bat wing upgrade?

[prstlk]

I have a remote cabin which prior to the hd conversion we could get a few channels through a big roof mount antenna. After the convert we received nothing. No worries it's a cabin so use the DVD. Ran across an inexpensive pole mount hd antenna with remote. Installed it and wow great reception on 8 channels.

So here's the question, we have a 07 Hr ambassador with the standard
winegard batwing. Can we add something to the unit we have to improve hd tv reception or I have seen window mounts that on the surface seem impressive.

Thoughts,opinions please.

Jw

[HappyKayakers]

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[rk911]

enblethen wrote:
The wingman definite improves digital signal. It doesn't say anything about HD. The complete Sensar says HD, but not clear on the Wingman add-on part.
Wingman

if we're talking about an over-the-air TV antenna then there is no such thing as an HD antenna or HD add-on. high def decoding takes place in the TV receiver. the antenna receives ALL tv signals.

the Wingman add-on is basically a UHF antenna. after the switch from analog to digital many TV stations which had frequency allocations in the VHF band changed their transmit frequencies to the UHF portion of the band. the wings of the Winegard antenna receive VHF frequencies while the center head contains the UHF antenna. the Wingman add-on adds another UHF antenna.

all TV signals are line-of-sight. if the transmitter antenna can't 'see' the receiving antenna you won't have a picture. in primary service areas almost any type of antenna will work. but the farther out from the transmitter you go the higher the receiving antenna needs to be. a lot also depends on the terrain in which the receiving antenna is located and what sort of obstacles are between the transmitter and receiving antennas (mountains, tall buildings, airport takeoff/landing patterns, etc.)

[Dutch_12078]

SCVJeff wrote:
Let me modify your statement a tad. The FCC did not mandate anyone move to UHF, that was a decision each station made on their own, and depending on the individual city and area topography, most of the stations that elected to stay on their VHF assignments are kicking themselves. We have a station that elected to stay on their VHF assignment before we bought it, so the damage was done. The #1 station by a long shot has dropped to near last place... VHF ain't the place to be with digital TV. But wait...

What the FCC REALLY wants is the UHF spectrum and there is yet another spectrum auction coming up with initial offers of spectrum in the LA area (for example) hovering around $700 MILLION dollars for a station to leave. Another option is to take lesser cash and move off UHF, and back to VHF.
Stay tuned....

You're correct of course, Jeff. I didn't go into the finer details. It will be interesting to see what happens down the road though...

[wa8yxm]

Two part reply:
First on the RV:
There are two products that improve the performance of the Winegard Batwings.

If your antenna is a Sensar II or III then the WINGMAN add on (Which is a UHF director Array) will improve UHF reception and give you about 50% more range (This may or may not bring in more signals, will bring them in better).

The second product is the Sensar PRO modle, this replaces the wall plate in many RV's with the 12 volt outlet, switch, light and antenna connection, You loose the 12 volt outlet but gain much, much more in terms of additional gain (Boost) signal seeker and signal strength meter to aid in aiming.

DO read the manual, this thing does enough I do not want to type it all out.

IF you have a matrix switch (Box of many buttons) this is the only product I would suggest installing between the switch box and the antenna.

This is what I use by the way.. Where I am parked I went from no OTA to several stations (park offers cable I use a mix with some automatic rube goldburg switching going on but well.... I can do that, it is what I trained to do, and its kind of fun having an advanced multi-dvr system that does everything those advertised Only ________lets you do all this" systems do... AND MORE.

Usually 8it works well, Last Saturday not so much but I fixed it Sunday morning. (Had to update a piece of software).

I do not use Sat.... normally it is not a problem.


part 2: The cabin

Two things can improve your Television reception.... (well 3)

First is this: Height is MIGHT (up to a point, like 200 feet or so, also 200 feet is a legal limit without special permits).

Put up a tower and go higher.. I have stories about how much difference height can make.

Second, improve the antenna,, Channel master makes some that are truly BIG, I mean like 15 feet long yagas with a range of over 100 miles (I know, I used one at my parents house, often getting stations over 100 miles away)

Part 3 is really 2b,, Aiming,, Channel master also makes a nice rotor, so does Alliance, and a couple other companies,

Not cheap, but effective, and while you are at it replace the feedline.

What happened when the world went Digital:

Not all, but many VHF stations moved up,, For example in Detroit channel 2 (VHF low band, which was the one that was easiest to see 100 miles away I might add) now broadcasts on carrier channel 7,, so where did channel 7 go, as I recall channel 41

The TV still says 2-1 or 7-1, but the frequency it is listening to has moved up band (7 is VHF high band and 41 is of course UHF).

Second, they cut power, big time, some are running as low as 10% of what they used to run.

Still, I get studio quality from 50-70 miles out with my Batwing, wingman, and sensar pro.

[SCVJeff]

Let me modify your statement a tad. The FCC did not mandate anyone move to UHF, that was a decision each station made on their own, and depending on the individual city and area topography, most of the stations that elected to stay on their VHF assignments are kicking themselves. We have a station that elected to stay on their VHF assignment before we bought it, so the damage was done. The #1 station by a long shot has dropped to near last place... VHF ain't the place to be with digital TV. But wait...

What the FCC REALLY wants is the UHF spectrum and there is yet another spectrum auction coming up with initial offers of spectrum in the LA area (for example) hovering around $700 MILLION dollars for a station to leave. Another option is to take lesser cash and move off UHF, and back to VHF.
Stay tuned....

[Dutch_12078]

RoyB wrote:
Actually there is no such as a HD ANTENNA. The DIGITAL TV just uses higher frequencies which is why you need to add the UHF DIPOLES add-on to the BATWING antenna...

In addition to the annoying use of caps, you're also off base on your other information. While many stations did in fact move to the higher frequency UHF channels as part of the digital conversion, it was not required for digital transmissions. The move was only necessitated so the FCC could free up some of the VHF spectrum for other services. There are still 300 or so TV stations currently using VHF channels. Also, the Wingman add-on for the Sensar ("batwing") antenna does not add "dipoles", instead it adds "director elements" that convert the Sensar's internal UHF folded dipole bi-directional element into a yagi mono-directional UHF antenna with increased gain in one direction.

[RoyB]

Actually there is no such as a HD ANTENNA. The DIGITAL TV just uses higher frequencies which is why you need to add the UHF DIPOLES add-on to the BATWING antenna...

All of the HD signal decoding requirements is done at the HD TV receiver side of things - not the antenna.

Roy Ken

[robsouth]

Your "big roof mounted antenna" is probably just pointed in the wrong direction. It must be "aimed" at the station inorder to receive a signal. I have one as well, but it is mounted with a rotor so I can turn it around. I get quite a few channels with it still.

[wildtoad]

Adding the wingman to an existing batwing will definitely help overall reception. There really is no such thing as an HD antenna. You should also look at installing the Sensar Pro control box to replace the existing Winegard black power box. More features, more signal boost.

Before you buy the wingman check to make sure there is clearance on the roof when the antenna is stored.

[enblethen]

The wingman definite improves digital signal. It doesn't say anything about HD. The complete Sensar says HD, but not clear on the Wingman add-on part.
Wingman

[SCVJeff]

LOOK HERE

[old_guy]

they make an add on to get the HD channels. costs about $30. get them at RV dealers