Difference Between VHF and UHF Antennas

VHF vs UHF Antennas

Antennas are used in all devices that require the signals to be received or transmitted. There are a lot of types of antennas that are often used for specific applications and are well suited to match it. Two categories of antennas are VHF (Very High Frequency) and UHF(Ultra High Frequency) antennas. Simply put, each of these two are suited to receive or transmit signals at specific frequencies. Because of that, you should know what frequency your device works at in order to get the right type of antenna, as the wrong type of antenna attached would result to no benefit.

Physically, you can clearly see that VHF antennas have much longer elements compared to UHF antennas. This is because VHF signals have a lower frequency which directly translates to a longer wavelength. When calculating for the length of elements in an antenna, the wavelength is the prime consideration. You are then able to create complex configurations with UHF antennas without making it too large or too unmanageable.

For TV sets, the channels are shared between UHF and VHF. Channels 2 to 13 are within the frequency spectrum of VHF while channels 14 to 51 are within the frequency range of UHF. Having a UHF antenna gives you the greatest number of channels, but not all of them. Though, this might be enough for most people, there is still a way to get all the channels. There are hybrid configurations that can receive both VHF and UHF signals.

Selecting between a VHF and UHF antenna should be based on what frequency your device operates at. This is especially true with UHF antennas as the very wide range of frequencies means that some antennas might not work as good as you expect with certain hardware, even though they are both within the UHF range. With TV sets, you really could not choose between the two since you would need both to receive all the channels. But aside from selecting the proper antenna type and complexity, there are also other things that should be considered in putting up your antenna, like the height and positioning.

Summary:
1.VHF and UHF Antennas are aimed to capture signals at specific frequencies
2.VHF antennas are physically larger compared to UHF antennas
3.For TV signals, only 12 channels are on VHF while there are 38 channels for UHF
4.You can get hybrid antennas that can receive both UHF and VHF signals

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