Adding an extra TV point in Bunbury.
It looks like the simplest job we do: run a cable, fit a plate, done. It is also the job most often done badly, because a splitter in the roof is not free signal. Here is what an extra point actually involves, and what it costs.
The thing nobody tells you about splitters.
A splitter does not copy your signal, it divides it. Send one antenna feed into a two-way splitter and each output gets roughly half the power, minus a bit more for the splitter itself. Go to a four-way and each output is down substantially further. That loss comes directly off your margin, which is the headroom between the signal you have and the signal the tuner needs. This is why the same complaint turns up again and again: the TV was fine, someone added a point for the bedroom, and now two rooms pixelate. The antenna did not change. The maths did. In Bunbury this bites harder than it does inland, because a lot of coastal antennas are already running thin on margin from corrosion nobody has noticed yet, and a new splitter is simply the thing that exposes it.
What actually drives the price.
- Wall construction. A stud wall in a newer Dalyellup, Treendale or Millbridge estate home is a straightforward drop from the roof space. Double brick, common through the older Bunbury CBD, East Bunbury and South Bunbury stock, means chasing and making good, and that is time.
- Roof access. An open truss roof is easy. A low-pitch section, a cathedral ceiling or a ground-floor room sitting under a second storey means the cable has to find another path, and sometimes that path is the outside wall.
- Distance from the existing feed. Every metre of coax has loss. A point at the far end of a long single-storey Australind home is not the same job as one two metres from the existing splitter.
- Whether the margin can take it. Sometimes the honest answer is that the system needs a distribution amplifier before it can carry another outlet, and pretending otherwise just means you call us back.
- How many at once. Three points in one visit is dramatically cheaper per point than three separate callouts. If you are thinking about it, think about all of them now.
A worked example.
A Withers home, single storey, tile roof, wanted points in two bedrooms added to the existing lounge feed. We metered first. The antenna was healthy, but the existing feed already ran through an old corroded two-way splitter in the roof space, and the margin at the lounge was already lower than it should have been. Rather than hang two more outlets off a failing splitter, we replaced it with a properly specified distribution amplifier, ran quad-shield RG6 to both bedrooms, fitted the plates and retuned all three sets. Two points at $180 each plus $160 for the amplifier, $520 all up, fixed in writing. All three rooms ended up with more margin than the lounge had before we started. Quoting two points at $120 each without metering would have been cheaper on paper and would have made the house worse.
Check what is already in your walls first.
Here is a tip that costs us work and saves you money. A surprising number of Bunbury homes already have cable in the walls that is not connected to anything. Builders regularly rough in outlets to bedrooms, terminate them at a plate, and never join them up at the roof end, or join them through a cheap splitter that has since corroded in a hot roof space. If you have a dead wall plate in a bedroom, do not assume you need new cable. Tell us it is there when you enquire. About a third of the time we can re-terminate and commission what the builder already put in for a fraction of the cost of a new run.
What we fit and why.
Quad-shield RG6, not builder-grade RG59, because the shielding matters and because the sheath has to survive a Bunbury roof space that runs well over 60 degrees on a February afternoon. Properly compressed F-connectors rather than push-ons. Splitters and distribution amplifiers matched to the actual measured margin rather than whatever was in the van. And every set retuned before we leave, because a point that carries signal but has not been tuned is a job you will ring about tomorrow.
Where to go next.
If you are adding a point because you are moving a TV, look at TV wall mounting, since doing the point and the mount in one visit is the cheaper way. Full rates are on the pricing guide. If your existing picture is already poor, fix that first and read why TV signal is bad in Bunbury. For the standards side, including earthing and cabling rules, see antenna compliance in Bunbury. If the house is a recent handover and the builder only ran one or two plates, start with the antenna on your new Bunbury home. Book antenna work through the quote form. We cover Withers, Eaton and the wider South West.
Common questions about extra TV points.
How much does an extra TV point cost in Bunbury?
Most extra antenna points run $120 to $240 each, fitted and tuned. A straight run through an accessible roof space into a stud wall sits at the bottom of that range. A point on a double-brick wall, a ground floor room under a second storey, or a run that needs a new distribution amplifier sits at the top. Doing two or three points in one visit is much cheaper per point than calling us back three times.
Why did my picture get worse after I split the signal?
Because a splitter divides the signal rather than copying it. A two-way splitter costs you roughly half the signal power at each output, a four-way costs considerably more, and that loss comes straight off your margin. If the antenna only just had enough to start with, splitting it four ways is what tips it into pixelation. The fix is not a bigger antenna, it is metering the margin and adding correct distribution amplification.
Can you run a TV point through a double-brick wall?
Yes. Plenty of the older Bunbury CBD, East Bunbury and South Bunbury housing stock is double brick, and it just means chasing the wall and making good, which takes longer than a stud wall. That is the main reason a point in an older brick home costs more than the same point in a newer Dalyellup or Treendale estate house where the internal walls are stud and the roof space is open.
Do I need a new antenna to add points?
Usually not, and we will tell you honestly. If the existing antenna is healthy and has margin to spare, adding points is a cabling job. If your antenna is already a tired coastal head running on a thin margin, then adding points will expose it, and spending money on outlets fed by a dying antenna is money wasted. We meter first and quote the real answer, not the bigger one.
Should I use the existing wall plates in my house?
Often yes, and it saves you money. Many Bunbury homes have dead outlets that were cabled by the builder and never connected, or connected through a splitter sitting in the roof that has corroded. Re-terminating an existing run properly is far cheaper than pulling new cable. We check what is already in the walls before quoting new runs, because about a third of the time the cable you need is already there.
Suburbs we run points in.
Need a point in another room?
We meter the margin first, quote the honest scope, and retune every set before we leave.