TV aerial repairs in Dorking
TV aerial repairs in Dorking, Westcott and the villages, often switching transmitter where the hills get in the way.
TV aerial repair engineers in Dorking
Dorking aerials can face Crystal Palace, Guildford or Reigate, and the wrong choice causes many faults. Our engineers measure and realign.
Dorking sits in a valley below Box Hill, so many aerials have little signal to spare. Old cottages in the town have tired cable, and farms out towards Capel and Ockley have long runs to barns. A small slip in alignment can lose several channels here.
Most Dorking aerials point at Crystal Palace, about 17 miles north-east. Some homes do better on the Guildford relay, so our engineers test both before deciding. We carry a signal meter on every job, so the fault is found at the TV, in the loft or on the roof before anything is replaced.
Older homes tend to have tired cable and corroded plugs hidden in the walls. Swapping them often brings back every channel. Out in the countryside, long cables and tall masts take the weather, so damp joints and loose stays are common repairs. Terraces often share chimneys, and old lashings rot. We re-fix the aerial with a fresh bracket so it stops drifting in the wind.
What’s wrong with your TV picture in Dorking?
Tap what you’re seeing. Our Dorking engineers find the cause with a meter before anything is replaced.
Picture breaks up or pixelates
- Likely cause
- A weak or noisy signal: corroded connectors, old cable, a misaligned aerial or new trees in the way.
- What our engineer does
- Measure signal quality, replace the weak link and realign the aerial if it has moved.
Some channels missing
- Likely cause
- The TV needs retuning, or one transmitter frequency is too weak or overloaded at your house.
- What our engineer does
- Retune and check each multiplex; adjust or replace the amplifier or aerial if needed.
Worse in wind or rain
- Likely cause
- A loose mast or bracket that moves in wind, or water getting into a joint when it rains.
- What our engineer does
- Re-secure or replace the bracket and lashings, and seal or renew the cable.
Aerial bent or hanging after a storm
- Likely cause
- Wind has snapped the lashings, bent the mast or broken the aerial elements.
- What our engineer does
- We secure it first, then mend or renew it and line it back up. Keep clear and send us a photo from the ground.
What’s gone wrong with your Dorking aerial?
Tap the part of the house that matches what you’re seeing, and we’ll tell you what we usually find and how we put it right.
Storm damage repairs
After a gale we see snapped chimney lashings, bent poles and aerials hanging by the cable. Our Dorking engineers make the aerial safe first, then straighten or replace the mast, refit the lashings and realign it on a meter.
Pixelated or breaking-up picture
When the picture breaks up, our engineers read the signal level and error rate on each multiplex. Pixelation in Dorking is most often down to water in a joint, a worn aerial or one that has slipped off line, and each has a simple fix.
Aerial blown out of line
Even a few degrees of movement can lose channels. If wind has turned your aerial away from the Crystal Palace mast, we re-secure the bracket so it can’t slip again and realign it on a meter, not by eye.
Water in the cable and corroded plugs
Cracked cable and unsealed joints let rain in, so each wet spell makes the picture a little worse. We replace the run with double-screened cable and weatherproof every connector.
Chimney lashings and brackets
On Dorking chimneys the lashing wire is often the first thing to fail. We replace rusted lashings and corner plates, and if the chimney stack looks unsound we switch to a fixing on the gable wall instead.
Failed amplifiers and splitters
Loft amplifiers and splitters wear out, and a power cut can finish off a tired one. We work out which one has failed and fit a quality replacement matched to the signal at your house.
Repair or replace your Dorking aerial?
Most aerials we see can be repaired. Tell us what you can see from the garden for our first view, which the engineer then checks on the roof.
How old is the aerial?
Did the problem start suddenly?
Looking from the ground, is it rusty, bent or broken?
Our first view
Send us the detailsFrom our engineers’ blog
Dorking aerial repair questions
Do you repair aerials all over Dorking?
Yes, including Dorking town, Westcott, North Holmwood, Pixham and Deepdene, Capel and Ockley and Mickleham.
Will you fix it or just sell me a new aerial?
We fix what’s broken. A meter reading at the TV, in the loft and on the roof shows which part has failed, and you hear what we find before anything is replaced.
Why might my Dorking aerial be pointing the wrong way?
Most Dorking aerials should face Crystal Palace, about 17 miles north-east. Some do better on the Guildford relay. If yours was fitted to the wrong one, or has been turned by wind, realigning it is often the whole repair.
Do you repair storm-damaged aerials in Dorking?
Yes. Snapped lashings, bent masts and aerials hanging off the chimney are made safe first, then repaired or replaced and realigned. If the damage came from a storm, we can send you photos of the damage to pass to your home insurance.
Why does my TV picture keep pixelating?
Pixelation means the signal reaching the TV is too weak or too noisy. The aerial may have moved, a plug may be corroded or the cable may have let in water. We measure the signal to find which, rather than guessing.
My aerial has been blown out of line. Can it just be turned back?
Usually, yes, but the clamp or bracket that let it move needs tightening or replacing too, or it will drift again in the next wind. We realign it on a meter so every channel comes back.
My picture went after a storm. Is it safe?
Stay well back from anything dangling, and snap a picture of it from the garden for us. Bent poles and slipped lashings are among the most common storm repairs we do.
Book an aerial repair in Dorking
Lost channels, no signal and storm damage fixed across Dorking.
Aerial repairs near Dorking
Dorking postcodes
RH4 Dorking, Westcott, Pixham · RH5 Mickleham, North Holmwood, Capel, Ockley