a snippet from a mate

This is from a friend of mine who does a bit of aerial rigging part time up
in Scotland. The customer (well, his mother's auntie) was proposing having a
Freesat box in every room, emulating the set-up at his brother's house,
where there was no terrestrial reception whatsoever. He was unhappy about it
because of the cost but felt he had to do it because his terrestrial
reception was so poor. My mate thought it was odd that there should be a
problem with terrestial given the very good hill top location.

"How long have you had bad reception?"

"Ever since they put that bloody mast up behind us. It blocks off the
signal. Nuthin' can't be done about it."

Now that 'bloody mast' has been there a lot of years. It's the TV relay for
the village in the bottom of the glen. The customer had an ancient aerial
pointing at the main station forty miles away -- but also accidentally
pointing at the relay -- with a multi-output masthead amp to feed all the
tellys. Despite opposing polarisation the amp was over-driven most
spectacularly by the relay, which pointed towards the house and was only
about 40 metres away. Reception of both the main station and the relay had
other channels drifting in the background. Reception of the relay also had
bad ghosting.

My friend made an instant diagnosis and suggested that he should fit a new
aerial and remove the amplifier, but this idea met with customer resistance.
Having originally concluded that the new mast was 'blocking the signal' the
old couple had allowed this misapprehension to become hallowed and
unchallengable dogma. My friend said it was like trying to explain to the
Pope that there isn't really a God, after all. In the end he just said
"Trust me" and retreated up the ladder to do the deed.

An aerial of the correct group and polarisation produced more than enough
signal to split four ways, and with no ghosting, but -- disaster -- no
Channel 5. So further work will be done. Maybe just one Freesat box.

How extraordinary that these three people (the couple and their no-hoper
son) had been gloomily watching such atrocious reception for so many years,
convinced that 'nothing could be done'. The woman said that she had become
skilled at changing channel at just the right moment, because she could see
her favourite programme starting in the background of whatever she was
watching.

Bill


.

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