new hd antenna

[MR_HUSBAND]

want to upgrade old winegard antenna with hd antenna on my 05 heartland landmark. considering the king digital hdtv 0A8200.
anyone with experience with the antenna & installation or any other suggestions on replacements

[MNtundraRet]

SCVJeff wrote:
Should I tell you how good it was ? 🙂

Ok Jeff. "Where's the beef? "

It only takes 5 minutes per the manual to install. It took me 5 minutes to get everything up on the roof.

Since we haven't heard from you the plan is to test this weekend. :W

[MNtundraRet]

SCVJeff wrote:
Should I tell you how good it was ? 🙂

I am "all ears".

Readers here must remember that I am using more amplification than comes with both types of Winegard Antennas. For most of the channels found with added amplification, the vast majority in my 125 mile daytime range could be kept with around 15 decibles of amplification.

It would be nice to see Winegard produce a 15 decibel amplifier that could be used with their antenna tuner/ channel finder.

[SCVJeff]

Should I tell you how good it was ? 🙂

[MNtundraRet]

Tom :

We just missed you. We got there Wednesday morning a week ago. We left today (Tuesday) .

Someone came with a 1999 Born Free and just left yesterday. They were camped next to us.

I knew the transmitter was located where you stated. We were in the RV section at rear of Sylvan Park. I ended up aiming over the school (60 degree Angle) towards SWW. Going from vertical to 60 degree tilt improved signal from 1 bar to 3 bars.

I wish I could have figured it out before Sunday evening. We missed the US Open which ended up on FOX.

[Tom_M1]

I passed through Lanesboro a week ago on my return from Humboldt, IA where I attended the Born Free factory rally. I can see why TV reception might be a challenge. It's one of the prettiest spots in Minnesota.

FYI, both channels 6 and 47 have their transmitters in Grand Meadow, so I doubt that one is over powering the other.

[MNtundraRet]

Some more information on using the Winegard Razor Air

We have been camped in Lanesboro, MN for 5 days now. The town is down on the river with high hills on all four sides.

We are getting more channels than in past years with the old antenna. Getting channel 47 (FOX) was iffy at best. Too many hills and valley's. By tilting the antenna to a 45 degree angle I finally got 3 bar signal and kept the channel.

The close by channel 6 from Austin may have interferred. We also picked up channels from La Crosse, WI. Not possible in the past.

People next to us only getting. 9 channels to our 17. They have the Winegard IV antenna. The new antenna with two amplifiers makes a big difference.

[SCVJeff]

Sure wish my analyzer would show back up. Y'all have me curious

[IAMICHABOD]

I have had the same results with mine over the last several months. The 90 degree seems to work to get more out of it.
Very happy with it.

[MNtundraRet]

So far since replacing the Winegard III (bent wing) with the new Winegard Razor I am very impressed with the Razor.

We have camped in eight different campgrounds through out Minnesota and Iowa. I have scanned between 30 and 55 channels (single direction) in all locations. Running a new search at a 90 degree angle from the first will find similar numbers with about 1/2 being from other metro areas and the rest closer in channels (50 miles) still being picked up off the side.

Using a GPS for measuring distances from transmitters I now know that I can get good signals up to 125 miles during the day with no help from signal bounce. I am doing better than the old Winegard Sensor where we have camped before for daytime use.

We have not yet had the right cloud conditions to test signal bounce, or the willingness to stay up late to rescan an night. I am glad I got the Winegard Razor and suspect it may outperform it's older brother.

[MNtundraRet]

Jeff:

Maybe the problem you describe with interference from other types of FM towers is what causes a sharp drop from a 4-bar signal to zero and back when watching Mason City channel 3.1+. Clear Lake S.P. is rather close to the transmitter, and other wanted transmitters are much farther away.

The picture will freeze or pixilate for a short period sometimes when camped there. Other trips no. Most likely due to some interference between us and the transmitter. This problem occurred with the old antenna. It is one of the reasons I find the Razor antenna very promising since I never had any problem when camped on the same site we prefer at the park.

I could routinely get the same channel from 100 to 120 miles away at many other campgrounds we have stayed at with no problems using the old antenna.

[Ron3rd]

Tom_M wrote:
If you are having reception problems the first thing to do is to determine where the problem lies.

First, make sure you are pointing the antenna in the right direction. The arrow on the knob does not point to the front of the antenna. The arrow is for positioning the antenna for stowing. If the arrow is pointing north the antenna is facing either east or west.



