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What's Best Digital Antenna Upgrade ?

TC_Z
Explorer
Explorer
We have a 2007 MH with the classic batwing Winegard crank up analog antenna on the roof. We bought a digital converter box years ago and works ok. Lately we have been losing signal and DW is after me to improve the reception.

Searching so far I have found 4 options: (have I missed any?)
1) Wingman add-on by Winegard (clips to existing batwing antenna)
2) Sensar by Winegard (batwing replacement)
3) Rayzar by Winegard (flat rectangle replacement)
4) KING Jack replacement head (small sting-ray profile)

Unless mistaken I believe all 4 alternatives are fully compatible with my existing system, all I got to do is get on the roof, swap out the antenna and attach the RF cable. I believe that no changes are needed to our current power supply. Comments are welcome.

I have tried to find performance specs for these 4 alternatives but only find dimensions and vague general advertising claims; better performance, longer range, new and improved, etc. Worse, some posts state claims are just hype and there is no performance improvement over the existing legacy analog antennas.

Anyone have any recommendation or comparison of these 4 antenna upgrade alternatives? Or any other suggestions?

(I know satellite is a possibility but not willing to go there at this time.)

Thanks in advance...
TC&Z
2007 Winn Voyage 38J, gas 8.1L engine
2018 Jeep Cherokee flat tow
22 REPLIES 22

BobR
Explorer
Explorer
I added the Batwing and it did increase the amount of stations received.I also use "TV Antenna Helper" app for Android which takes the guess out of properly aiming the antenna.

SCVJeff
Explorer
Explorer
That and space restrictions are the only reasons I would ever recommend a Jack. In the meantime, what about the new Rayzor ? It may not cause you those issues..
Jeff - WA6EQU
'06 Itasca Meridian 34H, CAT C7/350

JumboJet
Explorer
Explorer
The air blowing over the top of my MH had my antenna banging against the roof on our trip last weekend. I climbed up an removed the pins that held the antenna in place and disconnected the coax. The drive home was much more pleasant.

Next - remove the crank up satellite dish and replace it with a stationary unit.

I am looking at a "Jack" antenna or another stationary type just to remove that annoyance.

TC_Z
Explorer
Explorer
Bill.Satellite wrote:
Has this antenna worked well in this location in the past and is not working properly now or is this a new location? If you can go up on the roof with a multi-meter you want to disconnect the coax from the Batwing head and check the coax. You should find that the center conductor is showing at least 12VDC. If not you will want to verify that you have the power to the antenna turned on inside the coach (wall plate with a tiny (usually green) light. If that's all good you will want to bring in another recent digital TV and connect directly to ensure it's not something having to do with the TV or other cabling issues.


We were camping so this was a new location. Our symptoms do not seem to be location specific. It occurs sporadically at various locations. I will check the voltage on the coax at the batwing but suspect it is Ok since we receive other channels Ok. The power is on inside the MH (the light is On). Our 2nd TV in MH has the same "LOST SIGNAL" symptoms specific to one channel so doubt it is the TV itself.
TC&Z
2007 Winn Voyage 38J, gas 8.1L engine
2018 Jeep Cherokee flat tow

Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Explorer II
TC&Z wrote:
rgatijnet1 wrote:
If you have been having signal problems with an antenna that was previously working fine, I would say that your problem is with the coax cable or the connections on either end. Antennas do not wear out but the cable connections do. They let in moisture which eventually causes corrosion. To install a new antenna, without correcting the cable problems, is just a waste of money.


Very interesting information, much appreciated, (I posted this inquiry) perhaps it is not my antenna at all but something else. Here is my symptom, we will have been watching a show fine and then it just dies entirely, goes to black screen "LOST SIGNAL". We wait several minutes and no recovery. Yet when we change channels other channels work ok. Change back still dead. It is not poor signal with pixelated lines. We occasionally have this symptom and I rotate the antenna to tune slightly and it improves, or I determine that is the best it can be. Any ideas what to check?


Has this antenna worked well in this location in the past and is not working properly now or is this a new location? If you can go up on the roof with a multi-meter you want to disconnect the coax from the Batwing head and check the coax. You should find that the center conductor is showing at least 12VDC. If not you will want to verify that you have the power to the antenna turned on inside the coach (wall plate with a tiny (usually green) light. If that's all good you will want to bring in another recent digital TV and connect directly to ensure it's not something having to do with the TV or other cabling issues.
What I post is my 2 cents and nothing more. Please don't read anything into my post that's not there. If you disagree, that's OK.
Can't we all just get along?

stevekk
Explorer
Explorer
Good point about coax.
I had bad TV reception. It turned out to be coax.
Quick check is to run a test with a length of coax thru the window.

rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Explorer III
A bad coax connection does not care where you are located. Easy and cheap to check before you buy a new antenna.

SCVJeff
Explorer
Explorer
TC&Z wrote:
rgatijnet1 wrote:
If you have been having signal problems with an antenna that was previously working fine, I would say that your problem is with the coax cable or the connections on either end. Antennas do not wear out but the cable connections do. They let in moisture which eventually causes corrosion. To install a new antenna, without correcting the cable problems, is just a waste of money.


