Pole to Dipole

UHF. It’s a word to strike terror into the heart of broadcasters down under.

Which is odd, considering the rest of the world adopted it a full half century ago.

I’m getting a little ahead of myself here... let me explain.

In the beginning there were dinosaurs. But they got too fat and died out. Then man arose. And he invented television. It used a system called VHF. However this was gloriously inefficient. So he moved onto UHF, as far back as 1972. By 1985, the last VHF transmission was heard – or rather seen – in the UK. But in Australia, they like to do things just a little bit differently, and continue to use the same technology that was designed back in 1935 when television first hit the ether. VHF (or Very High Frequency – as opposed to UHF: Ultra High Frequency).

And so, you end up with the curious sight in Australia of ranks of houses all looking like something that make a Radio Ham excited: huge piles of aluminium piled up on the roof, instead of small, neat UHF aerials.

Now, move forwards in history a little while, and you’ll get to digital TV. The Aussie government wisely decided this should be UHF only, and the valuable VHF spectrum sold off, to raise millions for the taxpayer. However Australian broadcasters looked at the costs involved at building a new mast, disagreed, and the government backed down. Coincidentally costing the taxpayer millions, but avoiding a nasty spat with channel 9 or 10, which could have brought down the government. Except for the ABC and SBS of course, who were told to go the UHF route anyway.

So – excuse me if I’m digressing – this is why you find me, standing on a roof with a great 12 foot long and 10 feet wide VHF TV Aerial straight out of the arc, trying to get something that few countries provide: Digital TV on VHF. After hours of trying, and rotating a little bit left or a little bit right, I gave up, and went back to the shop.

“This TV aerial is dead” I explained... no more, not even nailed to the pole. At least it won’t get any of these new fangled commercial channels – only the ABC.

They looked at a map, and then gently explained: because I’m more than 50km from central Sydney I’m in a regional area. Hence – no digital TV for me, unless I buy a “remote and rural” antenna.

To add in salt to injury, it’s fully 22 feet long, Log Periodic, with a dipole like central heating plumbing, and demands mountings that would stop the Titanic. Sadly, I’ve got one on special order from the manufacturer...