Wingman... Removed.

stahrmcgee wrote:
There was a lot of bragging going on about the Wingman at the campsites I was staying at and when we got the new camper, we got one and after a fer camps we installed it. I pulled it off after the 2nd camp(on a 5 camp run) and tried to draw in the channels again. Short answer on my experience: Ours was better without the Wingman. With it on, we got 3-5 channels of moderate signal quality. Without it, we got between 15-18 channels that were all watchable. So. I did a little reading, yes, I should have prior, but I didn't, and I found out that it makes the antennae directional instead of how it is out right off the lot.

Has anyone else had the same experience?

the winegard batwing antenna is not an Omni-directional antenna. if it were you wouldn't have to twist it in order to find a watchable signal. the "wings" of the antenna receive VHF signals (basically channels transmitting on the frequencies previously assigned to TV channels 2-13). the center "head" of the antenna receives UHF signals (basically channels transmitting on the frequencies previously assigned to TV channels 14 and up).

the wingman is a small yagi antenna that clips to the center head which gathers and directs UHF signals to the UHF receiver. many-to-most of the TV stations that were broadcasting in the VHF portion of the band switched to UHF frequencies after the switch to digital. everything else being equal a UHF signal will not travel as far compared to a VHF signal. the wingman is more efficient at detecting and gathering UHF signals which means the UHF receiver has more to work with.

not sure why your experience with the wingman was as you described.
when you removed the wingman and got all of the previously unseen channels, was that during a trip (wingman on, 3-5 channels, wingman off, 15-18 channels during the same trip) or between trips? same campground, campsite, weather, etc? worst case the wingman should have no effect...I don't see how it could make things worse.