-12 foot mast and the aerial looked similar to a “Triax Unix 100″. Equipment wise this was pretty much top of the range but unfortunately when the customer received the final bill it was around £840 inc VAT! This is about 90% mark up of what was initially quoted and I can’t see where this final figure came from. Another point to note is that people don’t understand the difference between a quote and an estimate. A quote is a fixed, non variable price and an estimate is an educated guess! I would have been fuming with the final bill but only paid what the initial quote was.
Next came a 6 or 8 way domestic distribution amplifier charged at £245 + callout + VAT! Where on earth do these prices come from, normal retail of a decent domestic amplifier like that would be £40-80! To cap it all off the amplifier wasn’t even faulty and all that needed to be done was to change the fuse in the plug top.
I’m a strong advocate of “you get what you pay for” but this simply wasn’t the case here.
There definitely seems there may be a strong case for the old adage “buyer beware” leading up to the Uk digital switchover, but let’s hope it’s a very small minority of cases if at all.
If you’re in any doubt over what to pay for a digital tv aerial install then phone around before booking an installer. Prices will vary from area to area and will be affected by quality of equipment supplied and signal conditions. To that end the cheapest won’t always be the best in a lot of cases, but a good aerial installer is one who’s knowledgeable and supplies quality equipment.
If you can’t find a friend or family member who can recommend someone reliable then it would be best to try one of the aerial trade bodies listed below.
http://www.cai.org.uk Confederation of Aerial Industries
http://www.idsc.uk.com Independant Digital Standards Commission
http://www.rdi-lb.tv Registered Digital Installer - Licensing Body
HDTV on Freeview
At the moment there is a lot of anticipation regarding High Definition Tv broadcasting on the Freeview digital terrestrial Tv platform.
By 2010 it is predicted that 80% of all households will have a HDTV set, but with High Definition broadcasts not certain at all there could be a lot of very disapointed consumers. Most of the existing Freeview viewers believe HD transmission will become available come digital switchover. Unfortunately this isn’t presently the case and it is generally understood that the unused parts of the existing Tv spectrum will be auctioned off to successful bidders. Services could include Mobile Tv, Wi-Fi or other new technological developments.
If High Definition broadcasts aren’t made available on Freeview the existing terrestrial network could become what ‘Black and White’ was to ‘Colour Tv’, staying in a technology timelock in the 20th century.
Fortunately we can campaign and make our views know about HD terrestrial Tv with the ‘HD for All’ Alliance.
‘HD for All’ have setup a campaign to persuade the Uk government to reserve parts of the existing spectrum for HDTV services. They have already performed a trial on terrestrial HD services which demonstrated it is a feasible and workable option. More capacity in the presently used DTT bandwidth would be needed if the existing Freeview services are to remain at their current capacity.
In short most people would probably agree High Definition Tv should be available to any one regardless of whether they can afford to, or chose to pay for subscription Tv services on top of the Tv license fee. Let’s not become a divided society of ‘HD haves’ and HD have nots’.
To register your interest with the HD for All campaign please visit www.hdforall.org.uk
Sky Plus Subscription Fees
Good news for all potential and existing Sky + subscribers.
From July 1st 2007 all Sky plus users, regardless of their channel package, will get full Sky plus functionality with no extra monthly fees.
At present subscribers only get Sky plus functionality for free when they subscribe to either Sky Movies or Sky Sports in their package, and if subscribing soley to either 2, 4 or 6 mixes there is a £10 subscription fee added to the monthly charge.
For further information about the Sky packages or to start enjoying the benefits of Sky Television please visit Sky Tv.
Digital Tv Reception
Changing to Digital Television
If you’re thinking of changing to digital terrestrial television to receive Freeview you will need to have a digital box or Freeview integrated digital Television. To see if you can recieve digital Tv through your Tv aerial in your area there is a predicted coverage by postcode tool at www.freeview.co.uk. The postcode coverage predictor is fairly accurate and will give you a good indication of your digital reception. The Digital Tv postcode predictor assume you have a correctly sighted Tv aerial and that it’s in reasonably good condition. Assuming the postcode comes back ok and your aerial is in good condition you should be fine to purchase a set top box or integrated digital Television.