Most problems are not the antenna but the wiring. Check all the coax for:

• Loose fittings
• Corroded connections
• Cracked or cut outer covering

Make sure that there is power getting to the antenna. While you are on the roof, disconnect the coax from the antenna and check that there is 12 volts present.

If some channels are good but others bad, you may benefit from adding the Wingman attachment. Make sure the antenna will stow okay with the Wingman attached. Or you could replace the head with the Sensar IV which has the Wingman built in. Prices are $25 > $30 for the Wingman. $50 > $60 for the Sensar IV head.

Here's a link to a good article on tuning up your antenna:
Tune up your antenna

The general consensus is that the Winegard Sensar is the best RV antenna, especially for VHF. In the U.S. about 25% of the full power stations are VHF.

One very good point Tom brings up is LOOSE CONNECTIONS on RV coax fittings are very common. Tighten everything up first and then check your reception.

[Tom_M1]

I have written a Windows program that folks may find useful for aiming their TV antenna.

You can download it here: TxFinder download

I have tested it on Win 7 and Win 8.1.

Some features are:

• No internet connection needed
• Enter your location using zipcode or latitude and longitude
• Search for a city by name
• Maintain a listing of locations
• Displays both true and magnetic headings
• Includes listings of both Full and Low Power stations

For instructions click the Help button ('?') at the top of the window.

I don't know how current the data for the transmitter sites are, especially the low power sites.

As with any software, there are no guarantees.

I wrote this entirely for my own benefit and believe other people will benefit from it. Feel free to use it in any manner you see fit.

[SCVJeff]

MNtundraRet wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:
Careful about running gain that hard inless youre working your way up beforehand or it can get ya and you wont even know it. Where we typically camp there is a comm site several miles away that i think has at least one FM up there, and thats enough to swamp the TV, or maybe the amp with the RF coming off the hill. Im pointing away from there and could use some extra help, but the FM kills the amp

The only places I have been were near by signals could overload was Loveland, CO with the transmitter above the town on the mountain. I only used the 10 DB Winegard amp with the Winegard antenna stored on the roof.

Other locations are on Lake Superior, or Lake Michigan, where the lake conditions can increase signals received, There the one amp, or maybe 2 DB gain on 2nd amp will do.

What usually happens is the close in signal is never found during search because of overload. I have missed some channels coming from Duluth at Ashland, WI. Lowering the additional gain to 2 to 4 DB will finally locate and store channel in the TV's memory.

I carry channel lists from 2 sources to identify transmitters I expect to receive signals from.

I would expect the problems you talk about to be mainly a California issue do to all the foot-hills and different cities in close proximity broadcasting. That's what I call unwanted signal bounce coming off sides of hills causing unwanted interference.

i havent actually experienced it out of Cal, but i see the potential for the problem almost anywhere i go for business, and i think the problem could be worse in the flatlands where you may have TV antenna farm in one or two places, but i see FM transmitters scattered all over the landscape, and don't forget, unless filtered (and they're not), FM transmitters can saturate the amps often easier than the TV xmtrs can. At least you have THAT list. The Phoenix to Tucson corridor is a perfect example where you may have the main antenna farm on South Mtn., Lemon, etc. In PHX and southbound there are full power FM transmitters scattered on both hilltops and tall towers all over the place. Wish i knew how to spot and fix these so the deep frings amps don't get creamed. Anyway that was an FYI because it bit me and I know better.

[stevekk]

According to the Winegard website.... channels from both front and back.
http://www.winegard.com/rayzarair?gclid=CjwKEAjwtMqrBRDwtoehx72vm34SJACl_Un1PDVX-1S7gSAp7FIe-4FjqW_ZJuUqyOmyJqmvs29kVRoCelvw_wcB

[MrWizard]

IAMICHABOD wrote:

Tom_M wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:
So I opted to put a Jack on and my channel scan went up to 60

How many channels do you get with the Rayzar?

About 9 at the campground that I tested both of them, the thing is, I got them off the backside of the Rayzar,so I was getting them from a different set of towers.

No.. I don't think that is correct
the antenna is flat and mounted vertical

the front and back are the same, it makes no difference
turn the antenna 180 degrees the opposite direction and you will get exactly the same signal results, its equally directional front & back
off sides will be severely attenuated, but front and rear are the same thing