This question comes to us in our customer service department about once a week. It takes one of two forms. For example, there are some people who ask,
I just moved into an older home that has an antenna on the roof. Will it work for my TV today?
The other form is a little more forward thinking. It’s usually something like,
If I buy an antenna from you today, will it be compatible with 4K TV in the future?
The good news is that we’re able to answer “yes” to both of those questions when they come in. But then, there are those people who don’t believe us. They don’t think it’s possible. So, here’s the long form explanation of why it doesn’t matter if you put up an antenna in 1973, 2003, or 2023 — it will still work today and tomorrow.
A little bit about antennas
An antenna is a very simple thing, really. It’s nothing more than a metal stick of a particular length. The length of the stick determines what frequencies it’s best at picking up. You see, all broadcasting is split up into “bands,” meaning that a specific signal occurs on a very specific frequency of radio waves.
The laws of physics being what they are, sort of inviolable and all that, an antenna that’s designed to pick up a signal being broadcast on 174MHz is always going to pick up that signal. It doesn’t matter if it’s the mid-20th century, the mid-21st century, or even the mid-25th century.
Saying a signal is broadcast on 174MHz is another way of saying that the size of the waves are roughly 5.625 feet long. The ideal antenna for receiving that signal would also be 5.625 feet long. You’ll also do pretty well if the antenna is one-half or one-quarter the size of the wave. So an antenna that’s 2.8125 feet or 1.40625 feet is also going to do a good job. (By the way, we commonly call 174MHz “channel 7.”)
There are laws that govern what kind of things can broadcast on what frequencies. For example, practically anything can broadcast at 2,400 MHz, including your Wi-Fi and your cordless landline phone if you still have one. But most frequencies are strongly regulated so that only one broadcast takes place on that frequency. This is done so different things don’t interfere with each other. As long as the government doesn’t change the frequencies used for TV broadcasting, than all TV antennas will always work the same as they have.
But didn’t the government change those frequencies?
You are right. At one point, pretty much the entire range from 54 to 890MHz was given over to TV and radio broadcasting. It turns out not all those frequencies were needed for that purpose so some frequencies were given over for cell phone use. Today, most broadcasting takes place on 174-216MHz and 470-608MHz, with a small number of broadcasts taking place from 54-88MHz. But, because older TV antennas can receive all those frequencies, it’s not a problem.
What about analog, digital, and 4K?
A lot of sharp folks point out that TV technology has changed a lot since the early days. The biggest change came in the 2000s. We tend to say that broadcasting went from “analog” to “digital.” That’s mostly true. Rather than being made up of long patterns of waves that vary slightly, TV broadcasting is now a string of ones and zeroes. But because this is still the real world, those ones and zeroes come on an analog carrier. So it’s kind of digital, and kind of not.
There’s a possibility that we’ll see another massive change in broadcasting in the next few years. Because the broadcasts themselves are digital, it’s really not hard to change the way that digital data is sent. That’s what’s going on now with “ATSC 3.0,” the so-called next generation of broadcasting. If that standard moves forward, it opens up the possibility of 4K and interactive content using a regular over-the-air antenna. ATSC 3.0 may or may not happen, all we can do is see.
If ATSC 3.0 broadcasting does happen, it will still be digital broadcasting over an analog carrier using the same frequencies as today’s TV channels. So, there’s no problem pulling it in with today’s antennas.
Bottom line…
Yes, it’s absolutely true that it doesn’t matter when your antenna was made. It’s going to work today and tomorrow. However, if you do want to upgrade your antenna to something that receives even more channels, there is something you can do. Shop at Solid Signal! If you don’t know which antenna you need, call us at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you.
