Fixing TV aerials in Great Dunmow
Out in north-west Essex, a TV aerial on a Dunmow roof is aimed across open farmland towards Sudbury, and it takes whatever the weather throws at it from that direction. After a dozen winters the plugs begin to corrode, the outer jacket of the cable splits where it bends over the gutter, and the clamps holding the aerial loosen enough for it to turn. You may first notice a few channels freezing on a wet evening.
We find the fault by measuring the signal at each stage, from the TV back to the aerial on the roof. That way we can point to the exact part that has failed and fix only that. We work on aerials fitted by anyone, and if something can’t be repaired sensibly we’ll tell you and explain why.
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.
TV aerial faults we put right around Dunmow
Storm and wind damage
Houses on the open edge of town and in villages such as Barnston and High Easter stand in the path of every winter gale. Bent elements, snapped brackets and slack lashings are all repaired so the mast stands true again.
Water in cables and connectors
Rain soaks in where the cable jacket has cracked or a plug was never sealed, and the copper blackens. Pictures fade in wet weeks and recover in dry ones until the joint fails. We fit new cable and sealed compression plugs.
TV aerials knocked off Sudbury
Twenty miles is a fair distance, so an aerial turned slightly away from Sudbury loses its weakest multiplexes first. We bring it back on beam with a meter and tighten everything.
Failed amplifiers and splitters
If the whole house went dark at once, the amplifier or its little power unit is the first suspect. We measure it, swap it if it has died, and check it isn’t set too high for your signal.
Missing channels and 4G/5G interference
Losing a handful of channels at a retune often means the aerial is an older type built for different frequencies. Stuttering at peak times can be phone masts along the A120; a filter cures that.
Single rooms and fly leads
When the kitchen TV fails but the lounge is fine, look near the kitchen set: its lead, its wall plate or the cable feeding that room. A few tests find it.
Repair or replace your TV aerial?
Most faults we find around Dunmow are repairs: a connector, some cable, an amplifier or a realignment. A TV aerial is worth replacing when it has corroded, when it was built for a narrow group of channels that no longer covers all of Freeview, or when storm damage has left it beyond saving. We’ll show you the readings and explain the choice before you decide.
Slide the signal on the TV below to see what each kind of fault looks like and what usually causes it in Dunmow.
Old chimneys and period roofs in the town centre
Great Dunmow’s centre is a conservation area, with old houses and shops around the Market Place, the Old Town Hall and the High Street. TV aerials there are often lashed to tall old chimneys whose mortar has softened over the years, so when we repair one we check the stack and the lashing wire as well as the aerial. Roofs with steep pitches, old peg tiles or slate need careful ladder work to avoid damage. If a chimney isn’t safe to carry an aerial, we can move it to a discreet wall bracket at the back of the house or into the loft, which also keeps the street side looking as it should.
Areas we cover in and around Great Dunmow
Aerial repairs across Great Dunmow and the surrounding villages, including aerials we didn’t install.
Great Dunmow and its edges
- Town centre
- Market Place
- Church End
- Woodlands Park
- Parsonage Downs
- Stortford Road
- St Edmunds Lane
- Little Dunmow
- Flitch Green
- Easton Lodge
Villages nearby
- Felsted
- Stebbing
- Barnston
- High Easter
- Great Easton
- Little Easton
- Thaxted
- Takeley
- Lindsell
- High Roding
- Great Canfield
- Hatfield Broad Oak
Nearby towns we also cover
Great Dunmow questions
All the TVs went off at once. Is it the TV aerial?
It might be, but check the amplifier first. If its light is off or its plug has been knocked out, that’s the answer. If it’s on, the main cable or the aerial is likely at fault, and we’ll test each.
My picture goes when it rains and comes back when it’s dry. Why?
That’s water getting into a joint between the aerial and the TV. We find the damp section and replace it with sealed fittings.
Can you repair a TV aerial on an old chimney?
Yes. We check the chimney and lashings as well as the aerial. If the chimney isn’t sound, we can move the aerial to a wall bracket or the loft.
Will you look at a TV aerial another installer put up?
Yes. We work on any aerial, cable or amplifier, whoever fitted it.
Can I get a note for my insurer after a storm?
Yes. We’ll write down the damage we found and what we did. Your policy will say whether aerials are covered.