“Why do i always need a new antenna?”
In short, you don’t.
Often, antennas are replaced or changed on the recommendation of someone selling antennas. Sometimes, they can need replacing, but if they’re being replaced on a regular basis, something is very suspicious!
There is a very technical and a very basic way to troubleshoot your antenna system. A technician will use experience, skills, and industry-standard test equipment to identify faults.
The basic. Is it old? Is it broken? Is it different? No technical knowledge or ladder is needed to stand back and observe your antenna. One of these could be a clue but is not the exact cause without assessment by a qualified technician*
*** (A qualified technician will be listed on an ACMA register and generally turn up with a van full of tools and components to repair various unknown problems. If your paying over $100 call out fee’s to non-qualified technicians with no tools for the job you are promoting the negative underbelly of the industry that scam unsuspecting customers. These operators exist in all areas and often have the best stories charging you top dollar for the story only to call in a friend to “finish the job” with another fee) ***
- Some faults can be very simple but not visible to the eye. Again not the antenna!
The TV may say “check your antenna” and cabling or connections can look fine, look like new but have intermittent or rusted wires inside. These are detectable with test equipment and can be very cheap to repair.
Your antenna system uses a very limited number of parts. Using the process of elimination you may be able to identify the faults yourself. Replacing the antenna several times is not the answer.
- The technical solution
Identify the antenna if it’s “cut for the right frequency” sales people might think this is a myth but the theory is 100 years old and at the foundation of any broadcasting understanding. The antenna type should be selected based on frequency and the terrain between the transmitter site and the receive antenna location. Very simple rules are used identify correctly and results are confirmed with meter readings.
Amplification is needed in many locations more often where UHF signals are used and also need to be correct for the incoming signal level and with adequate filtering for interference. You can add a filter to old amps and various solutions are available to deliver a stable signal to one or one thousand TV’s. The operational state of the amplifier is always visible in meter readings.
Cabling over the years has changed in several ways. Physically more robust, resistant to common rodents and UV stabilized to outlast most of your external home fixtures. Low-loss is now standard and very long runs of satellite and terrestrial TV is very manageable. Interference is greatly reduced for 4 layers of shielding seemingly more than adequate and past the pay-tv required level of just 3 layers. Meter readings can confirm the cable is workable and undamaged.
Connections are now waterproof and difficult to accidentally remove as threaded connectors provide a very robust solid and sound connection. If the most expensive connectors are not installed correctly they will not work well and fail in a short amount of time. Cheap connectors can sometimes outlast a poorly installed good quality connector. Twist and tape joins were never an acceptable practice but still found in modern houses where the correct tools or knowledge just isn’t available. Meter readings can identify one and often multiple faults often related to installation and not product quality.
TV Settings. All automatic right? Not exactly. We now have multiple transmitters available and places like bundabah have optional transmitter sites in opposite directions and different ends of the TV band. Meter readings give a list of all transmitter levels and most tv’s can give an on screen reading of levels and incase of duplicate channels identify the correct frequency that should be tuned.
If your still reading you know the meter is very important and it doesn’t just show a level. It gives much more detail and is the reason why some installers can give a warranty that assures signal quality and others give no warranty or worse charge you another call out fee to setup a Chromecast that drops out, buffers, forgets your accounts, requires multiple signups for all your personal information, forgets again, requires another service call again and leaves you double or triple out of pocket.
- The correct solution
Is based on the problem at hand and resolved by correct identification and not gossip or PUB Science. The correct solution resolves the fault and not negotiating how “things should work”. It’s an exact science and no fix no fee is an honest way to find the solution.