TV aerial and reception questions, answered

Usually the aerial is moving, or a connection has worked loose. Wind makes an already-marginal signal drop below the level your TV needs, so the picture breaks into blocks or freezes. It is rarely the television. Nine times out of ten it is the aerial, the fixings or the cable where it enters the house.

Either the signal has stopped arriving or the TV has lost its channel list. Try a retune first — it costs nothing and sometimes that is all it is. If a retune finds no channels at all, the problem is upstream: the aerial, the cable, or a transmitter fault. Give us a ring and we will tell you which before anyone comes out.

No. There is no such thing, and if someone is trying to sell you one, be careful. Aerials receive a range of frequencies — they do not know or care whether what they are receiving is analogue or digital. A good aerial pointed at the right transmitter is a good aerial. What can genuinely need changing is an old, corroded or wrongly-grouped aerial, but that is a different conversation from a "digital upgrade".

Usually not. Most aerials that worked before will still work, provided they are in good condition and pointed at the right transmitter. If yours is old, damaged or was fitted for a transmitter that has since changed, replacing it may help — but it should be a decision based on measuring the signal, not on a guess.

It depends on more than people expect: how high the aerial has to go, how you get to it, how much cable has to be run and made good, and what equipment the signal in your area actually needs. That is why the call-out and the advice are free — we would rather look first and give you a real number than quote blind over the phone and change it when we arrive.

Almost always the way the signal has been split. Every time a signal is divided it gets weaker, so a set at the end of a long run, or behind a cheap splitter, drops out while the others look fine. It is usually fixable with proper distribution rather than a new aerial.

We run a new point from the existing system, or fit distribution so several rooms are fed properly rather than split badly. Cable can usually be run discreetly. This is one of the most common jobs we do.

Wind moves aerials. Even a few degrees off and the signal drops; a bad gust can shear a bracket or bring the whole thing down. If yours is visibly hanging or has moved, do not go up after it — ring us and we will make it safe.

It is the question people ask most, and it is a fair one — this trade has a reputation problem. What we would say: look for someone local with an address you can find, ask whether the call-out and advice are free, and ask for the price before work starts. We have been in Morley since 1997, and most of our work still comes from people who were recommended to us.

If you are a leaseholder or tenant in a block, the communal system is almost always the freeholder or management company’s responsibility, and its upkeep is usually covered by your service charge. Your own flat’s wiring from the outlet onwards is normally yours. If you are the managing agent and the system needs looking at, that is work we do — see our commercial page.