HDTV Antenna Bent

[wkandxj]

I've no idea how this came about. I was sitting on my porch and I noticed something sticking up from the top of my TT. Grabbed the ladder and noticed it was the HD antenna was bent. 😞
I bent it back down, stayed and now it's back up. I'm not sure if it happened on the road or while stored. Never noticed it before.

Surely I have to replace this, but we don't watch much TV in there but I still like to keep the TT in tip top shape. Any recommendations on a cheap yet effective replacement? I only need to replace the head, correct?



edit: reposted image to size.

[wa8yxm]

How it got bent is easy 12 foot rig, 11 foot tree limb.. Very common.

[HJGyswyt]

Back to the original post, "how fast do you drive?" (Kidding). That's really strange how it's bent. As a professional driver by trade I've seen my share of RV's motoring happily down the road with their antennas full up and I'm amazed they are holding up a freeway speeds.

When I first saw your picture I was thinking it got snagged, but clearly the AC unit is much taller than the antenna in the down position. It's hard to believe wind force/air stream is doing that. Typically the air flow over the roof has quite a bit of spoil and turbulence right on the deck. But maybe the AC unit and another vent unseen is creating a funnel affect.

Too bad you can't put a Go-Pro camera up there to see what's going on.

Many times I see RV's flying by me and their rubber roofs have a huge balloon in the low pressure area and I only wish I could call them as they motor away to tell them what's going on, no one can see their roofs while driving, and all looks normal when stopped.

All the best with you antenna. Hans

[JEBar]

we average camping on the same site in rural South Dakota for 2 - 3 months each summer .... with our OEM batwing, we got one clear channel and one more with a snowy picture .... when we added a wingman and our perception was that the picture on the snowy channel was a bit better (that could have well been because we really wanted to believe the wingman would help) .... in April of 2011 we replaced the wingman enhanced batwing with a Jack antenna .... the difference has been remarkable .... we now can count on getting 6 South Dakota based stations clearly along with a few more located in Minnesota .... based on our use the Jack antenna delivers markedly better reception in areas where the batwing/wingman failed

Jim

[dodge_guy]

jody h wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
One thing people overlook when they change from one antenna to another.

Sun and weather are the enemies of coax cable.. Sun degrades the coax, eventually losses go up up up and the cable needs replacement.

Weather tarnishes connectors and they need cleaning.

WHEN you changed the antenna head you CLEANED the connectors and my have replaced the coax.

Didn't help mine that's the first thing i tried was changing the cable.

X2! Same thing i tried years ago and it did nothing!

[jody_h]

wa8yxm wrote:
One thing people overlook when they change from one antenna to another.

Sun and weather are the enemies of coax cable.. Sun degrades the coax, eventually losses go up up up and the cable needs replacement.

Weather tarnishes connectors and they need cleaning.

WHEN you changed the antenna head you CLEANED the connectors and my have replaced the coax.

Didn't help mine that's the first thing i tried was changing the cable.

[wa8yxm]

One thing people overlook when they change from one antenna to another.

Sun and weather are the enemies of coax cable.. Sun degrades the coax, eventually losses go up up up and the cable needs replacement.

Weather tarnishes connectors and they need cleaning.

WHEN you changed the antenna head you CLEANED the connectors and my have replaced the coax.

[jody_h]

TXiceman wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
Tx.. What's is your call if I might ask.

You know.. We hams are always wanting "DX" (for the non hams, "Long Distance")

KE5DFR...Currently have not put up the antenna.

I do not need to put up a Jack. A couple of years ago, we were camped right next to a new trailer with the jack and he could not get the stations I got with my Sensar IV. He could not believe it, so I had him bring his small TV over to my RV and hooked it up to my Sensar IV, scan the channels and he got the same channels I got. Took his TV back to his trailer and the Jack did not pick up the channels. That is more than enough proof for me.

Ken

That's how my bat wing was till i got the jack. Proof enough for me.

[TXiceman]

wa8yxm wrote:
Tx.. What's is your call if I might ask.

You know.. We hams are always wanting "DX" (for the non hams, "Long Distance")

KE5DFR...Currently have not put up the antenna.

I do not need to put up a Jack. A couple of years ago, we were camped right next to a new trailer with the jack and he could not get the stations I got with my Sensar IV. He could not believe it, so I had him bring his small TV over to my RV and hooked it up to my Sensar IV, scan the channels and he got the same channels I got. Took his TV back to his trailer and the Jack did not pick up the channels. That is more than enough proof for me.

Ken

[dodge_guy]

And yet more posts on how the Jack is better, only 3 people seem to dislike the Jack. And I'm guessing they hae never used one!

I am now at a campground that i could never get a signal at. And now with the Jack I've got 8 stations. Which is all the stations that are available!

My buddy is next to me and is getting about 7 with his batwing, although half of those are dropping out, and he has the add on contraption that supposedly helps pick up a signal!

[wa8yxm]

Tx.. What's is your call if I might ask.

You know.. We hams are always wanting "DX" (for the non hams, "Long Distance")

[TXiceman]

Like wa8xym, I want a narrow beam that can be aimed to get a distant station. Without a doubt, I can pull in more distant station with my Sensar IV than a Jack can.

Ken

[wa8yxm]

When and why is the Jack sometimes better than a full blown BatWing?

Well, the park I 'Week out" in is located some 17 miles from where I am not per S&T. (Streets and trips).

but Antenna helper puts the "Arc" I need to "See" with the antenna at well over 45 degrees, close to 75 I'd say

Where I am now it's more like 20 degrees.

So naturally I get far better TV here, Way more staions WITHOUT TURNING THE ANTENNA,, though, If you know anything about Trigonometry you know I have to be farther from the stations.

Batwing is, relative to the jack, a "Long range" antenna

Jack, however, has a much "Wider" field of view, and thus would be better in the other park.

This is why i prefer the batwing.. i want DISTANCE, not wide beam.

An anaology.

Opera Glass (Small bionoculars with a gain of around 3) allow you to see the entire stage much better from the less expensive seats.

now think of the field of vision.. That whole wide stage.

A good set of FIELD glasses, Will let you see much much farter.. but at the same distance.. you'd be looking only at the star of the show, nto the entire stage, because the field of vision is tighter... Of course he'd look like he was in your lap... (Much higher gain) but that is the trade off

Wide beam, able to see towers scattered all about you

OR

Far seeing, Able to see towers far, far, away.

you get your choie, Jack is wide beam, Batwing far seeing.

[SCVJeff]

jody h wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:
He's turned into a troll over this and clearly never read the report on how it was done. It cant get more real world than that, or it simply went over his head.

I have a jack and can tell you i can pick up about 20 channels as where my bat wing only pick up 4. Now on my old trailer it was the same. So i guess the two bat wings were bad so why buy another bad one as it seems they make a lot of bad ones.

While I agree that there seems an unusually high number of people with the same problems, I also know that 99% percent of the people that come to these forums do so looking for help with problems, and Winegard issues are no different. I also know that the company does scan these forums because they posted another test I did on their website a few years ago, and there are also factory reps. likely reading this... SO.. If there is a manufacturing problem, they likely know about it by now.

What I can tell you, all things being equal, is that if there are two working antennas side by side, the Batwing is simply a better antenna. Is it more aerodynamic, no. But those big 'wings' are part of the reason it does work better. Mebbe the OP should break his twice bent one off before it takes off on its own.

[Lynnmor]

Last weekend I looked around the campground and found no antennas pointed towards the available stations.