Remembering old antennas.

Whilst trawling through photos of my early childhood today, I came across a fascinating, if not altogether very clear image of how we used to receive TV in the UK.

It's amazing how well the original photo, with a strong orange cast all over it, has been restored in colour.  Yes, I know my mum overfed me!  My dad decided, for his part, to make a garden pond with an old fibreglass boat(!)

The summer of, probably, 1973. 

I remember the antenna very well, even though it's 46 years ago.  A crossed dipole, which was the TV antenna (405-line system, 45MHz - 214MHz in 13 channels).  The rather nice multi-element beam must have been for radio, though I don't recall ever having any radios that were connected to it.

Those large crossed dipoles were entirely lawful without planning permission back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Somehow, despite (or perhaps because of) the presence of the RSGB, the law makers managed to quickly diminish antenna rights such that only a 70cm-long Yagi is now considered de minimis.

It's a frightening thought that, 46 years into the future, were I lucky enough to get there, I will be 92 years old!  Life is very short...