TV Antenna Not Working After Storms? Here's What to Check.

Adelaide's winter storms can do a real number on TV antennas, and if your picture's dropped out or gone patchy after a big blow, there are a few things worth checking before you call anyone out.

Check the obvious first. Has the antenna physically moved? A quick look from the ground (or a photo taken safely from a window) can often show if the antenna's been knocked out of alignment or blown over completely. Even a small shift in angle can be enough to lose signal on some channels.

Check your cabling. Wind can loosen connections at the wall point or on the roof, and water can get into damaged or aging cable, which causes exactly the kind of intermittent dropout and pixelation storms are known for.

Rule out a wider issue. Sometimes it's not your antenna at all — a local transmitter fault or temporary signal issue can affect a whole suburb. A quick search for "TV reception outage [your suburb]" can save you a wasted call-out if it turns out to be a broader problem that'll resolve itself. 

If none of that explains it, the antenna itself may have sustained damage that isn't visible from the ground — bent elements, water ingress into the connection box, or a cracked mount are all common after a bad storm, and none of them are safe or straightforward DIY jobs given the roof access involved.

I regularly get called out after storm season for exactly this kind of issue, and in most cases it's a straightforward repair rather than a full replacement — but it does need a proper inspection to know for sure.

If your reception has dropped since the last storm, contact me and I'll come out, assess what's actually happened, and get it sorted properly.