TV reception - finally!

[wulfraat]

After 8 years I finally threw on a king jack hd antenna. Wow! I finally get reception and a clear / strong signal! What a difference! Took less than 10 minutes to swap - plug and play.

Bye bye batwing - into the recycling bin you go!

[glcmranger]

I did the same thing with my 2016 Signature. Swapped the P.O.S. Winegard Roadstar Antenna for a Rayzar Automatic. No more TV interference and much more channels -- LIFE IS GOOD!

[NorCal Matt]

Originally Posted by glcmranger

I did the same thing with my 2016 Signature. Swapped the P.O.S. Winegard Roadstar Antenna for a Rayzar Automatic. No more TV interference and much more channels -- LIFE IS GOOD!

Was your original antenna the saucer looking one? What model did you replace it with? How easy was the swap?

Sorry for the high jack and thanks for the info wolfraat!

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

After 8 years I finally threw on a king jack hd antenna. Wow! I finally get reception and a clear / strong signal! What a difference! Took less than 10 minutes to swap - plug and play.

Bye bye batwing - into the recycling bin you go!

Attachment 273256Attachment 273257

After twenty seven years I replaced the coax on the batwing. Rotate as needed, otherwise.

Why go to a more inefficient design (would be the rhetorical question)? Physics matters.

The old saying about omnidirectional antennas is that reception is poor in all directions.

Wineguard Sensar would be the only new antenna I'd consider.

An omni antenna is for a mount location with restrictions. Otherwise, the higher the better, and with exposed elements for sensitivity.





1990 35' Silver Streak
2004 555 Cummins

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

After 8 years I finally threw on a king jack hd antenna. Wow! I finally get reception and a clear / strong signal! What a difference! Took less than 10 minutes to swap - plug and play.

Bye bye batwing - into the recycling bin you go!

Attachment 273256Attachment 273257

Are you kidding about replacing the batwing antenna? What are we gonna do for the first hour now, after setting up the trailer? I used to reserve that for cranking and redirecting the batwing "finding the right signal direction and antenna height!", while using the "auto-air" feature in the remote to locate a signal...then try again, and again...till I could get more than 2, fuzzy channels!

Seriously, been thinking about changing this one out also...sounds like an easy upgrade; was it expensive?

[glcmranger]

NorCal Matt: Yes it was the Saucer-looking one. Go to: www.winegard.com. Search for the Rayzar Automatic. The install was piece of cake. I took off the old one. The coax cable comes up through the hole. The new unit connection is on the back, but, since I was trying to position away from the AC unit, I installed it backwards (after conferring with a Winegard technical guy). I DID NOT drill holes in the roof. I used 3M VHB tape under the feet. Then, used Sikaflex 221 over the feet. The unit only weighs 4.5 pounds.
Inside, I took off the old winegard plate. Just follow the directions to re-connect the 3 coax cables (Antenna In, Cable, 3rd to other TV), and the TV wire to front of plate. The brown/white wires slide onto the circuit board connectors. Even the new plate (its thicker) attached to the wall using the original screw holes. I'll see if I can attach some pix here.

The important thing is CLEARANCE from obstructions. You can see in the picture I installed closer to the Fantastic Fan and further away from the AC unit.

[StevieB]

I am looking for a vintage looking HD Antenna. Has anyone came up with a good alternative, or should I just keep the TV out of the 48 & the 54?

Regards,
StevieB

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Seriously, been thinking about changing this one out also...sounds like an easy upgrade; was it expensive?

It was about $50. Now my $200 TV works :0)

[NorCal Matt]

Originally Posted by glcmranger

NorCal Matt: Yes it was the Saucer-looking one. Go to: www.winegard.com. Search for the Rayzar Automatic. The install was piece of cake. I took off the old one. The coax cable comes up through the hole. The new unit connection is on the back, but, since I was trying to position away from the AC unit, I installed it backwards (after conferring with a Winegard technical guy). I DID NOT drill holes in the roof. I used 3M VHB tape under the feet. Then, used Sikaflex 221 over the feet. The unit only weighs 4.5 pounds.
Inside, I took off the old winegard plate. Just follow the directions to re-connect the 3 coax cables (Antenna In, Cable, 3rd to other TV), and the TV wire to front of plate. The brown/white wires slide onto the circuit board connectors. Even the new plate (its thicker) attached to the wall using the original screw holes. I'll see if I can attach some pix here.

The important thing is CLEARANCE from obstructions. You can see in the picture I installed closer to the Fantastic Fan and further away from the AC unit.

