cost of free view

I was charged $450 for the installation of Freeview which I consider a ripoff. All you get is the same limited channels that were free previously on our old TV. Freeview is made out to be something new and I was conned into it.

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Permalink Reply by DG on November 14, 2013 at 8:58

The tech picked up my TV from Benrow Remuera, brought it to Parnell, installed it. Removed my old UHF aerial, put on a new one with an Amplifier and connected into the existing Sky cabling on the Sky dish.He Tuned the TV as well. The TV is a good quality one with built in Freeview and Ethernet etc.

Permalink Reply by nzdtv.com on November 14, 2013 at 9:20

new hi gain UHF antenna $80-$150
other misc gear bracing support arms etc $25

Masthead Amplifer anywhere between $50-$100

say 2 hours install time at $80 an hour?

try and post the invoice..

Permalink Reply by DG on November 14, 2013 at 11:05

Hi Mike, how much should it cost to replace the LNB?

Mike G said:

You replace the LNB in the centre of the dish at home with one that is the same frequency as your one at your other place. Most Sky LNBs are 10750MHz and most others are 11300MHz.

Permalink Reply by Biggles on November 14, 2013 at 11:13

Given the work done the cost may not be unreasonable. However being in Parnell and using the Sky cable opens another can of worms. Depends where in Parnell and if you can see Sky Tower or Waiatarua. Which way is the antenna pointing (Sky Tower or Waiatarua), did he get the polarisation right and which direction gives the best signal. Was the amp really needed? Maybe not if he had run a separate co-ax for the UHF and therefore not needed to use 2 splitters which wouldn't help the signal strength? Presumably he had all the right gear to sort that out and find the best signal?

And as you say there may be up to 25 channels but most are rubbish and only 2 or 3 actually transmit HD programs, all the rest are SD. Main advantage is the HD and surround sound capabilities and no ghosting any more.

Wait for the outcry on 1 Dec when a lot of people find they only have snow on their screens and their recorders/VCRs can't record anything except from an external source like a STB or Sky box..

Permalink Reply by Mike G on November 14, 2013 at 12:06

Lnbs are pretty cheap on Trademe. Under $40. There's a bit of alignment to do when you fit them as you need to set the skew correctly. That is the rotational angle of the LNB in the holder. You can do it yourself by optimising the signal quality reading on the sky decoder, but the pro's use spectrum analysers to do it so you may need to get an installer in again if you're not happy to DIY.

The throat diameters of lnbs vary as well, so it would be good to measure the one you are replacing before you buy one.

DG said:

Hi Mike, how much should it cost to replace the LNB?

Mike G said:

You replace the LNB in the centre of the dish at home with one that is the same frequency as your one at your other place. Most Sky LNBs are 10750MHz and most others are 11300MHz.