Fixing TV aerials across Cambridge
A TV aerial system has a handful of parts: the aerial and its bracket, the coax down the wall, perhaps an amplifier in the loft, then the sockets and leads in each room. When the picture goes wrong, any one of them could be to blame. Weather gets into joints, plastic cable sheathing cracks after years in the sun, and an aerial on a slim pole can twist a few degrees in a gale until it no longer lines up with Sandy Heath.
We start by measuring signal strength and quality at the TV, then work back through the socket, the amplifier and the aerial until the reading drops. That tells us exactly which part has failed. We fix that part and leave the rest alone if it’s sound, then show you the before and after figures.
Fault finder
What’s wrong with your picture?
Pick the closest match to see what usually causes it, what to try first, and how we’d fix it.
Common TV aerial faults in Cambridge
Wind and storm damage
Gales cross the open, level ground around the city with little to slow them. We straighten or replace bent aerials, refit lashings on chimneys, and take down or make safe a mast that has started to lean.
Water in the cable or connectors
Damp in a joint is the fault we find most often. The picture usually breaks up after rain and recovers as things dry out. We cut back to clean, dry cable, fit weatherproof connectors and seal the entry point.
TV aerial knocked off its line
A small turn away from Sandy Heath is enough to lose a multiplex or two. We realign with a signal meter, then tighten the clamps and check the pole won’t twist again.
Failed amplifiers and splitters
If every room went blank at once, the loft amplifier, its power unit or a splitter is the usual suspect. We test each one, replace what has failed, and set the gain so a strong signal isn’t pushed too hard.
Missing channels and 4G/5G interference
Channels gone after a retune often mean an older aerial that can’t receive every multiplex. Pixelation that comes and goes at busy times points to mobile signals, cured with a filter at the aerial or amplifier.
One room only: sockets and fly leads
When just one set is playing up, the fault is nearly always close by: a crushed fly lead, a loose wall plate or a poor joint in the cable to that room. A couple of quick tests pin it down.
Repair the TV aerial or replace it?
If a repair will last, we repair. A new TV aerial makes sense when the old one has corroded or lost elements, when it was designed for a channel group that no longer covers every Freeview multiplex, or when the bracket or pole has to come down anyway and the aerial is near the end of its working life. We show you the readings and let you decide.
Use the slider on the TV below to see the four stages of a failing signal, and what tends to cause each one in Cambridge homes.
Exposed roofs on the edge of the Fens
North and east of the city, villages such as Cottenham, Waterbeach and Milton look out over flat, open country with few hills or woods to break the wind. TV aerials there take a buffeting every winter, and the longer poles needed to clear trees and rooftops add leverage on the bracket. After a storm we check the lashings, clamps and pole as well as the aerial itself, and fit stronger brackets where the old ones have started to work loose. If an aerial has come down, keep away from it and call us so we can make it safe first. Many home insurance policies cover storm damage, and we can give you a written note of what we found.
Areas we cover in and around Cambridge
Aerial repairs in every part of Cambridge and the surrounding villages, whoever fitted the system.
City areas
- City centre
- Chesterton
- East Chesterton
- Arbury
- King’s Hedges
- Cherry Hinton
- Trumpington
- Romsey
- Petersfield
- Newnham
- Abbey
- Queen Edith’s
- Eddington
- Great Kneighton
Villages around Cambridge
- Histon
- Impington
- Girton
- Milton
- Grantchester
- Fulbourn
- Great Shelford
- Sawston
- Teversham
- Waterbeach
- Cottenham
- Comberton
- Barton
- Northstowe
Nearby towns we also cover
Cambridge questions
Every TV in the house has lost its picture. What should I check?
First make sure the loft amplifier is plugged in and its light is on. If it is, the fault is probably the amplifier itself, the main cable from the aerial, or the aerial after high winds. Ring us and we’ll test each part.
Why do my channels pixelate after rain?
Water has almost certainly got into a cable or connector. The signal weakens while the joint is wet and returns when it dries. Replacing that length of cable and sealing the connectors stops it.
Some channels vanished after a retune. Is my TV aerial broken?
Not necessarily. An older aerial may not cover every multiplex from Sandy Heath, or the signal may be borderline on one of them. We measure each multiplex to find out, and a new wideband aerial is only needed in some cases.
Can you fix a TV aerial fitted by another company?
Yes. We work on any aerial, cable, amplifier or communal system, regardless of who put it in.
My landlord’s communal TV aerial has failed. Can you help?
Yes. We can diagnose and repair communal systems in blocks of flats and shared houses, working with the landlord or managing agent, who is usually responsible for the shared equipment.