Thanks for the information!

[ke6gkv]

I just use a home antenna. 100 mile range and it is a digital unit

[openroad118]

Great info on antennas! I bought a King and have a question about the coax....I would think there is a connector joining the AS interior coax to the crank-up one I'm replacing. Is this correct? And that this AS coax would just connect to the signal splitter on the King antenna without my having to crimp on a female end? And would the stock antenna wall amplifier/ switcher in the AS serve the same purpose as the King supplied one, so I would leave that alone?

Thanks

[1973Argosy]

You should be able to use all of the existing coax, but pretty sure you will have to replace the wall plug/amplifier.

[wulfraat]

Just connect the existing coax. If you have a batwing you are all set because the coax is already powered with 12v.

[1973Argosy]

With the newer bat wings it is possible they already have 12v. My original wingard had the old flat two wire cable with no 12 volt, so for my application I had to replace the entire system including pulling new coax and 12 volt hook up. I don't understand not changing the wall plate/amplifier. It has been my experience that if I choose not to use a new part and keep the original, the original part will fail at which point i wont be able to find the new part. Murphys law is always in full effect for my projects.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by ke6gkv

I just use a home antenna. 100 mile range and it is a digital unit

Nothing like sensitivity!!

[jwgreen]

The Winegard batwing antenna was designed for VHF frequencies when TV was analog. Now that it's digital, all over-the-air television broadcasts are on UHF frequencies, like channel 14-83 on the old analog system. Antenna size and design is based on being efficient at collecting enough signal for a good picture. The King Jack antenna is smaller because it is designed for UHF signals only. The wall TV outlet in the AS (green or red light) used with the Winegard is retained for the King Jack. It feeds the DC voltage over the coax to the antenna to power the amplifier in the "head" unit or external part. There is a red LED on the bottom of my Jack that shows the presence of DC power. It's worked great for 5 years. It is directional, just like the Winegard, so rotate it to get a picture you can watch. Weak signals will result in "pixelation" or blank spots in the picture. In virtually all cases, the King Jack antenna will outperform a Winegard batwing antenna.

[jwgreen]

Originally Posted by StevieB

I am looking for a vintage looking HD Antenna. Has anyone came up with a good alternative, or should I just keep the TV out of the 48 & the 54?

Regards,
StevieB

Unless you're parked under the TV station tower or no more than 10-15 mi. away, you won't get enough signal on an old (48 & 54) TV antenna for a watchable picture. TV frequencies now are all UHF and the old antennas were designed for VHF. Digital and analog are just the way that video is modulated onto a radio signal. When the FCC mandated the switch to digital a few years ago, it was to release the old VHF TV frequencies for other uses like cellular voice and data, among other uses.

[RFP]

Originally Posted by jwgreen

[ snip ] In virtually all cases, the King Jack antenna will outperform a Winegard batwing antenna.

Even the new ones with the added UHF elements?

[A W Warn]

TV reception is also about topography. If the receiver is higher than the transmitter the signal is more likely to be unobstructed.

In my Safari I have the original bat wing antenna, with no upgrades. I live approximately half way between Charlotte and Raleigh, NC. At my home location I can pickup the broadcast from both locations, that's about 75-80 mile radius. This location at my home is at about 900 ft above sea level, substantially higher elevation than the broadcast towers in Charlotte & Raleigh. At this location I receive 25-30 stations depending on weather.

Today I am in my Excella near Sebring Florida. My Excella has the original bat wing antenna. I added the Wingman in December. The location I am at is almost level (within 100') of Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Ft Myers, and Palm Beach. Before the Wingman it would only pickup Tampa and sometimes Orlando stations, both 75 miles away, but the picture was interment from Orlando. Since I added the Wingman I pickup clear pictures from all of the locations mentioned above. However, the picture from Orlando is not the quality of the others. There is a range of hills, the Lake Wales Ridge which is about 200' higher in elevation, that is in a direct line between the transmitter and receiver. Miami is about 140 miles away at 6' above seal level. I am parked at ~80' above sea level. The picture quality from Miami & Palm Beach is better than Orlando.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by RFP

Even the new ones with the added UHF elements?

It would be interesting for a side by side comparison at a CG, the the batwing with the added "wingman" UHF elements works very well among the units I have used in the past.

It's somewhat obtrusive to roof space, if needed, but works, so I won't change out until a failure prompts me to. Based on my old SOB, that may be far into the future, as the batwing is pretty time tested.