Analog TV in my 2006 Hitchhiker

You’ll save buckets of electricity when boondocking with new TVs.

I used to have a 2005 Hitchhiker. I would highly recommend replacing that heavy old analog TV. They're pretty much worthless and the dump will charge you to get rid of them. When I replaced mine I used the area behind where the old TV was for storage. New TV's are relatively cheap and I would get a smart TV with netflix and Amazon built in.

camilllit wrote:
Our 2006 rv has 2 analog TV's. We have been on a permanent site since before the switch to digital broadcasting. We had used the typical Comcast boxes in our rv. We now plan to travel....will our rooftop antenna and our analog TV's work in this digital world. I am confused because I've been told yes, no, will need a digital head up on my antenna, I will need digital TV's to replace my analog TV's that came in our new 2006 rv. I am no techy: I want our TV's to work whether we boondock and use rooftop antenna....... or connect a campground cable wire to our rv.
Please help and thank you.

antenna will work just fine but you'll need one or two digital-to-analog converter boxes to view the digital transmissions. there is no such thing as a digital antenna so don't be fooled.

if you replace your analong sets with digital sets...probably your best solution...the antenna you have will be fine. if it's a winegard batwing you might consider adding either the wingman to it to aud in re eiving UHF signals or simply replacing the whole shebang with the Winegard Sensar IV...again, your best bet.

If you replace the TV's please try to get 2 exactly alike. If you get different brands one might receive more stations or get better reception than the other. This will drive you crazy (I USED TO BE SANE)
Another tip is to get a TV with a puck in the cord The puck is a transformer that takes line voltage down to usually 12 volts. It looks like the cord on a laptop computer. If you get one with the transformer then you can just get a cord of the right kind and run the TV off the CIGARETTE lighter type outlet that is probably already near your TV

The antenna will work as is, although there may be some options to improve it. There are NO "digital antennas" in the real world, only in the manufacturer's marketing departments. Radio signals are radio signals...

Your analog TV's will need digital (ATSC) to analog (NTSC) converters added to them to receive the new digital programming. I've seen them still stocked in a few Walmarts, and Amazon has them starting at about $23:

Digital to Analog TV Converter

And BTW, if your antenna is working, don't pay any attention to all the ads and sales pitches that try to sell you a "high Definition digital antenna to replace your old one" Its pure BS, and unless your antenna is bad, you don't need it! look at my sig picture, and the old Winegard batwing sticking up. At the time, it was pulling in an HD picture from about 50 miles out.

You will need a link for each TV. Try it before you leave. Your rooftop antenna will work fine.

NO, your analog TVs will not use the signal from your antenna, because they will not recognize the digital signal being broadcast by nearly all OTA stations. The antenna, unless there is something wrong with it, will work with a digital signals just as well as it will work with analog. All you really need is a small digital converter box from Walmart or BestBuy for each TV. The box will take the digital signal from your antenna and convert it into an analog signl for your TV. Works great. However, do consider changing out the TV whenever possible, because the new one are much lighter, have a lot better picture, are fairly cheap, use a lot less power, and will give you a high definition picture if the station is broadcasting in HD, which most do by now. The new TVs will not require the converter box, and will work with both antenna and park cable if available. In my case, I had the choice between a converter box for about $50, or a new TV for about $150. the picture on the old analog was low def and fuzzy, Now the new TV is bright and sharp, and picks up a lot more channels than the old one would. A new TV will typically pick up more and weaker channels that the converter box will.

Recycle those old ones and get some new LED TVs. The prices have fallen so low it is no longer a big investment. And the full width HD pictures are infinitely better. The existing antenna should work. My 2007 does.