If the antenna on your roof is older than 40 years then it probably uses flat wire that you haven’t seen anywhere else. This 300-ohm “twin-lead” cable was all the rage in the 1950s as it was inexpensive to make and easy to install. However, it was replaced eventually by the kind of coaxial cable you see all over the place. Coaxial cable is a better fit for services like cable television and satellite TV, and of course it can be used for TV antennas as well.
Should you replace that flat wire?
Believe it or not, the short answer is “no.” To be honest, the flat wire is a really good fit for an antenna since its impedance characteristics (an important measure of how well signals “flow” through a wire” is fairly similar to that of the antenna itself. In order to use coaxial cable, an antenna uses a piece of equipment called a “balun” which converts the antenna’s 300-ohm impedance to the 75-ohm impedance of a coaxial cable. Baluns also used to be quite expensive, which was another reason people didn’t use coaxial cable. Today they’re ridiculously cheap. You can pick one up at Solid Signal for next to nothing that will convert your 300-ohm wire to a coaxial connection.
Are there exceptions?
Yes, there are going to be times when you really should consider replacing flat antenna wire. It tends to come down to two cases:
Shielding issues
Although twin-lead wire is pretty good for antenna signals, it’s completely unshielded and prone to interference from cell phones which obviously people in the 1950s didn’t have to worry about. Today though… you do need to worry about it.
Damaged cable
You may need to worry about the sun damage that 40-60 years of direct exposure has done to your old flat wires. Inspect them carefully and look for cracks or any exposed copper. If you find something like that, replace the whole cable. It’s not worth trying to patch it.
Normally I say, if it isn’t broke… don’t fix it, but…
…if you’re seeing any sort of interference on your TV picture while watching antenna TV, I would rewire the line with coaxial cable and get a matching transformer to connect your old antenna to it. This will give you much better results, including stronger signal and the ability to split the signal easily to go to multiple TVs. You may even be able to repurpose some cable company leftover wire for this purpose.
Folks, some things made in the 1950s are classics. Old cars, old music, those are great. Old wires though… time to deal with them. You can get the cables you need along with tens of thousands of other products by shopping at Solid Signal. We have over 20 years of experience helping people with their antenna needs.
We even have a full staff of antenna technicians who can answer your questions. Call us at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. You’ll reach an expert in our Detroit-area corporate offices. We’ll be happy to help you find the right equipment to help you with your upgrades.
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