Winwguard Batwing Antenna

dockmasterdave wrote:
Sorry to disagree, but my sensar didn't come from the factory with a wall plate wiith a switch, many don't.
I still had pretty fair reception.
I did add a simple inline aftermarket booster for about $30, but the best addition was the wingman.
In one rv park we pulled in 82 channels OTA.
I have pulled them in from pretty close to 65 miles.
No you don't have to have the thingamabob.

There is a cheaper Winegard batwing with out a built in amplifier.
It was used in many pull behinds as an economic measure for the builders. Sooooooooo that's why you don't have a switch on the wall.

Richard

While your setup may not have included a wall plate, it did come with a power supply that sends 12V power to the antenna. That might have been from a video control center which may or may not have had an on/off switch but there is a power supply in the mix somewhere as the antenna will just barely function without power.
Winegard used to make a batwing style antenna that was not amplified but I don't believe any RV manufacturer has installed one of these on an RV in many years. If they installed one on yours they should be shot!

It's a 2009 amerilite 21 mble.
No doubt an entry level.
I'm just saying I read an awful lot of blanket statements on here about, "it has to have one".
I haven't looked up the model of mine, but it's not ancient and didn't come with one.
It was a simple purchase from a hardware store in our travels, Maybe $30, problem solved.
I have no issues with my "entry level" It's working perfectly, gets us out about a weekend a month, and just recently from extreme southwest FL to New Orleans and back.

Horizon170 wrote:
Does my III have an amplifier built in? If so, where does it get power?
I will get the UHF add-on to make it a IV.

Dopes my III have an amplifier built in YES.
Where does it get power: Comes in on the Coax cable
Where does it (Coax) get power.. four possible answers:
1: Wall plate, it has a light a switch 12 volt outlet, antenna jack
This is the most common answer
2: Box of Many Buttons (Matrix switch, Button on the left is POWER
3: Sensar PRO (Fairly rare, not standard in any RV far as I know, I highly recommend it though Direct replacement for #1, can be used with #2
4: (Very rare as well) Power Inserter (small cube in the coax line)

Where does it (the power inserter device) get power: 12 volt house system.

Hope this helps.

The Wingman makes at least 3 DB improvement in UHF performance(increases the range by about 1/2) It also reduces several sources of interference

Sensar Pro can make a much larger increase in both VHF and UFH, also has several aids to the user that make it well worth the 100 dollar (rounded) price tag.

My System: Sensar III,, Wingman,,,, Sensar pro.... Box of Many Buttons.. Digital Converters.... DVRs,, Router (The DVR's chat with each other and with computers in house) and TVs. Tablet and Smart Phone.

dockmasterdave wrote:
Sorry to disagree, but my sensar didn't come from the factory with a wall plate wiith a switch, many don't.
I still had pretty fair reception.
I did add a simple inline aftermarket booster for about $30, but the best addition was the wingman.
In one rv park we pulled in 82 channels OTA.
I have pulled them in from pretty close to 65 miles.
No you don't have to have the thingamabob.

While your setup may not have included a wall plate, it did come with a power supply that sends 12V power to the antenna. That might have been from a video control center which may or may not have had an on/off switch but there is a power supply in the mix somewhere as the antenna will just barely function without power.
Winegard used to make a batwing style antenna that was not amplified but I don't believe any RV manufacturer has installed one of these on an RV in many years. If they installed one on yours they should be shot!

If you have the powered wall plate and nobody has changed the antenna out, then it has an internal amp built into the head of the antenna and it HAS to be powered. Not powering will cause a significant loss of signal, far more than the gain it provides. There are other options to power the antenna over that plate. You can use the BOMB mentioned above, or better yet install a Sensar Pro that provides power to the head, an adjustable gain distriubution amp, dual output splitter, and input switch. Oh yeah, it's by far the best pointing tool out there.

Bill.sattelite, My wall plate did have 12V run to it. Now for the question.
Does the antenna have the AMP ot does the Wall Plate have the AMP in it.
Mine that I used in the 5th wheel kinda looked like this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/36DB-CABLE-TV-ANTENNA-INLINE-BOOSTER-COAX-SIGNAL-AMPLIFIER-COAXIAL-VIDEO-AMP-HD-/282073601786

Gentlemen, I really want to thank you all for the help. If I were 30 years younger I would maybe remember some of this stuff.
Here is something similar to what I will use in the "C".

joebedford wrote:
My mistake, maybe.

When he said he had a III, I assumed it was amplified and therefore needed power.

Your antenna seems to be unamplified so doesn't need power.

Joe, thanks for your input----------------in all fairness I must admit that I thought I had a III. Maybe not but it came stock on my 2010 "C".

joebedford wrote:
Why would you remove power from the batwing? You just asking for worse reception.

Yes, you need the wallplate thingamabob.

That is why I'm asking---------I was not sure how it worked.
I do have an in-line 120V amp that I used in the 5th WheelThanks

dockmasterdave wrote:
Sorry to disagree, but my sensar didn't come from the factory with a wall plate wiith a switch, many don't.
I still had pretty fair reception.
I did add a simple inline aftermarket booster for about $30, but the best addition was the wingman.
In one rv park we pulled in 82 channels OTA.
I have pulled them in from pretty close to 65 miles.
No you don't have to have the thingamabob.

Do you have a "BOMB" (Box Of Many Buttons) that's used to select the source and destination for your various TV related devices? If so, that also powers the batwing amplifier. There is, or was anyway, a cheaper model of the batwing without an amplifier, but if your receiving stations from 65 miles out, it's not likely you have one of them.

My mistake, maybe.

When he said he had a III, I assumed it was amplified and therefore needed power.

Your antenna seems to be unamplified so doesn't need power.