Forum Discussion

supercub's avatar
supercub
Explorer
Aug 18, 2013

TV Antenna Thumping!!

The crank up TV antenna on my roof thumps when I'm driving down the road. I've checked and it's cranked completely down.......but the wings, although are laying flat on the roof, are not solidly down. When I'm driving once in awhile the wind will catch it and make a thumping noise. Any ideas on how to fix this. I know I could put some foam under the wings, but I don't want something that will retain moisture. Thanks
Brian
Class A
  • Clay_L's avatar
    Clay_L
    Explorer
    Aug 19, 2013
    I just bent the arms down slightly so that the bumpers on the arms touched the roof.
  • Argosy24's avatar
    Argosy24
    Explorer
    Aug 19, 2013
    Closed cell foam, like a noodle or most weather stripping, won't retain moisture. Either that or a solid bumper.
  • w4phj's avatar
    w4phj
    Explorer
    Aug 19, 2013
    I slit some foam noodle and secured it with tie wraps on the antenna ends. No more flapping "noise"

    In addition the OEM Batwing works well for me on HD. No add ons.
  • RLS7201's avatar
    RLS7201
    Explorer II
    Aug 18, 2013
    Brian, Let me make a guess. You have a Fleetwood product and the antenna folds down beside the air conditioner? A problem well known to Fleetwood owners.
    Winegard used to have a small air foil that gets place in front of the of the front wing, to redirect air flow and stop the banging.
    I used the wedge from a aluminum dryer vent, as a air foil to stop the banging.

    Richard
    95 Bounder
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Aug 18, 2013
    Try a bit more "Down" on the crank.

    There is a lovely thread in another of these forums where a kind forum member compared the jack to the batwing to the batwing+Wingman

    I saw more difference than I expected between them.. The batwing was MUCH MUCH better at VHF, and (This surprised me) also at UHF. the batwing + Wingman was still better at UHF still

    (UHF, Jack was 3 db below basic batwing, 5 below wingman and 30 on VHF)
  • pusherpilot's avatar
    pusherpilot
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2013
    I waited till mine finally folded in a windstorm and replaced it with a Jack.
    Ron
  • hershey's avatar
    hershey
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2013
    I added some foam at the end of the batwings. That helped, then I drilled a hole in the front end and added a small piece of tin (perhaps 2" tall and 4" across) to act as a wing and blow the wing down solid when in route.

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