Looking for an HD TV indoor Antena with a good range.As I undersatnd it it is placed on a window inside the RV and hooked to the TV.Any Suggestions?Thanks

No such thing as an "HD" TV antenna. Anyone or anything that tells you otherwise is scamming you.Indoor flat panel window antennas are for use in dense urban areas, where the transmitter is likely on the roof of the building just down the block. They don't work so well in most RV environments.Was your rooftop antenna damaged or otherwise unavailable?

We have one at our S&B home, and it works well for the local stations up to about 50 miles in the same direction. Your best bet is a Sensar IV batwing up on top, with a Sensar Pro booster panel inside.

If your fifth wheel already has an antenna then why not use it? If you must have an indoor/window mount Winegard makes one I think.

wildtoad wrote:If your fifth wheel already has an antenna then why not use it? If you must have an indoor/window mount Winegard makes one I think.Just want better reception than i normaly get in a c.g

danoren wrote:Just want better reception than i normaly get in a c.gNO indoor (window) antenna is going to work better then a roof mounted one.I'm going to guess you have a Winegard crank-up, probably the Sensor-III. If so, get the Winegard Wingman add on. It improves UHF a great deal

HD TV Antena | Good Sam Community

bob_nestor
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2017
I could be wrong here but ... I agree there's no such thing as an HD TV antenna. However, back in the analog days most of the TV stations were broadcasting on VHF (a lo and hi band) with few in the UHF broadcast bands. As a result antennas sold back then were better tuned for VHF as opposed to UHF. With the move to digital broadcast the FCC has been moving a lot of the old VHF stations up into the UHF broadcast bands, so the older antennas may not work as well. Many antenna companies that are advertising "HD TV antennas" are really marketing antennas that have been re-tuned to better receive UHF transmissions. Some have totally dropped VHF as the lo-VHF band no longer exists for TV.

There are still some stations that are broadcasting in the hi-VHF band though, so when looking for a replacement antenna one might want one tuned for UHF as well as hi-VHF.

The real problem with digital is that they've moved to higher frequencies which don't penetrate obstacles like building and trees as well as the lower frequencies. You see the same sort of thing with cell phone coverage.
Tom_M1
Explorer
Oct 12, 2017
At the start of digital broadcasting, TV stations where broadcasting both analog and digital channels. For most markets there was no room on the VHF band so the digital channels were broadcast on UHF. Virtually all the digital broadcasts were on UHF channels so antenna manufactures started pumping out UHF only antennas and calling them "Digital Antennas".

When the analog broadcasts were shut down, this freed up most of the VHF channels. Many stations then moved their UHF digital broadcast down to VHF. About 25% of the stations in the US are now broadcasting on the VHF band. Virtually all are on high VHF channels but there are a small number on low VHF. The government is in the process of auctioning off another chunk of the UHF band so more stations are likely to move down to VHF.

When shopping for a TV antenna it is best to look for one that performs well for both VHF and UHF. The Winegard Sensar IV is about the only RV antenna that does this.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Oct 12, 2017
bob_nestor wrote:
I could be wrong here but ... I agree there's no such thing as an HD TV antenna. However, back in the analog days most of the TV stations were broadcasting on VHF (a lo and hi band) with few in the UHF broadcast bands. As a result antennas sold back then were better tuned for VHF as opposed to UHF. With the move to digital broadcast the FCC has been moving a lot of the old VHF stations up into the UHF broadcast bands, so the older antennas may not work as well. Many antenna companies that are advertising "HD TV antennas" are really marketing antennas that have been re-tuned to better receive UHF transmissions. Some have totally dropped VHF as the lo-VHF band no longer exists for TV.

There are still some stations that are broadcasting in the hi-VHF band though, so when looking for a replacement antenna one might want one tuned for UHF as well as hi-VHF.

No need for a new antenna if you have the Winegard crank up but it he might need to add the Wingman add-on for the best UHF reception. Many of the frequencies have already been sold and some of the broadcasters are moving back to VHF due to better range and penetration so good UHF AND VHF reception is required for the best experience.
The real problem with digital is that they've moved to higher frequencies which don't penetrate obstacles like building and trees as well as the lower frequencies. You see the same sort of thing with cell phone coverage.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Oct 13, 2017
For those who wonder why the big jump to UHF by the formerly analog stations I can explain....

The higher the carrier frequency (Broadcast channel) the more data can be crammed into the signal.. I do digital radio (As I said before ALL television is a form of radio) on many frequencies.. The SPEED of transmission .. Depends on the frequency to some extend (The maximum speed) and the mode.. 31 CPS.. 45.45 1400.. All frequency dependent.. HF is slow, VHF faster and UHF faster still.

So where as, for example, Detroit Channel 2 (56MHZ) used to be one analog signal.. Today they broadcast on Channel 7 (I'd have to look up the frequency) and 2 or 3 (forget which looked up on other comptuer...2) as you go up in frequency to UHF many have snuck in a 4th sub channel and at least one a 5th.. (That's about the limit before quality drops) the higher the frequency you transmit on (The carrier channel or broadcast channel) the more data you can stuff.
Tom_M1
Explorer
Oct 13, 2017
wa8yxm wrote:
The higher the carrier frequency (Broadcast channel) the more data can be crammed into the signal.
This is not true for TV. Every TV channel is allotted 6 Mhz of spectrum. This was true back in the analog era as well as today for digital. Each channel can stream up to 19.39 Mbit/s of data. Each station determines how many program streams to broadcast. They could choose a single HD stream at the maximum bit rate or multiple streams with each stream at a lower bit rate.
jplante4
Explorer II
Oct 23, 2017
danoren wrote:
I have a stock regular crank Winegard

I have an old Winegard batwing with the Wingman attachment and a Sensar Pro booster/ signal strength meter. We had been getting pretty good reception until this one CG near home. Everyone had one of these on a 20 foot pole, so I bought one, assembled it and stuck it in the basement.

Last week we were at Roaring Point Waterfront CG in Nanticoke MD. The Winegard picked up 3 channels so I figured I'd try out the GE. I put it up next to the Winegard and got nothing. Good thing it only cost me $26.

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