Little batwings do they work?

garry1p wrote:
Wingman attachment is easy to add on and it will increase your reception but do not expect miracles. IMO it is worth the price to add it.

For the price the Wingman is worth it.

You have to understand how it works. The original Winegard antennas had a range of around 60 miles for analog signals. Sometimes more.

When digital television came into play, the range dropped to around 50 to 55 miles for high-powered stations on lower channels. The UHF channel range slipped to about 30 miles.

Adding the Wingman gained back about 3dBs amplification which is the 100% improvement claimed in their early ads for the UHF stations on digital signals.

If you live more than 60 miles on level land (less if down in a valley) you will not see improvement with out going to an additional amplifier inline on the coaxial cable.

The Winegard Sensor Pro will help. I prefer the Radio Shack #15-2505 Bi-directional amplifier which came out ahead of the Winegard unit. The range is better for extreme distance be cause of absence of the signal search electronics on the coaxial carrying the weak signal.

Wingman attachment is easy to add on and it will increase your reception but do not expect miracles. IMO it is worth the price to add it.

orlandimal wrote:
if you are talking about the "wingman" attachment to the batwing antenna yes they do work. They improve reception on the UHF channels where most of the stations transmit in digital. Make sure antenna booster is on, reprogram the television at new locations and the big thing is make sure your antenna is pointed in the right direction towards where the TV signals are transmitted.

I agree.. You can't believe the hassle our Sons gave me about this "power receiver". I would have to wear metal pointed hats for protection against all the power waves. The bad time ended when the TV came in clear on every channel in the remote desert.. Just a thought...

We will have to agree to disagree. Winegard only sells one Sensar antenna (referred to as the Batwing). There certainly can be other antennas with a similar shape but that would not be a Winegard Batwing.
In either case, after reading the other responses I believe the posters who refer to the Wingman add-on to the Batwing might be on target with the answer the OP was looking for.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
There is no "little" Batwing, only the standard size Winegard Batwing. It's still the best and if you are getting little or no TV you are either in an area where none is available or you have some other issue.

Actually Bill... There are.. he is talking about the dual UHF bowtie antennas and 30 bucks is a reasonable price for them (I've seen them at FMCA rallies for 99 dollars, which is a complete ripoff)

They are decent at UHF, I do NOT think they outperform a fully upgraded Winegard Sensar system (Wingman + Sensar Pro added). and of course they are no good at VHF frequencies.

My recommendation to the original poster is to pass on these devices.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Yes the 'add on' for the batwing does help.

Yes you have to 'aim' the antenna towards the TV Transponders to get signals

Yes you have to rescan TV each time you relocate

Here are a few 'TV tower' websites that will help you aim your antenna....

Antenna Point

TV Fool

This is my App of choice.

Antenna Web

I would add a link to FCC but government shutdown.......:E

LOL

And then you could just install a 'signal meter'......LINK

DITTO!

I hate our LR OEM TV, there is no option to only scan digital channels so it takes ~10 minutes. The Sensar PRO made all the difference in the having any success at all.

I also installed a 360° protractor to the ceiling with 3 captive screws allowing for rotation to point North (Must use the inner scale as the protractor is inverted). Makes aiming a snap.

Old biscuit is right, I bought one and installed it and I got more than double my channels on my tv.

Yes the 'add on' for the batwing does help.

Yes you have to 'aim' the antenna towards the TV Transponders to get signals

Yes you have to rescan TV each time you relocate

Here are a few 'TV tower' websites that will help you aim your antenna....

Antenna Point

TV Fool

Antenna Web

I would add a link to FCC but government shutdown.......:E


And then you could just install a 'signal meter'......LINK

TomandCandy wrote:
We use to have great tv reception then they changed to digital our tv did work in Arizona but not any where elts they sell these little wings for around 30 bucks just wondering if it's worth messing with?Also we due have the new type tv thanks Tom

you are aware that each time you move to a new location you need to re-scan for channels, right? what are you currently using for an antenna?

if you are talking about the "wingman" attachment to the batwing antenna yes they do work. They improve reception on the UHF channels where most of the stations transmit in digital. Make sure antenna booster is on, reprogram the television at new locations and the big thing is make sure your antenna is pointed in the right direction towards where the TV signals are transmitted.