Satellite dishes and international channels beside the sea
L’Hospitalet de l’Infant lives largely on tourism and second homes. In summer the flats and houses fill with owners from other countries who want to keep watching their own channels. Here the satellite dish is as ordinary a sight as the TV aerial.
What we fit most in the area:
- Individual dishes on terraces and roofs, aimed at Astra 19.2° E for European channels or at Hispasat 30° W for Spanish and Latin American platforms and channels.
- Communal dishes with a multiswitch, so each flat receives satellite at its own socket without covering the facade in dishes.
- New LNBs and receivers when the picture breaks up or channels go missing after years in the sun.
Before anything goes up we check there is nothing in the line of sight to the satellite: a neighbouring building, a pine tree or an awning can block the signal even when the dish is perfectly aimed.
Salt air, the enemy of coastal aerials
A few metres from the sea, the salt in the air punishes any outdoor installation. The symptoms we find on arrival are unmistakable: connectors gone green or black, rusted masts, loose clamps and coaxial cable with a cracked outer sheath.
When we repair on the front line we use outdoor-rated fixings and brackets, properly sealed connectors and cable meant for the weather. It is not a luxury: it is what allows the installation to get through several seasons without failing again.
It is also worth checking the aerial after an easterly storm. A dish shifted by a few degrees stops receiving altogether even though it still looks to be in place.
Terrestrial aerials in flats and apartment blocks
Terrestrial reception in L’Hospitalet is usually good in the town itself, but the trouble starts inside the buildings:
- Channels that break up in some flats and not others, because of an ageing or badly set amplifier.
- Installations never fully readapted after the second digital dividend of 2020, when the 700 MHz band was released.
- Mobile 4G and 5G interference, which the right filter clears up.
- Aerial sockets added without any thought, dividing the signal until it falls below what is needed.
In blocks given over to holiday letting we suggest going through the whole head-end and leaving the signal balanced across every flat, terrestrial and satellite alike. That side of the work is covered under communal TV aerials.
Other jobs for second homes
If you spend stretches of the year away, there are two services people here ask for often. One is CCTV with IP cameras and phone access, so you can look at the property when you are not there. The other is improving the wifi in houses and flats where the router will not reach the terrace or the back bedrooms.
How we do it
- You tell us what is failing or what you want to watch; photographs of the aerial are already enough for us to give you a steer.
- We visit the property and measure the signal before proposing anything.
- You get a free quote setting out what needs changing and why.
- We do the work and confirm with a field meter that the correct signal reaches every socket.
Coming out to L’Hospitalet de l’Infant
We come down the coast from Salou, on the N-340 or the AP-7; in normal conditions it takes a little over half an hour. We cover the town, the beaches at l’Arenal, l’Almadrava and el Torn, Masboquera and the residential areas of the municipality, as well as inland Vandellòs. If your house is further north, the same route takes in Mont-roig del Camp and Cambrils.