Replacing Crank up Antenna Suggestions?

Thanks, Mark. I may try that. You mentioned an in-line Radioshack amplifier. I could not find one of that description at Radioshack.com .

What do you think of this one?
Winegard Boost

Dave

P.S. Ooops... just noticed that it said "non-amplified". Forget I spoke!

Dave:

If trimming the Wingman works to get your antenna to store in the normal location, just save the element and check out the antenna at your current location with one less element on it.

If your range is still okay just save the element in a drawer for possible future use. Once your antenna is raised on the roof you can just set the element on top of the Winegard wing in my position to see what happens (better or worse). Don't forget you just have it laying there after testing.

I would hate to think that my current of up to 160 miles on digital is less than what it could be. :B Mine has been there the last 4 years.

However; Jeff is right about funny things can happen dependent of element placements. That's why some of us keep experimenting for better range.

I would be a little nervous about mounting essentually a reflector right on top of the UHF driven element in the head. That could do all kinds of evil things to the pattern all the way to cutting performance making it worse than even without the wingman installed.

If you have a SensarPro, you can measure the effect. If not, I would recommend against doing that.

Yes. Exactly what I did.

You do have to be careful with adding the removed element to the main antenna head. The amplifier is inside somewhere and you do not want to hit it or cause a possible leak.

Maybe gluing the element to the head might be safer.

It was the following spring that I installed my Radio Shack in-line amplifier. It greatly improved my range and made up for any possible loss of range from modifying the Wingman.

Mark :B

MNtundraRet wrote:

Windsor Dave wrote:

Thanks,

***

The Wingman attachment has two small elements of equal length. I just sawed off the last element by cutting the plastic extension holding the elements close to the second element of equal size. That gave me the few inches necessary to clear the pod and lower the antenna to the roof in the proper location.

You need someone inside to lower the antenna in the correct orientation for storage. Have them stop lowering when the Wingman first touches the obstacle. The Wingman will work with only one of the small elements. If you need more clearance than loosing one element you are out of luck.

****

Look at the owner's manual/installation instructions for WINEGARD RV ANTENNA. One of the pages has "ORDERING REPAIR PARTS".One of the pictures shows the Wingman for cutting purposes. I drilled out the piece holding element to the plastic and used a small screw to attach the element to the main antenna cover. Use a sealant to seal the screw-hole. The element could be screwed the plastic base of Wingman instead. You might not need the removed element.

****

Cutting the element may not give you your current range. It as a $30 gamble for me if it did not work out right, and the same for you.

Thanks, Mark. Is this a rough approximation of what you did?

Properly handled, the entire Batwing assembly can be rotated a bit to provide clearance. It would mean removing the caulking and screws and hopefully rotating exactly one or 2 screw spacing so you would not create additional holes, just need new caulking. The interior hardware would need to be removed first and measurements made on the roof to ensure you would not have to rotate too far or that the newly rotated antenna would not hang off the edge. I would not go beyond about a 30 degree rotation.

Windsor Dave wrote:
For MNtundraRet:

Mark, Back on 07/03/12 You posted the following:

"I ended up cutting off the last element section close to the outer edge by middle element. There is no wiring between elements to worry about. I refastenned the removed element on top of the casing over large element keeping spacing between small elements similar."

I just installed a Wingman on my pre-2004 Sensar. It significantly improved performance. Am in an RV park north of Phoenix and am reliably getting Tucson stations 120 miles away in addition to all (that I'm aware of) Phoenix stations. Pre Wingman, we were not getting all of the Phoenix stations.


That's the good news. The bad news is that the Wingman prevents complete lowering/stowing of the crank-up Sensar/Wingman assembly.

Do you have an image or sketch of what exactly you did in the way of modifying the Wingman to clear your obstruction? I really like the Wingman and want to continue using it if at all practical.

Thanks,

You would first need to see how much of the Wingman attachment would need to be removed to miss your air-conditioner cover and lower into the correct position on your roof.

The Wingman attachment has two small elements of equal length. I just sawed off the last element by cutting the plastic extension holding the elements close to the second element of equal size. That gave me the few inches necessary to clear the pod and lower the antenna to the roof in the proper location.

You need someone inside to lower the antenna in the correct orientation for storage. Have them stop lowering when the Wingman first touches the obstacle. The Wingman will work with only one of the small elements. If you need more clearance than loosing one element you are out of luck.

I first tried laying the antenna down on the roof by aiming it across the roof in front of the air-conditioner. The problem with doing that is there is no "U" bracket as found on the Winegard antenna base to hold the lowered uprights in place. When driving the RV the antenna could rotate on the roof and loosen the nut inside the gear housing on the roof.

Look at the owner's manual/installation instructions for WINEGARD RV ANTENNA. One of the pages has "ORDERING REPAIR PARTS".One of the pictures shows the Wingman for cutting purposes. I drilled out the piece holding element to the plastic and used a small screw to attach the element to the main antenna cover. Use a sealant to seal the screw-hole. The element could be screwed the plastic base of Wingman instead. You might not need the removed element.

If you could find an alternate way to install a "U" bracket on your roof to keep the down antenna in one place that might work but cause a possible roof leak if not done right.

Cutting the element may not give you your current range. It as a $30 gamble for me if it did not work out right, and the same for you.

For MNtundraRet:

Mark, Back on 07/03/12 You posted the following:

"I ended up cutting off the last element section close to the outer edge by middle element. There is no wiring between elements to worry about. I refastenned the removed element on top of the casing over large element keeping spacing between small elements similar."

I just installed a Wingman on my pre-2004 Sensar. It significantly improved performance. Am in an RV park north of Phoenix and am reliably getting Tucson stations 120 miles away in addition to all (that I'm aware of) Phoenix stations. Pre Wingman, we were not getting all of the Phoenix stations.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the Wingman prevents complete lowering/stowing of the crank-up Sensar/Wingman assembly.

Do you have an image or sketch of what exactly you did in the way of modifying the Wingman to clear your obstruction? I really like the Wingman and want to continue using it if at all practical.

Thanks,

wa8yxm wrote:

MNtundraRet wrote:
You have it backwards here. Signals are always easier to get at night. No interference from the sun.

True as far as it goes but... Have you ever read the license terms on a broadcast station... A station that is say 10,000 watts in the day might cut back to 1,000 at night (Numbers out of thin air intended to represent only not be exact).

And thus though there is less interference, there is also less signal.

There are other factors too, but that's the only one I wish to type about this morning.

tom is correct.. Thats AM Broadcast only when they are protecting out of local market co-channel stations. It doesn't apply to TV or FM, although there are rare exceptions that still shut down late at night.