Interfering with my telly
Late in October 1996, I bought a lovely new television set
17th July 2008 « Nasty neighbour
[Published originally in January 2008]
The box in the corner
Previously, I didn't have a telly for several years and, consequently, renewed the licence at the post office on payment of the appropriate colour fee. Now, I could enjoy my purchase secure in the knowledge I was beyond the clutches of the government's TV Licence revenue collectors, who could impose substantial fines on those unfortunate enough to be caught watching telly 'illegally'.
When it arrived on 18-11-1996, excitedly, I opened the carton with a neighbour who was visiting, and we spent some time admiring and fiddling with it. Although we didn't succeed in tuning the set to any channels, even after a quick read of the set-up manual, I did get it 'locked on' The picture was ‘snowy’ with the aerial plugged into the wall outlet in my living room to several channels later in the evening, and this is when the trouble started.
The picture was 'snowy' with the aerial plugged into the wall outlet in my living room. This outlet is connected to the communal TV aerial on the roof of the building. I was quite perplexed because I knew that TV reception in the area was excellent. Connecting the supplied 'indoor' aerial provided a good picture only while you actually held the aerial in your hand, and at outlandish, unsustainable angles.
I asked a next-door neighbour if her telly reception was good. She confirmed it was, and she also had a fiddle, fruitlessly, with the controls and indoor aerial of my new purchase but, too, was puzzled by the bad reception.
Convinced the set was faulty, next day I contacted the supplier, John Lewis at Brent Cross, who sent a chap the following day, 20-11-1996. He had a fiddle with it but, because the picture was so indistinct, felt the set might be faulty and took it away with him. Several days later, I had a phone call from the supplier who said they found nothing wrong with the set and arranged redelivery for 28-11-1996. When it re-arrived, I hoped, secretly, it now would work properly, but there was no change in the picture quality.
Sherlock investigates homes
I asked the owner of the building, the London Borough of Brent, to investigate. A technician from its aerial contractor, Mentor Aerial Company, arrived as arranged and confirmed the signal from my aerial wall outlet was weak. He had a look at the aerial on the roof to check that all was well. Up there, all was, in fact, very well, with no reason for the poor reception experienced at my end of the line.
Next, he said he needed to check the aerial connection in the two flats above mine in this three-floor building. He got access to the top flat and found nothing which might cause the problem. He was unable to get access to the middle flat, directly above mine, and left a card asking for access. This is the flat occupied by nfh.
Before he left, he explained to me how theHe made at least two fruitless appointments for access to the flat of nfh aerial on the roof is connected to the flats. Apparently, each flat in the individual 'stacks' (one flat above the other; ground floor, first floor, second floor) is linked one to the other by a single cable from the aerial on the roof. He believed the connection to my aerial outlet might be faulty but he couldn't be sure until he had actually seen the connection in the flat of nfh.
He made at least two fruitless appointments for access to the flat of nfh. One day, I saw him waiting outside their door but there was no response from their flat. On this occasion, he wrote a brief explanation for needing to gain access on his 'no access' card and asked me to give it to them and also to explain to them the reason for the visit.
I did this for him and, finally, about four weeks after his first attempt to get access to their flat, he was allowed in and found that the aerial leading to my flat had been disconnected from within the aerial socket in their flat. He reconnected the aerial and the reception was perfect, just as it had been several years previously.
The interference continues
The reason I got the telly at this time was to see a BBC Two short series on the development of US popular culture. I never did get to see these programmes and don't know if they were repeated subsequently. Not He suggested that it could have been disconnected by pulling on the aerial lead from the flat above minewanting to receive further television broadcasts, I allowed the licence to lapse from 2002, but still use the TV set for watching films on DVD.
Late in 2003, out of sheer inquisitiveness, I checked the reception quality by plugging in the telly aerial and, would you believe it, the reception had deteriorated to the quality of that when the telly first was delivered to me in 1996. On 24-11-2003, I reported the fault to the building owner. A technician from their contractor, First Choice, arrived at my address in December 2003, and found that the aerial had been disconnected from within my wall socket outlet.
I was puzzled as to how this could happen, but he suggested that it could have been disconnected by pulling on the aerial lead from the flat above mine. Nfh continued to interfere with my ability peacefully to live in my home virtually undeterred.
This thread is continued in Litter and filth.
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BC copyright © 2008 WPL · Interference · Bent Council
