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Terminating TV antenna co-ax on wallbox

The antenna for our flat is terminated on about 3m of ugly stiff coax coiled in the corner of the living room.

I don't think it would be a massive job to terminate it on a proper wall box but the risk of interrupting telly service is more than my life is worth so I'd prefer not to do it myself..

I emailed a bunch of local antenna fitters and have only had one response - they wanted £150 to do it! I'm guessing the job is too small for most to bother with.

What's a reasonable amount to charge for this and would I be better off contacting a local handyman or electrician rather than an antenna specialist?
 
The antenna for our flat is terminated on about 3m of ugly stiff coax coiled in the corner of the living room.

I don't think it would be a massive job to terminate it on a proper wall box but the risk of interrupting telly service is more than my life is worth so I'd prefer not to do it myself..

I emailed a bunch of local antenna fitters and have only had one response - they wanted £150 to do it! I'm guessing the job is too small for most to bother with.

What's a reasonable amount to charge for this and would I be better off contacting a local handyman or electrician rather than an antenna specialist?


round here about £200
 
It is too small a job for an aerial bloke. Go for it yourself or find a volunteer who likes beer tokens.

Seriously the necessary parts are probably at your local B & Q. Pair of wire strippers needed plus tools for whatever wall mounting you choose - you could even glue it 'No More Nails' if surface mounted.

Or easier, cut the cable back to a better length so it can be dressed or hidden. You can get cable tidy things that stick on or above the skirting to hide it inside and bring that around to the back near the TV. If you have carpet you can often lift the carpet along the edge and hide aerial cable underneath (in the gap between gripper and skirting board).
 
Yeah if it was a new install I'd just do it myself - but even the slim change of having a problem and interrupting telly service in the flat just doesn't bear thinking about :D

I think it's going to stay hidden behind the curtains for now - next time there's an electrician doing some work in the building I'll see how much they want to do it in their lunch break...
 
How long does it take to cut the cable to length and fit a new plug? 15mins?

If you are worried that fitting a wallbox will take too long and incur wrath from SWMBO I'd suggest.

1) Get some of the cheap (white) plastic channel that holds cable and fit it to the walls from where the cable comes in to near the back of the TV.

2) Cut your cable so it is just long enough to fit in that channel and reach the TV socket. Fit a plug, attach the channel cover strip, and Robert's yer avuncular relative. The TV should only be O/S for 10-15 mins.

If you've never done this before, buy more than one plug and some cable, and practice first. Given the cost of a reapir bod you can afford to get a variety of types of plug and some cable to decide which type you find best and easiest. Some plugs may require soldering but other may not.

Alternative: Tell SWMBO that if they're worried, they can wallpaper the existing cable to make it look nicer. 8-]

Alternative2: Get a couple of ESLs as speakers for the TV system as hiding said cable behind them becomes easy... 8-]]
 
what is wrong with you lot? Just drill a few holes in the floor (if suspended floor) and run the offending cable under the floor. If a solid floor, then you'll need to lift the floor covering, cut a channel in the floor, run a conduit in the channel, and make good.
 
Get on with it, you'll only interrupt your own telly service. Lazy builders should have left a socket on the wall in the first place.
 
(1) Shortening the coax and fitting (the same if not soldered?) plug. You'd have to go some to hash that up ! Suggest taking plug off carefully and simply reversing the process.

(2) Cutting the coax to fit a flush- mounted socket. Bit more complicated as you could shorten it too much unless you can pull some more through (the wall?). Also, you'll need a coax interconnect cable from TV to new socket, and an added connection is never a plus point as aerial signals aren't massive.

If you can be sure that the TV will never require a longer stretch of coax, simply reduce it as in (1). Maybe an idea to just chop a bit off to make it shorter and when you have the confidence, take some more off, but always leave a bit more than you think you'll need. If the plug is soldered (unlikely), get a new one for pennies.
 
The OP thinks he's got problems with Domestic TV Politics?

Last week I acquired a new and better TV which I decided deserved to be between my Hi Fi speakers. I moved an armchair which nobody ever sits in to make space between my speakers for the TV and put the armchair where the old TV had been. This meant I had to put a powerline adapter on a socket close to my hi fi and run an ethernet cable from it to the TV. Then I had to pull the Virgin cable off the wall and doorframe on one side of the room and run it round to the new TV position.. temporarily. Next up, a temporarily positioned digital optical 'cable' from the TV to my DAC and finally an extension lead /4way socket thing to give power to Virgin Box, TV, DVD etc. Finally, I had to go into the loft and disconnect a redundant FM radio aerial and then connect its wire to the loft mounted TV aerial booster amp, to provide a terrestrial TV signal through what useter be the aerial outlet for my old radio tuner.. close to my hi-fi kit.This last was a tactical move as it is imperative that Mrs Mull can view 'The Sewing Quarter' every day and it's not available via Virgin.

Total time.. about 2 hours.

This was, I can confirm.. a very much shorter period of time than that taken up by the ensuing 'domestic', when Mrs Mull decided that the new TV position caused her to move her head through approximately 3 degrees of arc in order to watch TV 'on axis'. This was clearly unacceptable. The fact that the new TV position provided infinitely better sound and brought all seating in the lounge into at least tolerable, if not necessarily optimal TV viewing parameters, counted for the square root of bugger all. The fact that with the TV in the 'approved' position I have to turn my head through about 30 degrees to see most of the screen( except the bit which gets obscured by a chimney breast) is also clearly of no relevance whatever in the super logical world of the female of the species.

The 'domestic' also ranged into other issues, such as accusations that my speakers are 'in the way'. A Red Line of Brexit proportions which WILL NOT BE CROSSED.... I counter argued that the only thing in the way were my great piles of CDs because there's no storage space left in the house, because female logic dictates that every space must be filled with crud which does not get used and never will get used. Apparently... 'that's what cupboards are for!!!'

So, I undertook to remove my CDs from sight and was given tacit approval by the words 'Do what you like'.

And that, my friends, is why I went out and bought an Innuos Zen Mini. :D:D:D

No questions have been asked as to the function... purpose, or most of all. cost.. of said kit.

I believe I win...... ;)
 
The most dangerous words in the SWMBO vocabulary. This phrase should always be taken to mean the precise opposite to its apparent meaning or trouble almost always ensues. How long have you been married Col? Long enough to already know all this, that's how long.

I am not afraid...:eek:
 
There are plenty of how to do it videos on YouTube. Search for "wiring coax socket".

I would suggest studying a few of these, there are videos for terrestrial aerials and satellite. If you feel more confident pop down to B&Q for the appropriate bits and have a go. Satellite and terrestrial use slightly different components. Don't cut the downlead too short. Make sure you keep the braid tidy so that you don't short out the centre conductor.

I would tackle this when the other half is out for a while and you have plenty of time and are not under pressure.
 
Yes, usually means "do what I like" lol
Actually, I think it is usually code for 'it matters not a jot what you say or do, as far as I'm concerned you have lost this argument and any consequences are down to you. If you do actually do what you like, be advised that this will be noted and held against you at some indeterminate future point.'

It's an admirable compression, if you think about it.
 
Do it yourself its simple.
Agreed - the worst that can happen is that the TV gets no signal and you start again.
The most difficult part of diy is bending the cable to fit into the wall box.
Make sure you have a bit of slack, just in case...
 
Bear in mind that the Universe is expanding. Thus it is always wiser to have a cable that is slightly too long rather than slightly too short! :)

The real point of the "measure twice, cut once" approach is something most people don't realise. It lets you estimate the local rate of expansion so you can allow for another decade or two before the cable becomes too short.
 


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