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Minno · 09-15-2009, 08:56 AM

Does anyone have any expereince with the omnidirectional antenna from Winegard? I'm going to replace the original TV antenna on Little Girl, and I like the look of this antenna better than the crank up and down one, but reception is more important than looks. I found a fair amount of information in the forums on the crank up and down antenna with the wingman attachment, but nothing on the omnidirectional model.

If you have one, how well does it work?

Thanks,
Chris

Minno · 09-15-2009, 07:48 PM

Bumping to see if the evening people have any thoughts.

Tom Nugler · 09-15-2009, 08:47 PM

When I was researching for a replacement antenna on the Tradewind I thought this would be a good choice. The specs from Winegard looked good and previous experience with another omni directional seemed promising.
Then the switch to digital TV came and the stories of poor or no reception started coming in from users of all types of antennas. With many stations changing freqs. from VHF to UHF I had to fall back to antenna fundamentals 101. Height and directional gain.
Yes, like nearly everyone else I went with the Batwing and Wingman upgrade.
I had a hole in the roof, a hole on the ceiling where the old crank used to be, I still had to run new coax and the coup de grâce…… I found it on sale for $99 bucks. On it went.
I would have preferred the simplicity of an omni and the low profile, but I didn’t want to find out too late that it wasn’t going to do the job.

Tom.

silverback · 09-15-2009, 10:25 PM

I was interested in the omni at one time too. I asked someone at a rally who had one installed and they said it sucked. They had made a mistake. That was a year before the switch to digital. I'm still waiting to hear more on the wingman attachment for the Sensar.

Minno · 09-16-2009, 07:28 AM

Ok - good enough for me. Sensar and Wingman it'll be. No sense in taking chances.

The service gal at the RV dealership I use for my SOB trailer did have good things to say about the Wingman attachment. They have installed several of them this past Summer. Like everyone else I talk to, no experience with the omni.

Thanks Tom and Silverback!

Chris

az-streamer · 10-19-2011, 03:28 PM

i've been researching the winegard omnidirectional and came across this older post. the new onmi's pricing seems attractive.

i now have the factory-installed winegard wing system.
it has ok hd reception but not great in iffy outer areas.

this past week-end, the crank and associated bits came loose whiule i was trying to lower it. i tried to re-assemble but i think there is a bearing or something missing since it is loose and won't rotate.

now that we all have hd tv's and the hd signals are free over-the-air - has anyone gone to the omni-directional winegard?

results? good? bad?

it looks like it would hook right into the current AS cable system so no inside rewiring would be needed.

it would seem like a good deal if you no longer had to raise/lower the antenna each time and the searching for signals/stations [2 deg port captian, now try 122 deg starboard ] is a real pita.

btw - not really intersted in going satellite at this time; OTA HD is fine.

thank in advance for a input!

**DKB_SATX** · 10-19-2011, 03:46 PM

In general, an omnidirectional antenna is going to be LESS effective in a marginal-signal area than a good directional antenna pointed toward the transmitter.

My Argosy came to me sans antenna, and while getting an antenna is low on my project list it IS on the list, and I've considered the directional JACK amplified antenna, which can either be mounted on the retractable mast of a Sensar or directly to the roof with its own base. (just ignore the propaganda about it being a "digital antenna" since the antennas are receiving the same radio waves that have always been used, there's no such thing as a "digital antenna.")

az-streamer · 10-19-2011, 04:48 PM

it's not that i don't like the winegard, i just don't like the constant
'crank and rotate' aspect of the directional models.

with all the HD signals out there it sure would be nice to have a small, low-profile omni unit that didn't need aiming.

**DKB_SATX** · 10-19-2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by az-streamer

it's not that i don't like the winegard, i just don't like the constant
'crank and rotate' aspect of the directional models.

with all the HD signals out there it sure would be nice to have a small, low-profile omni unit that didn't need aiming.

My point is that you're already commenting on the directional Winegard offering iffy reception in outer areas... an omnidirectional antenna is likely to provide worse performance than the directional one, so while it would be easier to use your results would probably be worse.

jdalrymple · 10-19-2011, 05:24 PM

Personal experience has shown me that in some cases an omni antenna may out perform a directional, or "yagi" antenna in fringe areas. The phenomenon of multi-path signals comes into play and the sum of received signal with an omni antenna may be more usable than that of a yagi.

Just a thought.

Regards,

Jeff

az-streamer · 10-19-2011, 05:35 PM

DKB_SATX -

you are correct about the current fringe problem but i mostly stay fairly close to developed areas.

i was hoping that since this thread first appeared in 9/2009 the performance of the omni units would have improved to the point where they would be close to or as good as the directional units.

jdalrymple -

are you currently using an 'omni' model? if so, what type and is it permanently attached to your AS? i seem to recall a post somewhere else mentioning an omni unit which had been lifted off the roof of its trailler by the air flow while travelling.

overall, i would probably be willing to get slightly worse reception as a trade off for ease of the omni.

**DKB_SATX** · 10-19-2011, 05:55 PM

Even if jdalrymple doesn't have the omni on the trailer at the moment, he undoubtedly knows more than I do about RF performance in the real world since he works with 2-way systems.

noreen&sal · 10-20-2011, 04:54 AM

I use a winegard omni and have had pretty good reception. It is not permanently mounted. I use the base from my satellite dish extended with pvc pipe to get it over the roof line. Sal.

Topshelf · 10-20-2011, 05:10 AM

I have the Winegard omni antenna and have had very good results with it. It is normally on an eight foot pole that goes in the flag holder on the tounge next to the jack. One time during a heavy storm that had tornadoes within 2 miles, I took it down and placed it under the trailer on the ground and to my surprise the picture quality was the same, excellant.

jdalrymple · 10-20-2011, 06:09 AM

I was on my iPhone and not all my post made it.

In short, I meant to say that the each have advantages.

I don't have the omni on my trailer, I have the stock batwing. I have used the at a deer cabin and it has performed pretty good as several have mentioned here.

Good luck with what ever you chose.

az-streamer · 10-20-2011, 10:26 AM

noreen -

topshelf -

thanks to you both for the info.

question - how do you get the signal into the AS and to the tv?

do you hook the omni up via cable thru the cable hook-up on the side of the AS and simply bypass the roof input?

is there any reason why you decided not to permanently attach the omni to the roof of your AS?

thanks

Topshelf · 10-20-2011, 11:09 AM

I run the coax from the antenna to the factory cable connector on the side of the trailer. You do need to use the 12 volt amplifier that comes with the antenna. I did not install the antenna on the roof because I like the stock appearance and also did not want any additional holes in the roof. I did remove the original crank-up antenna.