roof mounted OTA antenna

Just some info for you to keep in mind while shopping:

There is no such thing as an "HD" antenna, despite lots of marketing to the contrary. Radio waves are radio waves, the the hd broadcast are using the same waves as the sd broadcasts.

When you find an antenna you like the looks of, and the price is right go for it, don't fall for a higher priced model that says it's "HD ready" or any similar nonsense.

If you have a tall 5er watch out for tree limbs if you get a Jack. I had one, a good antenna until a small tree limb took it out which showed me how flimsy the mast is on it. If you have a crank up why not upgrade to eith a Sensor 4 or Jack on top?

I have a Jack w/Sure Lock, works good for me. They all depend on how far you are from the station.

I replaced my batwing with one of these King Jack replacement heads. It improved the signal strength and most times I do not raise the antenna.
They also have the type you are thinking about.

-Bryan

Try as you may, I don't think you can improve on your batwing with your booster on.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Try as you may, I don't think you can improve on your batwing with your booster on.

I replaced my Batwing head with a Jack head and picked up several stations. I also like the fact that it no longer rattles and keeps me awake when the wind blows. The Batwing would do that even when lowered.

B.O.

The crank-up 'batwing' antenna is still unarguably the best OTA TV antenna. If you don't want a crank-up type antenna like your old batwing, AND, if you aren't absolutely trying to maximize your TV reception, then these new 'omnidirectional' antennas will probably suffice for you. If, on the other hand, you want to maximize your TV reception you must go with a directional type antenna. The Winegard Rayzar Automatic is one example ... expensive, but excellent if you don't mount it too close to an obstruction on your roof like an Air Conditioner.

All I can say is you'll regret it.

avvidclif1 wrote:
All I can say is you'll regret it.

what he said

I have a factory installed Jensen "omni" that is 6 inches above the roof. After confirming it was "working" as well as it's supposed to,I replaced it with a random chunk of wire, which works better. I actually replaced it with a Radioshack 18 inch omni, on a mast I put up when we arrive, it out performs the Jensen, drastically. But then it's bigger and higher

For antenna's bigger is better and height is might.

A couple years back some actual antenna experts here (rv.net) did some actual testing of the Jack vrs the Batwing.
Batwing with the wing-man add on worked the best
Batwing sans add-on worked about as well as the Jack on a crankup mast
The Jack, directly roof mounted did the poorest in their testing

Have the Winegard crank up antenna and added the Winegard Wingman, very happy with the result. At home before putting on the Wingman decided to do an experiment. I wanted to see how many channels before and after, sitting same spot everything exactly the same. Before I got 6 channels and after got 9. We live in the country where its hard to get much, but it does work well.