We were contacted by a customer in Colne, Lancashire who was having ongoing problems with their Freeview reception. Channels were breaking up, some services were missing completely, and the issue was becoming more noticeable in bad weather.

The customer suspected the aerial, so we arranged for one of our engineers to attend and test the system from the roof.

Inspection on the Roof

Once on the roof, our engineer checked the existing aerial and immediately found the main cause of the problem – there was water in the coaxial cable and in the aerial connection itself.

This happens when an outdoor aerial or the cable entry point hasn’t been sealed properly or when the cable has started to perish over time. Water then tracks down the cable and ruins the signal quality.

Engineer’s Advice

The engineer explained to the customer that, because the cable was waterlogged and the aerial itself had taken in water, simply re?terminating the end indoors would not fix it. The only proper way to restore a strong, stable Freeview signal was to:

• replace the outdoor TV aerial with a new, weather?proofed aerial
• replace the full length of affected coaxial cable down to the TV point
• re?tune the television once the new signal was present

The customer agreed to go ahead.

Installation

We removed the old, water?damaged aerial and fitted a new digital?compatible aerial in the same location with a clear view across Colne.

We ran a new length of coax, clipped and routed neatly, making sure all outdoor connections were properly sealed to prevent water ingress in future. Once inside, we terminated the cable with a new connector and connected it to the TV.

Re-Tune and Test

With the new aerial and cable in place, we carried out a full TV re-tune. All expected Freeview channels were found, and the meter readings showed a clean, strong signal. The picture was stable on every channel – no more pixelation or drop-outs.

Result

• Old aerial and water?logged cable removed
• New aerial and cable installed with proper weather protection
• TV re-tuned to the correct transmitter for Colne
• The customer left with perfect TV reception

Conclusion

This job is a good example of how water in the aerial cable can be the hidden cause of Freeview problems. Once water gets inside the coax, the only reliable repair is to replace the cable and, in many cases, the aerial as well.

After doing that – and finishing with a re-tune – the customer in Colne was very happy with both the signal quality and the tidy installation.

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Posted in Case Studies by nick Comments Off on TV Aerial Installation with a View – Colne, Lancashire