Close thing

The TV situation is part resolved. The winds of last Thursday brought the TV aerial down - or rather one of them - and we have had no reception to speak of on the TV in the living room since then. My booster indoor aerial has proven to be useless since the signal comes from Crystal Palace which is both thirty-odd miles away and the other side of the building, so the strength os signal just isn't enough to punch through the brickwork of the whole house.

As usual, getting hold of the landlord is proving problematic; we would like him to have the aerial replaced, but failing that, if he is willing to confirm the extension of the lease beyond June, we would cheerfully pay to install satellite. If he thinks about it, this is all to the good as far as he is concerned; guaranteed rental income for another 18 months (we would like longer, but...) and he wouldn't have to pay for the aerial, we'd watch telly through the dish.

Anyway, in the meantime, I have part resolved the problem following a trip to B&Q to purchase a proper indoor booster aerial and the means to place it where it can receive enough signal for us to receive at least the terrestrial channels, though Freeview is rather more dodgy. Suffice it sto say that I have in my computer room, up here in The Tower an aerial that looks not unlike the top of a Smash Martian's head: ( see here for overseas readers )

.

The TV itself is, of course, two storeys down.

It's amazing what you can do with 50 metres of coaxial cable and four plastic ties.

Bizarrely, we cannot get any of the terrestrial stations on digital, though an eclectic selection of purely digital channels work perfectly. For now, then, we have hazy but watchable terrestrial analogue and a varying number and selection of digital. Better than it was, but not as good as it should be. Still, at least we can watch something.

We might have had to engage in conversation otherwise. Can you imagine?

Close thing

The TV situation is part resolved. The winds of last Thursday brought the TV aerial down - or rather one of them - and we have had no reception to speak of on the TV in the living room since then. My booster indoor aerial has proven to be useless since the signal comes from Crystal Palace which is both thirty-odd miles away and the other side of the building, so the strength os signal just isn't enough to punch through the brickwork of the whole house.

As usual, getting hold of the landlord is proving problematic; we would like him to have the aerial replaced, but failing that, if he is willing to confirm the extension of the lease beyond June, we would cheerfully pay to install satellite. If he thinks about it, this is all to the good as far as he is concerned; guaranteed rental income for another 18 months (we would like longer, but...) and he wouldn't have to pay for the aerial, we'd watch telly through the dish.

Anyway, in the meantime, I have part resolved the problem following a trip to B&Q to purchase a proper indoor booster aerial and the means to place it where it can receive enough signal for us to receive at least the terrestrial channels, though Freeview is rather more dodgy. Suffice it sto say that I have in my computer room, up here in The Tower an aerial that looks not unlike the top of a Smash Martian's head: ( see here for overseas readers )

.

The TV itself is, of course, two storeys down.

It's amazing what you can do with 50 metres of coaxial cable and four plastic ties.

Bizarrely, we cannot get any of the terrestrial stations on digital, though an eclectic selection of purely digital channels work perfectly. For now, then, we have hazy but watchable terrestrial analogue and a varying number and selection of digital. Better than it was, but not as good as it should be. Still, at least we can watch something.

We might have had to engage in conversation otherwise. Can you imagine?