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dedmiston's avatar
dedmiston
Moderator
Oct 19, 2018

Pointing my TV antenna

I feel pretty dumb for asking this, but I seem to be getting worse at aiming my crank-up TV antenna.

I have a great app that shows where the nearest towers are, but I'm not sure how the antenna receives the signals.

Am I supposed to aim the pointy end of the antenna at the towers or the broad side of it? In other words, should the antenna be parallel or perpendicular to the towers?

I've always assumed it should be perpendicular. It's kind of hard to aim that way, since the arrow on the knob is oriented for lowering the antenna and not necessarily for aiming. Maybe I need to use some nail polish to show 90 degrees from the arrow to help me aim it.

Thoughts and tips would be appreciated.

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  • dedmiston's avatar
    dedmiston
    Moderator
    Oct 19, 2018
    BarneyS wrote:
    Dave, I used a black, permanent magic marker to draw a line on the rotating ring that showed the direction of the front of the antenna. That way, I would always know exactly which way it was aimed. On my trailer it is at about the 9:30 (AM or PM - take your choice :)) position from the "down" arrow on the ring.
    Barney


    Thanks Barney.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Oct 19, 2018
    Antenna HEAD (face of antenna) points towards Tower
    Antenna ARMS (metal wings) are perpendicular to Tower

    If not already on antenna you should add the 'RV-Wing' ----snaps onto botom of head and has small array that points forward
    Adds in signal reception AND gives you a 'pointer'

    See Winegard Parts List
  • BarneyS's avatar
    BarneyS
    Explorer III
    Oct 19, 2018
    Dave, I used a black, permanent magic marker to draw a line on the rotating ring that showed the direction of the front of the antenna. That way, I would always know exactly which way it was aimed. On my trailer it is at about the 9:30 (AM or PM - take your choice :)) position from the "down" arrow on the ring.
    Barney
  • jplante4's avatar
    jplante4
    Explorer II
    Oct 19, 2018
    The antenna wants to be broadside to the direction of the waves. Is there a pointer on the rotating knob? If so, you want that 90° to the direction of the towers. Think of it as presenting the biggest amount of surface area to the wave.

    Alternately, you could get a cheap signal strength meter or get a Sensar Pro booster that has a meter built in.

    I built my own antenna and the signal strength meter seemed to do the trick.

    Moved from General RVing
  • dedmiston's avatar
    dedmiston
    Moderator
    Oct 19, 2018
    P.S. As a guy who writes documentation for a living, I did search for and read the manual. It wasn't much help though:

    Make sure antenna is in
    “UP” position. Pull down
    on both hands until it
    disengages ceiling plate
    and rotate for best picture.


    The "rotate for best picture" step is where I'm stuck.

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