If your postcode says that you can recieve digital Tv, your analogue pictures are poor and your digital box doesn’t show any stations it may be wise to consult a local aerial installer as there may be a fault with your aerial system. Generally it’s not recommended to perform the aerial install yourself unless you’re competent in aerial rigging.
There isn’t a need to worry if it comes back that you can’t recieve the full digital service, as the digital signals will be increased in power when digital switchover is due in your area.
For more information about when your area is due to switch over to digital Tv please visit:
www.digitaluk.co.uk Official Switchover Information Site
Sky Anytime
Viewers with Sky HD boxes now have access to Sky anytime - video on demand functionality, and it’s a free service.
There is content available from the favourite channels like National Geographic, Sky One, Sky Movies and Sky Sports. More content is expected to become available over the coming months.
To access Sky Anytime (video on demand) you need to press the Tv Guide button of the Sky remote, followed by the red button for the on-screen prompt labled Anytime Tv. Here you will find a selection of programmes available. New Sky customers may have to wait up to a week for the full programme listings to download.
Those Sky subscribers with Sky plus should have or be presently receiving the software upgrades to their boxes to enable Sky Anytime features. Unfortunately this will only be available to customers with the later Sky plus boxes, 80Gb hard drives or larger.
For those who don’t want to use the Sky Anytime services the feature can be disabled by accessing the service menu and pressing number 6 on their remote.
Further information is available at the official Sky Anytime website.
Virgin Free Tv
There is good news for potential Virgin Media customers living in non cable Tv areas. They are now able to subscribe to Virgin phone and broadband services via ADSL.
Furthermore they can access Virgin Free Tv via their existing Tv aerial without the need for a satellite dish subject to adequate digital Tv reception, and receive Sky 3, Sky News and Sky Sports News aswell as other well known channels.
Free Tv from Virgin constists of more than 40 Free to view digital Tv channels using a digital set top box and runs on the existing dtt network. The set top box is supplied free of charge to Virgin Bundle One customers or for a nominal fee to customers on a smaller package.
To find out if you can receive the digital Tv services please check your predicted coverage by postcode at www.freeview.co.uk. An aerial upgrade may be required depending on he age, type and condition of your existing Tv aerial installation.
For further information on Virgin Free Tv please visit Virgin Media official site at www.virginmedia.com.
Tv Power Consumption
The new age of digital Tv in the Uk brings us many new possibilities. More channels and choice, high definition broadcasts with superb picture quality and interactivity, and increasing carbon emissions!
Twenty years ago most households had one television set. Now the typical home is estimated to have 3 or 4 Tv’s, 2 DVD players, a PC and monitor, a couple of set top boxes and a radio or two. All of these are nearly always powered up, albeit in standby mode.
Can we be blamed? Probably not. The cost of manufacture has fallen considerably over the last quarter of a century and with manufacturers making even more sophisticated and desirable Tv equipment, we all want the next must have!
It is thought that by 2020 all the extra gadgets could drive domestic energy usage up by as much as 20% compared to todays’ figures. This would be a huge increase and even the most anti-green people would have to agree. Today the estimated domestic standby usage of the Uk is around 5% of total electricity use, 1% of total CO2 emissions.
The Energy Saving Trust believe that a typical household in the Uk has up to 12 pieces of equipment either charging or in standby mode at any given time. That is around £740million that could be knocked of the Uk’s total domestic electricity bill yearly. Read more
Digital Switchover in Whitehaven
By the end of November this year we will see the first area completely changed over to digital only television.
Whitehaven in Cumbria will start the switch over to digital tv in mid October this year and the process will take around 4 weeks to complete.
The first channel to go digital will be BBC2 which will be replaced by a new digital multiplex of BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, News24 and CBBC. The remaining digital channels will go live within a few weeks and replace analogue BBC1, ITV and Channel 4. Five will become available for the first time for homes with terrestrial only aerials in July and will be a digital transmission.
Viewers in the Whitehaven area will be made aware the switch over by press and radio awareness campaigns, help and advice letters, and reminders inbetween regular Tv programmes. The process will be closely co-ordinated by Digital UK, ensuring the smoothest possible transition.
Other Borders regions and HTV West will be the next on the digital switch over roll-out plan. Dates and further information is expected later this year.
Further information about Digital Switch Over is available from Digital Uk.
Loading ...