About Us
About Michael Starling and Antenna Installation Specialists
Antenna Installation Specialists is a local, independent business based in Sorell, servicing Hobart, Southern Tasmania and the East Coast.
It is owned and run by Michael Starling. When you call, Michael is the one who answers. When the van pulls up, Michael is the one who gets out. There is no call centre, no dispatch queue and no subcontractor you have never spoken to.
20 Years in the Trade
Working in television reception and data since the Austar days.
Properly Qualified
Certificate III qualified with ACMA Open cabling registration.
Three Year Warranty
Every job we do is covered for three full years.
Seven Days a Week
Open 7am to 6pm, right across Southern Tasmania.
Experience
Twenty years in reception technology
Michael has been working in television reception and data for around 20 years, and has been running Antenna Installation Specialists for the last 15 of them.
He started out with Austar, which later became Foxtel, working as a subcontractor to Access Television Services when they held the national contract for Austar installations. It was a good place to learn the trade properly. He came out of it fully qualified, and with a lot of roofs behind him.
Approved for the digital switchover
When Australia moved from analogue to digital television, Michael was a government approved installer technician for the national switchover.
Tasmania switched off its analogue signal on 9 April 2013, and Michael was one of the technicians getting households ready before it happened.
Starlink installation at a Tea Tree cellar door | Coal River Valley
Qualifications
Properly qualified, not just experienced
Plenty of people can bolt an antenna to a roof. Fewer hold the tickets to do the cabling behind it legally and to Australian standards.
Every qualification below is nationally recognised, issued by a registered training organisation and backed by an original certificate. That means signal testing with proper radio frequency measuring equipment rather than guesswork, cabling that meets the rules, and safe work on roofs of any pitch and height.
Certificate III in Telecommunications Digital Reception Technology
The senior reception qualification. Covers complex digital reception systems, satellite dishes, cable lead-ins and testing with radio frequency measuring instruments, so reception problems are measured and fixed rather than guessed at.
- ICTDRE3165A
- ICTRFN2163A
- ICTRFN4095A
- ICTBWN3205A
- ICTCBL2162A
- ICTCBL2017A
Certificate II in Telecommunications Digital Reception Technology
The core trade qualification for TV reception. Covers installing terrestrial antennas and digital reception equipment, terminating coaxial cable, and tracking down and fixing reception and cabling faults.
- ICTRFN2164A
- ICTDRE3156A
- ICTDRE3157A
- ICTCBL3011A
- ICTCBL3015A
- ICTTEN2105A
Australian Government approved antenna installer
During the national switch from analogue to digital TV, Michael was approved under the Australian Government's Get Ready for Digital TV program for both domestic antenna and satellite installations, and was one of the technicians getting Tasmanian homes ready before the statewide switch-off in April 2013.
- Domestic
- Satellite
ACMA Open and Restricted Rule cabling
In Australia, cabling that connects to the telecommunications network must be done by a registered cabler. These are the competencies the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) requires for Open and Restricted Rule cabling, covering data points, phone lines and other customer premises cabling.
- ICTCBL2137A
- ICTCBL2136A
Structured cabling, optical fibre and coax endorsements
Training to install, terminate and certify structured data cabling, terminate optical fibre on customer premises and terminate coaxial cable. Meets ACMA's competency requirement for the structured cabling, coax and optical fibre endorsements.
- ICTCBL3009A
- ICTCBL3010A
- ICTCBL3011A
Work safely at heights
Certified through two separate training providers to work safely at heights. Single storey or steep two storey, the roof work is planned and done safely, with the right gear.
- CPCCCM2010B
- CPCCCM2010A
Construction white card and OHS
Holds the construction induction white card needed to work on building sites, plus units in applying construction OHS requirements and following telecommunications health, safety and environmental procedures.
- CPCCOHS1001A
- CPCCOHS2001A
- ICTOHS2170A
Asbestos awareness
Trained to recognise materials that may contain asbestos, which matters in older Tasmanian homes where eaves, wall sheeting and roof spaces can still contain it.
View certificate
A registered, properly run business
Antenna Installation Specialists trades as M.D.S Installations, registered with ASIC since 2012. Michael also holds nationally recognised units in running a contracting business and in customer service, and is trained to drive medium rigid vehicles.
- ICTSMB4161A
- BSBCUS201B
- TLIC3003A
Unit codes are from the national training register at training.gov.au. All certificates are issued in Michael's name and the originals can be viewed below.
Services
What we do now
The business started with television antennas and it still does plenty of them. But reception technology has moved on, and so has the work.
These days a typical week might include a VHF antenna on a weatherboard place in Bellerive, a Starlink dish on a bush block in the Huon, a mesh WiFi network across a 30 acre property, a CCTV system for a business in Hobart, an automatic satellite dish on a caravan, or a robotic mower boundary and data setup.
If it involves getting a signal to where you need it, it is probably something we do.
Primrose Sands
VHF antenna system install
Coles Bay
Starlink satellite internet install
Richmond
Starlink + 30 acre mesh WiFi network
- Free-to-air antenna installation, repair and maintenance
- Starlink satellite internet, including commercial and multi-building setups
- Rural WiFi, mesh networks and access points
- VAST and Foxtel satellite systems
- Data ports, structured cabling and fibre
- MATV systems for apartments, hotels and commercial buildings
- Robotic mower antenna and data systems
Three year warranty on everything we do
All of our work is covered by a three year warranty. If something we installed is not doing what it should, we come back and fix it.
Our approach
How we work
We are not the cheapest and we do not pretend to be. What we are is straight with you.
Most of our work comes from people who have used us before, or been told about us by someone who has. That only happens if you do the job properly and stay easy to deal with.
Free quote first
A clear quote before anything starts, so there are no surprises.
Straight answers
We tell you what the actual problem is, even when the fix is cheaper than you expected.
Tested and proven
We test the system before we leave, and we show you it working.
Answered afterwards
Call after the job and you get Michael, not a call centre.
Service area
Where we work
Based in Sorell, servicing Hobart, Southern Tasmania and the East Coast, seven days a week from 7am to 6pm.
If you are not sure whether you are in our patch, give us a call. Chances are we can help.
Areas we cover
- The eastern shore
- Sorell and the Tasman Peninsula
- The East Coast up to St Marys
- The Coal River and Midlands
- The Huon Valley and Channel
- The Derwent Valley
- Bruny Island