Why not offer Freesat?

Some aerial installers are ignoring Freesat in poor terrestrial reception areas, preferring to sell large high gain aerials.
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, Dec 2010.

Why not offer Freesat?

I can see the mast so where’s the flippin’ signal?

The peculiarities of the UK’s TV transmission network, and how they can confuse aerial installers.
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, Nov 2010.

I can see the mast so where’s the flippin’ signal?

Why have temporary HD transmissions?

Bill has a bit of a grumble about the disruption caused by the temporary terrestrial HD transmissions.
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, Oct 2010.

Why have temporary HD transmissions?

Riggers’ Tricks

Tricks of the trade, some of which are contentious!
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, Sept 2010.

Riggers' Tricks

Surviving the analogue switch-off

Way and means of drumming up a bit of extra trade. All suggestions are legal decent and honest...
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, Summer, 2010.

Surviving the analogue switch-off

When it just has to be in the loft

Outdoor aerials are best, but sometimes a loft installation is unavoidable. Here’s how to go about the job.
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, July 2010.

When it just has to be in the loft

Mystery faults with digital TV reception are sometimes caused by faults in the power supply section of the masthead or distribution amplifer.
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, June 2010.

Check the Amp!

Look Back in Anger

Remember the good old days, when things were made to last forever? Are you sure those memories are accurate?
Published in What Satellite and Digital TV, May 2010.

Look Back in Anger

Television On The Move

Bill looks at various ways and means of getting good TV reception in caravans and boats.

Television on The Move

Getting the right response

Phased arrays can provide a tailored polar response. Using DAB reception as an example, this article tells you how to do it.
Published in What Satellite, April, 2010

Phased arrays

Tree screening

Trees are the aerial installer’s worst enemy, after traffic wardens.
From What Satellite March 2010

The effects of tree screening

The re-tune nightmare

Bill has a moan about the way DTT receivers are forever tuning themselves into the wrong transmissions.
From What Satellite February 2010

The Retune Nightmare

A look at Emley Moor’s output, on a rainy day in April 2010

This little investigation was done in a quick and casual manner on a cold and miserable afternoon when I didn’t feel like doing anything ‘sensible’. It isn’t particularly scientific, but I think it illustrates a few points about the pre-switchover situation, where digital and analogue TV run side by side.

Emley Moor's output

The Rogues’ Gallery

An article based on this website’s famous Rogues’ Gallery. Unfortunately Wotsat made a bit of a balls up of this feature, and it’s sometimes a bit hard to figure out which bit of text refers to which photograph.
Published January 2009.

The Rogues Gallery

Freeview reception wallchart

This is a flowchart that will help you decide why your DTT reception is poor and what can be done about it.

Wallchart

TV Reception in Shared Properties

A look at the special TV reception problems facing the occupiers of flats and other residential complexes.

TV reception in Shared Properties

So You Need a New Aerial?

An insight for customers into the sometimes shady world of domestic aerial installation. Published in the Television Viewers’ Guide 2008. We can recommend this publication and its sisters. They are really useful reference works, well worth the money.

So you need a new aerial?

Let’s turn analogue off now (or tomorrow at the latest...)

Of course, it can’t be done. But the lingering death of analogue TV is allowing the lowlife of the aerial rigging trade to profit mightily from every kind of rip-off. The sooner analogue goes the better.
Published in What Satellite, April 2008.

Let's turn analogue off now...

The C.A.I. show

A visit to the 2009 Confederation of Aerial Industries Show, at Stoneleigh Park near Kenilworth. This time, for once, Bill wasn’t taken drunk!
Published in What Satellite, August 2009.

The CAI SHow 2009

Builders and Electricians

Problems for the TV system installer caused by builders and electricians. Bill at his sarcastic worst!
Published in What Satellite, December 2008.

Builders and Electricians

The Whitby TV Scandal

Something has happened for the first time in the UK. An area that previously had good TV reception has had it taken away by the broadcasters.
Published in What Satellite, January 2008.

The Whitby TV Scandal

Freesat or Freesat?

Written when the public were understandably confused by the appearance of ‘Freesat’ (as opposed to ‘Freesat from Sky’).
Published in What Satellite, July 2008.

Freesat or Freesat?

A simple domestic distribution system

This article suggests a worthwhile improvement on the usual loopthrough method of feeding the Skybox output to other rooms.
Published in What Satellite, October 2008.

A simple domestic distribution system

FM and DAB aerials: lack of installer know-how

Why do installers use ‘halo’ FM aerials when they are a total waste of aluminium? And other irascible questions from old grumpy guts.
Published in What Satellite, September 2009.

FM and DAB aerials

Rogue Riggers

Examples of diabolical installation work, extracted from the Rogues Gallery. Published in What Satellite, 2006.

Rogue Riggers

How's my signal?

Introduces readers to the concept of the ‘digital cliff’, and considers reasons why digital reception might be poor.
Published in What Satellite, 2006.

How's my signal?

Cutting Corners is a Cowboys' Charter

Here's Mr Bozo again, the boss of Bozo’s Aerials. He stands for everything in the aerial trade that’s baaaad . . .   
Also on this page Bill tries to explain something about the economics of the installation business, and gently suggests that buying an aerial at B & Q and then asking an installer to fix it on the roof might not be such a good idea. 
Published Jan 2007.

Cutting Corners is a Cowboys' Charter

Short Reflector Syndrome

Cheap aerials have many faults, but perhaps the most blatant bit of cost-cutting is the use of undersized reflectors on some channel group A products.
Published April 2007.

Short reflector syndrome

Poor reception? Go through the roof!

Where wall- or chimney-mounting of aerials and dishes is impossible, an alternative if there is a loft is to use a ‘through the roof’ mounting kit.
Published October 2007.

Go through the roof

Buying a new flat? Check the reception

Builders, ever conscious of their margins, often under-specify the TV distribution system. The result can be disappointment for residents.
Published July 2007.

Buying a new flat

Domestic RF distribution systems for television and radio

Considers potential problems from the installer’s point of view, and looks at the various add-on options available.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Satellite Distribution Systems

This article was serialised in Television and Home Electronics Repair in late 2004 and early 2005. The magazine was essential reading for those in the TV trade until its demise a few years ago. Most readers were TV repairmen, and as the prices of new equipment sunk so did the trade. With few readers left the magazine had to close.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

Co-ax cable quality - how much does it matter?

This article was published in Television and Home Electronics Repair, January 2004.

Co-ax cable quality

TV interference from TETRA

This article was published in Television and Home Electronics Repair, December 2003.

TETRA interference

Digital Terrestrial TV Reception

This article was published in Television and Home Electronics Repair, February 2001.

DTT reception

Pre-echo

This article was written in February 1996, before the start of digital television in the UK. Slight pre-echo has no visible effect on digital reception, but when the direct signal is very strong the BER (Bit Error Rate) can increase to the point where the picture and sound are affected. Very short delay pre-echo can amount to signal cancellation, which can obviously affect digital reception dramatically

Pre-echo