Whats the difference between a digital ariel and one thats been on my roof for years?

Question

Whats the difference between a digital ariel and one thats been on my roof for years?

Answer 1

about 50 quid.

Answer 2

If the aerial on your roof works OK,Instead of buying a digital one just change the down cable ,To sat elite cable,Saves money and does the same job.

Answer 3

nothing we put a digital tv on a roof ariel thats been there for years works perfect in london

Answer 4

In the real world, not a heck of a lot.

Our aerial is about 15 years old and we can get about 70 digital channels with no problems at all.

Answer 5

Hi Sylvia,

Contrary to some of the other answers, there is a difference!

A Digital Aerial, or should I say an Aerial that's designed to receive Digital signals is sometimes called a Wideband Aerial.

That's the key difference - The individual channel frequencies for Digital Channels are 'spaced' further apart than those of their Analogue equivalents, so you need an Aerial that has a Wide Bandwidth in order to pick up all the Digital Channels.

Remember when you used to tune in your old TV? - The tuner would scan through a Channel Range between 22 and 60. Depending what transmitter you were picking up, the 4 Main channels would be close together - say 38 / 40 / 44 / 46.

It's not like with the Digital, the channels are much further apart.

In fact some old Analogue Aerials are tuned to a range of frequencies for a particular transmitter, this effectively blocks anything outside that range.

As some previous posters said, you can use your old Aerial, and it will pick up Digital TV, but there might be a load of Channels that your are missing because your old Aerial simply doesn't have the Bandwidth.

A new Aerial and install should cost around £150 -£200, depending on the area you live. This is a small investment when you consider how long it will last.

It made me laugh when I read some of the other posters that said you didn't need to change the old aerial. I bet some of these people have invested £1500 in a brand new state of the art Hi Definition Flatscreen and are 'feeding' it with an Aerial that's been on their roof for 15 years!

Regards

Boris

Answer 6

band width

Answer 7

No such thing as a digital aerial!  You do need a decent one to get digital reception, but you do not necessarily need to replace your old one..

Answer 8

Marketing. That aerial on your roof is now marketed as digital ready.