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The Essential Guide » Fitting Out » Tv Aerials | Cable | Satellite | Freeview For Self Build and Renovatio
TV aerials / Cable / Satellite / Freeview
(click here for Home Cinema / Audio / Visual equipment section)
Introduction:
An important part of any Self Build, Renovation or Conversion projects these days is in the area of “Home Entertainment”. Our TV’s, visual and audio systems and computers are at the top of the list when it comes to planning most projects.The problem we all face is that the whole world of home entertainment is evolving at a very rapid pace, and what we think is “state of the art” today, soon becomes “yesterday’s news”.
We can spend a fortune on the latest gadgets, get them installed and enjoy them for a short time before the next new “Must have” thing comes out! – The most annoying thing to us is that the new is often cheaper than the old, s it makes our old stuff just about worthless very quickly! - That’s just life I am afraid. – We create the demand for the products by continually buying the latest thing and “binning” the old, so we just have to try to make sure we make the best decisions when we plan our projects, so that by the time they are finished, we’re not already out of date!
To that end I would recommend not buying any TV’s or any other audio or visual equipment until everything is finished, and you are just about ready to move in. – That way you’ll get the benefit of: 1) Any new technology which comes onto the market whilst you build 2) Any reductions in prices during the period you are building 3) The full guarantee period on the goods you purchase (rather than just the remaining time after the product has been sat in a box in storage for 6 months!).
What you DO need to think about early on is the overall design of your audio visual installations throughout the house.
Despite all the constant updating and upgrading of equipment, you will find that the basics are all pretty much the same month to month and year to year. Houses need wiring to power the systems that you are going to use. You generally need an Aerial, you may choose a Satellite or cable system, you may want to try to go “wireless” or you may want to integrate all your audio and visual products within a full home automation system. Whatever you decide, although you shouldn’t actually buy the equipment at the planning stages, you need to make sure that you have everything in place, where it should be, and working ready for when you have everything ready to plug in.
System design
If you are planning a fairly simple and basic system, the chances are you won’t need any professional advice at the design stage. If you are simply wanting to put a TV Aerial socket in each room, and / or install Satellite / Cable into one or two rooms you can simple mark up a drawing with the positions where you would like the wall sockets to go, and let your electrical installer price up and get on with the work
( Hint: One simple system I have used for years for TV Aerial installation in my new houses works as follows:
1) Fit an aerial in the loft or above the roof.
2) Bring a cable into the property and run it down to the position of the main TV (usually in the living room). Fit an outlet in the wall.
3) Run a cable from the outlet in the wall, to your DVD, satellite, Video etc.
4) Fit a cable to the “aerial” or “out” socket of that equipment (this cable would normally run directly to the TV).
5 Before it reaches the TV, fit a “2 way splitter” (which splits the signal to go off in 2 directions).
6) Connect one outlet of the splitter to your TV, and connect the other outlet back into a second Aerial socket on the wall.
7) This socket is wired back up to the loft to an amplifier which is also a “signal splitter”. It has up to 10 outlets and a built in power booster.
8) You can then run up to 10 separate cables down to other rooms to take the signal to those rooms.
You will now be able to watch anything that you can see on the TV in the main room, on any other TV around the house. So, If you want to put a film on in the living room and watch it in bed you can.
You can then easily upgrade this system by buying a wireless system quite cheaply from DIY and other types of stores, which allows you to change channels on the main TV, via a remote control, from anywhere in the house.)
If you are planning to install anything more complicated than a basic aerial system, you would be well advised to seek some expert help, to avoid potentially installing a system which is either out of date or simply doesn’t work properly. - Once the cables are in the walls and the walls have been plastered over and decorated, you are pretty much stuck with them!
There are now many companies around the country who specialise in Audio Visual design and installation. You will find a selection in your local area in the Trade Directory on this site, and there will usually be a local sponsor for this section who will be situated near to you. If you think you are going to need them, these companies should be contacted at an early stage in the design process. If you think about what you want at an early stage then all the design work can be done along with your initial drawings, and any potential problems are more likely to be discovered and can be fixed before you actually get to the building stage.
Audio / Visual design and installation companies can usually offer:
Full Design service:
Designers and installers will normally be happy to visit you free of charge to give you some guidance as to what is available in the ever changing world of home entertainment. You will probably be amazed at the range of equipment and gadgets that are is available these days – and at fairly reasonable prices.
You will be able to ask as many questions as you want, maybe see samples of products, get an idea of prices, and how the system can integrate with your own electrical system. You can also discuss the times at which they would need to come in to do their work (usually with the “first fix” electrical and then at the “final fix” stage after decoration).
From these meetings you will be able to get a good feel for what type of system is going to suit your project and your budget.
