Antenna Upgrade

[majorgator]

For those who have done it, is the King Controls or Winegard HD Antenna worth the upgrade over the stock bat-wing antenna? If so, is it better to get the one that mounts right above the roof or the one that mounts to the mini-tower that raises up and down?

[wa8yxm]

n7bsn wrote:
Generally, a higher antenna will out preform a lower antenna.
A bigger antenna will out preform a smaller antenna.

Those little antenna's that mount directly on the roof work very poorly.

I did the tests on that one night back in oh, about 1978/9.. Tiger's game (night game) ended just in time to trap me at the office (can't get out of the parking lot due to traffic) so I took my new toy (Ham radio) and got in the elevator.. pressed a button and headed up. NOTE> this is in downtown Detroit. sixth street and howard.

Chatted with some folks in Toledo via a repeater in Adrian. MI.

Another ham tried to join in,, All we got of his call was the prefix VE3... (Includes Windsor, CA) So i listened for him on the input freequency of the repeater (Loud and clear) and relayed.

Finally he and I went off to a new frequency for a direct chat (no repeater) He's runnign something like 40 watts ERP at 30 feet (or the other way areound) and not making it.. I'm holding a one watt, perhaps 1/4 watt effective with the loss antenna I have, in my hand and I made the trip.. I CAN SEE HIS HOUSE From where I'm standing.

I'm 250 feet above ground however (21st floor) I made the trip, he did not.

[Dutch_12078]

We stay in more than enough locations with VHF channels, and especially lo-VHF channels, to convince me to stick with our Sensar batwing, Wingman, Sensar Pro setup, regardless of the other pluses of this combination.

[nypatnva]

Honda vs Yamaha. Maxis vs Carlisle. Winegard vs King. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Whatever works for you. I have a King and very happy with it, but would like anything that would get me more channels.

[Crabbypatty]

I purchased the JackD antenna from CW on sale for $38. HUGE difference. went from 3 scratchy channels to over 30 in most locations. The picture is like you can walk into the screen. (I have LED TV's). Took 5 minutes to remove batwing and attach. Would highly recommend.

[SCVJeff]

majorgator wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:
Neither one are an "upgrade" to a WORKING Batwing either with the Wingman, or the newest Sensar built-in.

Whats the reason for you considering this?

Reasoning is explained in the opening comment...curiosity of whether or not one is better than the other. If there is no benefit, then there is no reason to change.

Thanks for those who gave those real detailed responses above. I didn't expect to get so much good info!

All you said was "upgrade" and there are often reasons over just wanting the best. The Batwing outperforms anything else out there but its also more prone to internal breakage due to the long VHF element. There is yet another FCC reshuffle of the TV channels coming now due in March 2016, and when that happens there is a better than excellent chance that the VHF channels will again fill up. Of the three antennas mentioned in this thread, the Batwing is the only one that was built with VHF in mind. I suspect the competition will scramble to catch up in the next few years.

[n7bsn]

Generally, a higher antenna will out preform a lower antenna.
A bigger antenna will out preform a smaller antenna.

Those little antenna's that mount directly on the roof work very poorly.

[majorgator]

SCVJeff wrote:
Neither one are an "upgrade" to a WORKING Batwing either with the Wingman, or the newest Sensar built-in.

Whats the reason for you considering this?

Reasoning is explained in the opening comment...curiosity of whether or not one is better than the other. If there is no benefit, then there is no reason to change.

Thanks for those who gave those real detailed responses above. I didn't expect to get so much good info!

[SCVJeff]

Neither one are an "upgrade" to a WORKING Batwing either with the Wingman, or the newest Sensar built-in.

Whats the reason for you considering this?

[dodge_guy]

I went with the Jack and am very impressed with how well it pulls in stations. 72 in my driveway where I could only get maybe 12 before! And at a campground I could never get a station at for the last 10 years with 3 other antennas I now get 7 stations all clear!

Best money I have spent. Some will say my Other antennas were broken......well then there are a lot of broken antennas out there!

And yes you have to aim the antenna very good, as you do with any antenna!

[Tom_M1]

majorgator wrote:
For those who have done it, is the King Controls or Winegard HD Antenna worth the upgrade over the stock bat-wing antenna? If so, is it better to get the one that mounts right above the roof or the one that mounts to the mini-tower that raises up and down?

