Supplemental antenna

2112 wrote:
WOW, someone needs their meds

If you are installing an external antenna not to be mounted on your camper any antenna will do. It doesn't need to be an RV specific model. Use a 75 ohm cable and turn your red light off.
Is there a Radio Shack still alive in your area?

Not sure about the MED's line as I did not see any post off the deep end.

But one other thing I will add HEIGHT IS MIGHT. Now I have tested this theory several times and in various ways HEIGHT (Up to a point) Is NIGHTm for RG-6 Cable that Point is .. Well we are into very tall commercial towers.. OH, I do recommend RG-6 over RG-59 for the "Drop".

(For RG-59 the "Point" is around 200 feet as I recall)

Tests I have done
Ham radio the 2 Meter band is in between channels 6 and 7, NOTE that the modern Digital TV still uses the same old 68 Channels, only not all of them, that the old Analog did, so you use the SAME antennas.

Due to a "night game" (Tigers baseball home game at night) I was unable to leave work at the end of my shift so I got my new toy (A 2Meter Ham Rig) and hit the top button on the elevator. about 250 Feet later I decided to see what it would do.. Wound up taling to some hams in Toledo Ohio from downtown Detroit via a repeater station in Adrian MI. Repeaters are often atop tall towers as well. NOW.. Remember I'm pushing 1 watt into a not very good antenna perhaps 1/4 watt Effective Radiated Power.

Across the river, nearly exactly the same distance another ham tried to join in, From where I was standing I could SEE his house we were that close. he's running 10 watts into a high gain antenna about 30 watts ERP at 40'.. I"m running 1/4 watt at 250 feet. He was not making the trip. I was. HEIGHT IS MIGHT

From my parent's house in UNION CITY, Michigan (Google maps will give you distances) I was able to watch Detroit Stations, South Bend Indiana, and the Lansing/Jackson collection and the Gun Lake Collection (Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek)

All from a 100' Tower

Per the TV coverage maps that house is in a "Dead zone" NO receiption possible.

Yet I did 'em all. I suspect we could have hit Toledo OH as well but never tried.

Finaly note: That was a Channel Master antenna I think their #2 with a mast head pre-amp. the pre-amp came in after the antenna so one of the rare photos is of me, an Acrophobe, atop that tower installing the pre-amp... Suffice to say I had great faith in my climbing harness. (I would not climb without one).

One final note about Climbing towers to work on the antenna.

As a Ham Radio Operator I get to read stories of other hams who had an incident while atop the tower. Generally a wrench slipps and hits 'em in the head knocking 'em out.

One climbed with a harness, as I do. took the Fire Dept 3 hours to get him down to terra Firma and then he was treated and released at HOspital and went back up and finished the job.

Another did not believe in a safety harness. took him 3 seconds to reach the ground. and 3 days later "We are gathered here to day to remember our dearly departed".

WOW, someone needs their meds

If you are installing an external antenna not to be mounted on your camper any antenna will do. It doesn't need to be an RV specific model. Use a 75 ohm cable and turn your red light off.
Is there a Radio Shack still alive in your area?

Power poles are not the best location. (RFI from the power lines) but putting on up a tower may be a good idea. NOTE that if you hook the RV's TV-Antenna lead (Disconnect from antenna head and extend) you may be unhappy with the result.

Use the park cable input instead or direct wire.

Seems lots of misunderstanding! This is my experience. I have an Omni antenna on the roof. There is no power button for it. It works very well, when close to towers, but not worth a cr@p for distant signals. I have a Jack head that I fasten to a pole, attach to my ladder, hook up to cable in/outdoor connection. This provides good reception, when the Omni gives me nothing. It does have a power source to the head, that needs to be active while using the outside cable in fitting.

Jerry

SaltiDawg wrote:
Sorry to have butt in or ruffled your feathers.

You said, " switched OFF or route the antenna feed to the television when switched ON," and I apparently misunderstood it to being said that was not proper terminology for a switch that remotely controlled power to a distant booster

My bad for trying.

Good grief. This is like trying to talk to a wall - I give up, sort it out yourselves. :S

04fxsts wrote:
The MH has a Winegard wind-up antenna with a box behind the main Tv with a push button and red indicator light, the same as our old TT. Not sure what kind of antenna to get that is why I am asking for advice what to use and how it goes together.

The answer is "it depends". :W You haven't indicated just which Winegard Sensar antenna you have but depending on the age of your MH it could be an earlier non-amplified Sensar antenna or more likely, because you have a wall plate with a switch and light, that it's a later model Sensar antenna with an amplifier in it that's supplied it's 12 vdc power by the wall plate. Your solution also depends on what type of secondary antenna you intend to use - whether it's just a passive antenna that requires no power at all and can be just plugged into the trailer's CABLE input or whether you want to use an amplified head, in which case you'd need a way to feed it power. I've offered you solutions, you just need to determine what you already have and what you intend to add.

Sorry to have butt in or ruffled your feathers.

You said, " switched OFF or route the antenna feed to the television when switched ON," and I apparently misunderstood it to being said that was not proper terminology for a switch that remotely controlled power to a distant booster

My bad for trying.

SoundGuy wrote:
That so-called "booster" or wall plate you're referring to, the Winegard RV-7042 being the most common example, is not a booster as it has no ability whatsoever to amplify the antenna signal. :R All it does is route either the cable feed to the television when switched OFF or route the antenna feed to the television when switched ON, and in this ON position it's also supplying 12 vdc to the antenna head where the actual signal boosting circuitry is located....

SaltiDawg wrote:
If you had a ceiling fan with an ON-OFF would you lable the switch as, "ON-OFF" or would you label it "FAN"?

A switch that provides power to a physically connected booster amp would logically be labeled "Booster" or "Antenna Feed".

Seems a nit that shouldn't be.

Hardly a nit when Winegard makes wall plates that are amplified and are intended only for use with a non-amplified antenna head, in which case it would be a "booster", the RA-7096 being an example. Externally it looks no different than a non-amplified RV-7042 but behind that plate is a signal amplifier - BIG difference. :R



The Winegard SignalPro I have is a third option - amplified and intended for use with amplified antenna heads. There is a difference. :S

The MH has a Winegard wind-up antenna with a box behind the main Tv with a push button and red indicator light, the same as our old TT. Not sure what kind of antenna to get that is why I am asking for advice what to use and how it goes together. Jim.

SoundGuy wrote:


That so-called "booster" or wall plate you're referring to, the Winegard RV-7042 being the most common example, is not a booster as it has no ability whatsoever to amplify the antenna signal. :R All it does is route either the cable feed to the television when switched OFF or route the antenna feed to the television when switched ON, and in this ON position it's also supplying 12 vdc to the antenna head where the actual signal boosting circuitry is located....

If you had a ceiling fan with an ON-OFF would you lable the switch as, "ON-OFF" or would you label it "FAN"?

A switch that provides power to a physically connected booster amp would logically be labeled "Booster" or "Antenna Feed".

Seems a nit that shouldn't be.