Aerial-tech

My neighbours have a pet door. The little doggie shoots out of it at dawn, and it goes bang-bang-bang. When dawn is at 5am, this means a rude awakening for me.

Except that my neighbours have moved. The doggie has gone, and the pet door too. But the bang-bang-bang continues. Whatever can it be?

Looking on the roof, I see aerials. Could one be banging against another, or on the roof? How can I find out? I get vertigo going up stairs, never mind ladders!

Friday morning, and I ring a couple of firms. I tell them that I want someone to go up on the roof and see if an aerial is loose. "That will be £80 for a new bracket, and £120 for a new aerial" a smooth voice tells me. I thank him and put the phone down.

Then I talk to Aerial-Tech. His name is Neil, and yes, he can come out late this afternoon, depending on whether a job gets done. He'll charge £25 for half an hour, and then we'll see.

I get home mid-afternoon, and I get a call soon after that he's on his way. He arrives as rain is falling. The roof is mossy, and slippery. But up he goes onto the roof. He waggles one aerial -- no problem. He waggles the other -- and it moves! Indeed it moves too and fro a lot. Clearly this is the problem, and birds roosting on it overnight set it moving when they take off. What to do?

Neil shrugs. It's loose because it isn't put on properly. It's held on by a couple of bolts too close to the top, and going into a softwood fascia. He'll stick a few more bolts in there and it will be fine.

I look down the road, where the houses are lower, and see some substantial aerials attached to walls by big bits of metal and rising high over the house. I explore with Neil whether something similar is needed here. But he says no. He doesn't try to take me for something I don't need.

As he tries to go up again, the ladder shifts. It's really treacherous. But he gets it up somehow, and does the job. He charges me £25. And off he goes, leaving me happy and astonished.

One day I will want to replace that aerial, certainly when digital reception is actually possible here. He explains that my aerial simply can't receive the ITV channels on digital -- it has a yellow knob on the end indicating the wavelengths it can get, and ITV is outside that. But when the changeover comes, local boosters will change also. When that day comes, Neil will be my first choice for the business.

Aerial-Tech aerial and satellite services. Neil Wingar, 32 Westholme Road, Ipswich IP1 4HH. Mob. 07818-018510. Tel. 01473-425622. Email: aerial_tech@hotmail.com.

UPDATE 2011: Neil has now sold the company, which is therefore out of business.