TV aerial repairs across Leiston
Leiston’s TV aerials are working hard. They pull in a distant signal from Norfolk or south Suffolk, and they do it on roofs exposed to the wind off the sea and across open farmland. With so little spare signal, a fault that might go unnoticed elsewhere shows up quickly here. One corroded plug or a slight turn in the wind can be the difference between a perfect picture and a frozen one.
Most problems can be repaired without a new aerial. We measure at each TV, every socket, the amplifier and the aerial itself to find the weak point. Then we fix that part, whether it is a connector, a run of cable, a power supply or a loose clamp, and go through the before and after readings with you.
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.
Faults we repair in Leiston
Storm and wind damage
Houses towards Sizewell and out in the farmland around Theberton and Eastbridge have little shelter from easterly gales. We replace bent or broken aerials, renew lashings and make leaning masts safe.
Water in the cable
Our most frequent repair. Water gets into a cracked cable or an unsealed joint and the picture breaks up whenever it rains. We replace the damaged section and seal every connector.
TV aerial off its line
On a long path to Tacolneston or Sudbury, a few degrees is enough to lose multiplexes. We realign the aerial with a meter and fit clamps that hold.
Failed amplifiers and splitters
If all your TVs went blank at once, the amplifier or its power unit is the usual suspect. We test it, replace it if it has failed and set it up correctly for a weak signal.
Missing channels and 4G/5G
When the BBC channels survive a retune but the commercial ones vanish, the aerial is likely picking up Aldeburgh rather than a main mast. Evening freezing hints at phone masts, which a filter blocks.
Single rooms and fly leads
A fault confined to one set lives near that set: a kinked lead, a loose face plate or the length of cable feeding the room. Quick tests narrow it down.
Repair or replace your TV aerial?
We always look at repair first. Replacement makes sense if the elements are corroded or snapped, if the TV aerial was designed for the relay or for analogue channels and cannot pull in a full Freeview signal from Tacolneston or Sudbury, or if the mast and bracket need replacing and the aerial is near the end of its life. We show you what we found and the readings, and you choose.
Drag the control under the screen to step from no signal to a clean picture, with the typical Leiston cause shown at each stage.
Exposed coast and open countryside
Between Leiston and the sea there is little but heath, farmland and the Sizewell power station site, so storms reach the town and the scattered houses around it at full strength. Farmhouses and cottages on isolated sites often carry tall masts to reach a distant transmitter, and those masts put a lot of leverage on their brackets and guy wires. Each repair visit includes a look at every fixing: worn lashings and guys are renewed and rusty brackets swapped. A fallen mast is dangerous, so stay away from it and phone us to secure it first. Storm damage to TV aerials falls under many household policies, and we will set out in writing what happened for the insurer.
Areas we cover in and around Leiston
Aerial repairs in Leiston and all the surrounding villages, including aerials fitted by others.
Town and coast
- Town centre
- High Street
- Main Street
- Waterloo Avenue
- Station Road
- Valley Road
- Dinsdale Road
- Leiston Abbey
- Sizewell
- Coldfair Green
Villages nearby
- Aldringham
- Thorpeness
- Knodishall
- Theberton
- Eastbridge
- Middleton
- Westleton
- Yoxford
- Kelsale
- Friston
- Sternfield
- Darsham
- Dunwich
Nearby towns we also cover
Leiston questions
All my TVs have lost their picture. Where do I start?
Track down the amplifier, usually up in the loft or tucked behind the main television. With its light out, the plug, fuse or power unit is to blame. With the light on, the fault is further up, in the down-lead or on the roof.
Why is my picture worse on wet days?
Almost always water in a cable or connector. The signal drops while it is wet and recovers as it dries. Replacing that section and sealing the joints fixes it.
My TV lost some channels after a retune. Can you fix it?
Usually. The aerial may have picked up the Aldeburgh relay instead of a main transmitter, or it may be too narrow-band for the current frequencies. We check and realign or replace as needed.
Will you work on a TV aerial another company installed?
Of course. It makes no difference to us who put it up.
Does home insurance cover storm damage to a TV aerial?
Often it does. We can set out what was damaged and what we did in a short report for the claim.