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fitznj's avatar
fitznj
Explorer
Sep 23, 2015

Winegard Rayzar - disappointed

To say I am really disappointed is an understatement. I purchased this after talking to Winegard Sales Person at Hershey last week; I was told that reception will not be worse than my current Sensar IV and it could be better; I also asked if I had to drill any holes in the roof - NO - Winegard provides an adapter plate to convert from the Sensar IV to the Rayzar. Well........both statements were wrong.

You DO have to drill new holes in the roof to hold down the Rayzar - the adapter just covers up the original Sensar IV hole in the roof;
Regarding reception - With the Sensar IV I was getting 36 digital channels and with the Rayzar only 2 !!. Re-ran the TV scan and I could only view 1 tv channel, where as I could get more than 20 with the Sensar IV.

I called Winegard Tech Support and we putzed around for 30 minutes trying different options - still could not get the Rayzar to pickup more than 2 channels. I live 40 miles south of NY and 40 miles east of Phili so have lots of towers to choose from. Unfortunately tech support started with the excuses, the Sensar IV is higher than the Rayzar, so reception will be better, the Sensar IV is above the air conditioner, so better reception, I'm not located in the ideal location for good reception etc etc. Totally disappointed with the product.

10 Replies

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  • IAMICHABOD's avatar
    IAMICHABOD
    Explorer II
    Sep 24, 2015
    I will assume you are talking about one of TheseThey do not get rave reviews...

    What would have been better is to have kept your old mast and replaced it with the Rayzarair

    They work much better and have the height to be above anything on the roof of the RV,which will give you a much bigger field to scan for channels.

    Many of us have had very good luck with this Install
  • Tom_M1's avatar
    Tom_M1
    Explorer
    Sep 24, 2015
    Chris Bryant wrote:
    As I understand it, the auto aim Razar finds all of the signals, then parks at a midway point. For most this would be fine, but because you are getting 2 markets, from 2 directions, you wind up with none of them good.
    That said- I know little about it, and haven't seen or worked with one.
    The Razar Auto does a 360 degree scan and then points to the position where it found the most channels. Here's a link to a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeJS2OclTus
  • Chris_Bryant's avatar
    Chris_Bryant
    Explorer II
    Sep 24, 2015
    As I understand it, the auto aim Razar finds all of the signals, then parks at a midway point. For most this would be fine, but because you are getting 2 markets, from 2 directions, you wind up with none of them good.
    That said- I know little about it, and haven't seen or worked with one.
  • Ozlander's avatar
    Ozlander
    Explorer
    Sep 24, 2015
    lryrob9301 wrote:
    You took the word of a sales person at a RV show???


    Was his lips moving?? Dud..
  • MNtundraRet's avatar
    MNtundraRet
    Navigator
    Sep 24, 2015
    People must realize that when any of the newer directional antenna systems are used, your disappointment may actually be caused by poor coaxial cable connections. This means starting at the connection first at the antenna on the roof and following all connections to the antenna power plate in the wall, connections from there to the "BOMB" (switch-box) routing all TV's, cable, OTA, and dish).

    Any loose connection can cause loss of channels. Coaxial cable connections can easily be loosened by vibrations while traveling down the road.

    Many Class A motor-home builders make it very hard to get at the back of the "BOMB" or TV to check for a loose connection. That is the reason why I kept my Class C were the "BOMB" and cables are all in easy reach just sitting on the shelf in the overhead cabinet.

    The antenna itself may not be the problem, if no one did there job in checking all connections at installation time.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Sep 23, 2015
    While your results are exactly as I would have expected (for all of the tech support reasons given). Indeed, height is might when it domes to these UHF signals. I am sorry to hear your results were so bad but would advice you to take the advice mentioned above and return the unit to Winegard as quickly as possible. You will, of course, now have to seal up the holes you drilled and re-install the Sensar antenna which will be a bit of a pain. I hope you kept all the parts!
    Someone above mentioned the Rayzar Air. I installed one of these on the same mount as my Sensar IV and while it's not quite as good for long range, it works as well or better than the Sensar for TV stations within a 30-40 mile range since it is bi-direction allowing reception from the front and back. I did this back when I worked for Winegard and used it for testing. I mistakenly threw away some of the Sensar parts or I would have re-installed the Sensar IV as you simply cannot beat it.
  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    Sep 23, 2015
    For over the air TV nothing beats the Sensar IV. I could not install the IV nor simply attach the Wingman to my existing old Batwing antenna due to where the thing is mounted. I did swap the batwing for first a Jack and then the new Rayzar (the manual one). We mostly stay in remote state parks and no matter which antenna we have used there are problems with reception at times. I can not for the life of me believe that a flat to the roof antenna will work better, regardless of it being "automated".

    Ever since I was a child OTA tv has been iffy, and the higher the antenna, the better the booster, and antenna design have been critical.
  • az99's avatar
    az99
    Explorer
    Sep 23, 2015
    Send it back they have a 30 day guarantee. There have been other bad reviews about it on here.
    It is just another gimmick antenna they put out to keep your wallet lighter.
    Their Razar Air from last year was a total disappointment and misleading advertising.
    Nothing to date beats the Sensar IV.
  • Corkey05's avatar
    Corkey05
    Explorer
    Sep 23, 2015
    I'm assuming you're talking about the new Rayzar thats similar in appearance to a dome satellite antenna.

    I installed the Rayzar when they first came out to replace my Sensar IV and it failed the 3rd time I tried to scan for stations. I have to say Winegard was good about the issue and paid for a full replacement, including the labor. The new one is actually finding two more stations than my old Sensar IV did from my home location. So far I'm happy with it as it seems stronger, and the auto search feature means I don't have to search for signals. For me it's been a win-win, and I don't miss the old Sensar IV one little bit (especially having to find digital signals).

    That said, something you didn't mention, but might be an issue. Is the amplifier working on the new Razar? If I shut my Rayzar off, the amplifier goes with it leaving me without any signals. Just a thought.

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