Very interesting information, much appreciated, (I posted this inquiry) perhaps it is not my antenna at all but something else. Here is my symptom, we will have been watching a show fine and then it just dies entirely, goes to black screen "LOST SIGNAL". We wait several minutes and no recovery. Yet when we change channels other channels work ok. Change back still dead. It is not poor signal with pixelated lines. We occasionally have this symptom and I rotate the antenna to tune slightly and it improves, or I determine that is the best it can be. Any ideas what to check?
Depends on where you are located and local weather patterns. Inversation layers moving around can greatly affect receiption and will exhibit exactly what you are talking about. Just because it happens on one channel and not others doesn't mean much unless you are familiar with with the various transmitter locations and radiation patterns of all. About the only thing you can do locally when this happens is to look at the signal strength of the problem station and see if it's dipped below acceptable levels (obviously it has) , but if there is an inversion involved you will often see the signal floating around a view bars one way or the other, OR it could simply appear or disappear when the sun goes down..
IF of are right on the Avalanche edge, the a Wingman and the SensarPro will help. The SensarPro can provide a little extra gain (yes there can also be too much), along with another +3db from the antenna, and the ability to more accurately point it where it belongs.

It's also POSSIBLE that, depending on the channel, that you are getting interference from an LED in the RV
Jeff - WA6EQU
'06 Itasca Meridian 34H, CAT C7/350

rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Explorer III
TC&Z wrote:
rgatijnet1 wrote:
If you have been having signal problems with an antenna that was previously working fine, I would say that your problem is with the coax cable or the connections on either end. Antennas do not wear out but the cable connections do. They let in moisture which eventually causes corrosion. To install a new antenna, without correcting the cable problems, is just a waste of money.


Very interesting information, much appreciated, (I posted this inquiry) perhaps it is not my antenna at all but something else. Here is my symptom, we will have been watching a show fine and then it just dies entirely, goes to black screen "LOST SIGNAL". We wait several minutes and no recovery. Yet when we change channels other channels work ok. Change back still dead. It is not poor signal with pixelated lines. We occasionally have this symptom and I rotate the antenna to tune slightly and it improves, or I determine that is the best it can be. Any ideas what to check?


Unplug and look at the connections on each end of the coax cable, especially the connection to your antenna on the roof. Sometimes just unplugging them, and reconnecting them, will improve the contact and signal quality.

TC_Z
Explorer
Explorer
rgatijnet1 wrote:
If you have been having signal problems with an antenna that was previously working fine, I would say that your problem is with the coax cable or the connections on either end. Antennas do not wear out but the cable connections do. They let in moisture which eventually causes corrosion. To install a new antenna, without correcting the cable problems, is just a waste of money.


Very interesting information, much appreciated, (I posted this inquiry) perhaps it is not my antenna at all but something else. Here is my symptom, we will have been watching a show fine and then it just dies entirely, goes to black screen "LOST SIGNAL". We wait several minutes and no recovery. Yet when we change channels other channels work ok. Change back still dead. It is not poor signal with pixelated lines. We occasionally have this symptom and I rotate the antenna to tune slightly and it improves, or I determine that is the best it can be. Any ideas what to check?
TC&Z
2007 Winn Voyage 38J, gas 8.1L engine
2018 Jeep Cherokee flat tow

Hikerdogs
Explorer
Explorer
Ed_Gee wrote:
Having followed innumerable discussions on RV TV antennas, it is my opinion that the 'best' antenna is the old reliable Bat Wing, which you already have. Adding the Winegard Wingman will improve its stock performance noticeably, but unless you have something wrong with it ( like the RF pre-amplifier in the head has failed or power to the pre-amp is not present ) you probably won't get any better performance from the newer choices.


I have to agree with Ed_Gee. We had the Winegard Batwing on our 2001 Winnebago Adventurer. When digital TV became standard we added the converter box. Reception was ok but certainly not the best. A few months later we added the Wingman and it greatly improved reception.

Fast forward a few years. We purchased a 2013 Adventurer with the Jack antenna. We were camping with friends in an out of the way campground. Their coach had the batwing with the wingman add on while we had the new "latest and greatest" Jack Digital antenna. The best we could do was get a PBS station about 30 miles away. They were able to get all the regular network stations, some of which were up to 70 miles away.

To me the old batwing is the most dependable and easiest to use. The only downsides are that it can't be deployed in a heavily forested area, and you have to remember to lower it when you leave the campground.

The Jack antenna works well for stations within a 50 mile range, but that's about it. The nice thing is you don't have to raise or lower it.
Hikerdogs
2013 Winnebago Adventurer

rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Explorer III
If you have been having signal problems with an antenna that was previously working fine, I would say that your problem is with the coax cable or the connections on either end. Antennas do not wear out but the cable connections do. They let in moisture which eventually causes corrosion. To install a new antenna, without correcting the cable problems, is just a waste of money.

pconroy328
Explorer
Explorer
There is no such thing as a ................ ๐Ÿ™‚


But - what has happened is that many stations moved up to the UHF band during the transition to digital. Many, some have moved back to VHF.

You might find that an antenna better tuned to picking up UHF does better in a given area.



Also while there is no such thing as a..................

Digital signals are more susceptible to interferences that didn't bother analog signals.

So, while there is no such thing as a digital antenna, you will find that *some* antennas marketed as Digital have been designed to pull in the digital signals better.

๐Ÿ˜‰



Now, there is no such thing as an HD antenna. That's indisputable.

SCVJeff
Explorer
Explorer
1- There is no such thing as a digital antenna
2- If you have a Batwing, add the Wingman. There are plenty of opinions out there on antennas, but the bottom line is that the Batwing is hands down the best performer on VHF or UHF, and the proof is out there.
3- Add the Sensar Pro. This or something like it is the only way to properly find what's out there, even with the help of FCC mapping resources
Jeff - WA6EQU
'06 Itasca Meridian 34H, CAT C7/350