Please see transcript of our latest monthly newsletter.
Is proactive maintenance better for faults on communal television systems?
Northwest Aerials Limited have been providing maintenance services on communal systems for some time now. Through our years of experience, we have found that the apartment blocks we annually inspect have less faults in a 12 month period than those we don’t.
Since the invention and distribution of Sky Q we are finding Sky engineers installing more and more equipment in the corridors of communal systems without the property management teams knowing.
When Sky get a call from a customer in a commercial residential block, they send an engineer out to attempt to complete an install. When the engineer arrives on site they assess the communal TV system to see if the current system is Sky Q compatible. If the Sky engineer finds that the system has no Sky Q equipment they will then install a Sky Q mini multi-switch in conjunction with the original communal equipment. These mini SkyQ switches only allow a maximum of 2 apartments to be upgraded to Sky Q. Therefore, you can imagine that a corridor with say 10 to 20 dwellings can get very busy if Sky are allowed to keep installing these switches in the systems.
Now there is some good news and some bad news when it comes to the Sky Q Mini switch.
Sky should warranty these Sky Q mini switches as long as there is a paying subscription connected to the unit. However, when no subscribers are connected up to the switch, the part then belongs to the building and the management companies become responsible for each unit.
Doesn't sound so bad... If no one is connected to the switch then no one would complain if the part went faulty? Unfortunately, this is not the case. When Sky install the mini Sky Q switch they need 4 connections from the original distribution equipment to make it work correctly. The 4x connections are from random apartments that are watching standard Sky TV or just Freeview TV so if the switch goes faulty these 4 random apartments will also lose their signals.
How common is it to find these switches on a property we look after?
The popularity and demand of Sky Q TV has meant that a vast amount of people have upgraded their Sky subscriptions. Northwest Aerials Limited look after multiple large and small communal TV systems and we find these mini Sky Q switches in 9 out 10 developments. For example, on one particular site we attended we found that there were 6x mini Sky Q switches in one riser cupboard. For the property management company, this means that not only are you now responsible for the original multi-switch but also the six additional Sky Q mini multi-switches that have been inserted by Sky.
So this finally brings us back to the original subject of maintaining your buildings communal TV system.
By having annual maintenance visits we are able to assess and check the condition of the existing TV system. In addition to testing for common faults such as satellite dish or aerial alignment, multi-switch, amplification and or power supply or power level issues. Power supplies are one of the most common failures on a system and a maintenance visit could prevent the system from failing if we find these are over heating or have a sooty residue on the ventilation holes. We can also keep an keen eye on what Sky have inserted into the systems (riser cupboards/loft spaces) and report back to you any issues we find.
We hope the above information is helpful, please feel free to contact us or ask any questions.
Many thanks,
Northwest Aerials Limited.