I don't know what you mean by "Winegard HD Antenna". All Winegard TV antennas are HD including the "Batwing". If your present antenna is in good shape, you might want to try adding the Wingman attachment. Also make sure your coax cable and connectors are in good shape. Many reception problems are caused by loose or corroded connectors or bad coax. Here's a link to an article on tuning up your antenna: Antenna tune-up

[IAMICHABOD]

I have done it. When I bought my RV it had a Batwing that was not working, I cleaned up all connections and tested to see if it was broken, it was,so I replaced it with a new bat wing then ran a Channel Scan I was not impressed with the amount of channels that I got. This was done in my driveway here in the south bay of So Calif using my SensarPro.

I then went out and got a Wingman add on, that put my channel scan up to 47,but I had a clearance problem with the Wingman

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

I then went with the Rayzar as you can see it fits in the same space.
I opted not to put it on the supplied 13 In. arm. I kept one arm of the Winegard mast and mounted it that way,there are instructions in the kit,it is very easy to do. This way I had it in the same space and got the maximum height when deployed.

][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/TgLwTbbl.jpg" height=220>

The Bi-Directional feature is great and easier to use than the Jack and I get a few more stations.

[RoyB]

I have run both from the same crank-up assembly. The difference for me was minimal... The BATWING for me had a wider beam pattern meaning I didn't have to zero-in as close as I did with the King antenna.

They both performed well...

I would say it would be a install situation where perhaps the BATWING being the larger footprint might be interfered with by the radio shadow of the roof mounted Air Conditioner.

I am back to using the BATWING Antenna which has the UHF DIPOLES added to it. My BATWING is of the older ones which looks like this one shown here on google images... The newer BATWING has a different shaped main body area...


google image

The KINGS antenna is a very simple swap out using the standard RV crank-up assembly. Takes just a few minutes to do and uses the same RG CABLE hookup and 12VDC Amplifier control signal from the older Antenna Panel in my case. I found the KINGS JACK antenna had to be more precisely pointed to the transmittiing tower...


For me it would not be worth the money to replace the original BATWING setup... I have no experience with the newer so called HD BATWING antennas and there fancy control panels. There is no such as a HD antenna. You just need to use a UHF Antenna to match up with what the HDTV Transmitter towers are transmitting now.

I am also currently using the same BATWING Antenna mounted on a easy mounted pole on the side of my OFF-ROAD POPUP using LOWES five-foot antenna pipe sections and a PVC PIPE manual rotating method antenna on my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer. Works like a champ for me picking up the local UHF Digital NATL BROADCAST channels from the local towns which are transmitted free to the public in full blown HDTV format.


I tried the KINGS JACK antenna on this same portable setup on the OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer with no significant gain in performance... I originally used a $90 LOWES large YAGI antenna on this portable setup and it was the best antenna ever for me. However I ended up destroying it a short season by taking it up and down for travel and that is when I changed over the BATWING antenna. I prefer the BATWING for my use.

Right now I am experimenting with the Eight BOW TIE DIPOLE Array which is very good long distance antenna array and currently pointing to the Washington DC antenna Towers some 50 miles plus away from here in Northern Neck Virginia. This is currently mounted at the peak of my house (15-feet high) and with the two halfs being adjustable I can get some 80 digital channels from the three main towers on the East and West side of Washington DC. This antenna has to be pointed toward the transmitter towers with accuracy. Just a few degrees off the direction and you get nothing at at. This BOW TIE array panel is around $60 from Solid Signal... I also have a RCA PRE-AMPLIFIER unit mounted on the bottom of this array which is powered by a DC VOLTAGE coming up the RG COAX like the BATWING and KINGS JACK requires. These two panels of four BOW TIE dipoles has alot more gain then the BATWING and JACK antenna has and also has a large front-to-back gain in the direction it is being pointed at. Not sure if all of this will help my over the BATWING antenna in the woods or not... makes a great CLEAR ANTENNA here at the house that is free to the public and picks up around 80 digital HDTV channels coming out of Washington DC over 50 miles away from me... Makes for a great BACK-UP system...



We ham radio guys always playing with something...

Roy Ken

[wa8yxm]

King controls Id' say no.. Winegard's new antenna I am not sure.

I run a Batwing (Sensar II or III) with Wingman (Sensar IV would work too, Wingman included, if I ever replace that will be the replacement)

A Sensar Pro indoor module (MAN was that an upgrade,, in performance, was rather easy to install but man was it a performance upgrade. Also the signal meter on teh S-Pro beats the LED's off the Jack Sure Lock device)

I get more stations than a Jack 20 yards away.. That's about all I can say.

Independent lab tests by another forum member showed the Batwing with wingman outperformed all compentation at the time of the test.. Winegard's new offering was not yet offered so was not tested.

[Vulcan_Rider]

I've been thinking about this too and I'm probably near to you.
I'm making this reply mostly so that other new posts get flagged to me.