Need New Antenna

Jeff,
Have you checked to see if 0 is actually power off (no power going to the antenna). I am told that it is not but rather it attenuates the signal enough to pretty much cause the same effect.
The Sensar Pro can either amplify or attenuate a signal from the BatWing. 10 is a setting that is neither amplifing nor attenuating. Increasing the gain from 10 to 15 would be a 5dB gain so the max gain would be a setting of 20 or 10dB gain. Anything less than 10 would attenuate the incoming signal but it may not be quite as linear.

0 is power off on both the antenna and the internal amp. I'm surprised its actually that low.

Jeff, I'm a bit confused. You state "The delta from O to 1 on the Sensar Gain is 10db". Are you saying that by changing the gain setting on the SensarPro from zero to 1 it increases the gain by 10db?

MNtundraRet wrote:
My question is whether the Sensor Pro is capable of giving a total gain of 20 dBs on the Winegard antenna? Bills reply suggests a number lower than 10 reduces the 10 dB gain of the amplifier in the head. A number greater than ten will adjust the gain of a second amplifier in the Sensor Pro? Thus allowing controlled amplification further from 11 dB to 20 dB?

After the test with the Jack, I returned it, bought the SensarPro and installed it today. Since the $60k analyzer is at the office, I used a portable one to look at the Sensar. Since the coach has a switch box, I got into it and rerouted power out to feed the Sensar, so I can completely kill it when not in use. OFF kills both the Sensar amp and the Batwing head. The delta from O to 1 on the Sensar Gain is 10db. One thing I didn't measure was the antenna direct, but I have that number from the other tests. I also didn't look at the gain of the antenna pre-amplifier when adjusting the Sensar gain, but I seriously doubt its effecting the batwing gain as the only way to do that is by adjusting the power supply and that could seriously screw up the batwing linearity. I'll check when I get the big analyzer on it.

So watching the TV's on-board meter, I settled on 11 (+1) for the gain after watching the meter on the TV and not allowing it into saturation, that can cause all kinds of other problems. I ran it up all the way to 20 and saw no improvements nor additional input display on the receiver.

Believe it or not, that minimal gain eliminated some pixelation issues I had on two channels. If I were further out in the boonies, like Quartzsite, I'd run it up all the way even for a 1st scan.

Btw- I tossed a 20' wire out the door with the Sensar and it worked just fine (of course)

PIX:
That plate inbetween the Sensar and the switch box is where the AS-2003 lived before I trashed it. Now its a test port from TV2 off the Sensar used for the analyzer.

I may not understand the question, but the Sensar Pro adds add "up to" an additional 10dB to the Sensar. Anything less than 10 on the gain scale reduces the default Sensar gain.

My question is whether the Sensor Pro is capable of giving a total gain of 20 dBs on the Winegard antenna? Bills reply suggests a number lower than 10 reduces the 10 dB gain of the amplifier in the head. A number greater than ten will adjust the gain of a second amplifier in the Sensor Pro? Thus allowing controlled amplification further from 11 dB to 20 dB?

The "10" gain setting on the Sensar Pro is a setting that neither amplifies nor attenuates the signal. 15, it is assumed, would give a 5dB gain and 20 would be the full 10 dB gain. Using a number lower than 10 would provide a reduction in gain over the standard amplifier in the head of the Sensar but the reduction may not be linear. At 0 there is likely going to be no channels available due to the extreme reduction.

There are two scans with the Sensar Pro.. First it scans.. It scans for both the strongest signal (Which it displays) and for all detectable signals (Which you get with a different menu choice) But this in no way affects the TV, just makes aiming the thing easier.

The final scan is with the RECEIVER (TV or Digital Adapter) And there I normally scan at 10, which suspect is unity gain, but can't be sure since I did not do a "side by side" and then up the gain if needed.

Of course, after the first few times in any given park, ,I learn to preset. For example where I am now 20 works great.. Give me a week and a halfl and 10-15 may be better. (Too much signal/gain is as bad as too little it turns out)./

wa8yxm wrote:
The "Flying Saucer" design you cite is most likely a Winegard Roadstar, it's junk, omin-directional and very low gain. That said Radio Shack sells one that is both Directional and has some gain,, It is sold as an HDTV antenna.

Recently one of the forum members did a side by side of the JACK and the WInegard "Batwing" both with and without Wingman. I do adimt to being slightly surprised.. I always knew the batwing was better,, Just not how much better.

My proference (Which is letting me watch TV as I type)

Batwing + Wingman + Sensar pro. Very effective (Where I'm parked I set the Pro at a gain of "20" and it brings in a whole bunch of stations that would not be there otherwise).

It's nice to find someone using the Sensor Pro and qualified to give an expert opinion on it.

I have read their directions many times and they leave a little to be desired. It looks like the factory "preset" on gain is 10. That means the scan is most likely done at 10. Do you set your gain to 20 before running scan in order to find the most distant signals possible?

Have you run the scan again after dark to get the more distant stations that can easily be watched at night?

I installed my R.S. adjustable amplifier (2 to 10 dBs) before the Sensor Pro came on the market. Amplifying is it's only job and it does it well.

I have found that letting the television do the scan with both amplifiers on full gain will always find the most signals. It also helps pick up the channel links off the side of the antenna during a single scan. Around 70 to 80 miles in my case. You can always back off when picking a channel to watch.

It would be nice to know what type of range you get with the Sensor Pro when you get more experience with it.

Mark B.

The "Flying Saucer" design you cite is most likely a Winegard Roadstar, it's junk, omin-directional and very low gain. That said Radio Shack sells one that is both Directional and has some gain,, It is sold as an HDTV antenna.

Recently one of the forum members did a side by side of the JACK and the WInegard "Batwing" both with and without Wingman. I do adimt to being slightly surprised.. I always knew the batwing was better,, Just not how much better.

My proference (Which is letting me watch TV as I type)

Batwing + Wingman + Sensar pro. Very effective (Where I'm parked I set the Pro at a gain of "20" and it brings in a whole bunch of stations that would not be there otherwise).