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Elk4me's avatar
Elk4me
Explorer
Feb 29, 2020

Winegard Powered Antenna Wall Plate Alternative

Cross Posting with Facebook and other forums.
Here's my dilemma, I have a Winegard TV Antenna Powered Wall Plat. It has been dead since delivery of our TT purchased new. I just didn't want to take it to the dealer for warranty work cuz I wouldn't take a dead dog back to that service department. I finally broke down and decided to find out why. I bought a cable/data test meter, hooked it up and it showed a short in the wall plate. I ordered a new one through Amazon. I decided to test the new one before installation and it showed a short also. Amazon gave me a return RMA and sent me a new one that arrived the next day. I hooked it up to the test meter, yup, shorted out. Now I'm getting a little irritated so I called Winegard tech support to see if I was doing something wrong in my troubleshooting and testing. Nope, they said I was right on with my diagnosis and testing. Amazon is crediting my Visa Account for the purchase.


Now, my question is does anyone have an alternative brand to take the place of Winegard junk?
  • BFL13's avatar
    BFL13
    Explorer II
    Feb 29, 2020
    The wall plates may be ok, but wired wrong so shorted. If you wired the new ones the same way, they would also be shorted.

    There should also be a 10a fuse in the DC fuse panel that is for that panel that fuses both the 12v socket in it and the 12v power that goes up the coax to the antenna amplifier in the batwing.

    If the panel is wired wrong that might also blow that fuse.

    Installers can make mistakes. A trailer we had new had the coaxes on the wrong studs on the splitter in back of the panel. The coax running to the bedroom had 12v on it, and the one going up to the batwing had no power. Took me a while to discover what was wrong. :(
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Feb 29, 2020
    First were you testing just the wall plate or was it connected to the antenna?

    On many testers it may well show a short especially if connected to the antenna for the antenna presents a load and the meter has not enough output to make it look like a "non-short" shall we say.

    Now for an alternative... (ANd it's not a piece of junk) I recommend the Winegard Sensar Pro.. It too may well show up as a short.. but it don't blow my fuse.
  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    Feb 29, 2020
    One OK, Two Maybe. Three doubtful that it’s the wall plate. I’d look elsewhere. I guess you didn’t check the TV before rolling off the lot.
  • Horsedoc's avatar
    Horsedoc
    Explorer II
    Feb 29, 2020
    I was not sure on exactly what your problem is/was. We have the Razar. It just quit. I took the plate off and just unplugged the two wires. Left it for a few minutes and it re-set and works fine now.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Feb 29, 2020
    The problem is, while your local RV dealer does not get your trust, neither are you competent to diag your problem. You are a Parts changer, not a Tech. Winegard wall plates NEVER fail unless there is a short in the Coax system connected to it(Based on my 40 years as a tech and still working). If you are connecting just the 2 power wires to the wall plate(NO coax connected) and there is a short, you are doing something wrong. If you connect the Coax and it shorts, there is a short in that coax going to the TV antenna head. Now, when this happens, disconnect the coax from the Antenna head, if the short remains, your coax is shorted somewhere. If the short goes away the Antenna head is defective. This assumes you are connecting the ANTENNA part of the wall plate to the roof top antenna. Doug

    Don't blame a product when you have no idea how to fix the problem.
  • YC_1's avatar
    YC_1
    Nomad
    Feb 29, 2020
    By the term "short", do you mean it is blowing a fuse?

    If you mean some tester is showing a "short", it is all to common to get a false reading. Any digital voltmeter can trick you as well.

    I was giving my brother a class on voltmeters, Amps, test lights, and analog meters. It was perfect. One of my meters had an "intermittent" battery connection which allowed me to demonstrate how to get confidence that your meter is not lying to you.

    I'm digressing but as mentioned these things are almost bullet proof. The real amp is in the head of the antenna and yes those can give some grief.

    You can't just bypass the box because it routes DC to the antenna head when activated.

    Take your time and take pictures,
  • Dusty_R's avatar
    Dusty_R
    Explorer
    Feb 29, 2020
    Elk4me wrote:
    Cross Posting with Facebook and other forums.
    I finally broke down and decided to find out why. I bought a cable/data test meter, hooked it up and it showed a short in the wall plate. I ordered a new one through Amazon. I decided to test the new one before installation and it showed a short also.

    Now, my question is does anyone have an alternative brand to take the place of Winegard junk?


    He say's he tested it before he hooked it up.
    Maybe it's the new tester.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Feb 29, 2020
    As I said many electronic devices WILL SHOW Short with some Multi-meters.. Unless you understand what is happening.

    IN fact there is a component (The very coponent that is responsible)

    You can determine it's value by using a specific setting on your multi-meter even if it does not test that item and a stop watch.. I used to have an older VTVM that was calibrated to help me do that (A "tick mark" on the dial) you timed how long it took for the needle to move from "Dead short" to that spot on the dial and then did way more math than I care to do any more (one simple multiplication or division forget which).

    A VTVM is a "Vaccume Tube Volt Meter.. typically 11MegOhms input impedeance'
  • road-runner's avatar
    road-runner
    Explorer III
    Feb 29, 2020
    The wall plate has circuitry to inject DC power on the cable going to the antenna, and to separate the DC power from the antenna signal going to the TV. A generic tester may well detect a DC path through this circuitry to ground, and erroneously report it as a short circuit.

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