What's Best Digital Antenna Upgrade ?

Ed_Gee wrote:
Having followed innumerable discussions on RV TV antennas, it is my opinion that the 'best' antenna is the old reliable Bat Wing, which you already have. Adding the Winegard Wingman will improve its stock performance noticeably, but unless you have something wrong with it ( like the RF pre-amplifier in the head has failed or power to the pre-amp is not present ) you probably won't get any better performance from the newer choices.

I have to agree with Ed_Gee. We had the Winegard Batwing on our 2001 Winnebago Adventurer. When digital TV became standard we added the converter box. Reception was ok but certainly not the best. A few months later we added the Wingman and it greatly improved reception.

Fast forward a few years. We purchased a 2013 Adventurer with the Jack antenna. We were camping with friends in an out of the way campground. Their coach had the batwing with the wingman add on while we had the new "latest and greatest" Jack Digital antenna. The best we could do was get a PBS station about 30 miles away. They were able to get all the regular network stations, some of which were up to 70 miles away.

To me the old batwing is the most dependable and easiest to use. The only downsides are that it can't be deployed in a heavily forested area, and you have to remember to lower it when you leave the campground.

The Jack antenna works well for stations within a 50 mile range, but that's about it. The nice thing is you don't have to raise or lower it.

If you have been having signal problems with an antenna that was previously working fine, I would say that your problem is with the coax cable or the connections on either end. Antennas do not wear out but the cable connections do. They let in moisture which eventually causes corrosion. To install a new antenna, without correcting the cable problems, is just a waste of money.

There is no such thing as a ................ :)


But - what has happened is that many stations moved up to the UHF band during the transition to digital. Many, some have moved back to VHF.

You might find that an antenna better tuned to picking up UHF does better in a given area.



Also while there is no such thing as a..................

Digital signals are more susceptible to interferences that didn't bother analog signals.

So, while there is no such thing as a digital antenna, you will find that *some* antennas marketed as Digital have been designed to pull in the digital signals better.

;)



Now, there is no such thing as an HD antenna. That's indisputable.

1- There is no such thing as a digital antenna
2- If you have a Batwing, add the Wingman. There are plenty of opinions out there on antennas, but the bottom line is that the Batwing is hands down the best performer on VHF or UHF, and the proof is out there.
3- Add the Sensar Pro. This or something like it is the only way to properly find what's out there, even with the help of FCC mapping resources

Buy a new TV with digital tuner.

Then a website that shows location of transponder towers and point antenna head that direction. Run scan

First: No such thing as a "Digital Antenna" only Radio Antennas (Television is a form of radio, does not matter if analog or digital)

And my two favorites are: If your existing Winegard Sensar II or III is in good condition.. #1 Add the Wingman

If it, as they say, has seen better days.. Sensar IV (Comes with wingman)
Of the antennas I've seen tested NOTHING beats a batwing with wingman

Improve on the best by adding the SENSAR PRO inside the RV (this is the power supply for the mast heat booster, a 2nd booster, a scanner, and .. Well read the manual to find out all it can do for you, beats the LED's off Jack's "Sure Lock" device)

I have not seen a lab test on the Razyer but understand one of the options there is both directional and automatic.. Do not know how they pull that off, but if it works.. I'd have to see the lab results to comment farther.

I have the Rayzar on my Class C and have been very happy with it.
Gets a lot of channels. Plenty for me.
Is more simple/ lighter/ easy to install.
Only has one square tubing pole to support it.
Cranks up and down easier.

The batwing/Wingman is the cream of the current RV OTA antenna crop in my opinion, and adding the Winegard SensarPro power injector/amplifier/signal meter makes it all even better.

TC&Z wrote:
We have a 2007 MH with the classic batwing Winegard crank up analog antenna on the roof. We bought a digital converter box years ago and works ok. Lately we have been losing signal and DW is after me to improve the reception.

Searching so far I have found 4 options: (have I missed any?)
1) Wingman add-on by Winegard (clips to existing batwing antenna)
2) Sensar by Winegard (batwing replacement)
3) Rayzar by Winegard (flat rectangle replacement)
4) KING Jack replacement head (small sting-ray profile)

Unless mistaken I believe all 4 alternatives are fully compatible with my existing system, all I got to do is get on the roof, swap out the antenna and attach the RF cable. I believe that no changes are needed to our current power supply. Comments are welcome.

I have tried to find performance specs for these 4 alternatives but only find dimensions and vague general advertising claims; better performance, longer range, new and improved, etc. Worse, some posts state claims are just hype and there is no performance improvement over the existing legacy analog antennas.

Anyone have any recommendation or comparison of these 4 antenna upgrade alternatives? Or any other suggestions?

(I know satellite is a possibility but not willing to go there at this time.)

Thanks in advance...

TC&Z
Well Sir, I kind-a went through all of what you're thinking about back a while ago. I was not getting almost any TV channels with our Batwing antenna. Well, really long story short, I purchased the new Jack Antenna based on "some" of the recommendations from folks on here and other RV forums. I put it in place, turned on the TV set, searched and, found almost nothing.

Well, after a tiny bit of investigation, I found out that the 12VDC power to the antenna was dead. That meant that it was dead to the original batwing too. So, I repaired that situation and, did a search again for stations. Well, I found four. So, just for grins, I put my old batwing back on and, found the same four.

So, I took back the Jack and left the Batwing in place. We then went "glamping" (a term many of use for "Glamorous" camping at places where it's a paved parking lot next to a Casino or other prestigious establishment) at Pachanga RV Resort and Casino.

I already had cable at our sight. And, I've got Direct TV via the King Dome on top of our coach. But, just for grins, I popped up the Batwing there at Pachanga and guess what, I picked up a whopping FIFTY FOUR CHANNELS using the Batwing. Wow!! I picked up Hispanic, Chinese, Taiwanese, Religious, Cowboy, and many, many more types of channels. I was amazed that there were that many still broadcast over the air.

But, the point is/was, the Batwing is a great antenna and works quite well.
Scott

Having followed innumerable discussions on RV TV antennas, it is my opinion that the 'best' antenna is the old reliable Bat Wing, which you already have. Adding the Winegard Wingman will improve its stock performance noticeably, but unless you have something wrong with it ( like the RF pre-amplifier in the head has failed or power to the pre-amp is not present ) you probably won't get any better performance from the newer choices.