Hint: If you want to get some idea of what is on offer in the world of home entertainment you may find.jpg)
it worth a visit to the Permanent Self Build Exhibition
at Swindon. There is a whole area of the show dedicated home entertainment. You can either contact the companies who are presenting their products at the show, directly, or just look at the stands to give yourselves some ideas as to what is available for you to choose from when you come to designing your own system)
Hint: If you want to get some idea of what is on offer in the world of home entertainment you may find
it worth a visit to the Permanent Self Build Exhibitionat Swindon. There is a whole area of the show dedicated home entertainment. You can either contact the companies who are presenting their products at the show, directly, or just look at the stands to give yourselves some ideas as to what is available for you to choose from when you come to designing your own system)
Pre wiring:
Installing the necessary wiring for all the equipment, including TV’s, “hifi” and “surround speakers”, projectors, motorised screens, “studio lighting”, remote control signal receivers and anything else you might think of building into your system.
Full Installation and maintenance:
Most companies providing this service are fairly small, and so they look after the whole package themselves. – Once you have chosen the type of system and designed it, they will then also order all the installation materials and once that part is completed they can then install the audio and visual equipment as well.
(Hint: If you already have, or if you want to buy in your own equipment, the installation company will usually be ok with that as long as they are at least getting the contract for the installation. You may prefer to shop around and go to places where you can hear and see the products before you buy, rather than possibly choosing everything from a catalogue. – However once you have the prices from other suppliers it won’t do you any harm to ask your installer if he can beat the prices you have been quoted.)
Find design / installation companies
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What do we need to think about with regards to Audio visual installation?
Aerials:
We all know about TV aerials! - We’ve all grown up with that lead draping from the socket in the wall and running along the floor to the TV, getting all mangled up with the power cables. But did you know that there is actually quite a lot of choice to be had when it comes to aerials? – And did you know that now that we are in the world of “freeview”, the type of aerial you use may be quite important if you want to receive as many free channels as possible?
The standard aerial which we are all probably familiar with is shown here:
It’s made up of a reflector (the bit at the back), the driver (the bit just in front of the reflector) and the elements (the spikes along the length of the aerial). It normally has between 10 and 18 elements. When it’s fixed to a roof it is normally attached to a pole. The cable runs from the driver to your TV outlet in the building.
These aerials work by being pointed directly at the transmission source, and generally the more elements it has, the better reception you will get.
These types of aerial are not widely recommended if you want to get a good freeview signal.
Digital “High gain” Aerials look fairly similar to the standard aerial, but are built to provide a stronger signal. They will have at least 2 reflectors, and usually “more” and “larger” elements (up to 100).This type of aerial is more suitable for receiving freeview signals. Generally, the better the aerial the better the reception in weak signal areas, and the more free channels you are likely to pick up on freeview.
Indoor: These aerials are not usually suitable for satisfactory freeview reception and their general reception performance is significantly lower than that of roof or loft mounted aerials.
Loft mounted: Do not generally perform as well as roof mounted aerials. The roof structure, plumbing and wiring can interfere with the reception.
Cable / Satellite
The chances are that in a new build, renovation or conversion project, you will be installing one of these two systems. Which one will depend on 1) Where
you live, and 2) Your own personal preferences.
you live, and 2) Your own personal preferences.Satellite is generally more widely available due to the simple fact the as long as you have a clear line of site to the transmitting satellite, you can receive the signal. However, trees, hills, buildings and other obstacles can reduce or cancel out the signal.
Dishes are generally situated on the external walls of buildings facing in a Southerly direction and need to be positioned at the correct “angle” and “tuned in” to the strongest signal position to obtain the best quality picture.
Multi Satellite options are available where your dish is fitted with a motor, and is programmed with numerous “positions” which it can move to pick up signals from various broadcasting satellites from other countries.
Whichever satellite you tune to, some channels will be encrypted and you will need to pay a subscription and a fit a “Decoder” to be able to watch them, some channels will be free.
If you want to be able to watch different channels on different TV’s, this is possible using 2 decoders. Each decoder receives a separate signal from the dish and acts independently. Your dealer will be able to advise you on how the works and the likely cost.
You can also send the satellite signal around the house to different rooms, either by wiring up the system in the manner I mentioned earlier in this section, or by buying “senders”, which wirelessly send the signal around the house.
Cable systems are fairly similar to satellite systems in that the signal enters the house via underground cables, from the provider, and goes through a decoding box to the TV. Cable is not generally as widely available as satellite, but in the areas where it is available it solves the problems caused by signal blockage due to trees, buildings and other obstacles.
Your Designer / Installer will be able to guide you with regards to prices for satellite / cable installation and subscription costs.
Freeview
As the name suggests, this system gives you free access to a growing number of TV channels.
All you need to do is to fit a standard aerial capable of digital reception and connect a “freeview” box, which you can buy from around £15 upwards in most supermarkets, DIY chains, and in many other stores.
You simply connect your TV aerial to the freeview box, and then run a cable to your TV’s aerial socket. Follow the instructions to tune it in and you should find that you can receive dozens of channels without subscription.
Remember:
No matter what system you go for, if you have ANY equipment on which you can receive a TV signal, you NEED a TV licence. – Buying a freeview box or not connecting your TV aerial does not exempt you from this.
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