In article fb789f3e-2f3e-428c-9042-c03ea2240840
@s20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com, Andy Dingley says...

However in this case my parents were ripped off twice, if not three
times: They were sold an entire aerial and downlead replacement when
it was merely a failed mast.

That's usually because the aerial is rotted onto the mast so the only
way to remove it is to break it and the co-ax will be most likely full
of water and the copper core and braid at the antenna end will be
corroded to hell if it's more than a couple of years old so would give
poor connectivity to the new antenna.


--
Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams