Rabbit ears. Most of you reading this know exactly what I am referring to. You likely had some version of this dipole antenna on a television set at one point or another. These, of course, were the days before cable TV or streaming. One had to patiently position the antenna to get just the right angle to pick up a local station. Some would touch it to a metal object or add tinfoil for additional strength. By today’s standards, that seems ridiculous. Antennas have come a long way.

But what is the origin of the antenna? According to antenna-theory.com, the first experiments that involved the coupling of electricity and magnetism — and showed a definitive relationship — were by English scientist Michael Faraday in the 1830s. The site says he slid a magnet around the coils of a wire attached to a galvanometer, creating a time-varying magnetic field. The coil acted as a loop antenna and received the electromagnetic radiation, which was detected by the galvanometer. Makes perfect sense, right?

All I know is that we had a big antenna on top of my childhood home, and that’s how we were able to get the four or five channels that were available at the time. Heavy windstorms wreaked havoc on that antenna, and it eventually came down, about the time that cable TV became mainstream.

I also recall those long CB radio whip antennas that were on many vehicles in the 1970s. In a nostalgic moment a few years back, and despite my wife’s pleas against it, I decided to install a CB radio in my truck. I didn’t want that big whip antenna, so I bought a magnetic version that mounted on top. That sounded like a great idea, until the wind blew it off and it banged against the side of my truck while driving down the interstate.

Not too many years ago, our cell phones used to have antennas. Many of you remember those flip phones with the retractable antennas. Do you ever wonder why today’s phones don't have these? The short answer, according to MIT School of Engineering, is that modern electronic devices communicate at frequencies that can be detected by smaller antennas. In 1993, the Federal Communications Commission began auctioning off a range of new carrier frequencies to wireless service providers. The first were a range of frequencies close to 900 megahertz and were typically used by early cordless phones. By the end of the 1990s, major providers had acquired many more communications bands at frequencies greater than 2 gigahertz.

Meanwhile, with the popularity of streaming today, some folks who still want local channels have been searching for rabbit ears as a solution. Today’s versions are a bit fancier, though, with longer ranges, tabletop designs, extendable dipoles and power adaptors. And they pick up a lot more than four or five channels. Sometimes.

Have a magnificent Monday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman 

President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com

View Shane Goodman's archived columns from past issues here.

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