analog to digital

The Winegard Sensar IV, or the Sensar II and III with the optional Wingman add-on have been compared to the Jack, and the Jack lost, big time very big time. Add the Sensar Pro inside the motor home and .. Well it just does not get any better less the park gives away cable. Even then I've found the antenna helpful.

Right now the broadcasters are packing their streams with anything they can find, from religious to old movies, whatever, so show that they are viable (salable). This is going to be an interesting auction. There may or may not be the interest many think there was several years ago as the wireless folk are interested primarily in the major cities, and not as many as originally thought.

At the and of the day when the entire VHF band is fully packed, antennas like the Jack will become boat anchors

SCVJeff wrote:

WNYBob wrote:
Older antennas will work, but most digital HDTV is broadcast on UHF (the short parts of the antenna). With that said, the newer ones are tuned more for UHF and get some more stations.

THIS WEEK... That's about to change

Good point and something that is not really being publicized. Many broadcasters who were on VHF during the analog era and moved to UHF for their digital signal are either going back to VHF when the television "repacking" of frequencies is complete, or they have already done so. Case in point being the Chattanooga CBS affiliate, was on Channel 12 pre-transition, went briefly to UHF and then back to their pre-digital frequency when all of the dust settled. For those not in the know, the FCC is trying to free up spectrum currently used by television broadcasters for new wireless services, and is giving broadcasters the option to "go dark" by paying them money to turn off their current signal. The money will be raised by auctioning off the spectrum to the highest bidder, and the wireless companies will have increased room for providing wireless telephone and internet. The fact that broadcasters can place multiple programs on a single digital channel means that many broadcasters will consolidate their programs on fewer channels.

WNYBob wrote:
Older antennas will work, but most digital HDTV is broadcast on UHF (the short parts of the antenna). With that said, the newer ones are tuned more for UHF and get some more stations.

THIS WEEK... That's about to change

dtrink wrote:
I have a 2003 Gulf Stream Sun Voyager that I would like to convert from the old analog TV system to digital. Has anyone done this and can you provide me with information? Thanks

Yes and Yes.. There are two ways to do it and I've done both.

Method one (Least expensive, Least effective) you get some Digital to Analog converters, Radio Shack, I believe still sells 'em, One per TV.
(But I did not find it in the catalog just now)

Method 2: Replace the TV's. Now there are many ways to do this.

What I did: I measured the opening where the TV was located.. (I removed the trim and measured) and purchased a Wide Screen Modern TV exactly the same width, I mean exactly.. Of course it was not as HIGH

I removed and donated the old boat anchor, And hung the new one in the same place.. Made a couple cuts and "Raised the floor" of the head banger box so it was level.. Later I will do some cabinetry and put in some shelves but other things are takign priority just now.

The job, when I finished Looks factory... But that's all I had to do, Just replace the TV's.

Bedroom TV I was not so neat on but.. Well I did not plan on being all that neet.

If your BATWING crank up OTA antenna looks like this google image you are good to go for the added UHF channels supporting HDTV.. The older ones without the DIPOLEs work also but not as well...



Some of the earlier BATWING antennas did not have the added dipoles you see in the above photo. Any UHF antenna will work for HDTV signals...

ALot of us think the BATWING like shown above is about as good as you can get... The low profile unidirection antennas don't do good at all...

I experimented with them all back in 2009 picking out one for my OFF-ROAD Camper including the $100 LOWES very long house type YAGI antenna... This antenna was probably the best to use but it didn't survive over a couple of months. Extended out over both ends of my camper and would hit trees when being turn around etc.. It also had to be folded up for travel and I finally destroyed it haha... The BATWING proved out to be the best and that is what is being used today on my OFF-ROAD camper..


Here at the house I am using the BOW TIE panels for picking up the HDTV signal which are 70 miles away to the North for Washington DC and about the same to the South for Richmond VA. This is really a great antenna panel but is impractical to use on the RV's.



Like said above there is no special antenna for the new Hig Def TVs, They just changed from Analog to Digital format and use the same TV frequencies as before... With Digital format you see it perfect or nothing at all not like in the snowy pictures days of long ago haha...

Roy Ken

RoyB wrote:

We also purchased 120VAC models and when we want to run them when camping off grid we use a small wattage PSW Power Inverter.

I think a 12 V model is a better bet. I did that by accident but now REALLY like that I can watch TV without running the gen. sometimes.

I replace both tube-type TVs in the Sahara with Best Buy store brand LEDs. The mount for the bedroom TV costs more than the TV itself.

I put the TV for the living area into a lift cabinet opposite the couch.

As far as pulling in digital signals, I upgraded my old Winegard by adding a Wingman attachment and switched the antenna booster to the Winegard Sensar Pro. With this setup I can pull in stations up to 50 miles away (over flat terrain).

You have to purchase a digital ready HDTV like the LCDs from WALMART... We originally got two 22-inch flatscreens from WALMART back in 2009 ($150 each Holiday sale) when the change-over came about.

If you plan on mounting the flatscreen using a swing out mount these can be purchased at WALMART as well. Be aware the RV walls are very thin 1/4-inch wood panels and a screw will pull right thru them. Needs to be mounted to a back board which some location have theses already built-in for you or you can add one yourself on the outside of the thin wall and paint to match your decor. You need at least a 3/4-inch back board. Then you can use regular wood screws for the swing out mounts.

Our first install used something like this google images shows...


Even the larger HDTV will have to be moved out some to get to the connections in the back or remove it if you want to store it or take it down for the road trips like some folks do. Abandoning the large hole the old analog TV was at gives you book case or other similar installing. Maybe mount the HDTV on a swing our a door or something???

The flatscreen do not weigh anything like the old analog tv's do... Our 22-inch flatscreen weighs less than 40lbs

We also purchased 120VAC models and when we want to run them when camping off grid we use a small wattage PSW Power Inverter.

Roy Ken

Older antennas will work, but most digital HDTV is broadcast on UHF (the short parts of the antenna). With that said, the newer ones are tuned more for UHF and get some more stations.