For most people, repairing an antenna can be a simple matter of replacing or repairing broken equipment such as cables and elements. But how do you know that your antennae requires a repair especially after a successful aerial installation? The most common repair problems in antennae include lightning damage, damaged electronic components, dish not correctly aligned, lost settings or programming on TVs and or decoders and unclear or distorted sound among other issues. In some instances, you'll be pretty sure you need an antenna repair done-like if its bent or fallen over due to lighting. However, in other cases, it may be challenging to know if the issue is being brought out by a damaged antenna. In such instances, you can test the antennae to ascertain if it's the root cause of the reception issues using the guide below. 

1. Inspect the Antenna 

When you have reception issues, the first thing you should do is to inspect the antenna visually finding out whether it's broken, bent or points to a different direction from your neighbours' antennae. Since they are placed on the rooftop and they aren't really protected, antennas are susceptible to damage by the weather, birds or animals that hang out on the roof. If your house is more than two storeys high, there is no need for climbing as it's quite dangerous and you can still visually inspect the antenna from a distance. 

2. Check the AV Input at Your TV

Reception issues could also be due to a wrong antenna connection to the TV. You can check whether the antenna connector on your TV still work or needs replacement. You can find out whether the connection is the real issue by plugging the antennae to another TV and see if you can get a connection. If you are unable to get a signal, the problem could be due to the antennae and not your TV. 

3. Check the Cords and Cables

If your cords and cables are not connected properly, they will not transmit the signal, and you will have issues with the reception. Thus, if you have reception issues, you may want to find out whether all the cords are secure and plugged in. Check to see whether the cords and cables are bent, twisted, or corroded as they will not be able to transmit a clear signal in these states. If you establish that the cords and cables are damaged, you could try replacing it or get your antenna repair technician to replace it for you. 

4. Check Your Tv Tuning 

A weak signal could be because of inappropriate tuning which hinders the TV from receiving the right channels. For a new TV, start by scanning for digital channels. Start with "auto-tuning" via the menu on your remote, or you can still manually tune it if you are unable to find channels. Always check your TV manual for instructions on how to optimize your TV manually or you can call a technician to assist you in tuning your television. 

5. Check Your TV Mode 

This may sound pretty much obvious, but it's essential to determine whether you have switched your TV to the correct mode so that it displays the correct channels. If you are on HDMI mode, you cannot access channels as the TV might be trying to connect to a game console or a DVD player. 

6. Check whether the Splitter is the Issue

A splitter allows you to split your TV signal between multiple TV sets throughout your home so that you can use a single antenna to connect to multiple TVs in different rooms. A poor reception could be due to a spoilt splitter, and you can always find this by connecting your TV directly without the splitter. Remove the splitter and see whether the signal improves. If the signal is clear, your splitter might be faulty and may need repairing or replacing. 

To conclude, if you establish a problem with your antennae using some of the steps above, you may want to call a repair professional. Antennae repair may get complicated and times and may not be simply fixed by a tape or a string, especially if they are broken. Antenna repair costs do not necessarily need to be high as some repairs such as adding filters are quite cheap.